Page 60

By Jack Joseph Smith

60 out f my head as-I walked by the Lincoln bums bending lew and pitching crap ever flatened cut used bubble gum against’ Mre Centaloupes-wail in an afterneen of wind blown shirt steSves- and ants.being whisked acresa the-sidewalk en their} backs under eld gray teachers skirts: leading themselves by their horn rime neises and being careful net te bump the shoulder of any lincoln bum. mi Scheel: and Mr, -Cantaloupes atere-were on Beverly Read, and it was:a creny place: alright, where-all' the devils of all agés came around to loaf: There was an icecream stere in the middle-of the-bleck and lick lick I weuld ge after waiting in line fer my cheoalate chip cone that came to @ peint and up up I would ge with my toung in a rhythm without time and way away my eyes would go crossing a street. of honk henke-and passing dewn the-ether side I would listen te the snip snip of the many barber fingers cutting the ends: of childrens tops-and Warning secretfis ~im business: mens: earss: The barber ‘shep Was along line of Italian mustaches-and they were all said te be beokies- tee, . Everyone: that wae Italian was: suppesed to be-a beekie except Se mans whe wastreally the little eld shee makers Once he threw-a hammer tion hte own window at: Pumpking Pumpkin was-the toughest kid around, but he went tod far when he gave the finger to the little old shoe makers At the other: end . ef the street was vanogther- drug store run by a mean and clean eld jews I would slip areund te the back alley and steal his-empty bottles stacked up by his back doer and ‘then go back areund and trade them inte him for a strawberry milkshake; I have to admit, they were better than Mro Cantaleupes: and I would giggle sipping them down thinking of my father saying, the price is rights’ Yeu sure-make thick milkshakes; I-would aay, and he would say, yeu can't toatl in-here-yeu Imew, and I woubd sayy ody, thanks fer the thick iad a, So canis es Saibeke

Original Scan

Page 60

AI Interpretation

GPT

Beverly Road thickens into a comic and crooked little economy of bums, barbers, Italians, Jews, stolen bottles, and milkshakes, all watched through a child's delighted sense of petty crime and neighborhood rank.

The street is dirty, ethnic, noisy, and full of whispered adult labels like bookie, but those labels only make it more alive. Stealing bottles and trading them back for milkshakes shows how quickly the child learns to move through this world with mischief instead of awe.

Claude

The neighborhood economics are laid out: pitching crap against Cantaloupe's wall, the icecream cone sharpened to a point, the barber shop rumored all Italian and all bookies except the little old shoemaker who threw a hammer at Pumpkin.