13,928. EVEN NOW

EVEN NOW

The diamond-seller's place

was on 47th and I took a

necklace there that I had 

found, and a high school

ring from some guy I used 

to know  -  both being

useless to me, I got about

700 bucks, yes, but the

diamond-merchants said

I was lucky they were in

a generous mood and that

the necklace (from Martin

Lawrence Jewelers, with

its box and original sale 

receipt for 1600 bucks 

some) wasn't worth that

much at all and whoever

had paid that for it 15 years

back had been foolish. I

said I didn't care, both of 

these people were dead 

now and I was cashing in.

Which wasn't exactly true

but wasn't false either. So

I took their money and left.

They were 2 very different

people; the first guy, the 

salesman at the counter, 

was all sharp and fancy,

but the guy who apparently

made the money decisions

was a short, wide, squat 

Jewish guy of about maybe

70 who wore the yarmulke

funny-like on his bushy gray

hair and a eye-piece jeweler's

magnifier thing around his

head. He pulled it down over

an eye when examining carats

for quality and the rest. He 

made decisions quickly, 

blurting out rudely, things 

like 'Nothing here,' or 'junk, 

worth but little.' I guessed it 

was all part of their game and 

simply had not the energy to 

fight or squabble over money  

-  which apparently meant 

more to them that it ever

would to me. So I took

what they gave, 

and left.