Stones

by Marilyn Baron

  “Julie Goldsmith,” she cackled.

  “That’s my name,” I said blandly. “Can I help you?”

  “Yes, I believe you can. My father’s in town, and when he stopped by to give his regards to Manny, he noticed a Goldsmith’s bag on his desk. He peeked inside and saw a small package that looked like a ring box. I want to know exactly what Manny purchased when he was in here.”

  “He didn’t purchase anything,” I answered carefully. “He chose a piece from his family’s collection. Beyond that, I’m not at liberty to discuss my clients’ transactions with you. I’m sure he’ll tell you if he wants you to know.”

  “It wouldn’t happen to be an engagement ring, would it?” Nita purred.

  My cheeks reddened and I felt faint. Yes, the emerald could certainly be considered an engagement ring, but I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of admitting it.

  “I thought so. You know, your emotions are written all over your face, Julie. You’re so obvious. You’re just jealous because Manny is planning to give me an engagement ring, a ring you helped him pick out. Don’t you think that’s ironic?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” I said, trying to maintain at least a semblance of composure.

  Nita pulled out a large square envelope from her purse.

  “I want to personally invite you to Manny’s birthday party. I’m throwing it at the home of one of my father’s friends, who lives on the Bay. It’s going to be quite lavish. Let’s just call it a pre-engagement party.”

  “I’m sure I already have plans.”

  “I haven’t even told you when the party is. It’s Friday night.”

  “I have plans to be sick that night,” I said.

  “This is one party I don’t think you’ll want to miss. Manny’s whole family will be there. And I’ve invited Matt, as well.”

  “I’m not dating Matt anymore,” I said. “I’m sure Manny told you that.”

  “Matt told me, in fact. And I told him not to give up hope, that you’d be available soon. And you’re going to want someone there to cushion the blow when Manny and I make our big announcement. I thought that was rather considerate of me, to invite Matt for you. Now please say you’ll come. And bring your little friend Mackie, too.”

  “Why would you even want me there? You and I have never been friends.”

  “Not since you tried to snake Manny away from me at Opal Weekend.”

  “I didn’t snake him away. He asked me because you already had a date.”

  “He asked you because he wanted to get laid.”

  “How dare you,” I fumed, reaching the boiling point, my eyes glistening. It wasn’t true. I knew it wasn’t. “I think you’d better leave now.”

  “The truth hurts, doesn’t it? Well, I’ll be expecting y’all at my party.”

  Before I could answer her, the White Witch swished out of the store and left me staring stupidly after her.

  “Mercedes, I’ll be in my office,” I said, almost running into my safe haven and shutting the door behind me.

  That explained why Manny was taking the ring out of storage. He was planning to give it to Nita at his birthday party. And I would have to watch him propose. I had given myself to him again, let him back into my heart, and this was my reward. I brushed away the tears that were spilling onto my desk.

  But there was more than myself to consider now. I wasn’t going to hand him over without a fight. I picked up the phone and dialed Manny’s number. I honestly didn’t know what I was going to say when I confronted him for the final time.

  ****

  “I got home early,” he said when I arrived at his apartment. “When you called you said it was important. Did something happen?” He looked worried.

  “You could say that,” I said, pulling him by the hand into the apartment, aware that I might be touching him for the last time. “I finally came to my senses.”

  I could barely speak. I was suffocating. Something unpleasant welled up in the pit of my stomach.

  “Have you told Nita about us yet?” I demanded.

  “I’m planning to tell Nita, and when I do she’ll probably kill me. Then her father will ruin me. I really need that job, Julie, especially now.”

  “It’s just a job. And you’re good at what you do. I think they need you more than you need them.”

  “Julie, sometimes you can be so naïve,” Manny said. “Beau Weinstein owns me. That’s just the way the world works. He made me and he can break me. And to tell you the truth, I don’t think he trusts me.”

  Manny tried to wind his arm around me. I inched away.

  “Jewels, come on. This just hit me out of the blue.”

  “We’ve been sleeping together for months. That’s hardly out of the blue. What I want to know is did you ever care about me? Really care? Or was this all a game to you?”

  “I love what we have. It’s the only good thing in my life now. And I intend to tell Nita, sooner than you think.”

  He reached for me again.

  “Don’t,” I protested, pushing him away, tears threatening to spill over.

  “Look, Jewels, as far as I’m concerned, nothing’s changed.”

  “Are you crazy? Everything’s changed. I’m telling you now that I can’t go on this way anymore. It’s not good for me or the baby.”

  “Jesus, Julie, please don’t cry. We’ll sort this out, I promise.”

  “I don’t believe your promises,” I said.

  He reached over, kissing me softly on the lips as he brushed away my tears.

  “I’m here for you. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  “Manny, you’re living in a dream world. We can’t see each other again.”

  I tried to gauge what he was thinking, but I couldn’t read him. Suddenly he grabbed me tightly to him and held on like he never wanted to let me go.

  I was crying uncontrollably now, and I couldn’t seem to get off this emotional roller coaster. My hormones were having a heyday knocking around in my brain. I knew leaving him was the right thing to do. It would all work out, I thought. I reached into my purse to grab a Kleenex, but I could hardly see, my eyes were so blurred with tears, and I was shaking.

  “Don’t worry,” he soothed. “We’re going to have the baby. I know that’s what you want. Just don’t cry.”

  “I’m having the baby regardless.”

  “What I meant was we can have it together.”

  “It isn’t just about what I want. You should want it too. I’d never pressure you into anything. But you have to make a decision. Whether you want me and my baby. And you can’t have us unless...”

  Manny would have to decide if he was ready to give up his fancy job, his fabulous salary and everything that represented, specifically the White Witch. Reality began creeping in.

  “The timing isn’t the greatest,” Manny lamented.

  “It never was, for us.”

  But we were just making excuses, prolonging the inevitable.

  “You are crazy. Go back to Nita. I’m going to walk out of here, and I don’t want to see you again. Unless you’re ready to make a commitment.”

  There, I’d put it on the table. I knew I shouldn’t have given him an ultimatum. But I was fed up with the way things were going, or not going.

  The words just hung there. I saw him struggling, but he couldn’t bring himself to say or do the right thing. Sadly, I knew he wouldn’t be there for me or the baby. Especially for a baby he didn’t even think was his.

  “You say you care about me,” I said evenly, when I just wanted to scream. “I know that’s a lie.” I grabbed my purse, fished out my car keys, and closed the door in his face. If I didn’t get out of there fast I knew I was going to be sick.

  “I’ve got to go, and don’t try to follow me.” The steel in my tone and the rigidity in my body left no room for argument. The door opened.

  When I looked back for the last time, Manny’s head was sagging against the doorframe. He could sulk until the cows came home
. I was not going back in there. I was through with the bastard forever.

  When the telephone rang later that night, I knew who it was, but there was nothing left to say.

  “Julie, have I lost you?” Manny asked when I finally ended the silence.

  “I’m still here,” I replied quietly.

  “I just wanted to hear your voice again. You ran away so fast. I’ve been calling and calling you. We didn’t get to finish talking.”

  “We’re finished,” I countered.

  “Don’t shut me out, Jewels. I have to see you.”

  “See me? Or sleep with me?” I corrected.

  “Jewels, I’m serious,” he said. “You can’t mean you never want to see me again. I’m coming over so we can discuss this rationally.”

  “Don’t,” I said firmly, knowing that if he did come over he would just make a mess of my resolve. I was a bundle of nerves, so stressed out I couldn’t think straight. I wanted him to make things right, but dammit, I knew with certainty that he wouldn’t.

  “You’re still coming to my party, aren’t you?” Manny asked. “Promise me you’ll come.”

  I didn’t think he could be so cruel.

  “I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” I said.

  “Things will work out for us,” Manny said. “You’ll see.”

  Chapter Eighteen:

  Life Is Not a Pleasure Trip

  The day of Manny’s birthday party, I struggled out of bed with a colossal headache, courtesy of the river of tears I had cried the night before. But I wasn’t going to let that witch intimidate me. Going to the party would be difficult, but I would have to face Manny and Nita again at some point. I could try my best to avoid them. But it was inevitable that I’d run into them at restaurants and in social situations, and I’d have to manage more than a polite hello. Even with millions of people, Miami was still a small town. Now I was about to see the White Witch in action making her dreams come true.

  Halfway into the party, my resolve deserted me and I realized that going had been a big mistake. When I decided I’d had enough, I tugged on Mackie’s sleeve, indicating I was ready to leave. Seeing Manny and Nita together was pure torture. It was uncomfortable enough seeing Matt again.

  “He’s over there in the corner mooning over you, Julie,” Mackie noted, her eyes drifting over to where Matt was standing. “He asks about you all the time. He’s still in love with you. He’s pretty great, Julie, if you’d give him half a chance.”

  “He’s wonderful,” I agreed, “but he’s not Manny.”

  “Please put him out of his misery and marry the poor guy. You need a father for your baby, and he very definitely needs you. Can’t you cut the guy a break? He still has the ring, you know. He showed it to me. He carries it around with him everywhere, hoping you’ll change your mind.”

  “I’m sorry about that. We already talked tonight. Matt is sweet, but I don’t love him. And I’m not going to use him just because it would be convenient to have a father for my baby. I’m leaving. Are you coming or not?”

  Manny blocked my way.

  “You can’t leave yet,” Manny pleaded. The White Witch flew to his side, apparently equipped with some kind of internal witch radar.

  “I have other plans I can’t cancel,” I lied, pulling away, still feeling the heat of him on my body. I struggled to see past Manny’s penetrating brown eyes.

  “But you’ll miss the best part,” he said, suddenly earnest.

  I gave him a venomous look. If he was intentionally trying to hurt me, he was succeeding. I felt nauseated and turned to leave.

  “You’ll do fine without me.”

  Manny tried to follow me to Mackie’s car, but I slammed the door right in his two-timing face.

  When Mackie dropped me off at my house after the party, I walked around to the back yard. I wasn’t quite ready to face my parents. I’d seen them leave the party right after I did, and they were no doubt huddled in the house right now in a family conference, the subject of which was the plight of poor Julie, the unwed mother-to-be. I was actually surprised to see them at the party at all, but Elena must have convinced my mother to come for moral support.

  I placed the silver chain of my evening bag around my shoulder, sat down on the rusty old swing set next to the pool, and began swinging and crying, confident that no one would see or hear me out here.

  Just around the corner of the house was the place Manny and I had buried our treasure in elementary school. Manny had come to my house with some of his prized possessions in a cigar box. Inside was his father’s old Navy ring with a missing stone, an Indian Head nickel, some baseball cards, and a five-dollar bill. I had contributed a photo my parents had snapped of the two of us out on our backyard swing, ten crisp one-dollar bills I had taken from my “Coral G Rangers” savings account from the small bank on Tamiami Trail—a small fortune—and a ring fashioned of nickel by my father’s favorite brother.

  We had each grabbed a rusty spade from my laundry room and dug a deep hole, marking the spot and sealing our hidden treasures in the battered old box beneath the dirt. We made a pact to return to that same spot on the side of my yard, under my parent’s window, next to my mother’s prize hydrangea bush, five years later.

  We latched our pinkies together, and Manny leaned over and sealed the pact with a solemn kiss. I remembered how warm his lips felt on mine, and when we pulled away we just stared at each other in unspoken wonder.

  On the exact day of the five-year anniversary, we walked home from the school bus hand in hand like two co-conspirators. In fact, we had each forgotten exactly what was inside the box, but the “buried treasure” as we referred to it, had taken on vast proportions in our minds. Manny was sure he had placed a 1913 Indian Head nickel in the box that must be very valuable. When we arrived at the spot, we excitedly dug up the earth, trying in vain to locate the cigar box. The only thing we dug up was my mother’s hydrangea bush.

  Disappointed, we just sat there in the grass in silence, hands clasped around our knees, absorbed in our loss. The sprinkler cycled on and, every few seconds, doused us until we were drenched. I was wishing Manny would kiss me again. But he didn’t.

  It was all over by now, I thought, jerking myself back to the present. The happy couple was probably toasting their engagement, sneaking a private kiss out on the boat dock under the moonlight, and planning their perfect new life together. The White Witch had won. I looked up to search for my favorite constellation.

  “Did you know that Orion has two of the brightest stars in the sky?” boomed a voice behind me.

  I almost jumped off the swing. “Manny, what are you doing here?” I could pick out his sensual features by the light of the moon, and I tried my best not to focus on them.

  “I could ask you the same thing. You should be inside.” He took off his sweater and wrapped it around my shoulders. “The cold isn’t good for the baby.”

  I looked up at him, and even in the low light he could see I had been crying. He wiped off my tears with his thumb as they continued to splash onto my face.

  “No tears, Jewels. I came to find you.”

  “Shouldn’t you be with your fiancée?” I asked stubbornly.

  “I hope I am with her,” he said.

  I was confused. “Did you bring that wicked bitch to my house?” I looked around for Nita, certain she was lurking somewhere in the shadows.

  “No,” he said patiently as if talking to a small child.

  “Then what do you mean?” I sighed. “Tell me why you’re here. To pull out my heart and stomp on it? Just go ahead then, because I’m ready for this whole thing to be over. I can’t do it anymore.”

  “Do what?” he asked.

  “You know...I’m not cut out for this.”

  “For what?”

  He didn’t seem to understand.

  “Like I told you last night. I’m giving up.” I started swinging again.

  “You can’t give up on us. Not now. I’m not here to hurt you
, Julie. I came to ask you something. And I want you to take me very seriously.”

  I didn’t even put up a fight as he stretched his arms to stop the movement of the swing. Then he enfolded me in them, pressing my back against his chest and whispered against my ear.

  “Remember our buried treasure?” Manny began. “We lost my father’s ring out here in the side yard. We never did find it. But I’ve dug up something else that I think you’ll like.”

  I was still confused.

  “Here, open it, Julie,” he prodded, coming around to face me.

  He handed me a small box wrapped in Goldsmith’s paper. Was this a consolation prize, for coming in second in the Manny Marathon? Something he and my mother had cooked up to pacify me? I wasn’t sure I could handle this.

  Tearing away the wrapping paper, I just stared at the ring box. I lifted the lid cautiously. When I looked inside, I caught a glimpse of the ancient emerald, bathed in the moonlight, so pale and pure and square and fine. The fire and flash of diamonds brightened the darkness.

  “T-this is the emerald ring that you p-picked out at the store?”

  “No, that is the emerald ring you selected. I asked you to pick out your favorite.”

  “But I thought you were going to give it to Nita, as an engagement present tonight. I know she’d never have turned you down.”

  “Where did you get a crazy idea like that?”

  “Right from the witch’s mouth.”

  “Oh, God, Julie, I’m so sorry. I was trying to keep it a secret, trying to surprise you. That’s why I couldn’t tell you last night. I felt terrible about the way we left things, but I was hoping my surprise would make up for it. I had planned to give you the ring tonight and ask you to marry me at my birthday party in front of my family and yours. But then you left, so I had to come after you.”

  Was I hearing him correctly? “This ring is for me?”