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boyhood, and just mumbled. "A slight case of the blues--I'll get over it."
"Ha ba," the under-secretary chuckled lightly, "I thought the blues were

only symptomatic of blacks, the lower class, and musicians."
Rufus threw the telephone at him, hitting him on the right shoulder. "I

quit," he giggled.
He ran out into the middle of the sales floor of Sears-White Oak, and

yelled, "KISS MY ASS. I'M GIVING THE HELL UP!" And he walked
out-shaking everyone's hand and politely saying, "Kiss my ass." Then,
winking, he would add, "All of you."

His decision was made, he would live for thrill only, and he would start
tonight. He lived in a neighborhood of upper-crust families, some making
around the forty-thousand dollars a years he was, some making up to two
hundred-thousand. One of these latter type of families lived next door to
Rufus. The wife had an amazing diamond necklace and all the gourmet
food she could eat. Rufus decided to steal that necklace for the hell of it.

He knew that the family would be gone to Ocean City, Maryland for two
days starting today, and he also knew their burglar alarm was only hooked
into the dead-lock bolt in the front door. The people had unbreakable win-
dows and only that one front door. All he had to do was cut through that
bolt, without cutting off the current, and he'd be in free.

He waited until dark, riding buses to nowhere while formulating his plan.
If anyone sat next to him on the bus he would ask them to kiss his ass.
They usually traded seats quickly.

He got off the bus near his home, and sneaked up to the door. He figured
that if anyone saw him, he could say he was feeding the neighbor's dog for
them. He had with him a hacksaw blade, a very thin strip of copper, and
a roll of tape. He sawed through the bolt very quickly until he was about
a sixteenth of an inch from getting through, inserted the strip, and finished
sawing the bolt. The copper strip was about three feet long, and keeping
one side touching the lock on the door, and the other to the plate on the
door frame, he opened the door and taped the metal strip into place. He
was incredibly methodical and he slipped into the front hall unnoticed.

Suddenly, he realized what he was doing, the first rational thought he
had had since chucking the telephone. Then, his world went to pieces; a
pistol shot rang out in the next room. He jumped three feet straight up in