Chapter 5: The Terms of Redemption
Amanda reached out a trembling finger, hovering just millimeters above the platinum links, terrified that touching it would shatter the fragile illusion.
""Why do you still have it, Mr. Kaufman?"" Amanda whispered. ""That was six months ago.""
""Because your father made me promise,"" Morris explained, his voice thick with emotion. ""I offered to break it down and sell the stones to a dealer in New York. Frank begged me on his knees. He paid me two hundred dollars a month out of his social security check just to hold it in the safe. He said... *'Morris, my girl made mistakes, but she’s got a good heart. One day she’ll wake up, and she’ll need her grandmother's blessing back.'*""
Morris pulled a handwritten agreement from a ledger book.
""The buyback price is eighteen thousand dollars. That’s what I gave him, plus the holding interest.""
Amanda clutched her handbag. She had eleven hundred dollars in her checking account, sixteen thousand dollars in credit card debt, and an unpaid studio lease due in five days.
""Can you give me thirty days, Mr. Kaufman?"" Amanda asked, looking directly into the jeweler’s eyes with a fierce, desperate clarity she had never possessed in her life.
""I’ll give you until Christmas, Amanda,"" Morris replied, closing the velvet box and placing it back into the safe. ""Not for your sake. But for Frank’s.""
Outside on the sidewalk, the sleet stung Amanda’s face, but she didn't pull up her collar.
She turned to David.
May you like
""Take me back to Lakewood, David,"" Amanda said, her jaw set with absolute resolve. ""I have to pack.""
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