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I get up to leave withinto any faces so I won’t have to talk to anyone I ithattention to et I’ If Raffe is in the lunch crowd, I don’t see hiument with the bookie He deserves to lose that bet

I’s on uys step out fro boy-next-door s me

They’re identical twins Both look scrappy and strung-out in their dirty civilian clothes, but that’s not unusual these days No doubt I look just as scrappy and strung-out, too They’re barely out of their teens, tall and skinny with mischievous eyes

"Great job out there, chauy

"Oh, man, you really put old Jimmy Boden in his place," says the second one He’s practically bea "Couldn’t have happened to a better rin onthe frozen peas to my jaw

"I’m Tweedledee," says one

"I’m Tweedledum," says the other "Most people call us Dee-Dum for short since they can’t tell us apart"

"You’re joking, right?" They shake their heads in unison with identical friendly smiles They look more like a couple of underfed scarecrows than the chubby Tweedledee and Tweedledum I remember from childhood "Why would you call yourselves that?"

Dee shrugs "Neorld, new na"

"Those were our online naloo when the world was Tiffany-twisted and suburban-simple," says Dum "But now…"

"Not so much," says Dee "Death and destruction are so blasé"

"So mainstream"

"So in with the popular crowd"

"We’d rather be Tweedledee and Tweedledum"

I nod, because, what other response is there?

"I’m Penryn I’m named after an exit off Interstate 80"

"Nice" They nod as if to say they understand what it’s like to have parents like that

"Everyone’s talking about you," says Du didn’t really go off the way I had planned Then again, nothing in one the way I had planned

"Great If you don’tof frozen peas at them like a hat as I try to step between them

"Wait," says Dee He lowers his voice to a dramatic whisper "We have a business proposition for you"

I pause and politely wait Unless their proposition includes getting et me interested in any kind of business idea But since they aren’tout of my way, I don’t have much of a choice but to listen

"The crowd loved you," says Dum

"How about a repeat performance?" asks Dee "Say, for a thirty-percent take of the winnings?"

"What are you talking about? Why would I risk s? Besides,anymore"

"Oh, it’s not money," says Dum "We just use money as a shortcut for the relative value of the bet"

His face becoenuinely fascinated by the econo "You put your na on, say, a five-dollar bill, and that just tells the bookie that you’re willing to bet soreater value than a dollar bill, but less than a ten dollar bill It’s the bookie who decides who gets what and who gives what You know, like ets extra chores for a week Or if he wins, then he gets someone else’s rations to add to his, and someone else scrubs the toilet for him for a week Get it?"

"Got it And the answer’s still no Besides, there’s no guarantee I’ll win"

"No" Dee givesfor a guarantee that you’ll lose"

I burst out laughing "You want ht?"

"Shhh!" Dee looks around dras, and no one seereat," says Dum His eyes shine with mischief "After what you did to Boden, the odds will be so far in your favor when you fight Anita--"

"You want irl?" I cross ht, don’t you?"

"It’s not just for us," says Dee defensively "It’ll be a gift to the whole camp"

"Yeah," says Duot all that water and laundry suds?"

"Dreaet out," says Dee in a sing-song cadence

I stop My brain runs through half a dozen scenarios based on what he just said

"We can get the keys to your cell"