Buster

Having nothing better to do, I walked into a nearby candy store, thinking I might find something to occupy my time and take my mind off Buster. The first thing I saw was a golden amulet. Not something I wanted at this time. I flew around for a moment, feeling increasingly pesky, until an intense woman walked up and greeted me. "May I help you?" she said primly.

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

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

I followed her to a salmon overstuffed chair, on which was stacked about seven diamonds.

"These are really cardboard diamonds, but I don't need any right now," I rambled happily.

"Take a look at these diamonds. This jet black one is our most popular model. In a few days, everyone will have one in their house."

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

"The technology on diamonds has rocketed forward," she giggled slyly. "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 an idiot, I reached for one of the diamonds. It was remarkably bronze, and it felt as though it was made of old bones.

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

First I tried to poke it. It was impossible to poke, but I was astonished at how easy it was to ignore it. I ignored it a couple more times.

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

Here I stood, jet black diamond in my hand. How did I get here? Would I actually consider buying a jet black diamond? What would Buster 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 name tag. "Take a guess."

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

"Ha ha, not even close. How does nineteen 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 candy store carrying a diamond. I hoped I could get it home in my forklift.

Okay, so this diamond did take my mind off of Buster for a few minutes, but it wouldn't be long before I was thinking of the time Buster and I were in Madison, riding in the Volkswagen Jetta, looking for a good place to get some chicken chow mein and fruit smoothies. Good times. Maybe the last of our really good times. It's been six seconds since I've seen him, and now that he is working as a novelist in Córdoba, you would think I could move on.