Getting Settled

"Okay, young man. Were you taking beets off that truck?"

Contritely, "Yessir."

"Don't you know you're breaking the law when you do that? And what do you think would happen if the driver suddenly had to stop, or swing out to avoid hitting something? You could really get hurt, even killed!"

"Yessir."

"Okay. I'm just warning you this time. If I catch you doing that again I'm going to take you right down to the station. Do you understand?"

"Yessir."

The officer disappears up the road, and Jack, leaving the spoils in the undergrowth, wanders off to find Geerhard.

What a drag. How can I have any fun? Wonder what it's like at the station. What would they do with me. Make out some sort of report? And keep me there, while they send for Mom or Dad?

At suppertime Mom says to Dad, "Some boys have been chasing those sugar beet trucks again, did you hear about that? A customer was telling me one of them actually ran right up beside the truck and pulled some off. I can't imagine why they want to do that."

Dad, "Uh huh."

Mom, to Jack, "You wouldn't do that, would you?"

Jack, shifting his gaze down to his plate, wonders if she suspects. "No, Mom."

No, she doesn't suspect. She knows.

At Mom's urging, Jack becomes an altar boy. He finds it hard work memorizing all that Latin, and remembering what to do at each point. But he does it. Why not. It pleases her to no end. And she's quite enthusiastic about any reference he makes to becoming a priest.