Part 2 (1/2)
”Oh, Mother!” My lips gaped open at the realization of what she was about to do.
She opened the case and held it toward me. We both stared down at the sparkling diamonds. I could see that when my mother looked at them, she remembered special moments. How I wished that simply by wearing them, they would give me all the secrets of our past, plant my mother's precious memories into my mind as well, and teach me what wisdom and knowledge she had gained from her painful as well as her wonderful experiences.
”This belonged to my grandmother Jillian, who lived like a queen.”
”And who wouldn't let you call her Grandmother,” I whispered, remembering one of the few things she had told me about her life at Farthinggale Manor.
”No.” She smiled. ”She was very, very vain and wanted to hold onto her youth and beauty forever, clinging to every fabrication, to every illusion with the tenacity of a drowning woman clinging to a slab of driftwood. Beautiful jewelry and beautiful clothing were some of the things she clutched. Of course,” she continued, that gentle smile still on her lips, ”she had the face-lifts and the spa treatments and bought all the miracle ointments. She wore hats with wide brims whenever she was in the sun because she was afraid the sunlight would bring on wrinkles.
”Her skin did stay smooth and her complexion rich,” she continued. I held my breath, for this was one of the longest descriptions of her grandmother she had related to me and I didn't want it to end. ”And although she was twenty years older than Tony, those who didn't know, couldn't tell. She would spend hours and hours at her vanity table.” My mother's smile widened.
She paused, lost in a memory for a moment.
”Anyway,” she said, regaining her awareness, ”this is something I inherited and it's something I want you to have now.”
”They're so beautiful, I'd be afraid to wear them.”
”You shouldn't be afraid of wearing and owning beautiful things, Annie. There was a time when I was.
I used to feel guilty having so much and remembering how poorly I and my family had lived in the w.i.l.l.i.e.s.” Her blue eyes suddenly took on a determined look. ”But I soon discovered that the rich are no worthier than the poor to inherit and enjoy the richest and most wonderful things this life has to offer.
”Never think you're better than anyone because you've grown up privileged,” she continued with a vehemence that told me her words were offspring of much pain and suffering. ”The rich are often driven by the same base motives as are the very dirty and very poor. Maybe even more than the poor,” she added, ”because they have more idle time to drift into their private madness.”
”You learned these things at Farthinggale?” I asked softly, hoping she had chosen my eighteenth birthday as the occasion to tell me all her darkest secrets.
”Yes,” she murmured. I waited breathlessly for her to say more, ,but then something snapped and she pulled herself up and out of that stream of memories instantly. Her eyes widened and brightened as if she had just come out of a hypnotic state. ”But let's not talk about anything unpleasant. Not today of all days, honey.” She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek and then placed the diamond necklace and earrings into my hands. ”It's time to pa.s.s them on to you. Of course, I might come to you once in a while and ask to borrow them.”
We both laughed as she hugged me.
”I'll just put them safely away and then go down,” I told her as I rose from her embrace. I want to take Luke for a ride in my new car.”
”And don't forget Drake. He's looking forward to it, too, Annie.” Mother was always insisting on my being close to Drake.
”But there are only two seats!” I cried out in dismay. I would have to chose between them and risk hurting the feelings of one or the other.
”Drake came all the way from college for your birthday, Annie. He made such a special effort. Luke is always here, and anyway, you spend far too much time with him. I've noticed you haven't had a date for months now. Other boys in town are probably becoming discouraged.”
”The boys in my cla.s.s are silly and immature. All they care about is going somewhere and drinking themselves into a stupor to prove their manhood. At least I can have an intelligent conversation with Luke,” I pleaded, aware that I was close to whining.
”Still, Annie,” she said, lowering her eyes, ”it's not healthy.” Her words fell like heavy drops of rain because I knew what she was saying was right. I nodded and tried to find a voice that didn't quiver.
”I feel sorry for him.”
”I know, but soon he'll be going off to college to start his own life and you'll be traveling through Europe and meeting different people. Besides, his mother has money for him and he is very intelligent, your cla.s.s valedictorian. There's no reason to pity Luke now. Why,” my mother said smiling, ”I bet he would resent it if he knew.”
”Oh please, never tell him I said that!”
”I would never do such a thing, Annie. Don't you think I care for Luke and realize what he has had to go through and live with all these years? It's why I admire him for what he has become,” she concluded, stroking my hair. ”Now, go on, put your diamonds away and take Drake for a ride and then take Luke. There will be no tears or sad words today. I absolutely forbid it. I might even have the mayor of Winnerrow pa.s.s an instant ordinance against it,” she said, laughing. I smiled away my worries.
”Thank you for being so wonderful to me,” I told her.
”I could be no other way, honey. I love you too much.”
She kissed me again and then I hurried off to put the diamonds safely in my jewelry drawer. When I went downstairs, I found Drake, Luke and my father in a serious discussion about the economy. They were arguing about the trade deficit and the need for protective legislation. I listened for a moment, admiring the way Luke held his own against the two of them. Then I burst into the study to announce rides in my Mercedes would begin.
”We'll do it by age,” I said diplomatically. ”First Daddy, then Drake, and then Luke. Three times down Main Street and back.”
Daddy laughed.
”Can you imagine what the residents are going to be saying?” he_ asked. ”They'll think we're just parading our wealth.”
”If you've got it, flaunt it,” Drake boasted. ”I don't see the point in being ashamed of wealth. It's a phony, liberal att.i.tude.”
”I'm just talking about a ride,” I protested. They all turned to me and then suddenly, the three of them broke out into laughter because of the expression on my face and the way I was holding my hands on my hips. ”Men,” I said, and started to turn away.
”Oh Annie,” Daddy quickly said, and rushed to put his arms around me. ”It's just that you're so cute when you're angry. Come on, let's see if that car is worth all the hullabaloo.”
I took them each for a ride. Drake insisted I stop at the luncheonette so he could visit with some old friends for a few minutes, but what he really wanted to do was show off the car. Luke was reading a magazine on the gazebo when Drake and I returned. Drake decided to complete one of his college a.s.signments so he could have the rest of the day off and go out to dinner with all of us later.
”I'll be right there,” I called to Luke and ran into the house and up the stairs to my room to get his gift. Mommy and Daddy looked up surprised as I rushed by the sitting room.
”Slow down!” my father called. ”Or you'll be eighty before you're fifty.” I heard him laughing at his own joke as I closed the front door behind me and flew around to the gazebo, my heart pounding. Flushed with excitement, I bounced up the steps and plopped down beside Luke.
”Happy birthday,” I said, and thrust out my hand. He studied the small package a moment and then plucked it out of my palm.
”Might be keys to another Mercedes,” he jested. He opened the package and then lifted the cover of the small box to display the black onyx, solid gold pinky ring. ”Wow!”
”Look inside the band.”
He turned it to read the tiny inscription that said, ”Love, your sister Annie.”
It was the first time either of us had written anything that acknowledged our true relations.h.i.+p. Luke's eyes moistened with feeling, but he kept the tears imprisoned within their lids, not wanting to seem unmanly by shedding them, even out of happiness. I saw him try hard to close off his emotions and clamp down hard on them.
”Put it on,” I said quickly. He slipped it over his finger and held it up in the sunlight. How the stone sparkled.
”It is so beautiful. How did you know I liked this jewel?”
”I remember you said so once when we were looking at a magazine.”
”You're amazing.” He stared down at the ring and ran the tip of his right forefinger over it and over it. Then he looked up quickly, his eyes bright with mischief. He reached behind himself and brought forward a flat, thin box in pink gift wrap. First, I opened the card.
Amazingly, as if we had both agreed that our eighteenth birthday should end all pretense, his card was ”To a Sister on the Occasion of her Eighteenth Birthday.” Whenever he gave me a card, he often wrote his own, more personal lines next to the printed ones.
The years may come and go, and time, like the magical maze we've dreamt about, might separate us. But never fear my ability to solve the puzzle and find you wherever you might be.
Happy Birthday, Luke .
”Oh Luke. These words are gift enough. More precious to me than even my new car.”