When I was a kid, my best friend was a boy named Alan. He lived across the street and came from a family of nine – good Catholics all. Since I was an only child, each venture to his house was an excursion into an alien world!
Alan and I got into a lot of trouble together through the first 10 years of our lives. He had a talent for setting me up at times and then mysteriously disappearing when dues were to be paid or an angry parent was to be confronted. But several times, we both got into trouble together.