Walking Tall: A Bosco/Cruz Story - Chapter Three

After getting out the money from the atm machine, Ty and I drove toward Bondt's Jewellery Store in Manhattan. It was very upscale and very expensive. I really couldn't afford it, but I wanted to get Maritza a ring that would show her just how much she meant to me.

I had discussed my plan with Ty more than once but he really wouldn't offer much of an opinion on the subject. The only thing he would say was 'Are you sure, man?' I knew where his reservations came from; from the fact that Maritza wasn't exactly the most honest cop on the force and because of her reputation as a woman who wasn't above planting evidence when she had to, to get a scum bag off the street. Since working Anti-Crime with her for the last year, I understood and actually didn't see what was wrong with her tactics. Sometimes you had to go above and beyond in order to get what you needed. After all, what was wrong with planting a little coke in the pocket of a murderer or a serial rapist?

However reserved Ty was about my asking Maritza to marry me, he hid it well as we walked into the posh store and started to look at different rings. I had fifteen hundred dollars in my pocket and it was almost burning a hole in my jeans, I was so excited. A very pretty young lady with long black hair, dressed in a black pantsuit came over to us and asked if we needed any help. Ty looked at me and grinned.

'Help? He could definitely use some of that." He said wagging his eyebrows. "Miss...?" He fished for her name.

"Joyce. Joyce MacAvee". She said shyly, giving him a blushing smile. "Are you looking for a gift for your girlfriend or wife?"

"No..not me. No wife..and no girlfriend." Ty said smoothly.

I rolled my eyes and continued to look upon the opulent display cases. These rings were totally out of my price range! The cheapest one was a thousand dollars...what was I gonna do? Get her a ring from a bubble gum machine?

I moved on down the row of rings and earrings until I came to a smaller display case that held about twenty different kinds. Each of them were two karats and all in different shapes and in handsome settings. A beautiful ring on the end caught my eye. It was in a white gold setting and it had one large diamond with two smaller diamonds on each side. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring I had given Maritza for her birthday so I could find out the size of her finger.

I looked toward Joyce to get some help but she was still talking up a storm with Ty. He was leaning over the counter and speaking in a low voice but whatever he was saying was making her blush and she threw back her head and laughed. Ever since Ty and Sasha had broken up, he had been on a tear, seeing as many different women as he could get his hands on, and that was a lot. He had a broken heart, that much was easy to see and even though she was pregnant with his child, he still refused to speak to her or even acknowledge her presence. Different times I had tried to talk to him about it but he wouldn't even broach the subject with me. He'd talk to me when he was ready, I thought to myself.

A little annoyed by her lack of help, I continued to look around the store. It really was a nice place, with its French Provincial furniture with matching peach silk fabric and wall to wall mirrors. The whole place was tastefully and richly decorated. The carpet was a baige cream color and it was plush and thick as I walked on it.

As I was looking into one of the cases a door from behind the counter opened and a small man stepped through. He was in his late fifties, I guessed, with short, almost balding, gray hair. He had on a black suit with a very tasteful wine stripped tie. He wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses and had a pair of very deep blue eyes that pierced right through me as I glanced up at him. He flashed a quick smile at me and looked over at the clerk who was supposed to be helping me, but was flirting with a New York City Policeman instead.

He cleared his throat and continued to stare in her direction. Ty straitened up and gave a nod in his direction. Joyce turned around and smiled weakly at her boss.

"Mr. Ryder, I was just..." She began, nervously, bringing her hands up to her long golden necklace that she began to finger.

'Wait on the customer, Joyce. It's not hard to do." He said curtly, giving her a reprimanding look.

As if a pail of cold ice water had been thrown onto my face, I lifted my head and turned toward him, feeling very week in the knees.

I felt my heart constrict and then start to beat wildly at the sound of his voice. It was very familiar to me. I looked over at him as he passed me by, my thoughts running a mile a minute. I felt all panicky and cold. Could this possibly be the man who had imprisoned me for three long weeks?

He opened the door and gave me another quick smile before dissapearing through. Before I could think about it, Joyce came over to me and turned her full attention on me.

"Can I help you find anything, sir?" She asked, looking like a school girl who had been reprimanded and had lost her recess.

I pointed toward the ring I had seen. "That one. Can you tell me if it's the same size as this one?" I asked, handing her Maritza's ring.

Ty walked over and looked at my choice, although noting the gray color of my face. "You okay, Bosco? You look like you seen a ghost or something."

I nodded, trying to get my breathing back to normal. It's okay. It's not the same guy. It's not him. Don't panic.

I swallowed nervously and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. There was no way that this was the same guy. It couldn't be. The man who had held me prisoner had a deeper voice, but this man had a gravely voice, almost like his windpipe had been crushed in some kind of accident. It was deep but raspy. There was no doubt in my mind that I had heard that voice before. Maybe it wasn't even anything to do with my own case.

I pushed my thoughts aside as Joyce complimented me on my choice of a ring and told me that it was the same size as the ring I had given her. A size six, which was quite small but Maritza had very slender fingers. I shelled out four-teen hundred dollars, which earned me a black velvet box to hold the prize, and paid the woman and we left the store.

And instead of thinking about how I was going to ask Maritza to marry me, my thoughts carried me back to a year ago, when I was in a dark basement praying to God that someone would find me before I was dead.