A Summer of Pennies

"Jen," Amy's voice echoed like she was speaking through a tin can, all distant and echoey, "have you found your bike?"

Moving the orange handset of her Garfield phone away from her ear, Jen stared at the receiver with a frown, "Do you have me on speaker? You sound faraway."

"Yeah, isn't it cool? I can brush my hair and talk at the same time. I love it."

Amy wrapped the cord of the phone around her finger, "I guess, but I can barely hear you."

"Just a minute," A moment later, her voice as clear as if she were sitting in the same room as Jen, Amy said, "Is this better?"

"Definitely."

"I turned off the speaker, but isn't it the coolest?"

"Yeah, but the sound stinks. Hey? I thought you were grounded from the phone, didn't your parents take it away."

Jen laughed, a loud squawk, "Yeah, but they're at work so I'm talking on dad's business phone. You know, the one in his office?"

"Cool, what's up?"

"Did you find your bike?"

"No, but I know who took it."

"The jerk?"

"Yeah, the big jerk. I saw him and Clarence in the alley by Ms. Gertie's. They were acting all weird. Laughing, high-fiving, and giving me the side-eye. Know what I mean?"

"Do I! Ms. Gertie? Isn't she the one that stands at the top of the hill and yells at you?"

"That's the one. Yesterday, she demanded I get a litter of stray kittens from her bushes. She threatened to poison them if I didn't."

"Did you?"

"I tried..."

"What happened?"

"I got a bunch of scratches, but my grandma left food for them. She told Ms. Gertie that she would handle it; she knew who to call."

"I thought Ms. Gertie and your grandma hated each other. That must have been tense."

"They weren't cussing at each other, but Ms. Gertie was like, 'You better get those beasts out of my bushes, Ethel."

"I bet your grandma liked that."

"She kept her cool, but I could tell she was mad. She told me to go home, but I heard her say to Ms. Gertie that if she had a problem to call her, I could have gotten seriously hurt."

"I can imagine Ms. Gertie's response."

"I didn't stick around to find out."

Jen let out another squawk of laughter, "Hey, you want to go get a soda at Polar Pantry?"

"I'd rather get some Now-and-Laters or maybe a twist cone at Frozen Splitz."

"Cool, on my way. We can check out the alley by Ms. Gertie's. Clarence lives a couple of doors down from her, we might find your bike."

"You'd think he'd be that stupid?"

"This is Clarence, duh."

Jen let out a giggle, "He's such a loser."

"Grade A."

"The porch door is unlocked, I'm gonna check around the house for some change."

"Check your dad's chair, he's always losing his pocket change."

"Or the laundry, my mom left a couple bucks in quarters in her pockets the last time I had to put a load in."

"Later."

"Later."