My Own Four Cents [2016]

Chapter 24: The Best Gift Ever

Just open it, I urge Tanisha. She holds a present in her hands, messily wrapped with heart wrapping paper.

It's not my birthday or anything, she says. Why are you giving me a present?

Just a friendship present. Please open it!

Tanisha slides her finger underneath the flap of wrapping paper and tears it open. I watch her eagerly.

Her face changes from confusion to surprise to excitement to ridiculous happiness. She holds up the present: a neatly typed up version of my newly finished book. On the front cover are the words The Life of Maria Valasquez.

Oh Maria, this is your story? Tanisha can barely sign, she's so excited.

Yes. It's not that good, but...

It's the best gift I've ever had. Thank you, Maria!

I raise my arms hopefully and she runs into them, hugging me with all her strength.

Tanisha can't stop smiling and neither can I. You should copy it and give a copy to the mixed sale!

It's not THAT good!

Let me read it. I'll tell you if it's "not that good".

I smile and watch her carefully as she reads. First she's smiling, then her eyes fill with tears. She's still smiling, but crying at the same time. That's so well written, Maria! she signs with shaking fingers. I love it! She reads on. When she reaches the part where I find out about my parents, she starts really crying. It's so sad, but really well written at the same time.

She likes the part where I tell the reader about her. I wasn't that awesome! You make me sound like a saint!

You were! You kept me from melting. I grin.

I'll read it, the whole thing, tonight at home! Tanisha promises. Thank you! Thank you so much! I'm so proud of you!

She hugs me again. Mom walks in on our hug. What's going on?

Tanisha grins and explains about my present. Mom asks for a copy too, and Tanisha offers to photocopy it for me and Mom and Dad. Then she runs to her parents.

The next day Tanisha brings me a copy of the book, and I share my feelings with her.

Not happy with the title.

Yeah... what do you think would be a better name?

Uh... how about 'My Awesome Friendship With Tanisha'?

Tanisha giggles. I mean real names, silly.

Liberty?

I don't know... what scene did you like? I liked the one about you finding the pennies.

How about Four Pennies?

Hmm... not that interesting.

I have this incredible idea. I want it to be about the penny scene, and there are four, and pennies are cents, and while a normal person has five senses (seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling), I only have four because I can't hear. So the title could be...

How about 'My Own Four Cents'?

Tanisha thinks. Hey, that's a great idea! Because you found four cents, and your family is poor, and you have only four senses, and you like to share your opinion. Like "my own two cents" except doubled. That makes cents!

I giggle at the fact that she spells it "cents" instead of "sense".

I can make a new front cover for it, okay?

I nod. Great!

Tanisha shows me how she puts photographs of four pennies from the Internet and puts them on the word website and prints the new title page. I think it looks great.

I'll show it to my parents! she says excitedly. They'll love it!

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Yeah, that is exactly how I thought of this story. Unlike some of my stories, I came up with the title before starting to write the story! On my story Dangers of Planet Earth, I wrote the first 30 pages before deciding what to call it! I came up with My Own Four Cents during *gasp* a horseback riding lesson. Surprise. There was this deaf girl from the same stable as me, and I was watching her do sign language (I couldn't read sign back then) and I thought, I wonder what she's saying. And just like that I thought, Hey! I can write a story about a deaf girl who does horseback riding! And I can call it My Own Four Cents! Because she can find four cents, and her family can be poor, and she has only four senses, and she likes to share her opinion. Like "my own two cents" except doubled. That makes cents!