This chapter was written by that . annoying . kid
"Goddamn it!" Vern cried in dismay as he threw his hands above his head. Clothes were strewn everywhere across his room, his mattress had been flung upside down on his bed and every drawer had been pulled from their rails.
Vern was notorious in the Tessio household for losing things and it drove his mother wild with frustration. At least he wasn't a thug like his older brother, Billy he'd remind himself for comforting when the rest of his family would turn their back to him and roll their eyes at his usual vagueness but he couldn't help it. The more he tried to keep organised, the less it worked in his favour.
He was on his hands and knees searching for the same piece of paper he had in his hands just minutes ago, he swore he placed it neatly on his bureau but it wasn't there when he turned around. For the first time in months he'd finished an assignment on time, and it was the one time he'd lost it. Surely Mrs Coleman wouldn't buy his "My dog ate it" excuse again.
He had gotten the nickname Penny from his friends in grammar school for the time he'd lost his quart jar of pennies and almost lost his mind searching for them and in the privacy of his home, his own mother called him Daphne after 'Daphne the forgetful duck' who had lost her baby ducklings while she was shopping, only to find out that they were with the babysitter the whole time. She hoped to God that he wouldn't have kids and multiply anytime soon, he wouldn't know what to do with them.
He was startled from his own thoughts when the ball of his foot rolled underneath something curved on his bedroom floor. "What the fuck?" The almost fifteen year old mumbled in confusion when the rattle of a jar came from beneath his feet. He kicked at the old jam jar, a handful of pennies inside rattled as it rolled around underneath his sneaker.
Could it be? His eyes opened wide in shock, he couldn't believe it! Those pennies were nearly the death of him back a couple of years ago, they disappeared into thin air only because he lost the map and forgot where he hid them. He remembered the yellow lid on the jar, and he remembered the engraving of "Cottees" on the side of the clear glass jar.
He picked it up and shook it in his hand, it sounds like the same amount that was in there before he thought to himself and called for his mother. "Hey, Ma!"
He raced to the top of the staircase to see her running towards him, "What is it now, Vern?" She asked with an irritated voice as familiar music from her favourite T.V show played from the room behind her, he knew he had interrupted and was somewhat glad in a spiteful way.
He held out the jar to her where his mother rolled her eyes at him unimpressed, "Your father found them while he was cleaning the porch the other week. He told you he found them. Why don't you listen? I'll bet you found them on the floor in your bedroom where you threw them, Vern, how many times have I told you that the floor is not the garbage disposal!"
"Okay. Okay! You can go away now, I'll leave you alone." He snapped and turned his back to her, slamming his bedroom door behind him.
Mrs Tessio glared at the shut door as though she could see straight through it at him, his teenage hormones made him just as intolerable as he was moody. She growled in exasperation and headed on downstairs again mumbling to herself, "I thought we'd had enough trouble with Billy…"
Behind the door Vern gave her an animated F-You finger, something he would never dare do to in front of her unless he wanted to lose his hand. Damn, she was a bitch! He thought to himself.
There was a kind of relief and finality that he felt while holding the jar of pennies in his hands again. He looked down at them gleefully having already forgotten about his crusade to find his completed Environmental Studies assignment which was actually right where he first left it… downstairs on the dining table.