“Mom….” Esther’s voice drifted as she stared at the woman in front of us.
“Esther.” She took a deep breath. “I was just coming to see you—”
“Then why are you exiting my apartment?” Esther asked glancing over her shoulder at the door that hadn’t closed all the way.
However, her mother simply ignored her as her brown eyes locked on to me. “And who the hell are you? Your grandfather’s gone so you’re just bringing men over—?”
“What did you take?!” Esther snapped as she stepped in front of me and reached for her mother’s bag.
“DO NOT TOUCH ME!” She hollered as she tried to tug her purse away. But nothing was going to stop Esther in that moment. It was as if she were blinded by rage and she gripped and tugged so hard that the snap broke and the purse fell onto the carpet. And as it landed, it opened up and all of Alfred’s watches and a few pieces of jewelry fell out.
They both froze for a moment before Esther bit her lip. She nodded to me as she wiped her nose. “Malachi, call the police.”
“The police?” Her mother laughed as she stepped back and looked at me. “Go ahead white boy, call the police. Please. Go ahead, call the police and tell them what, sweetheart? That I took my stuff from my father’s home?!”
“IT’S NOT YOURS!” Esther screamed at her. “HE LEFT YOU WITH NOTHING! HE GAVE YOU NOTHING! BECAUSE YOU ARE NOTHING!”
“WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU THEN? HUH?! THE BIGGEST REGRET OF NOTHING! THE SCUM OF NOTHING—”
I saw it coming and grabbed her wrist before her palm hit the side of Esther’s face. Looking down on the woman, I brought her hand down to her side as I stepped between Esther and her mother. I bent down to pick up the watches and the jewelry before I put it back into her purse. Holding the purse out to her she stared at it for a moment before snatching it out of my hands.
“Forget it.” She sneered as she dumped everything back out onto the ground in front of Esther. “Happy now, Esther? Or do you want to see me in handcuffs too? Maybe out starving on the street—”
“If you need nothing else, here is the elevator,” I said as I pressed the button for her. Since we’d just come up, the elevators sprang open. She looked to me and I tried not to hate her for the pain she was inflicting. I tried to make her realize how unimportant she was, however, she just had to open her mouth again.
“Don’t think you’re the first man trying to fuck for what our families got. You—”
“GET OUT!” I hissed as I grabbed her by the arm and threw her into the elevator. “Do you think you’re the first woman who has ever suffered? Do you think that your pain gives you the right to give others pain? You are not and it does not. Know that everything you do comes back to you!”
“I’ll remember you!” She pointed at me before the doors closed. “Just watch.”
Grinding my teeth together, I waited until I was sure the elevators were going down before I turned back to Esther, who was kneeling as she quietly picked up her grandfather’s wristwatches, tie clips, cufflinks, and what I could only guess was her own jewelry. She lifted a pair of mistletoe earrings still in the box and just stared at them. Walking over I knelt beside her to help pick everything up.
“So that’s my mom.” She bit her lip and hung her head. “The great Diana Noëlle. I apologize, she’s a bit rude, don’t take it personally, she’s like that to everyone. She’ll warm up when hell freezes over.”
She inhaled deeply before marching back into her apartment. She managed to carry everything to the glass countertop within the living room. Sitting down in front of it, she placed her hands in her hair as she stared down at her grandfather’s things.
“A hundred-grand…she came here to steal a hundred-grand’s worth of stuff,” she laughed bitterly. “Do you know how much she gets a month for doing nothing but embarrassing and insulting me? These aren’t even worth anything.” Her hands trembled as she lifted the mistletoe earrings again.
As she spoke I locked the door before moving to sit beside her.
“When I was six, my grandfather took me to the mall to get my ears pierced for Christmas. He got a phone call and was distracted so I went into the toy store. I got lost, and I couldn’t find him, I got scared, and just when I heard this song come on, he found me. He was so upset and so scared that I wasn’t allowed to get my ears pierced anymore. But he gave me these mistletoe earrings and promised he’d take me next time. The next year, in the same mall, we got separated again. This time it wasn’t my fault. He was the one who’d gotten lost, and when I started to get scared again I started to sing Baby It's Cold Outside, and wham, just like that he appeared in front of me. I thought it was the coolest magic trick in the whole world,” she sniffed and blinked her tears away.
Reaching up, I touched her earlobe. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She’s so beautiful, I thought as she raised her eyebrow in confusion. Reaching up, I wiped her tears. She really was a crybaby and the fact that she knew and tried so hard not to cry was so endearing to me. Everything about her made me love her more, even her anger.
“I’m sorry because I keep forgetting you’re Alfred’s granddaughter.” It explained a lot now actually. But then again hindsight was always 20/20. I understood that she was the granddaughter to the man who’d been like a father to me, but deep down she wasn’t anything but mine. She was my past and present love, so I often forgot about Alfred’s relation to her. That was one thing, this was another. “That Christmas, your grandfather didn’t get lost. He’d actually asked—bothered me—until I agreed to spend time with the both of you during the holidays. When I got to the mall I was fine, but then I had one of the strongest memories I’d ever had. It was painful and I ended up hiding in one of the stores and called him. I was afraid I’d pass out and end up in a hospital. He stayed with me for…I have no idea how long before sending me home and heading back to you.”
Her eyes widened as she realized what that meant “I met you when I was seven?”
“Almost.” I touched one of her curls. “I caught a glimpse of your hair and that was it. I think maybe that’s what brought on the memory.”
“I’m sorry but I’m kind of happy too. Does that make me selfish?” She grinned as she reached up to touch my face.
“Absolutely.” I winked and she made a face at me. “Am I selfish for loving that you’re selfish for me?”