and land, along with your other friends’ houses, are not owned by us anymore.” He held up an official looking document with paragraphs and paragraphs of legal text.“ The company, Byrin Industries, wants to demolish our houses to make a new building.”
“ They can’ t do that!” Jacob burst out,“ Making a... a... a skyscraper in the middle of town!” Jacob went on“ And how do they even own our houses and land?” Jacob looked quizzically at his parents,“ You didn’ t sell it to them, did you?”
“ No, we didn’ t sell it,” Jacob’ s mother said sadly,“ It turns out we never owned the house at all.”
“ How?” Jacob asked.
“ There were no land deeds, documents, or anything to prove we owned it,” Jacob’ s father said,“ I found that very suspicious, especially when I knew I had seen them four years ago.”
“ Is there anything we can do about it?” Jacob asked. His parents sadly shook their heads.
“ I am afraid not,” his father replied,“ You see, without the land deeds, we can’ t...” He was interrupted by the doorbell. Jacob rushed to the door, hoping to see one of his friends. Instead, he saw a tall man with stark features wearing a business suit.
“ Hello child,” the man said,“ I am Mr. Esell” Mr. Esell straightened his tie and went on“ Are your parents home?” Without waiting for an answer, he strode through the door and brushed past Jacob. He had an air of importance and a slight oily feel as he walked by made you want to wash your hands afterwards. He walked into the kitchen and Jacob heard his father say something muffled.“ The company and I are very sorry that we can’ t offer you any compensation for the loss of your house,” Mr. Esell said. Jacob noticed that he didn’ t seem to have his briefcase with him.
Thinking that maybe he could do something, Jacob looked around for the briefcase. There! Jacob rushed to the chair that it had been laying on. He opened the lid and reached inside. Instead of grasping the bundle of documents that he had expected, his hand closed around a small circular object. As he pulled it out, he saw that the object was a penny. Was this the“ compensation” that Mr. Esell had mentioned? Jacob put the penny in his pocket and was going to search the rest of the briefcase when a hand reached down and grabbed his shoulder.