text: Jeffery looked down at the quarter resting on his thumb. It wasn't much money, twenty five cents, yet it held far too much sway over his life. It was an old coin, scuffed and bent. Most of the silver plating had worn off. The copper underneath is clearly visible, not just along the edge like most coins but over almost every raised surface. It had been in his hands or in his pockets for more than fifteen years now. His father had given it to him. When he was young. He had tossed it to him as he walked out the door. He hadn't understood what 'Call someone who cares' meant, but his begging had fallen on deaf ears. He never saw that man again. He had taken a job. The quarter in his pocket. The family needed the money; his mother and sister were hungry. He was now the man of the house it was his job to provide. So he did. He never spent that coin though. Eventually his mother ran off. She had found somebody new, and she didn't want her children anymore. It was just him and his sister. Luckily, he found a second job and was able to keep paying rent. Food was a greater problem, but he made it. He had to skip a meal or two during the week but his sister always had something. That was what mattered. She did well in school, better then he had been doing before he was forced to leave. She still called him Dad even though he told her that he wasn't. It didn't bother him, he just had strong feelings about anything meaning 'Father' anymore. Still it made her happy. That was what mattered. His sister had grown up to be a wonderful young woman, honest and forthright. A bright and promising future lay ahead of her, and she took it. She got herself a better job than he had ever hoped for. She moved far across the country, a long way away from the rundown little apartment he could afford. She had shown him pictures of her new home. It was beautiful and in a nice neighborhood. He couldn't have been prouder. Eventually she found a partner. He had been scared she would run off like their Mother. She didn't, she had wanted him to walk her down the aisle. Her fiance wholeheartedly approved. That wasn't the only surprise though. They wanted him to move; to a home right next to theirs. They said it would be paid for until he found a job out where they were living. He hesitated. It was a difficult choice. He no longer enjoyed relying on others, but his sister wasn't an other; she was family So when his mother had shown up to the old apartment, the one he was moving out of, to ask for money. He had just the right amount for her. A flick of his thumb sent the battered old coin tumbling through the air. As she caught it he closed the door. Locking it as it clicked shut. He had more important things to do.