Pennies

I remember the pennies on the table,

me on one side counting, my father on the other.

There was not enough for two cokes

so he said we would just buy one.

But when he came out of the seven eleven,

he unzipped his jacket and pulled out another

and a bag of peanuts.

He told me a story about how he had gone in

once before and was accused of stealing a Pepsi

so now he stole something every time he went in.

For the principle he said.

His shirts were still immaculately white,

rolled three times each to the crook of his arm,

right below the needle marks.

We ate the peanuts and drank our cokes.

I was starting to know that not

eEverything he said was true.

Even now I still wonder whether he was

really wrongly accused of stealing a Pepsi,

or whether he was caught in the act.

Or whether any such thing happened at all.