with small metal hinges and had come from a place in Italy where her mama and daddy had gone on their honeymoon. She didn’t remember her mama, but she did remember going to her mama’s room in the house on Broad Street in Charleston and sitting on the bed when nobody was looking just so she could see if any part of her mother was still left.
The empty jewelry box had sat on her mama’s dressing table, and after Lulu found the guts to open it, she’d seen a dark stain on the bottom. She’d pressed her nose into the box, and it made her cry since it smelled so much like her mother. She’d forgotten the sound of her mother’s voice, and the feel of her hair, but Lulu still remembered what she’d smelled like. It wasn’t until Lulu was older that she realized that her mama must have spilled some perfume into the box, but it didn’t matter. It was still a part of her mama that belonged to her.
Carefully taking the box from its hiding place, Lulu placed it on the braided rug between the twin beds and opened the lid. The smell of perfume was hardly there anymore, only a whiff of memory, but it still made Lulu’s eyes tear. She tilted the box to see all the treasures she’d collected since she was old enough to collect things, all the things that meant the most to her. Briefly she touched the penny that her father had given her, minted the year of her birth in 1933, and a pair of earrings with tiny sand dollars dangling from them that Lulu had found in the bottom of the chifforobe and liked to think had once belonged to her mother. She spotted the tortoiseshell barrette Cat had given her but Lulu didn’t wear because an old boyfriend had given it to Cat. That meant it wasn’t a true gift from the heart, but because it was so beautiful, she kept it and sometimes wore it when she was alone in her bedroom. Cat never asked her about it, and Lulu knew it was because she’d forgotten about giving her the barrette as soon as it was out of her hand.
Using her index finger to sift through the items, Lulu found the most precious treasure of all: a roller-skate key. She picked it up and held it in her hand, then closed her eyes and smiled. It was the key to the roller skates she’d been wearing the night she’d twisted her ankle and Jim had saved her. He’d carried her home and made her feel better with his smile and his laugh. It was the only time in her whole life when she’d wished she was older because she’d decided right then and there that she wanted to marry Jim and she would wait for him for as long as it took for him to look at her the way he looked at Cat.
Slowly, she untied the ribbon in her hair and wound it around her hand until it was as small as her fist. She picked up the barrette and used it to keep the ribbon from unraveling and then placed both in the jewelry box next to the skate key.
She wasn’t putting the ribbon in the box because she liked Peter Nowak so much. She wasn’t sure she even liked him at all yet, although she liked the way her sister blushed when he was near and how her eyes darkened so that she looked almost as pretty as Cat. No, her reason for saving the ribbon in her special box had less to do with her sister and more to do with the fact that it would always remind her of the first time Cat had ever lost. She’d been waiting for Peter to ask Cat to join him and Maggie for dinner, and when he didn’t, Lulu had found something to like about the stranger that his accent and gifts hadn’t done.
Lulu had just finished placing the box back in its hiding place when she heard Martha calling up the stairs. “Miss Lulu, you get yourself down here right now!”
Lulu jumped up and ran to the door, flinging it open so hard that it hit the wall behind it. Lulu knew better than to disobey Martha; Maggie had given the older woman permission to use the switch on Lulu’s behind if she felt Lulu needed it, and more often than not, Lulu apparently did.
The back door stood open and Lulu ran
The empty jewelry box had sat on her mama’s dressing table, and after Lulu found the guts to open it, she’d seen a dark stain on the bottom. She’d pressed her nose into the box, and it made her cry since it smelled so much like her mother. She’d forgotten the sound of her mother’s voice, and the feel of her hair, but Lulu still remembered what she’d smelled like. It wasn’t until Lulu was older that she realized that her mama must have spilled some perfume into the box, but it didn’t matter. It was still a part of her mama that belonged to her.
Carefully taking the box from its hiding place, Lulu placed it on the braided rug between the twin beds and opened the lid. The smell of perfume was hardly there anymore, only a whiff of memory, but it still made Lulu’s eyes tear. She tilted the box to see all the treasures she’d collected since she was old enough to collect things, all the things that meant the most to her. Briefly she touched the penny that her father had given her, minted the year of her birth in 1933, and a pair of earrings with tiny sand dollars dangling from them that Lulu had found in the bottom of the chifforobe and liked to think had once belonged to her mother. She spotted the tortoiseshell barrette Cat had given her but Lulu didn’t wear because an old boyfriend had given it to Cat. That meant it wasn’t a true gift from the heart, but because it was so beautiful, she kept it and sometimes wore it when she was alone in her bedroom. Cat never asked her about it, and Lulu knew it was because she’d forgotten about giving her the barrette as soon as it was out of her hand.
Using her index finger to sift through the items, Lulu found the most precious treasure of all: a roller-skate key. She picked it up and held it in her hand, then closed her eyes and smiled. It was the key to the roller skates she’d been wearing the night she’d twisted her ankle and Jim had saved her. He’d carried her home and made her feel better with his smile and his laugh. It was the only time in her whole life when she’d wished she was older because she’d decided right then and there that she wanted to marry Jim and she would wait for him for as long as it took for him to look at her the way he looked at Cat.
Slowly, she untied the ribbon in her hair and wound it around her hand until it was as small as her fist. She picked up the barrette and used it to keep the ribbon from unraveling and then placed both in the jewelry box next to the skate key.
She wasn’t putting the ribbon in the box because she liked Peter Nowak so much. She wasn’t sure she even liked him at all yet, although she liked the way her sister blushed when he was near and how her eyes darkened so that she looked almost as pretty as Cat. No, her reason for saving the ribbon in her special box had less to do with her sister and more to do with the fact that it would always remind her of the first time Cat had ever lost. She’d been waiting for Peter to ask Cat to join him and Maggie for dinner, and when he didn’t, Lulu had found something to like about the stranger that his accent and gifts hadn’t done.
Lulu had just finished placing the box back in its hiding place when she heard Martha calling up the stairs. “Miss Lulu, you get yourself down here right now!”
Lulu jumped up and ran to the door, flinging it open so hard that it hit the wall behind it. Lulu knew better than to disobey Martha; Maggie had given the older woman permission to use the switch on Lulu’s behind if she felt Lulu needed it, and more often than not, Lulu apparently did.
The back door stood open and Lulu ran
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