Part 3I Swallowed the Fifty Thousand Dollar Coin

Mom didn’t give me a chance to get near the oven. She shoved me out of the way, grabbed the ladle, and started furiously searching the water. She was trying to identify the coin’s location.

But submerged in the water, they all looked the same. Even with her laser-like focus on the one she watched me make, she couldn’t tell it apart.

Infuriated, she turned her anger on me.

“Look at the way you cook! It took so long to boil them. How much electricity did you waste?”

I simply let out a slow breath and didn't reply.

Finally, her eyes brightened. She must have identified one of the Croissant, because she quickly scooped it out, put it in a bowl, and visibly relaxed.

She glared at me, then rushed out and placed the bowl she’d carefully selected right in front of me.

“Jenna, eat up while they’re hot!”

The others were distributed haphazardly among the rest of the family. Only mine was chosen with meticulous care.

I curved my lips into a slight, bitter smile of sarcasm. I poked the Croissant open and put it in my mouth. A sudden, sharp CLINK echoed through the dining room.

Mom’s face lit up with triumph.

“Aha! See? I knew it! Our Jenna is still the luckiest one! Since it’s you, the Fifty Thousand Dollars is all yours, dear!”

I spit the half-chewed Croissant plate and held it out to her, looking perfectly innocent.

“But Mom, I didn’t find the coin.”

My parents’ faces drained of color. Even whiter than theirs was the absolutely frozen expression on my brother, Jake.

I turned and pointed to him. “It looks like Jake is the luckiest one this year, Mom. So, I guess I’m off the hook for the fifty grand.”

Jake immediately spit the coin into his bowl and started screaming at Mom.

“How could you have given it to me! This is fifty thousand dollars! I can’t afford that!”

Dad quickly pulled Jake into a hug, soothing him.

“Easy, easy. Of course, you won’t pay. You’re too young. You just focus on school, son. Don’t you worry about this.”

Mom immediately jumped in. “That’s right! Fifty thousand is too much for you. You don’t have to pay!”

I had been prepared to feel a flicker of relief, but their words shocked the air out of my lungs. I started trembling with rage, no longer able to suppress the scream building inside.

“Why does he get a pass? When I was thirteen and found the coin, you made me pay three thousand dollars! I still had to do it!”

“Why is he suddenly exempt?”

Jake pouted and started rubbing his eyes, faking tears, but the look he flashed me was pure, malicious triumph.

Mom’s eyes went cold, and her voice was laced with resentment.

“Your brother is still a child. He can’t handle fifty grand. If someone has to pay, I’ll cover two hundred dollars for him.”

Cover it for him?

When I was thirteen, she had never uttered those words. Back then, her face was ice-cold. “We will not pay it for you. You will gather that money, even if you have to scavenge for cans, or we will disown you.”

But now, she was offering to cover him, and only for two hundred dollars.

Tears fell like rain. It took me several choked attempts before I could speak through my sobs.

“No! He has to pay the fifty thousand! If he doesn’t have it, he has to earn it, just like I did! He can scavenge for money!”

Mom bit down on her cheek and viciously grabbed my arm, twisting it hard.

“Why are you being so stubborn, you worthless girl! That was years ago! Your brother can’t scavenge for money! What would people say about us?”