第4部分(第2/7 頁)

s　school。　Had　I　lived　on　the　other　side　of　the　street；　I　would　have　gone　to　a　different　school；　with　kids　from　families　more　like　mine。　After　grade　6；these　kids　and　I　would　go　on　to　the　public　intermediate　and　high　school。　There　was　no　private　school　for　them　or　for　me。

My　dad　finally　put　down　the　paper。　I　could　tell　he　was　thinking。

〃Well；　son；〃　he　began　slowly。　〃If　you　want　to　be　rich；　you　have　to　learn　to　make　money。〃

〃How　do　I　make　money？〃　I　asked。

〃Well；　use　your　head；　son；〃　he　said；　smiling。　Which　really　meant；　〃That's　all　I'm　going　to　tell　you；〃　or　〃I　don't　know　the　answer；　so　don't　embarrass　me。〃

A　Partnership　Is　Formed

The　next　morning；　I　told　my　best　friend；　Mike；　what　my　dad　had　said。　As　best　I　could　tell；　Mike　and　I　were　the　only　poor　kids　in　this　school。　Mike　was　like　me　in　that　he　was　in　this　school　by　a　twist　of　fate。　Someone　had　drawn　a　jog　in　the　line　for　the　school　district；　and　we　wound　up　in　school　with　the　rich　kids。　We　weren't　really　poor；　but　we　felt　as　if　we　were　because　all　the　other　boys　had　new　baseball　gloves；　；；；y

new　bicycles；　new　everything。

Mom　and　dad　provided　us　with　the　basics；　like　food；　shelter；　clothes。　：；　But　that　was　about　it。　My　dad　used　to　say；　〃If　you　want　something；　work　for　it。〃　We　wanted　things；　but　there　was　not　much　work　available　for　9…　；　year…old　boys。

〃So　what　do　we　do　to　make　money？〃　Mike　asked。

〃I　don't　know；〃　I　said。　〃But　do　you　want　to　be　my　partner？〃

He　agreed　and　so　on　that　Saturday　morning；　Mike　became　my　first　business　partner。　We　spent　all　morning　ing　up　with　ideas　on　how　to　1'make　money。　Occasionally　we　talked　about　all　the　〃cool　guys〃　at　Jimmy's　beach　house　having　fun。　It　hurt　a　little；　but　that　hurt　was　good；　for　it　inspired　us　to　k