THE COST OF BEING RICH
Chapter Four
I was betrothed to Rose the second Ruth went
over their tender situation. I couldn’t have been happier at the way things had
fallen into place--my humane side was shattered by then, and I was taught only
to mourn for a colleague’s death for the public--and I expected Rose to feel
the same way.
On our next encounter she was alone and
distant. I saw the glares her mother gave her; the kicks underneath the table.
The next time we met, she was much more jovial. But I knew the smile she wore
was a fake. The twinkle in her eye was never there while I was around. I knew
this, yet I wouldn’t let my body believe it. This is what nineteen years of
suffering had led up to. For me to have this delicate beauty. And, Goddammit, I
was going to have her!
I strung her along on a series of parties and
social events. All the men marveled at my good luck, and I couldn’t have been
happier...well, that’s what I told myself, anyway.
Soon, however, the pressure began to rise for
me to ask her hand in marriage. Ruth came to me while I was on a visit to her
house and told me what to say. She told me that Rose was on the back porch and
I shouldn’t take anything but yes for an answer.
When I approached her, she was wearing a
long, white dress with green and gold stripes. It was low-cut with lace and
ribbon to hold the top half closed. She sensed the tension in the air, and I
watched as her chest began to heave from dreadful anticipation.
I followed Ruth’s script word for word. As I
placed the ring before her eyes, all she did was stare at it. My heart pounded
in my ears, and I feared what I would do if she denied me. I wasn’t about to
let that happen. I laughed nervously and said something along the lines of,
"Fabulous, isn’t it? I know. I’ll just take your response as a yes."
I pulled the heavy ring out of its box and
placed it on her pretty finger. She still had not said a word. I got incredibly
anxious and could sit out there with her no longer. I think I gave her a hug or
a kiss or some sort of meaningless gesture and hurried inside.