“Coach Miller said everyone needs solid soles for the cinder track.”

He turned the shoe toward me, showing where the black canvas upper had split completely away from the thick rubber base along the inner seam.

“How much are the regular track shoes at the county supply store?” I asked.

“Thirty-four dollars,” Ben said.

“They have the plain blue ones on the discount shelf by the register.”

I opened my billfold on the counter.

Three twenty-dollar bills sat in the leather slot, along with the forty-two-dollar grocery receipt from yesterday afternoon.