“We really believe in building community here,” Angeni said. Which was another thing that Angeni Luna would definitely say.
“I’m going to help the guys out back,” Aurora said before excusing herself.
Angeni invited Sasha to sit on the couch in the living room. She offered tea, and Sasha accepted.
“Do you mind holding her for a minute?” Angeni asked.
Sasha was surprised by the request, had not planned on holding Angeni Luna’s baby, but she found herself saying, “Sure.”
Angeni handed the baby to Sasha, and Sasha almost said, “Hi, Freya!” before remembering that she was not supposed to know her name.
“What’s her name?” Sasha asked.
“Freya,” Angeni said. She scooped loose-leaf tea from a small ceramic pot into a kettle of water on the stove, turned on the burner.
“What a beautiful name.”
“Thank you,” Angeni said, again putting her hand to her heart in that display of exaggerated gratitude.
Sasha was overcome by a rush of unexpected emotion with the baby in her arms. She’d never been a baby person, never felt any kind of emotion toward a baby before. It had to be related to Daphne, to the nephew she’d never know. Freya seemed so small, but she was already nearly four months old. Theodore would have been so much smaller.
“Are you okay?” Angeni asked.
It was only at this question that Sasha realized her eyes were welling up with tears.
“Sorry, yes,” she said. Then, seizing the moment: “It’s something about holding your daughter. She seems truly special.”
Angeni looked at Freya with such love and said, “She really is.”
After the tea had steeped and Angeni had poured it through a strainer into their two cups, they went to the couch. She took Freya from Sasha then, and Sasha felt a pang of loss.
“So tell me about this jewelry. I love pieces that have a story,” Angeni said.
The story is that I got this from a cheap knockoff shop in the city and nothing you see here cost more than twelve dollars,Sasha thought to herself.
“Why don’t you look at the pieces and tell me which ones speak to you,” Sasha said, hoping she sounded like the type of woo-woo person that Angeni Luna would like, “and then I’ll tell you the stories.”
As Sasha wheeled the cart in front of Angeni, she thought about why she was really here, what she had to say. The rage that had propelled her onto the ferry had fizzled in the presence of this small woman who seemed so ordinary, so unworthy of all the worship she received from women like Daphne. Sasha thought of the recording underway on her phone, the opportunity before her. Her resolve was shaky now, especially with the baby present. It didn’t seem right to unleash on Angeni Luna in front of her child.
Sasha watched Angeni peruse the jewelry, fingering each item gently, as if in deference to its worth. She clearly had no idea that the pieces were worth next to nothing. Angeni Luna wasn’t wise. She was naive, clueless. Maybe Sasha could post the audio recording of this interaction with the fake jewelry to embarrass Angeni. Would that be enough damage done? She thought of the account she could create—@exposingAngeni or @therealAngeniLuna.
“I simply adore this one,” Angeni said, holding a ring between her thumb and index finger. It was a silver band with an oval-shaped stone perched atop it. “The simplicity of it is beautiful.”
“That one belonged to my grandmother,” Sasha said, a lie that came so quickly and easily that she surprised even herself. Angeni appeared deeply moved. Sasha couldn’t help but delight in her foolishness.
“Oh my goodness, are you sure you want to sell it?” she asked.
“You know, I’m not sure I want to sell it.”
Angeni extended her arm, offering the ring to Sasha, saying, “I totally understand.”
“No, I think I’d prefer to give it to you,” Sasha said. She was proud of herself for the orchestration of this moment. She had come to know enough of Angeni so far to predict that she would, again, put her hand to her heart.
“Really?” Angeni asked.
Were those tears coming to her eyes? Was she going to cry over the offering of this eight-dollar ring?
She was.
