The next Friday Declan Collopy from the Confraternity sees me
on the street delivering the papers with my uncle Pat Sheehan. Hoi,
Frankie McCourt, what are you doin with Ab Sheehan?
Hes my uncle.
Youre supposed to be at the Confraternity.
Im working, Declan.
Youre not supposed to be working. Youre not even ten and youre
destroyin the perfect attendance in our section. If youre not there next
Friday Ill give you a good thump in the gob, do you hear me?
Uncle Pat says, Go way, go way, or Ill walk on you.
Ah, shut up, Mr. Stupid that was dropped on your head. He pushes
Uncle Pat on the shoulder and knocks him back against the wall. I drop
the papers and run at him but he steps aside and punches me on the
back of the neck and my forehead is rammed into the wall and it puts
me in such a rage I cant see him anymore. I go at him with arms and
legs and if I could tear his face off with my teeth I would but he has
long arms like a gorilla and he just keeps pushing me away so that I cant
touch him. He says,You mad feckin eejit. Ill destroy you in the Con-
fraternity, and he runs away.
Uncle Pat says,You shouldnt be fightin like that an you dropped
all me papers an some o them is wet an how am I supposed to sell wet
papers, and I wanted to jump on him too and hit him for talking about
papers after I stood up to Declan Collopy.
At the end of the night he gives me three chips from his bag and
sixpence instead of threepence. He complains its too much money and
its all my mothers fault for going on to Grandma about the low pay.
Mam is delighted Im getting sixpence on Fridays from Uncle Pat
and sixpence on Saturdays from Mr.Timoney.A shilling a week makes
a big difference and she gives me tuppence to see the Dead End Kids at
the Lyric after Im finished the reading.
Next morning Mr.Timoney says,Wait till we get to Gulliver, Fran-
cis. Youll know Jonathan Swift is the greatest Irish writer that ever
lived, no, the greatest man to put pen to parchment.A giant of a man,
Francis.He laughs all through A Modest Proposal and youd wonder what
hes laughing at when its all about cooking Irish babies. He says,Youll
laugh when you grow up, Francis.
Youre not supposed to talk back to grown-ups but Mr. Timo-
ney is different and he doesnt mind when I say, Mr. Timoney, big
people are always telling us that. Oh, youll laugh when you grow up.
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