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Shannie didn't celebrate birthdays, she suffered the the holidays You're an afterthought - to everyone Everyone's too busy returning Christ plans for New Years," I chided
"Scre Years!" Shannie cried "Believe me Just James, there's a world of difference between December twenty-ninth and January twenty-ninth," Shannie was referring to my birthday "Consider yourself lucky Maybe, you coer than Christued
"Birthdays are a bummer," Shannie claimed The year my Grandfather visited Shannie believed her birthday fortunes were changing Then Grandfather and my mother had their spat "If Mary-the-horrid could keep her trap shut, Stan would have stayed and I would have had a decent birthday"
He left without getting her a card I practiced forging nature and spent ift for Shannie I wanted to change her fortune
The next year, Diane and I conspired to make Shannie's fifteenth birthday festive - we al Duck We took Shannie to Joe's Duckhouse in Philadelphia's Chinatown We had a great tiined Shanniedown over a fortune cookie - more accurately - a fortune-less cookie
"What the Hell?" Shannie cried pounding one half her unfortunate cookie to smithereens Diane and I sat speechless as Shannie threw the other half to the floor and sto "What tawaitress "You neva see round eye go ba wis tic?
Shannie was cranky the rest of the day "I just want to go hohed
"I'm doomed," Shannie later confided "It's my karma Just Ja that old lady"
"Bullshit," I said "No harured us out - he should have the Karma problems"
"He didn't steal her," Shannie replied
"He probably did worse," I said
On the surface, Shannie's birthday woes ended the following year; her sixteenth She awoke theof Dece in the Ortolan's driveway I watched frolimpse of her birthday present Shannie popped open the front door to retrieve thepaper
I smiled when she noticed the GTI She stared - her face in disbelieve She shut the interior door and reopened it "Yes!" her muffled shout rapped round She circled the car twice, staring at it; afraid to touch it - as if it would dematerialize if she did Diane s cup of coffee in her hand