asn't involving Frank's family, the situation made comical sense. Frank, one of Mickey Spellacy's good friends, was very aware of Mickey's family dropping like flies to the consumption. Mickey had yet another dying family member ~ his sister, Brenda. When fate twists, and Mickey dies not Brenda , Frankie is upset because Mickey doesn't deliver his promise of cake and cookies at Brenda's wake.
             "...We'll go back to St. Joseph's and pray that from now on everyone in Mickey Spellacy's family dies in the middle of the summer, and he'll never get a day off from school again for the rest of his life.
             One of our prayers were surely powerful, because next summer Mickey is carried off by the galloping consumption himself and that will surely teach them a lesson.
             Frankie's innocence never plays too deeply in
             ...