Breaking Brooklyn by Scott Leopold Read Free Book Online Page B

story, Grandpa Bob Bob settled
down. He told me that in all his days, he had never seen a catfish
that big. I could tell by the way he looked at me with his crooked
smile that said despite being annoyed by the nasty fish smell, he
was actually very impressed. He spent the morning skinning my
prize. Wrapping it in tinfoil to put in the freezer. I wanted to
have it mounted and hung on my wall, but I knew better than to push
my luck with Grandpa Bob.
    As usual, my mother, who had stumbled home
late, was hungover and sleeping upstairs. She didn’t smell a thing.
I was so anxious to tell Jim all about how much fuss everyone made
over the catfish that I lit out of the house like I was on fire. I
raced to the canal.
    My adrenaline started pumping when I heard the
sound of a train coming. I pulled out a penny from my pocket and
placed it on the rail. Then I jumped into the ditch just below the
tracks as the train passed.
    Woooh! Wooooh!
The train whistle
blew, the ground vibrating like a 6.0 earthquake.
    When the ground stopped shaking I made sure
the train was gone, climbed out of the ditch, then went to find my
penny. It took me a while, but I located the smashed penny with
Abraham Lincoln’s head smeared like an alien. It was perfect! It
would make a great addition to my collection of other smashed
coins. Collecting these coins was something all the kids in the
village did. Every Saturday we would all meet to show them off and
make trades. I am proud to say I had one of the finest collections
in town.
    Running to the canal, I was surprised to see
an ambulance, a fire truck, and several police cars parked in the
area. I slowed down when I saw a big crowd of people gathered by
the bridge.
    As I was walking toward the scene to find out
what was going on, someone grabbed me by the arm. I spun around to
see Mr. Swindle from the drugstore. There was a look of concern on
his face that he quickly masked with a smile.
    “ Hey, Jack! I want to show you
something.”
    Naturally, I asked what was going on down at
the canal.
    “ Oh that. There was a car crash or
something. Don’t worry! They have to send all these people out here
as an extra precaution,” Mr. Swindle explained. “Come with me, I’ve
got a new candy I want you to try!”
    I looked back at the canal, but candy was
candy. I followed him into the drugstore to get his treat. Mr.
Swindle was a very thin man of average height who wore
circle-rimmed spectacles that defined his narrow face, which made
him look very sophisticated. Behind his glasses were a set of blue
eyes, the kind that were comforting to look at.
    I met him one day when I was looking for odd
jobs to support my growing addiction to candy. Mr. Swindle was so
impressed he gave me a part-time job. Our friendship blossomed from
there.
    Pointing at the new candy he said, “You can
have as many as you want, however, you have to eat them
here.”
    I supposed it was some kind of test to find
out which version of the candy would be the best seller. There was
a huge array of sugary treats surrounding the counter which were
enough to get my mind off of the ruckus at the canal. I saw Mr.
Swindle keeping one eye on my candy testing, and the other on the
commotion outside. Something was going on that he didn’t want me to
know about.
    When the last police car finally cleared out
Mr. Swindle said, “Hey, you know what? I’ve got some cleaning to
do. Why don’t you grab yourself a handful of candy and go
play?”
    “ Okay, Mr. Swindle! Thanks!” I
replied stuffing my pockets with candy.
    I ran out of the store looking for Jim. I
didn’t find him that day, or the next. More than a week had gone by
since we landed the world’s biggest catfish, and I was really
concerned. I visited the canal every day looking for Jim, but he
was nowhere to be found. I started asking around town to see if
anyone had seen him.
    I even asked my mom if she would help me look
for Jim. She told me in no uncertain terms to stay away from the
men