Confused about some lines of a sitcom The first scene is that the couple heard some noise sounds like a robber break in the house. The husband grabbed a gun and asked his wife where she hid the bullets. The wife said：“They're in the finger holes of your new bowling ball.” The father said：“Oh, this is real easy. This is much better than keeping them handy. Even an axe-wielding maniac deserves an even break.” I don't understand why did he say "Even an axe-wielding maniac deserves an even break." what does the "even break"mean? A fair chance? The second scene is that a girl gets angry with her brother because he said some things she wanted to keep secret. She said：“I thought we had code words for things like this. The brother said："We're late on our code payments." Did the brother mean that she should pay money to him if she want to keep secret?