“I might need algebra someday.” Because maybe he would be an engineer. Pete wasn’t an idiot; he knew he wasn’t really going to be the toughest shamus west of the Potomac when he grew up, and he probably wasn’t going to play second base for the Washington Senators, either (his other fantasy). “Dad always said when I went to Johns Hopkins like him—” “Oh, sweetie. You aren’t going to college.” Seeing the look on his face, his mother came over and rubbed his shoulder. “You think I could afford that? A woman alone? Times are hard.”
