A Penny for Your Thoughts

by Timothy Paterson

teacher would not answer the question aloud, but he was hoping that she would think the answer, and he would read her thoughts.

  “Just take the test and be quiet, Mr. Perkins” said Mrs. Castle. But what she thought was; “Don’t worry, Mr. Perkins, no matter how bad you do on the test, I’ll give you a passing grade, because I don’t want to deal with the principal or Coach Brown, if you can’t play in the big game on Friday. I know that you can do the work, but sports are so much more important.”

  Randy really felt bad. “Did all of his teachers feel this way about him?” he wondered.

  At lunchtime, Donna met Randy in the cafeteria. “I forgot to bring money for lunch,” she told Randy. “Could you buy me lunch today?”

  For an instant, Randy was about to say yes, but instead, he said; “I’m sorry Donna, I only have enough for me.

  “What a cheapskate!” thought Donna “Your dad is a dentist. Your family is loaded.” However, what she actually said, was; “It’s okay. I’ll just ask someone else.” After Donna walked away, Randy watched as she reached into her purse and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill, to pay for her lunch.

  At that moment, Randy had had enough. He walked over to Donna and told her; “Donna, I think that we should give each other some breathing space.”

  “Are you breaking up with me?” asked Donna. “Yeah, I guess I am” he answered. As Donna walked away, with her nose up in the air, she thought; “I can do so much better than you, anyway. Anybody would be lucky to date me.”

  “What did I ever see in her?” Randy said aloud. “Am I as superficial as she?” he wondered. Then, as Randy walked past Monica, he heard her thoughts. “All right, Randy, there’s hope for you yet.”

  Randy turned around and asked Monica; “Do you mind if I eat lunch with you?”

  Monica smiled at him and said; “Not at all”. While they ate lunch, Randy asked Monica many questions about her, and did not say one thing about himself.

  When the last bell of the day rang, Randy headed to the locker room to get changed for basketball practice. Before the team began practicing, Coach Brown gave them a pep talk about Friday’s game, which was only a day away. He told everybody to try to get the ball to Randy, if they could.

  “Why don’t we let Randy play the game by himself?” thought Brad, if he’s so phenomenal, he doesn’t need us.”

  “All Randy ever does is shoot baskets” thought John.

  “He never passes the ball to anybody else.” “I’m so sick of hearing that name all of the time” thought Kenny, “Randy, Randy, Randy.

  “I thought that this was a team,” thought Dave. “I will be so glad when Randy graduates. Then, maybe next year, I’ll get a chance to play.”

  Randy finally knew what his teammates thought about him. He wanted to know what Coach Brown really thought about his skill. “Coach?” he asked, “Is this game really that important?”

  “Randy” said Coach Brown; “there will be scouts from several universities watching this game. This is a huge opportunity for you”. “And for me as well” thought Coach Brown. “If this team wins the game, maybe one of those universities will realize how good of coach I am and give me the chance to coach a real team, not this pathetic bunch of losers.”

  Randy’s opinion of the coach was shattered. The coach was only interested his own career. The other players all resented Randy. Randy was feeling depressed when his mom picked him up after practice. He realized what a jerk he had been to everyone. When his mom asked him how practice was, he answered; “It was okay, I guess. How was your day, Mom?” As she talked, Randy listened with genuine interest.

  It was five thirty p.m. when they got home, and Mrs. Perkins suddenly realized that she had not started dinner, and she still had to go to the store and buy groceries. “Randy, could you please get dinner started while I’m out shopping?” asked his mom. “Your father will be home at seven and you know how he gets if dinner isn’t ready.” Randy told his mother that he would take care of dinner.

  “Can I go to the store with you?” asked Annie.

  “Don’t you want to stay here with Randy?” asked Mrs. Perkins.

  “Why?” thought Annie. “Randy can’t stand being in the same room with me. He hates me.”

  “Come on, Annie” said Randy. You and I will make a terrific dinner. How about it?”

  “Okay” said Annie with a big smile on her face.

  After their mother left, Randy looked in the refrigerator and freezer to see what ingredients he had to work with. He and Annie decided to make oven baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and seasoned mixed vegetables, with peach cobbler for desert. As they began cooking, Randy remembered how much fun he had as a child when he helped his mother cook. He realized that he still loved doing it. He made changes to every recipe that he used to cook the dinner, adding different ingredients and seasonings.

  Annie thoroughly enjoyed being with Randy, as they cooked, and talked and laughed. “I’m sorry that I haven’t had much time for you lately,” Randy told his sister. “I forgot how much fun you were.”

  “I thought that you hated me,” said Annie.

  “I’m sorry for making you feel that way,” said Randy. “I love you very much. You’re the best little sister in the entire world.”

  Annie hugged Randy and said, “I love you too.”

  “Let’s make dinner really fancy,” said Randy. Then, he and Annie put a nice tablecloth on the table, with cloth napkins, the special dishes and silverware. They even put candles on the table.

  Mrs. Perkin s arrived home at six forty-five, and Randy and Annie put away the groceries and told her to rest in the living room while they put dinner on the table. Dr. Perkins walked in the front door, just as Randy set the platter of chicken on the dining room table. When Dr. Perkins saw the tablecloth and the candles, he complimented his wife on how nice the table looked. She started to tell her husband that she had not set the table, but Randy stopped her.

  As they ate dinner, Randy and Annie could tell that their parents really enjoyed it. As he was finishing his peach cobbler, Dr. Perkins looked at his wife and said; “Ellen, this is the most delicious meal that you have ever made. It is even better than a four star restaurant.

  Mrs. Perkins could not take credit for a meal that she did not cook and she confessed; “I didn’t make the dinner, Bill. Randy and Annie cooked the dinner and set the table.”

  “Actually” said Annie, “Randy was the chef. I was just his helper.” “You did a great job, Randy,” said his father.

  After dinner, Randy and Annie cleaned up the kitchen and then Randy told his father that there was something he needed to speak to him about. When Randy and his father were alone in the den, Dr. Perkins asked; “What’s on your mind, Randy?”

  “Dad” said Randy. “I do not want to hurt your feelings, but I do not want to be a dentist. I know that you were hoping that I would join your practice some day, but, I’m just not interested in Dentistry.”

  “So, what do you want to do with your life?” asked his father, “just play basketball?”

  “No” said Randy. “In fact, I think that my basketball career is about to come to an abrupt halt tomorrow. I am not sure what I want to do yet. I forgot how much I love to cook. I may be a chef, or I may do something else. But, whatever I decide to do, I will do it because I am good at it, and I enjoy it.”

  Then, Randy said something that his father rarely heard him say; “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a lot of homework to do. Then, I want to spend some time with Annie. I have been neglecting her and I want to make it up to her.”

  “What if Donna calls?” asked his father, somewhat sarcastically.

  “You don’t have to worry about her calling anymore,” said Randy. “I broke up with her today. I finally saw her for who she really is.”

  That
night, after Randy went to bed; he lay there, thinking about his life and he realized that he no longer cared for the life that he used to have. He was determined to become a better person.

  Dr. Perkins walked into Randy’s room, and Randy pretended to be asleep. He did not want to talk to his father any more that evening. As his dad stood there, looking in at his son, Randy read his thoughts, and became even closer to his father. “Randy” thought his father, “If you only knew how much I admire you for standing up to me. If I had stood up to my father, I would never have become a dentist. Who knows, I may have even have become a professional baseball player. I do love you, son, and I am so proud of the man that you have become. I wish that I could show you how much I love you. My father never told me that he was proud of me and was not affectionate at all. It’s hard for me to show you how much I love you.”

  After Randy’s father closed his door, Randy started crying. His dad had never told him that he was proud of him before, and he was not very affectionate. However, now, Randy knew how much his father really loved him.

  The next morning, before his dad left for work, Randy told him that he was sorry if he ruined his plans for a father-son dental practice. “Dad” said Randy, “no matter what happens, I’ll always be your son, and I will always love you.” Then, Randy hugged his father.

  It seemed like slow motion, as Dr. Perkins wrapped his arms around his