4 BREAKING THE NEWS

BREAKING THE NEWS That afternoon, Bean's dad wandered into the kitchen. "Holy moly cannoli, what are you eating?" he squawked. "Gmckr tnch" said Bean. Her mouth was, full. "Ff bplzrp npnd rr." "Graham cracker sandwich," explained Ivy. "With maple syrup and peanut butter." "Wow" said Bean's dad He sat down at the. table to watch.

Bean swallowed. It took a long time. Finally, she said, "Dad. Can we have some money?" "You get an allowance." Bean sighed. "No, I don't. Not for two more months. Don't you remember?" His eyes got narrow. He remembered. "Serves you right." Bean didn't want to talk about that. Quickly, she asked, "But what if I need some money?" "Earn it!" he said. "When I was a kid, I

didn't get extra money from my parents. If I wanted a comic book, I had to buy it myself. With money I earned myself." "But how did you make the money? Did you have a job?" "Sure. I had a bunch of jobs. I washed my father's car, for instance. And mowed the lawn. And vacuumed the house." He paused. "And there was the newspaper, too." Ivy and Bean looked at each other. Car, mouthed Ivy silently. "We'll wash your car for ten dollars," said Bean at once. "No," said her father. "What do you mean, no?" yelped Bean. "You just told us we should make money by washing cars." "Hello? Do you remember the time you washed the house? Do you remember what happened in the basement?" he said. "No water." Bean rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. Lawn." "Ha!" Her father snorted. "You think I'm

going to let you drive a lawn mower? Think again." "Vacuuming?" said Ivy. "Excuse me?" he said. "Aren't you the ones who vacuumed up the tuna salad?" Bean sighed deeply. "Fine. What was the newspaper?" "I made a newspaper," said Dad. He smiled.

"It was called The Explosion." "Cool! Did it explode?" Bean asked. That sounded like a pretty good newspaper. "No, no. That's just what it was called," her dad said. He leaned back in his chair and stared into space. "It was about all the stuff that happened in my neighborhood. You know, who'd gotten a dog, who'd fallen off their bike,

that kind of news." He started to look dreamy. "It was great. Everyone wanted it. I charged a quarter a copy. Which was a lot of money back then. I went to all the houses in my neighborhood. I remember exactly what I said, too. I said, 'Hello, I'm David. Do you want to know what's going on in the world around you? Subscribe to The Explosion and you'll learn about all the thrilling events that happen on Aspen Avenue. Plus, you'll be helping to keep a neighborhood child off the streets.'" "What's subscribe mean?" asked Ivy. "That means they gave me the money." Bean's dad still looked dreamy. "And then I brought them the newspaper when it was done."