The Money Changers
All lights red. We were standing between the double-tracks of the Canadian National main line, about a mile west of the Kingston train station. The signal lights, three to a standard, one standard on each side of the tracks for a total of six lights, were a short distance beyond the station. Steve handed me a stick of Doublemint. I unwrapped it, folded it into my mouth, and began to chew. Steve was never without candy. He lived around the other side of the crescent, and we would walk to high school together. He always had five dollars for his daily candy stash. Each morning, our first stop was the corner store, so he could load up. Back in the early 1970s five dollars was a lot of money. And candy was cheap. He would emerge with a paper sack stuffed with an assortment to get him through the day. Rolo caramels, Hall’s mints, Twizzlers, Caramilk bars, Peppermint patties, an assortment of gum - everything sweet. Steve was not pudgy or overweight, he was tough,