I walked over to Beth, got on one 
knee, and then took her hand. Both     
Mouse and Rhonda started sniffing. Pee 
Wee almost looked like he was also     
going to start crying, the big lug.    
     Darryl pulled a small video camera
out of his pocket, and Beth... I’ve    
never seen her look more beautiful, or 
happier.                               
     Her smile wasn't crooked anymore. 
     That’s when Rhonda, my freakin'   
arch-enemy, decided to spoil           
everything.                            
     “Wait!” she cried out.            
     Everyone looked at her, and she in
turn looked at Darryl. “Wouldn't now be
a good time, you know, to give         
them...?”                              
     “Quite right, Miss Rhonda,” he    
said and gave the video camera to Pee  
* Wee. “Don't film anything just yet,”     
and then pulled out what looked like a 
cloth tape measure, and first measured 
Beth's finger, and then mine.          
     After that, we all followed him   
into the kitchen. At the table, he     
pulled out a cloth pouch from inside   
his jacket and poured out an inch-high 
mound of something onto a plate. They  
looked like real diamonds and also     
sparkled like the real things.         
     While he was doing that, he also  
explained what was going on, starting  
with the first question that came to my
mind.                                  
     “Yes,” he told us, “they're real, 
and right here is about a quarter-     
million dollars.”                      
     Turning to Beth, he told her, “I  
have the equipment, right here, to make
the engagement, and wedding rings, of  
both your dreams.”                     



CHAPTER 14: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31st
<<  286 |  287  | 288  >>
[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]

                                            *MIDDLE OF THE PAGE