Part 2I Swallowed the Fifty Thousand Dollar Coin

My eyes stung with the sudden threat of tears.

Why wouldn’t it be in his bowl? Why does it have to be mine?

My voice trembled as I stubbornly pushed for the answer I knew I’d never get.

“Why is it impossible for it to be in my brother’s bowl?”

It was then she realized she’d overreacted. She plopped back into her chair, cleared her throat, and offered a dismissive explanation.

“Oh, what else? Your brother isn’t the lucky one. You are.”

My father, Richard, scowled and tossed his spoon back into his bowl, his voice clipped with impatience.

“So where is the damn coin, then?”

He paused, then his eyes narrowed into a focused, scrutinizing glare aimed straight at me.

“Jenna Johnson, you didn’t just hide the coin so you wouldn’t have to pay the fund, did you?”

My eyes flickered away for a fraction of a second, but my father was too sharp. He caught it.

He shot a look at Mom. Before I could process it, she was on her feet, forcefully pulling my jaw open.

“Jenna, let me see. Did you hide it in your cheek?”

She ruthlessly pried my mouth open, her fingers digging into the tender flesh of my chin. The pain made me flinch, but she reacted instantly with a cuff to the side of my head.

“Hold still!”

When she found nothing in my mouth, she grabbed a spoon and stretched them toward my throat, rummaging deep inside. I dry-heaved repeatedly, tears finally streaming from the violation, but the search still came up empty.

Next, she moved on to a body search. Nothing.

Mom was furious. She delivered another stinging slap to my cheek and yelled the accusation.

“Jenna Johnson, where did you put that coin!”

My voice was a choked sob. “I don’t know where the coin is.”

The air thickened, and the game of hide-and-seek reached a dead end. No one could find the coin.

Jake, my brother, ever the quick thinker, piped up with an idea.

“Mom, since the coin is missing, why don’t we just make a new batch of Croissant? Maybe you just forgot to put the coin in the first one.”

My parents’ strained faces finally softened. Dad was quick with the praise for his favorite.

“That’s my boy! Smartest one here. The future head of this family!”

“That settles it. Let’s make another batch and see who gets the coin this time!”

Mom’s relief was total. “You’re right, you’re right! I must have forgotten to put it in the dough just now!” She immediately scurried into the kitchen to mix the dough.

I knew with absolute certainty that if she made them, the coin would still end up in my bowl.

So, I followed her into the kitchen and offered to take over.

But Mom recoiled immediately, putting on a show of false concern.

“No, no, darling. I misunderstood you earlier. You rest now. Mom will have them ready in a minute.”

“Go watch TV with your father.” She tried to usher me out, but I stood my ground.

“I want to make them this time.”

We stood at an impasse.

Dad’s voice boomed from the living room, “Are those Croissant done yet? It’s taking forever to boil one single thing!”

Mom looked at me, a silent war raging in her eyes, and finally conceded.

“Fine! Fine, you can make them!”

But it was only a half-concession. She stood right beside me the whole time, her eyes glued to the dough with the coin tucked inside. She was terrified I might switch it.

But I wasn’t trying to switch it. I just wanted to see what would happen when there was no human intervention. I wanted to know if I really was the lucky child.

Soon, the coin-bearing Croissant was lost among its brethren, dropped into the oven.

A few minutes later, they were done.