Excerpt

After a hot day on the docks, Tommy and Ren had only 75 cents to show for all of their hard work. That evening, Mrs. Moran suggested that the boys go to the local tavern, drink one beer each, and bring one to her on their way back. She counted out nine pennies and handed them to Tommy. He had done this a few times when his father was alive, but this was the first time that he was going to the tavern without his dad. Ren, on the other hand, didn’t want to go because he had seen, first-hand, what booze had done to his father. He didn’t want any part of it.

“One beer, lad,” Mrs. Moran assured Ren, “won’t make you mean or a drunk like your dad.” Still, he would rather keep the three cents and put it in the bank. “You need to let your hair down, Ren. You work like a dog and you never complain. Life is more than just work, believe you me,” she instructed.

Tommy cuffed Ren on top of his head and said, “Come on. You just might like it.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he replied.

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