|
THE Coins
Yeah, the title says it all, to the point. No BS. Which was why I liked it. I did not see any other cars parked outside. I guess the other guys had better sense than to give in to their wives. The store itself was an old building. The paint job on the wooden walls looked very faded. It was like the store and the stuff that it sells were meant for each other.
The little tingling bell got on my nerves from the get-go. Once inside, Connie oomphed and ahhhed at the things. We were supposed to be looking for a very nice table lamp for our bedroom. The old one broke beyond fixing. At least beyond my patience to fix it. We usually read in bed, and so a table lamp was necessary. Besides, I like to leave the light on to see what I’m doing while we were making love. Can’t be making a mistake on something so important, now can I?
The inside was as usual, dark and musty smelling. I left my wife to her own perusing. I shuddered at the thought of doing Spring-cleaning in here. An army would get the job done, if given enough time.
‘Good afternoon. I’m Hal. How may I help you?’
The soft voice came from nowhere and I nearly jumped out of my shoes. An old man was addressing me. And the funny thing was that his eyes were full of mirth and life. Like great orbs shining in the dark. Quite disconcerting when he looked directly at me.
‘That’s OK. I’m just looking. It’s my wife who wants something. Thank you.’
He disappeared amongst the heaps of antique after nodding. This shop was like the multitudes that I’ve been in. There were treasures for sure, but enough time must be spent digging the treasures out from all the junk. I saw an old Singer sewing machine by the corner. The cast iron construction had aged well. I cranked it, and found that it still worked. The date on it was 1923. Wow. A real antique. Except that I don’t need an old sewing machine in my house. And I continued to play around at the numerous ‘toys’ in the shop. I was sure that my wife had found something besides the table lamp by the sound of her excited voice.
After a long while, I felt that it was time to leave. The lamp that Connie found was beautiful. It had a carved wooden vase-like base, with cast iron vines twirling around it. The shades had faded and the tassels worn or missing, but in my wife’s quick mind, those could be replaced easily. It was the base that fascinated me. The lamp was heavy, as I had to carry it out to the car. I was all set to leave and get home to my game when I saw Connie talking to a lady, probably Hal’s wife.
‘She is a beautiful woman. You’re a very lucky man. I know how hard it is to find someone special. Believe you me, I know. So that’s why you’re lucky.’
Gods. That little man scared me the second time when he silent appeared beside me by the Jeep.
I could only nod my head. I was lucky, and I didn’t need anyone to tell me that. Well, Connie makes great meatballs. So too does her mother. Except for the fact that her mother throws the meatballs at me every chance she gets. She thinks I’m not good enough for her Connie. Thank God Connie’s mother has her own place. Otherwise, I would be sleeping in my car to have some peace.
‘Yes, I know. Thank you for the compliment and the lamp. Its real nice.’
‘You’re welcome. Yes, the lamp is a nice one. It came from Europe, you know. And it is very, very old. It still works, don’t worry about that.’
‘Thank you. I’m pretty sure that it still works when we bought it. You have many nice things,’ trying to sound diplomatic amongst the heaps and heaps of ‘stuff’.
‘Would you like some tea? I believe that my wife and your wife will be some time more.’
‘Yeah, sure. Tea is fine.’ I looked at her still deep in conversation. Sighing, I followed Hal back into the store.
|