me on the couch.
“I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting,” she said. “Really, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not you, it’s me. It’s just...”
“What? Come on, you can tell me.”
My hand was on her thigh.
“Well, it’s this, what you’re doing now—holding my hand. Touching me. Why weren’t you like this before at the bar?”
“What do you mean?”
“I tried to hold your hand a couple of times, but you kept pulling away. I was just wondering—are you embarrassed about me or something?”
I laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“That’s a good one,” I said. “Embarrassed to be with a beautiful woman like you.”
“Well, that’s how it
“I was proud to be with you,” I said. “I wanted to be all over you at the bar, but I didn’t know if you wanted me to. I mean I remembered what you’d said last night about how we might be going too fast and—”
“Are you being honest with me?”
“Of course I am. What are you talking about?”
“Never mind,” she said. “I told you I was the one with the problem, not you.”
We started making out. She had her hand on my leg when she said, “So you got a new wallet, huh?”
At first I had no idea what she was talking about. Luckily, I caught on fast.
“No, that’s the old one. I found it in my apartment. It turned out I didn’t lose it after all.”
“Well,
“Shit,” I said. “I didn’t have a chance to hit the bank before work to take your money out. But I could go out right now if you want me to?”
“No, it’s okay,” she said.
“You sure?” I said, knowing there was no way she’d send me out into the cold. “There’s an ATM a few blocks away, right?”
“Don’t be crazy, it’s freezing out,” she said. “Give it to me the next time we see each other or whenever. It’s no big deal.”
“I’m really sorry,” I said.
We started to make out again, then she was lying on the couch on her back and I was on top of her. I pulled back and smiled, looking into her eyes. Then, suddenly, something was different about her and I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
For a few more seconds I stared at her, then it hit me.
“What happened to your eyes?”
“My eyes?” she said, like she had no idea what I was talking about. “What do you mean?”
“They used to be blue.”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you about that?” she said. “I wear color contacts. They were itching me so I took them out.”
“You mean your eyes aren’t blue?”
“What’s the matter? You don’t like my eyes?”
“No, I like your eyes a lot,” I said. “I just thought they were blue, that’s all.”
The tea kettle started to whistle. Janene went to the kitchen and came back with a mug of tea. She took a sip then put the mug down on the coffee table.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about, Tommy.”
“Shoot,” I said.
“Well, remember last night, when I told you I had something important I wanted to tell you.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I decided I want to tell you...tonight...right now.”
“So go ahead and tell me.”
“First you have to promise you won’t be mad at me. I mean it’s not a big deal, but you might be mad that I didn’t tell you.”
“There’s no way I could ever be mad at you.”
“Okay, well...” She was looking down. “See, there’s something about me you don’t know. It’s just...you see —God, I don’t know why this is so hard. I guess I might as well just say it—I’m married. Not really
“Wow,” I said. “That’s pretty heavy.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away,” she said. “I would’ve told you but—”
“It’s all right,” I said. “I mean it’s not your fault.”
“You’re probably really mad at me now.”
“Why would I be mad at you? So you’re married. It’s no big deal. So who’s the lucky guy?”
“His name’s Joe. I went to college with him at Stony Brook. We were only married two years and we were never really right for each other.”
“That’s cool,” I said.
Her face brightened.
“You mean it?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I mean it’s not like you’re living with him anymore or anything. And it’s over, right?”
“Of course it’s over. The divorce should come through in the next month or two—we’ve both been seeing other people. You’re really not upset?”
“Why would I be upset?”
“You can’t believe what a relief this is. I was obsessing about it all day. I was afraid you’d freak out, that you’d ...I don’t know...want to make a big deal out of it.”
“I’m just happy to be with you tonight, that’s all,” I said.
We stayed on the couch for a while, making out, and then we went into the bedroom.
She moved closer to me. Her head was wedged between my arm and my chest. We were naked and sweaty.
“It feels so nice to be with you,” she said.
A few minutes later she was fast asleep.
I noticed the jewelry box on the dresser. I got out of bed and dressed quietly. The light on the night table was still on. In the dim yellow light I saw Janene still facing the other way. A necklace and a bracelet were out next to the jewelry box, but she’d probably notice if they were missing. Instead, I reached inside the box and took out a gold necklace, some diamond earrings, and a gold bracelet. I put the jewelry in my pocket. In the mirror above the dresser I saw that Janene was still fast asleep. I tiptoed out of the room and left the apartment.
The next morning I drove to Chinatown. It wasn’t hard finding a pawn shop down there—the hard part was finding a Chinese guy who spoke English. After walking in and out of a couple of places, I finally found an old guy who seemed to understand me at a place on Hester Street, off the Bowery. I cut a deal with him—he’d give me three hundred bucks for the jewelry and I could buy it back for three-fifty. He originally wanted to give me four hundred, but we made it three if he wouldn’t put the stuff out for sale until tomorrow. The place closed at eight o’clock so I’d have plenty of time to buy the jewelry back before I went to work. Then I’d call Janene, figure out some way to explain why I took off last night, and find a chance to slip the jewelry back into her jewelry box.
From the Bowery, I hopped on the Manhattan Bridge to the BQE and about forty-five minutes later I was in
