10 Counting the Cash

CHAPTER TEN COUNTING THE CASH SIMON GOT THE teenager's attention. He pointed to the pile of eight pink plastic flamingos and said, "Three dollars each." The teenager thought that was fine and said, "I'll take two. And how about the comic books?" "How about twenty-five cents each?" "Sure." The mom stood by the flamingos and said, "I'LL take one of these too."

第十章数钱西蒙引起了少年的注意。 他指着那堆粉红色的塑料火烈鸟说：“每只3美元。” 少年觉得还好，说：“我要两个。 那漫画书呢？”“每人25美分怎么样？”“当然。” 妈妈站在火烈鸟旁边说：“我也要一只。”

She picked out a pink flamingo and handed it to her son. He started chewing on its yellow plastic beak for some reason. Some high school girls bought a bunch of Simon's dad's old shirts. They said they looked retro. We also sold a hose, one scooter, one table with folding legs, four more pink flamingos, one rake, almost all the comic books, one broom, some flowerpots, and one stepladder. It took over an hour. And by that time, Simon's dad was in Crown Point, Indiana. When we were sure nobody else was coming, we wiped everything down with wet towels and put it all back in the garage. It was a lot cleaner and there was a lot less stuff. Simon pushed the final thing—his broken bike— into the garage's farthest back corner. It was kind of sad and funny how the bike wobbled and clunked on its flat tires and dented wheel rims. After Simon leaned the bike against the wall, he joined Rosie and me. Simon pulled two big wads of money and a bunch of change out of his pockets. He dumped it all on the garage floor.

她挑了一只粉红色的火烈鸟递给儿子。 不知道为什么，他开始咬它黄色的塑料喙。 一些高中女生买了一堆西蒙爸爸的旧衬衫。 他们说它们看起来很复古。 我们还卖了一根软管、一辆摩托车、一张折叠桌、四只粉色火烈鸟、一把耙子、几乎所有的漫画书、一把扫帚、一些花盆和一个梯子。 花了一个多小时。那时，西蒙的爸爸在印第安纳州的克朗波因特。 当我们确定没有其他人来的时候，我们用湿毛巾把所有东西都擦干净，然后放回车库里。 那里干净多了，东西也少了很多。 西蒙把最后一样东西——他那辆坏掉的自行车——推到车库最远的角落里。 那辆自行车在瘪了的轮胎和凹了的轮辋上摇晃着发出低沉的声音，这让人感到有点悲伤和有趣。 西蒙把自行车靠在墙上后，他加入了罗西和我。 西蒙从口袋里掏出两大叠钱和一堆零钱。 他把东西全倒在车库地板上。

"How much do you think we made from the garage sale?" he asked, looking down and watching one of the quarters roll to a stop. "It looks like a lot." "It does," I said. "It's eighty-one dollars and seventy-five cents," Rosie said. "I kept track."

“你认为我们从车库拍卖中赚了多少钱？”他低头问道，看着其中一枚25美分的硬币滚动着停了下来。 “看起来很多。”“是的，”我说。 “81美元75美分，”罗茜说。 “我记下了。”

Simon and I knew we didn't need to count the money. If Rosie said it was eighty-one dollars and seventy-five cents, then it was eighty-one dollars and seventy-five cents. "How much is that for each of us?" asked Simon. And, of course, Rosie knew. She said, "It's twenty- seven dollars and twenty-five cents apiece. And we each made thirty-five dollars at the car wash. So that means we have sixty-two dollars and twenty-five cents each. That's a total of one hundred and eighty-six

西蒙和我知道我们不需要数钱。 如果罗西说它是81美元75美分，那么它就是81美元75美分。 “我们每人多少钱？”西蒙问。 当然，罗茜知道。 她说：“27美元25美分一张。 我们每个人在洗车时都赚了35美元。 也就是说我们每人有62美元25美分。 总共是186个

dollars and seventy-five cents." We all smiled at each other. It was a ton of money. "Will you two sort it all out and divide it and stuff?" Simon said and pointed down at the pile of money. "I'm going to get Mom so she can see the finished job." After Simon left, Rosie crouched down and started to separate the bills into stacks of singles, fives, and tens. But I stopped her. I grabbed her right hand. She looked up at me. I pointed toward the back of the garage and said, "I have an idea."

一元七十五美分。” 我们都相视一笑。 那可是一大笔钱。“你们俩能把这一切都处理好，分了吗？”西蒙指着那堆钱说。 “我去叫妈妈，让她看看完成的作品。” 西蒙走后，罗茜蹲下来，开始把钞票分成一摞一摞的、五摞的和十摞的。 但我阻止了她。我抓住她的右手。 她抬头看着我。我指着车库后面说：“我有个主意。”