Coral watched how she spent every cent, especially when it came from The Man Upstairs. Since she was helping the neighborhood with his magical coins that fell from the heating vent into her apartment, she decided to spend some of his money to bake Hamantaschen cookies, Jewish fruit-filled butter cookies. She always thought they were tasty.
Her family was celebrating the holiday of Purim, where Queen Esther defeated the evil Haman, and the triangle-shaped Hamantaschen cookies signified Haman’s hat. She planned to share the sweets with friends and strangers. So, she woke up early on Saturday morning while her parents were still asleep. She had seen her mother make the cookies several times and felt confident that she could make them without a problem.
After she finished the batch of cookies and put them in the oven, she sat down to watch cartoons on the television. She set Puddles, her porcelain pink piggy bank, next to her on the couch. Then, she heard the clanking of more coins falling from the heating vent into her tin can. The Man Upstairs must have smelled the cookies and knew that Coral was about to give them away for him. He probably wanted to make sure that she didn’t run out of ingredients in case she had to go back to the grocery store. Just when all seemed quiet, she heard a knock at the door.
“Who’s there?” she called through the door. She wondered if it was The Man Downstairs.
“It’s The Man Next Door,” replied a gruff voice. “I have a new collection of dolls and perfume for sale. Would you like some merchandise?”
“Really?” Coral said to The Man Next Door. With the chain on the apartment door, the nine-year-old girl opened the door and peered at her neighbor through the three-inch opening. She had always wanted a lifelike baby doll. She knew that her mother needed new perfume.
While considering if she should buy something, she watched pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar coins drop from the heating vent into the tin can. When it overflowed, she took the coins and dropped them into the open slot in Puddles the piggy bank. She had promised The Man Upstairs to spend the money to help other people.
“I’m trying to save up money from my sales to get a new suit,” The Man Next Door said. “I thought you might want to help me out.”
“The dolls are really pretty, and my mother loves perfume,” Coral said. “But I have other people who need my pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar coins more than you do.”
“How do you know that I don’t need them?” The Man Next Door asked.
“Well, did you get a lot of other sales?” Coral asked him.
“Yes, business is booming!” The Man Next Door said. “It’s never been better.”
All the while, Coral had forgotten about her cookies that baked in the oven.
However, she did remember that she had promised The Man Upstairs she would do good with his money, never hoarding it for herself.
After her previous problems with The Man Downstairs stealing her pennies, she shoved a bookshelf over the floor vent. So, The Man Downstairs could never again stretch his hand through the vent and steal the money from the tin can or take Puddles the piggy bank.
Now she was not going to let The Man Next Door bully her into buying all kinds of things that she didn’t need, especially when he already had other paying customers.
“Please, Coral, can’t you help me out?” The Man Next Door said.
“No, thank you,” Coral said. “I have to be really careful how I spend my money.”
As Coral shut the door, her mother called from her parents’ bedroom: “Who’s at the door? Is it the Milkman?”
“Oh, it’s The Man Next Door trying to sell me stuff,” Coral said. “I told him no.”
“If he comes back, let me know, and I’ll get the frying pan from the kitchen and flatten him!” Mrs. Graf yelled. “We don’t need his junk!”
“There are better uses of your money from The Man Upstairs,” Mr. Graf said. “The Man Across the Street needs money for rent. Try to save him some dollar coins.”
“It’s Saturday morning, and I wanted to sleep in!” Mrs. Graf called to Coral. “So much for that!”
Coral grabbed sweets from the refrigerator, adjusted the TV antenna, and went back to watching cartoons. She filled her stomach with desserts from her father’s deli: chocolate babka, chocolate-covered matzo, and honey cake.
Then, she remembered that her cookies were in the oven. She had forgotten to set a timer.
She wondered what that burning smell was in the apartment. The Man Next Door distracted her and made her forget about the baking cookies. She ran to the oven and swung open the door, only to find the batch completely burnt to a crisp. The cookies were hard as rocks.
As she examined her burnt cookies, there was another knock on the door. If she had just bought a bottle of perfume, The Man Next Door might have left, and the cookies would not have ended up ruined. Now she would have to start all over again with a new batch.
“Not again!” Coral said. Making sure the door chain was secure, Coral opened the door a smidge, only to find The Man Next Door had returned.
“You made me burn my cookies!” Coral said. “I’m never giving you any money!”
“I didn’t make you burn anything!” The Man Next Door said, as he handed her a catalogue through the door.
“My mom is going to get the family frying pan and use it to flatten you if you don’t leave me alone!” Coral said. “Go sell your stuff to someone else. You aren’t really hard up for cash!”
Then, she threw a handful of burnt Hamantaschen cookies at The Man Next Door through the door. At least she could use them for something, because no one would eat them.
“Go away! You’re jealous because The Man Upstairs gives me magic coins, and he doesn’t give you anything!” she yelled. “You’re worse than The Man Downstairs who steals!”
Coral yelled so loudly that the entire apartment complex must have heard the argument.
Throwing one last Hamantaschen cookie at The Man Next Door, Coral slammed the door shut. She went back to the kitchen and made a new batch of cookies. Then, she watched cartoons until the cookies were finished. This time, they were soft and plump when finished.
After lunch, she set out in the neighborhood to hand out the cookies with her mom. She also gave handfuls of coins to anyone in need. Despite the first batch of burned cookies, she was proud of her second attempt. By next Saturday morning, the apartment building was quiet and peaceful, and The Man Next Door ended his sales calls.
Instead of arguments about where her money would go, Coral went about the neighborhood helping others. She bought The Man Around the Corner, who lived in a cardboard box on the street corner, a cup of hot coffee at the coffee shop. He loved her Hamantaschen cookies.
The coffee shop promised to sell Coral’s cookies for twice the going rate if she would make some for them every week. Then, she could use the profits to give to other people, like The Man Upstairs wanted. Coral agreed and decided to employ The Man Around the Corner to help her sell the cookies at the shop. It was a miracle!
In case The Man Next Door came back, Coral’s mother kept the frying pan handy, but Coral thought the burnt cookies did more to scare him away. Coral was just happy that her cookies were a success in the neighborhood. She even left a basket of them outside The Man Upstairs’ apartment door. She hoped he enjoyed what his coins had financed.
Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters
Sequel to "The Man Upstairs: The Story of Coral Graf and Coins from a Tin Can" (1/3/15) and "The Man Downstairs: The Story of Coral Graf and Her Missing Coins" (7/13/15).
Dedicated to my grandmother, Augusta Renner Graf Waters.
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