The Gold Earrings

I just sat there listening, fascinated. I had never heard a story like this before and not in my wildest dreams did I expect this.

"A little while later I woke up, still bandaged to the chair. There was another chair across from me and sitting in it was Walter's friend Tony. He told one of the men to undo the wrap on my mouth and one arm. I just sat there, frozen, watching him. He pulled a flask from inside his coat and poured a drink and handed it to me. I remember sucking it down and coughing a little, whatever it was it was strong, but I needed it. It was cold where we were, and I wasn't exactly overdressed, and the alcohol warmed me inside. Tony started talking in a smooth, gentle, voice."

"Joanne, we are going to have a little talk and I want you to be completely honest with me. Can you do that for me Joanna? If you do, we can soon forget this ever happened and you can go home safe and sound."

I just nodded to him.

"Does Walter know about this man you are seeing?"

"No, I don't think so. I tried to make sure he never found out."

"Is there any chance that this man made you pregnant?"

"No, I am on the pill. I wasn't ready to have children yet."

"Does Walter know you are taking birth control?"

"No."

"Do you love your husband, Joanna? Do you think you can make him happy?"

"Yes, I do and yes I know I can make him happy. I'm so sorry this happened I just needed..."

He held up his hand and stopped me.

"I'm not sure if you are aware of this but your husband is one of the most brilliant men I know. If he wanted, he could be a brilliant author and teacher. He is a genius at laundering money and hiding it from the authorities. Yet he has a small office and seemingly very few clients. Among those clients are my family, along with some friends and business partners of ours. We have also made his services available, for a fee, to several of the cartels that ply their trade in this country. But despite these abilities, or maybe because of them, Walter is a bit of an oddity. We understand that and simply want to see him happy. There are a lot of people who want to see him happy and they are willing to go to extreme lengths, as you can see by today, to make sure that happens. We think you can help to make him happy."

"I know I can make Walter happy I do love him."

"Let's not have any secrets between us. I speak with Walter frequently and he loves you completely. His vision of you is as his ideal wife and mother of his children and I don't want to see him disillusioned. We both know you're a gold digger but what you didn't know is Walter has far more gold than you ever imagined but if you try to get it there are far too many people that would be upset by it for you to ever enjoy a moment of it. In a little while my companions will return you to your car and see that you get home safely. There is no need for Walter to even know of this. Wait a month to be sure then flush the birth control pills and give Walter the children he wants. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes."

"Hopefully I will never see you again because if I do you won't be walking away from it. There are a thousand ways for you to die, from a car crash to a mugging, that Walter will never know the actual cause. Just know that before that you will spend time, here, in hell. Never give me cause to talk to you again, never give me cause to think that anything you are doing would cause unhappiness for Walter."

We both just sat there for a bit, me too shocked to speak, and Joanna perhaps too emotional from what she had told me. Then she finished the story.

"Walter never knew about what happened I haven't let him know. I spend every moment of every day trying to please him as if my life depended on it, because it does. About a month after this I got a box in the mail, inside were the earrings you see me wear and a card that just said Tony on it. I wear them every day to remember."

"What are the earrings?"

She took one off and handed it to me. There, in perfect miniature, was a gold 55-gallon drum. The two empty drums on the pallet, for her, she now wore daily as a reminder of how to be.