Chapter Nine
Kira
After having lunch up the street, Ty stood off to the side with Rory’s lead folded into his hand as Kira pulled the jewelry shop’s door open just enough to pop her head in.
“Hi, Abdul,” she called when the owner looked up from his job rearranging a display.
“I’ve come to pick out a birthday gift, but my friend has his dog with him.
Can we come in, or would you prefer us not to? ”
“If he’s a nice dog and on a lead, he is welcome.” Abdul held his hands wide. “It’s good to see you.”
She pushed through the door and held it wide as Ty came through. “This is Ty and his pup, Rory.”
“A friend of Kira’s is a friend of mine.” Abdul laid a hand on his chest.
“Abdul,” Ty leaned forward, extending his hand for a shake.
Kira peered toward the back. “Is Nu’ma here today?”
“No, no. I am all alone until after lunch.” He turned to Ty. “My daughter has a dress rehearsal for her dance class.” He pulled out his phone. “Here, Kira, I show you Lateefa in her little outfit.” He extended his arm over the counter to hand the phone to Kira.
She looked down to see a picture of a tiny girl in a blackbird costume. The hat on her head had enormous googly eyes and a gold sequined beak.
“Such a cutie. Bye-bye, Black Bird?” Kira asked, handing the phone back while Ty walked from case to case, looking at the possibilities.
“Yes, this is the song.” Abdul grinned. “A very good guess.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I had a similar costume and the same song when I was about her age.”
“And you turned into a confident and graceful lady. Your parents did well to give you this gift.”
“Speaking of Lateefa, I brought her some chocolates and a thank-you note for the beautiful picture she drew for me.” Kira held up the little bag. “Would you tell her I said hi?”
“She’ll be sad she missed you.” Abdul set the bag down by the cash register. “You’re looking for a gift?”
She lifted her voice. “Ty, can you let Abdul know what you’re thinking about?”
“Kira suggested a ring as a birthday gift for my mom, perhaps in my birthstone.”
“He was born in November. Topaz?” she asked.
“Or citrine.” Abdul nodded.
“Yellows and oranges,” Kira sent a wrinkled brow Ty’s way. “I think that suits your mom’s wardrobe palette, don’t you?”
“I think so.”
“And her style?” Abdul asked.
“She likes retro. Mid-century or earlier,” Kira said.
“Say something from the thirties or forties?” Abdul bent over his ring case as he scanned.
“She likes those styles, yes,” Ty said, wandering over to stand next to Kira.
Rory twisted around behind Ty, sitting between Ty’s booted feet, facing the door, keeping watch over Ty’s six, as his tongue hung long. He panted. Stressed?
Was Rory picking up something from Ty?
Ty always said stress ran down the lead, so he always had to keep a check on his emotional energy. Maybe Ty thought the price tags in here were too steep?
“My budget is a hundred and fifty dollars,” Kira quoted the number Ty had mentioned to her on their way over. “Do you have anything at the price point?”
“I’m sure I do. I’ll have to look. Gold.” Abdul wagged a finger in the air. “Gold is up to five thousand dollars an ounce. So maybe something in 10 karats. I just bought jewelry from the estate, and I will look through the pieces. You have come before I began to remove the stones.”
“Why would you do that?” Kira asked.
“The gold for one. Also, this estate is mostly from the 1970s, which is a style that is not selling.”
“It’s popular in furniture,” Kira said while Ty turned his focus to the case of engagement rings.
Kira was afraid Ty would ask her what shaped stone she liked. She hoped Ty didn’t think that because she’d suggested a ring for his mother that she was hinting that she wanted that for herself, especially an engagement ring.
She also hoped Abdul wouldn’t jump to conclusions and ask her what she liked about the case.
“Last year,” Abdul said, “it was popular in furniture, and then it didn’t sell.
Now other ideas are being seen in furniture.
Fantasy furniture—like you would see in a hobbit’s hut, I think—is coming into designs I see.
Dark, brooding. In jewelry, my wife says the seventies fashions were a mistake the first time, and they didn’t improve in retrospect.
So I will remove the stones and melt the gold. Then I will design something new.”
Kira smiled widely. “Perhaps tiaras will become popular if the world is turning to fantasy to escape the reality that’s unfolding.”
“That is what I told Nu’ma, that people hate how things are becoming in the world, and so they wish to escape.
Some, you, for example, enjoy the pages of a book.
I,” he touched his hand to his heart, “prefer a tree and a fishing pole, while Nu’ma is content to focus on family and make her paintings. ”
Abdul turned his attention to Ty, and as she’d feared, Abdul gave her a nod before he raised his voice a bit to say, “The diamond market is losing favor now that there is concern over slavery and the terrible conditions of the miners, especially for the children. Now, most people are choosing lab-grown diamonds. They are so close to a natural diamond that they must be marked during production. But much more reasonable for a young couple’s budget. ”
Appalled, Kira pointed Ty’s attention toward the walls. “Ty, Abdul’s wife Nu’ma did these paintings, aren’t they amazing?”
“Your wife is very talented,” Ty said. “I love the bright colors.”
“And the lines, they make me think of childish abandon and dancing,” Kira said.
“Thank you.” Abdul offered a slight bow. “Let me go look in the back and see if I can come up with some choices that might work for you, Ty. I can change the size, if you know your mother’s ring size.”
“I’ll text my dad,” Ty said, pulling his phone from his thigh pocket.
Kira turned to the other side of the store and leaned over the selection of cloisonné. There was a large oval ring that was quite pretty and within Ty’s budget. So if Abdul didn’t land on something from the back, she’d point that one out to him.
She tapped the glass and walked forward. The next case was filled with watches of different kinds. Kira wondered whether people wore them as an adornment or actually checked the time.
Ty wore a watch, but it had to do with his survival.
It had a built-in compass and other gadgets with lots of places to press and hold that would give Ty information about how high he was on a mountain and the slope's incline.
It also had times in various zones, and he would talk on the phone about Zulu Time, which was the standard, so that if one person on the phone was in Turkey, he was in D.C.
, and a third person was in Australia, they could all coordinate their time zones.
Kira was glad those types of calculations weren’t part of her life. She liked puzzles of words and thoughts, ideas and emotions, and while math was something she was good at, knowing that it was life-or-death math didn’t appeal to her at all.
Kira trained her focus on Rory, who sat in a seemingly uncomfortable posture, staring hard at the door.
Waggling his phone in the air, Ty turned to Kira. “Mom’s a size six on her ring finger and a size eight on her index finger.”
Kira lifted her chin. “What’s up with Rory? Do you think he’s in pain?”
What happened next was wholly unexpected.
Ty turned and looked, then, in one swift move, reached down and unclasped Rory’s lead.
He strode to the door, his eyes sweeping from left to right across the panes of glass, and just as Ty reached out to turn the lock, a man moved into view from the side of the building.
Pulling down the front of his balaclava so it covered his face, the man was dressed head-to-toe in camo and wore the kinds of things Ty did when he was dressed for work: a bulletproof vest, heavy boots, MOLLE bags with battle-provision pockets.
There was a can in the holster by his waist on one side—pepper spray?
And a pistol rode his other hip. A rifle hung from a strap across his chest.
Kira was aware that Ty was commanding Rory and that he was conflicted about how to handle the situation. As the men poured into the jewelry shop, they each pulled their ski masks down over their faces.
Were these ICE agents coming to speak to Abdul? Because Abdul and his wife were both naturalized United States citizens. And their daughter was born right there in Durham. So while Abdul looked like a foreigner and had a thick accent, he certainly had the right to be here.
Were there even ICE agents functioning in Durham?
Kira hadn’t seen them out before. But then again, she hadn’t been out of her house much lately.
The men fanned around the room as they looked toward the back.
Kira saw a news report that ICE agents could enter a building but not enter the employees’ areas.
For a moment, she was afraid for herself. She might have a look that would draw attention with long, straight black hair and a Middle Eastern skin tone. She wondered if her driver’s license would be enough to prevent further scrutiny. It hadn’t occurred to her to carry her passport.
Ty must have signaled Rory because suddenly Rory spun around to land plastered against her right leg.
No one had said a single word.
Kira walked over to stand next to Ty, and Rory stayed glued to her side, not allowing a whiff of air between them.
A last man moved through the door, and he held a pickaxe. Kira focused on it hard. Did ICE agents wield pickaxes to break down doors?
Was that allowed?
Should she ask to see their warrant?
Before she could decide, Ty lifted his hand to her shoulder and pushed her to the side with vehemence.
Rory stayed glued to her right thigh as her left hip banged against the counter.
Kira turned to Ty with venom in her eyes. How dare he? How dare he?