no one could get away with calling god the father almighty a mean old son of a bitch , or suggest that the being who made the universe was no better than a mean third-grader who got his kicks ( a word that had just come into vogue that year ; `` kicks '' were something juvenile delinquents got when they were out breaking windows or shooting each other with `` zip guns '' or doing some vague thing or things with their `` debs '' -- -things banning equated for some reason with patty 's peter-pinches ) sticking pins into flies .