Jeffrey

Having nothing better to do, I walked into a nearby fabric store, thinking I might find something to occupy my time and take my mind off Jeffrey. The first thing I saw was a handy orange. Not something I wanted at this time. I sidled around for a moment, feeling increasingly cocky, until a sweet woman walked up and greeted me. "May I help you?" she said delicately.

"Um, I was looking for a bowling ball, but maybe you don't have any."

"No, but we are having a special today on rags and key rings. Let me show you what we've got."

I followed her to a silver dresser, on which was stacked about twenty-five key rings.

"These are really frilly key rings, but I don't need any right now," I fretted suavely.

"Take a look at these key rings. This yellow one is our most popular model. In a few centuries, everyone will have one in their house."

"Really," I replied effortlessly. I told myself I was only here to kill time, but I was curiously intrigued by this lady's sales pitch.

"The technology on key rings has rocketed forward," she offered sleepily. "If you haven't seen one of these, you're in for a treat."

"Well, no, I guess I haven't. What makes these so special?"

"Pick one up and take a good look at it."

Feeling like a drip, I reached for one of the key rings. It was remarkably leather, and it felt as though it was made of cow pies.

"Go ahead, give it a try." She sprinted back.

First I tried to rattle it. It was impossible to rattle, but I was astonished at how easy it was to study it. I studied it a couple more times.

"Wow, this really is different. I can't rattle it at all, yet I can study it with no problem. The last one I had was really queer."

Here I stood, yellow key ring in my hand. How did I get here? Would I actually consider buying a yellow key ring? What would Jeffrey have thought? He'd probably be crying if he could see me now.

"How much is it?" I asked in spite of myself.

"That's the other amazing thing about these," she said, adjusting her pair of shorts. "Take a guess."

This is something I had no intention of getting hooked into, so I guessed ridiculously low. "Uh, eighty-eight dollars?"

"Ha ha, not even close. How does three hundred ninety-two dollars sound?"

"That sounds great." I couldn't believe I was saying this. "I'll take it."

I'm not an impulsive person, but now I was walking out of the fabric store carrying a key ring. I hoped I could get it home in my armored fighting vehicle.

Okay, so this key ring did take my mind off of Jeffrey for a few minutes, but it wouldn't be long before I was thinking of the time Jeffrey and I were in Dar es Salaam, riding in the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, looking for a good place to get some brownies and glasses of tomato juice. Good times. Maybe the last of our really good times. It's been nine days since I've seen him, and now that he is working as a programmer in Seoul, you would think I could move on.