And now I blink and blink till Malachy runs to my mother, talking out in the lane with Mrs. Hannon, Mam, something is up with Frankie, he’s upstairs blinking and blinking. She comes running up.What’s wrong with you? I’m making my eyes strong with the exercise. What exercise? The blinking. Blinking is not exercise. Seamus in the hospital says you can’t beat the blink for the strong eye. His uncle had powerful eyes from the blinking. She says I’m getting odd and goes back to the lane and her chat with Mrs. Hannon and I blink and bathe my eyes with the boric acid powder in warm water. I can hear Mrs. Hannon through the window, Your little Frankie is a godsend to John for ’tis the climbing up and down on that float that was ruining his legs entirely. Mam doesn’t say anything and that means she feels so sorry for Mr. Hannon she’ll let me help him again on his heavy delivery day,Thurs- day. I wash my eyes three times a day and I blink till I get a pain in my eyebrows. I blink in school when the master isn’t looking and all the boys in my class are calling me Blinky and adding that to the list of names. Blinky McCourt beggar woman’s son scabby-eyed blubber gob dancing Jap. I don’t care what they call me anymore as long as my eyes are clear- ing up and I have a regular job lifting hundredweights of coal on a float. I wish they could see me on Thursday after school when I’m on the float and Mr. Hannon hands me the reins so that he can smoke his pipe in comfort. Here you are, Frankie, nice and gentle for this is a good horse and he doesn’t need to be pulled at. He hands me the whip too but you never need the whip with this horse. It’s all for show and I just flick it at the air like Mr. Hannon or I might knock a fly off the horse’s great golden rump swinging between the shafts. 262