Keepers
When I was a little kid, I kept them in jars. All commons, bought with my allowance or pennies I snitched from Mom’s cup of change. Don’t look at me like that – five year olds can’t tell the difference between commons and the real beauties.
I first started playing for keeps when I turned six. I know some kids play for fair, but that’s ’cause they ain’t any good at it. Competition builds skill, you know? Good thing I had all those commons, I guess, since I wasn’t any good at all then either. Gotta practice somehow, and that’s about all commons are good for.
Eventually, I got good enough that Pops wouldn’t play me any more. He just didn’t have a head for strategy, and I figured out the angles. He didn’t have anything really good either, but a kid’s got to start somewhere. Only then could I start my real collection.
I spent a week walkin’ around the block the summer I was seven, sizin’ up the other kids. Figurin’ out who had the nicest, shiniest ones, and who could knuckle down the best. I watched him for days and I knew I could take him down. So I took three whole jars down to the store and traded ’em in for five of the prettiest ones I’d ever owned, and then I challenged him. He laughed at me until I pulled out one of ’em and put it down on the line. He got two of mine and I walked away with all of his.
Next day, he found me and asked for ’em back. I tossed him the chalk, and got my two back and more of his. That’s how the rest of the summer went, until I had jars of nothing but shiny and I had to walk over to the next three blocks to find kids who still had ones I wanted to have.
Good thing Mom never found out about that, ’cause she woulda had my hide for that.
Two years later, Pops took me out on the circuit. Traveling from town to town, lining ’em up and knockin’ em out. He kept the money, I kept the shinies. Traded ’em up when I could, until all I had were the real beauties and shiny glass cases to keep em in.
Look at ’em all, kid. Someday they’re all gonna be …. what’s that? Nobody plays marbles anymore? What’s wrong with you kids these days?
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