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"Do you do appraisals?" Gail licked her lips and tried to meet the eyes of the tall woman behind the counter. The woman looked at Gail like a doctor staring at an unknown germ. Gail squirmed and pulled the old sweater together at her throat. She wished she'd taken the time to change clothes. What if these people didn't believe she'd gotten the ring honestly? "Just a moment." The woman clicked away on her high heels to the back of the store. The whole store gleamed — bright, polished, sterile. It hurt Gail's eyes, made her want to turn and run. Finally, a man came from a tiny office in the back of the store. His tie was pulled loose and sweat stained his underarms. He had a jeweler's glass in his hand. Gail pulled the small velvet box from her pocket and rubbed it on her hip to remove the dust. She gave it to him with a shaking hand. "It was all my mother had," she said. She willed herself not to go on, but she couldn't stop the flow of words. "I just wanted you to, you know, appraise it. Papa bought it for her — spent all their savings for it, too." She watched the man remove the ring. He adjusted the monocle and focused it on the large sparkling stone. Gail's voice rose with nervousness. "Mama passed away last month — left the ring to me. But I may have to sell it now. My husband lost his job, you know." She took a shaking breath. Of course they didn't know. How could these people know what it was like to be unemployed, to receive an eviction notice, to dread picking up the phone because it was always a creditor? "People said Papa was bad to drink and gamble some, too. But he wouldn't have bought Mama such a nice ring if he..." The jeweler glanced up and shot a look at the saleswoman standing beside him. He replaced the ring in the box and sat it on the counter. His small hands framed the box like parenthesis. He made a small sound, then cleared his throat. Gail saw pity in his eyes. "It's not a real diamond, ma'am." The box sat on the shining counter like a black velvet toad. "Oh," was all she could say. |
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© 2001 by Kimberly Brown
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