Free Married Men by Carl Weber Page A

and so was the band. We were the only blacks on board, but that didn’t matter. Most of the people on board were our age, and let me tell you, they could party.
    We were having a great time on the top deck, inhaling the fresh night air as we listened to the sax player blow a romantic solo. Rose sipped a glass of wine, holding on to the rail as she watched the full moon creep in behind the Statue of Liberty.
    “Pretty, isn’t it?” I asked, wrapping my arms around her waist as we admired the statue glowing against the nighttime sky.
    “Perfect,” she whispered.
    “Are you having a good time?”
    “Everything’s perfect, Allen.” She turned around to kiss me.
    “What about this? Do you think this is perfect?” I opened up the box and showed her Granny’s ring.
    “Is that what I think it is?” She was beaming with excitement.
    I bent down on one knee and smiled. “Rose, will you marry me?”
    Tears streamed down her face as she answered, “Yes, Allen. Oh God, yes, I’ll marry you.”
    I took out Granny’s ring and placed it on her finger. It looked magnificent. Rose looked at her finger and then at me.
    “Allen?” she said as I stood up.
    “Yes, babe.” I kissed her forehead.
    “Oh, nothing.” She just wrapped her arms around me and I held her close.
     
    The next morning I found out what that “Oh, nothing” really was, and it sure was something. Rose didn’t want Granny’s ring. She wanted the ring from Henry’s jewelry store. She tried to be polite about it, but there was no way of being polite when you’ve told someone that a family heirloom wasn’t good enough for you. I was hurt, but I kept it to myself because I didn’t want an argument after such a perfect evening. Plus I was more worried about what Ma was gonna say about Rose rejecting Granny’s ring than anything.
    I sat in the Macy’s parking lot for almost an hour, staring at my grandmother’s ring. I just couldn’t figure it out. Why would Rose want a diamond half the size of Granny’s? It just didn’t make sense. Finally, I decided not to worry about it. If that’s what she wanted, that’s what she was gonna get.
    I got out of my car and walked toward the jewelry store, sighing as I entered. There was old Henry, engrossed in some work at his jeweler’s table. He recognized me right away.
    “Ahh, Ms. Rose’s friend.” He offered his hand. “You’ve come for the ring, I take it.”
    I nodded with a frown.
    “What’s wrong, young man? Afraid to make that commitment?” He gave a reassuring look.
    “No, that’s not it. I proposed last night.” I still couldn’t shake the sadness from my voice.
    “She did not accept?” Henry sounded surprised.
    “Oh, she accepted. It’s this she didn’t accept.” I handed him Granny’s ring.
    His eyes widened as he carefully removed the ring from the box. He walked over to his table and picked up his eyepiece, and he must have stared at that ring for five minutes without a word. The way he scrutinized it, you would think he was looking at a piece that had been stolen from his family.
    “Do you realize what you have here?” he finally said. “This piece might be a hundred years old, and the diamond is a little over three carats. I’ll give you twenty grand cash for it, right now.”
    “Sorry, Henry. This is a family heirloom. It belonged to my grandmother, and maybe even to her mother. I need to give it back to my mother.”
    “I understand. Ms. Rose made a big mistake.” Henry shook his head.
    “Yeah, she makes a lot of those, Henry.” I pulled out my credit card and handed it to Henry. “I’ll take that other ring now if you don’t mind, Henry.”
    “No problem,” he said as he ran the card through his machine. “I’m sorry, your card has come up ‘declined.’ ” He tried to say it gently. I think the guy genuinely felt bad for me.
    “That’s impossible! Run it again.” He did, and it came up “declined” again.
    I was pissed. I’d been cleaning that