Chapter 6 - The Necklace Was Not Expensive Enough to Steal for Money
Lucy’s hummingbird necklace was worth maybe:
$1,800.
Not insignificant.
Not life-changing.
Theresa did not take it because she needed:
cash.
She took it because she wanted:
the right to decide what Lucy still needed.
Lucy’s grandmother, Evelyn, gave her the necklace at twenty-one.
Gold hummingbird.
Tiny emerald.
Evelyn used to tell Lucy:
“Hummingbirds look fragile until you see how hard they work to stay in the air.”
Lucy loved:
that.
She wore it almost every day.
During chemotherapy, the chain irritated her skin.
She placed it in a small jewelry box beside:
her bed.
Then one afternoon it disappeared.
She asked Theresa.
“I put it somewhere safe.”
“Where?”
“Don’t worry.”
“I want it.”
“You’re not wearing jewelry right now.”
“That isn’t the point.”
Theresa refused to return:
it.
Lucy told me months later.
Not directly.
She said during a short video call:
“Your mom has my hummingbird.”
I laughed because I misunderstood.
“Why?”
“She says I’ll lose it.”
“Mom?”
Theresa was nearby.
She answered:
“I’m keeping it safe.”
I said:
“Okay.”
Okay.
One word.
Lucy’s face changed.
I did not notice.
Later Theresa started wearing it.
At first:
inside her sweater.
Then openly.
Why?
Her explanation years later was astonishing.
“I liked it.”
Then:
“Lucy wasn’t using it.”
There it was.
The same logic as:
money.
Lucy not using something efficiently meant someone else could:
redirect it.
The necklace became the smallest version of the whole system.
I gave Theresa authority to:
help.
She began deciding what belonged where.
Eventually that included:
money,
mail,
medical information,
jewelry,
May you like
and Lucy’s own voice.
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