The Coin

Gary Craver’s auction hall was engulfed in searing, rising orange flames that emitted pale gray smoke that blanketed the surrounding area. The firefighters rushed towards the flames, sirens ringing throughout the city, the sound bounced off the brick walls of the building amplifying the bells. They rushed around like ants around their meal, organized but scattered as they struggled to put on heavy vests and protective gear. They had one task in mind, to save the antiques.

The antique items range from two hundred thousand dollars maps, up to six hundred million dollars paintings. They are very well insured but still they were hired by the owner of the building to save what can be saved. At this time no one knows if this was caused by an arsonist, or it was a horrible accident.

The fire went on for hours, people gathered around hypnotized by the lights starred in disbelief as the police pushed them back to get out the way, but they were unsuccessful as people pulled out their phones to document the beauty of this fire. It seemed breathlessly elegant, and it rose and danced but did not scorch the surrounding buildings, as if it was only meant for that building.

What felt like hours for the firefighters the flames died down to a simple but chokingly thick grey smoke. They rummaged through the ashes that were once gold-plated chairs and tables to find bits and pieces of antiques to bag up and hand over to the police.

Anthony Davenport, six feet two inches, was the perfect height to examine the walls as even the wallpaper was supposedly important to the owner. As he scraped off the thinned charred wallpaper to bag, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed a gold shimmer under the wreckage that was seemingly unaffected by the fire. Curiosity wins, he reaches over and picked it up. Through his fogged goggles he brushed off the remaining airy ash with his thick gloves to reveal a brilliant shimmering gold coin with a symbol on the front, a raised line with four lines pointing to different directions the asymmetry of the symbol was amazing, he turned to see that the same symbol was identical on both sides of this coin.

“Tony!”

He jumped and proceeded to pocket the coin.

“We have to go, you bagged everything you need to?”

He was unable to see properly to address him back. “Sure, I’ll be out.” Walking out of the now darkened room with charred walls, he contemplated bagging the coin, but he was entranced by it and decided very swiftly that he would just take it home and see what to do with it next.

When they reached the station, Anthony pocketed the coin into his khaki shorts. His twenty-four-hour shift was finally over, he had so much to do but first he needed gas for this ram pickup seeing he didn’t need to drive yesterday, and he is sure his wife wants to go places today.

At the gas station, his massive truck almost took up two pumps, so he inched forward to give space for the next car. His bank is taking forever to send him the updated card with the tap feature, so he had no choice but to walk into the station to purchase about eighty dollars worth of gas. Walking in being as tall as he was, he was able to look over the short shelves, thinking about getting a snack he picks up two Slim-Jims and a Red Bull for breakfast. He waited in line as the person in front of him was purchasing scratch cards. Once done and it was his turn, he felt like buying a scratch card as well.

“Eighty-two dollars on pump 6 and may I have a scratch card as well?” Anthony said as he placed his slim Jim’s and red bull on the counter for the attendant to see.

 “I’m sorry sir but scratch cards can only be purchased with cash.” he said, staring directly into Anthony’s Oakley sunglasses as if trying to see him through them. He did not have any cash on him, he still searched his pockets, to act out the search. He hasn’t taken around cash since he was robbed at a corner store when he was twenty-five. He reached the pocket with the coin, he felt the ridged edge then beside it, the sharp edge of paper he pulled it out to see it was a crisp twenty-dollar bill folded but looked as if it was freshly minted.

“I guess I can get a $20 one then.” He smiled handing over the bill to the attendant who in turn gave him a random card then separately rang up his other items and gas.

After pumping a full tank, he got to his truck and proceeded to use his fingernail to scratch the card. He wanted to know if he was as lucky as he was today upon finding a brand new twenty-dollar bill in his pocket.

Eight.

The number emerged from the silver latex that was scratched off.

Eight?

Eight??

Anthony paused, three eights. That was enough to get five hundred dollars one more eight and he will win 10 million. He took a deep breath as he slowly etched at the latex, that gave way to the last number.

Eight.

He felt his heart jump, he didn’t even wait to put on his seat let as he bolted out of the gas station to get home to tell his wife, the scratch card safely laid on his lap.

He got home to his wife curled up on their tan polyester love seat. She had on Christmas pajamas, the ones they brought to make a silly Christmas card last year, her decision, she was the witty one. Leaning over her, he shoved the card into her face.

“Anthony stop I’m trying to watch Survivor.” She pushed away his hand, but then noticed the scratch card. She knew her husband does not get excited easily and he does invasive things when he is excited such as shoving a card in her face. Curious, she took it from him to see the same number in repetition. She got to her feet and looked at him.

“What does this mean?!” she screamed with a mix of excitement and fear.

“We won ten freaking million dollars!!”

They both yelled as they were sure that the neighbors could hear them and might call the cops because that is what they do. Being surrounded by older couples, loud noise will get a cop knocking at your door in minutes.

A million-dollar home, a butterfly door tesla van, and a gray BMW later, they were enjoying their lives. Eating at places they had to pass up because a fire fighter’s wage is a live comfortably wage not a, I do not have to look at the price tag wage. Anthony kept the coin in a glass cage he got from Saks fifth and Avenue, it sat there the gold weekly polished he kept it knowing that it was because of this coin he had his string of good luck. He took it around with him when needed and money flowed to him.

“ANTHONY!!” His wife bellowed from the top of the stairs. He freaked out and skipped a few stairs to get up to her. He saw her on the bed, she was covered with the white duvet. Upon seeing him she pulled off the duvet to see her stomach was swollen large pushed out and almost to her knees.

“Take me to the doctor now” Her voice was a whisper crack, he didn’t hesitate to rush to her aide as he helped her down their stairs and into the Tesla.

“You are pregnant”

Anthony looks at his wife as he sees her eyes agape and glazed, her mouth ajar. “That’s impossible I wasn’t pregnant yesterday.”

The doctor look at Anthony for reassurance he must think she is crazy, “she is right we went to bed last night around one am, and she was not pregnant.”

Bewildered, grew on his face like a map, he looked at the sonography machine, at the dimly lit orange and black incoherent images of a baby? “Well, you are about nine months pregnant?” His voice trailed into confusion.

 “We can’t have a child, we physically can’t, my tubes are tied, and he had a vasectomy.”

“Well, you are not having a child you are having four children.”

Anthony feet felt weak as he sat in the brown with metal handle visitor chair in the ultrasound room. The doctor saw the atmosphere and took his leave.

“I’ll give you a chance to talk things over.” He said, voice sarcastic before leaving.

Anthony looked over at his wife on the hospital bed, her stomach raised upwards like a little mountain, filled with people. Her face was pale, and he knew why, his heart sunk when he remembered the reason they decided to not have children, well this way anyways, they wanted to adopt. She has a clotting disorder, which makes her incapable of having any surgeries or even having children in order to spare her life. He knew that looking at her she was having an anxiety attack internally. He jumped out of his thought when his wife yelled at the top of her lungs. He stood up swiftly to see clear liquid like water pouring down from the bed where his wife lay. A couple of nurses hurried in with blankets, they held her up and started to speak but he was unable to hear their whispers over his wife’s screams. They then started to roll her out of the room.

“Wait where are you taking her?”

The doctor from before held him back as he was following the rolling bed out of the room. “She is having the baby, you can come with me.”

Anthony followed the doctor as, he pushed a blue apron looking gown in his hands and said “wear this with the hair net and the gloves then go through the doors once you are done.” He left through the white door to the other side he heard his wife screaming. Something felt off, or wrong about the situation, he pulled over the gown over his head swiftly then rushed into the room.

“Sorry you can’t come in.”

“Wait why?” He looked behind the nurse that was blocking him, blood on the floor, his wife was no longer screaming. “Let me in to see her!” He didn’t want to push the nurse to have another issue on his hands. He stormed out, held his head and he felt a mixture of nausea and a headache crawl through his body.

Minutes swiftly turned into hours as the doctor from before walked slowly up to him. Anthony tried to read his face before he got there, his mouth skewed, eye stoic without any care. Anthony felt it in his chest, it was going to be bad news. The doctor walked in closer but stood away at least five feet away instantly creating a wall that separated them. Anthony was the only one in the waiting room surrounded by grief posters, he half wished that the doctor wasn’t going to talk to him. He stood at his feet towering over the short doctor.

“Just tell me.”

The doctor physically gulped his neck moved as if in thought on how to deliver the message. “I’m so sorry Mr. Davenport. But we tried to save her, but the bleeding did not stop, and the transfusion didn’t work.”

Anthony inched closer which made the doctor physically step back, “y’all knew that she has this condition. Did you cut her?!”

“All the babies were breached which was odd we gave her a transfusion, but she continued to bleed out, I am so sorry. We can get someone to come talk to – “

Anthony pushed past, ignoring the doctor to go home.

As soon as he reached his huge home, it felt emptier than usual. The walls echoed an eerie howl throughout the rooms. He sat on the bed that they shared yesterday before everything happened. He felt as if he had died alongside her, his chest ached a pounding pain when the phone rang. Reached over he held the phone to his ear.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Davenport, I have bad news….”

Anthony listened, he was unable to hold onto his sanity and now he had more bad news for his mental inventory. The investment he was all in to grow his money fell and he lost it all, he checks his bank account to find that he was emptied. Due to the time of day, he was unable to reach the bank to find out the way and what happened.

Upset, he got up and in a blink of an eye he threw everything in eyesight to the ground. He lost it all in a matter of twenty-four hours, his wife, his money and soon his home. He went over to the clear case and saw the coin which he pocketed, he was ready to get rid of it.

The next morning, Anthony spent no time making his way downtown and into a pawn shop. Walking in he saw a few people looking around and a few others hackling the workers selling fake items for prices of the originals.

“May I help you sir?” a man with a smooth almond skin tone smiled at him.

Anthony took out the coin from his pocket and placed it on the glass counter, which covered a glittering array of fake and possibly real rings. “How much can I get for this here?”

The man’s face instantly went pale as he looked down at the coin, he did not touch it, he only looked back at Anthony and asked, “where the hell did you get this?”

Anthony knew that he stole it from the antique place and didn’t want to expose himself for being a thief. “It was given to me by a friend.”

“Well, it is apparent that this friend hates you, that is an ancient symbol that dates all the way back I think about… six hundred years….”

“How do you know this” Anthony said a bit skeptical. How did he find a person that even knows what this is, it’s not like it a popular art like the Mona Lisa.

“It dates back in my family history, I have seen this in books, Aztecs I believe. All I know from my grandfather is that this, this symbol, this coin brings about bad luck. You must willing accept it or find it and accept it mentally into your life.”

Anthony pushed it towards the man who stepped back a bit,” then how do I get rid of it?”

The man sighed and crossed his arm as is comforting himself from his answer, “you can leave it on the ground and hope someone finds and accepts it or for a faster response … give it to someone and they accept it with you knowing that it will very well ruin their lives, they might even die.”

Anthony grabbed the coin, squeezed it in his hands, he stormed out of the pawn shop, thoughts ran throughout his mind of how to get rid of this coin. Stepping outside, the air felt heavier as he knew what he must do next. Doing so will knowing not bring back his wife, his old job, his –

“Can you spare a dollar?”

Turning to his left he saw an older man on the street, sitting hands cupped before him he was begging, dirty, hopeless. Anthony reaches out, begging, angry, hopeless, “Would you like this gold coin its real, and I am feeling generous today.”

The man’s eyes widened, the bags under them lifted, his grey-like complexion lit immediately. “Yes please.”

Anthony handed it to the man, he felt a metaphorical weight rose from his body. He watched as the man wobbled to his feet bowed several times praising him then walked down the street. Anthony turned back on his path.

“He was homeless anyways.” he said, placing his hands back into his pockets and walked away.