I froze in place when I heard a familiar voice – Sam's voice - ask the pawn shop owner a question.
"What can you give me for this?"
An impressed whistle followed, and I racked my brain for what Sammy could possibly own that would elicit that sort of response from the jaded man behind the counter. If it was one of our weapons, I was already planning how I'd kick his lanky ass. He might be taller, but I was sneakier.
"It's a nice one." I heard the guy say, as I struggled to remain hidden behind the dusty rack loaded with old electronics. I didn't want Sam to see me – wasn't ready to stop being pissed off at him just yet. And I definitely wasn't in the mood to make small talk with the brother who'd shot me full of rock salt and tried to blow my head off just days earlier. Under the evil influence or not, that shit hurt.
"The diamonds are real," I heard Sam say and followed it up with a mental What-the-Hell? Since when did he own anything that sported real diamonds? My first thought was that he had stolen something strictly with the intention of pawning it for cash, but then I remembered that this was Sam I was considering – Sam, who was just as likely to strangle a puppy as he was to steal diamonds off an innocent bystander. The kid wasn't me, after all.
"Well, with the inscription, it's going to be worth a little less you know."
"I know."
"I can give you $350."
Silence.
"I paid almost $1200 for it."
"I believe you." The heartless bastard behind the counter said, "But the inscription makes it almost impossible to sell. I can only offer you the value of melting down the gold and harvesting the diamonds."
Sam tried to bargain, "$500," he said.
I could almost hear the store owner debating just how far he could push Sam, and even though I was still pissed at my brother, I wanted to throttle the guy when he came back with his final offer.
"$375 is the best I can do. Take it or leave it." It was a crappy offer, and everyone in the store knew it.
Sam was quiet for what seemed like an eternity before relenting. "Fine." He said.
I heard some rustling that sounded like the guy was pulling something out from under the counter. Apparently, it was a magnifying glass. "Let me get a better look at what's written on." He said and was met with stony silence.
"You Sam?" I heard the guy ask.
"Yes." My brother answered quietly.
I heard the guy pop open the register and begin counting out money. "So I guess Jess wasn't really forever, hunh?" He said jokingly and laughed, and I winced like I'd just taken a punch to the gut. I closed my eyes and tried to swallow the lump in my throat because suddenly I had an idea what Sam was pawning. It didn't help that my brother suddenly let out a strangled whimper that he quickly smothered.
"Oh hey now," I heard the guy say. "I didn't mean anything by that. Dude, don't cry."
My hands unconsciously balled up into fists, and it was all I could do not to rush the counter and pop the guy in his ugly face. Oh, I was going to kill this asshole once Sammy was safely out of his crummy shack.
"Just give me the money."
"You're sure about this?"
Silence.
"Well, okay then. Here you go. Sorry things didn't work out the way you planned."
I heard Sam turn away from the counter and smack the door open so hard the glass vibrated. "Bite me," he tossed over his shoulder as he made his exit.
As soon as I heard the door bang shut behind him, I moved up to the counter to see what my little brother had left behind in this piss hole of a pawnshop in the middle of fucked-up nowhere. I caught a glimpse of an engagement ring still in the fancy, velvet-lined box just before the asshole behind the counter shoved it under the glass.
"How much for the ring?" I barked.
The man played coy. "Oh, this ring? Heard all that, did you? That poor schmuck."
I decided to play along to see just how ugly this would get.
"Yeah, I heard." I said, and laughed. "Guess the wedding is off."
"Kid said he paid $1200, but if that's true, he got a bargain." Asshat gloated. "This baby is easily worth a cool two grand. I know quality when I see it."
I glared. "And yet you gave him $375."
He grinned. "I did, didn't I?" This might be the best deal I ever made. That inscription will buff right off with the right tools."
I was fuming, but didn't want to reveal my hand.
"You interested?" Asshat asked.
"Might be. Can I see it?"
"Yep." He brought the ring and the case back up to the counter and handed me the magnifying glass.
I pulled the ring out and held the glass up to the inside of the band. Written in a dainty, flowery script was a single phrase, "Sam & Jess Forever." I felt sick, and all I could think about was all the shitty things I'd said and done to Sam over the past week. I put the ring back in the box and toyed with the notion of trying to buy it back, but I wasn't sure Sam really wanted it back. It would probably be better to make sure he got what the ring was worth.
"So that inscription will come right off, you say?"
Asshat nodded smugly. "Sure will. I can take it off for you myself. No charge."
"So how much?"
"I can let it go for … $1600." He said, and sealed his fate.
I smiled and reached back like I was taking out my wallet, and I saw the little weasel's eyes light up with greed. His expression changed pretty quickly though when I brought out my .45 and laid it on the counter instead.
He backed away a bit, but not before having the presence of mind to grab the ring. "Hey, what gives?"
"What gives is this." I leaned in and gave him my stone-cold killer look. "Sam is my little brother. Jessica is dead. And you're going to pay me what this ring is actually worth – minus what you've already given him of course. And in return, this won't turn out to be the worst day of your life. Whaddaya say?" And then I smiled.
"You're crazy."
I picked up the gun and winked. "Well, that's been said before." I informed him, releasing the safety.
"H-how much do you want?" He stammered.
I made a show of checking to see if the .45 was loaded. "Oh, I can let this go for … say … $925. That's the $1,200 Sam paid minus the $375 you gave him. It's a fair deal. You keep the ring, buff off the inscription, and make a cool $400 profit off Sam's misery. Now that's a much better deal than I give most people who try to take advantage of my baby brother. I'd take it if I were you."
For a moment I thought he was going to refuse, and I grinned coldly, actually hoping he would so I could put some serious hurt on the man. But in the end, he relented and handed over the cash instead. "I could call the cops, you know." He threatened.
I nodded, "You could." I agreed. "And I could reveal that little illegal weapons trade you got going on here."
He gulped. The asshole actually gulped.
"You ever think of replacing that curtain with a door that locks? Those aren't exactly legal now, are they?"
"Just go." He snarled.
"Certainly. It was nice doing business with you." I said. "I'm sorry things didn't work out the way you planned." I turned toward the door.
"Oh, and bite me too." I said as I made my exit as dramatic as possible, glass door all but breaking in my wake.
