Gemsicuted

Written by Julian Robov


Fifty


“It’s beautiful,” Polly said, as she looked at her ruby necklace in front of the mirror. There was no one around to compliment her.
This was one of her hobbies, when she felt too bored with domestic responsibilities. She had an army of servants who took care of her mansion. Her two daughters Almandina and Spessartina embraced Buddhism thoroughly practicing the tenets much stricter than the average Buddhist. Their strict vegetarianism, refrainment from drugs, alcohol, sex, and other social activities took the Win family by surprise. The girls were not interested in their family’s wealth, instead they engaged in some sort of meditation, which only they knew.
In the end, Polly turned to her friends to parade her collections when one arrived, and this time it was a 37carat ruby from Mogok, Burma. Polly never ventured out of Bangkok for one reason. KIDNAPPING!
She was like a bird in a golden cage wanting to be free and gay, but was restricted to a very few selected known friends through careful appointments.
The color and brilliance of the ruby necklace was irresistible. She loved the piece all the time. She was enjoying the catwalk in her spacious room in style. The classical music in the background gave her the right mood and gravity, as she writhed her aerobic trained body to the tune. A lonely rich woman!
Phil had no interest in her pet hobby instead business came first. He yielded to all her requests without fail, and the 37carat ruby became another acquisition after the reminder slip showed up in front of his desk.
She put the gems back in the safe deposit box, but not before several rounds of scrutinizing the number of rubies in the necklace. Only she, Phil, and God knew the number combination.
She checked the day’s appointment. She chose to dress casually, an unusual tradition, but she had a reason. She felt restless and nervous about her image. Suddenly, she felt like pretending to be a teenager and dress like one. Her heart had another interpretation. There was a degree of constraint reminding her to be herself, despite the sudden behavioral metamorphosis.
There was a gentle knock on the door. It was her secretary, Nini.
“Mrs Win, Miko and Tito would like to see you.”
“Okay, send them in,” said Polly calmly. She glanced at her 25carat ruby ring her favorite when she had friends visiting her, and the cool flashes from the facets kept her always calm and alert. The power of ruby was always there to protect her. She checked her dress and the desk once again, as the door opened.
“Hi, Tito! Hi Miko!” She embraced them warmly.
“Hi, Polly! Nice to see you again,” Tito said, sniffing the air.
“Take your seats and make yourself comfortable. Drinks?” she asked.
“No, thank you. We are just fine,” Miko replied plainly.
“You can’t say that,” she added. “You are my guests. My friends brought some African punch for my opinion. I was too busy to try it. Why don’t we try it together and see what it tastes like?“
“Maybe, after the business, Polly,“ Tito said. “If you want to see the ruby the way it is, it would be better to see it now. With the African punch, the ruby might look like an apple.”
Everyone laughed heartily.
“You are the experts. After the business, we will try the punch,” she answered.
“Tito has the ruby, Polly,” said Miko, reminding her.
Polly waited patiently, as Tito opened a small black stone box in front of her.
“Oh my God, look at the stone. Is this from Mogok too?” Polly couldn’t stand straight. The color was so hot and pleasant she needed more time to view.
“Yep,” said Tito firmly.
“Why does God always put stones like these in Burma? I’ve asked this question several times, when colorful stones like these ended up in my safe,” she said.
“Freak of nature, I suppose. Nothing to do with the people,” Miko added. “I’ve the origin report from the Swiss laboratory. You may want to read it.”
“Nay,” Polly said. “I trust you both. Why this sudden request?”
“Just a friendly reminder. But look at the color first. It’s superb, and with this size you see the color better. Very tiny inclusions and fair to good cut. It is a jackpot stone, Polly. When we saw this stone, we knew it had to be in your hands. You deserve it. God’s lovely creation is in your hands now. An exclusive privilege,” Miko said knowing her mood. She loved to hear such explanations, and Tito and Miko used information tidbits without fail to cheer her up before the buy.
“I’m very lucky,” Polly answered. “My husband says that all the time. I don’t know what I did in my past life. Maybe, I was too good to enjoy the fruits in this lifetime due to my meritorious karma.”
“Well, if that’s the case, you must continue the practice for mutual benefits, don’t you think?” Miko looked at Tito.
“I’m sure we have met before in one of our past lives, Miko. I can identify you very well. Do you want me to say that?” Polly reminded, as a friendly comment.
“Nope,“ Tito said. “Please don’t. Save that information for a future date.”
“I was about to say that. Good, you identified my thoughts,” she quipped.
She rolled the ruby in her palm, and walked around the room twisting and turning her arms to check the color contrasts, and with every turn she smiled broadly. She never bargained with them, because if it were initiated she knew from her husband and past experiences that there were different ways of losing the stone. She had this rule. They knew it and she got the stones every time when a big piece was brought to her attention. Rubies never frightened her and all these years they were good to her. For some reason her husband’s business boomed whenever she purchased a big and good one. Knowing this phenomenon, Phil never disappointed her. When she got carried away by the rubies Phil had a new client from some God forbidden place paying him back in long-term contracts at ten times the price of the ruby. That was his jackpot.
Now she took her seat and gazed at Miko and Tito.
“Do you have any story for this ruby, Tito?” she asked curiously.
Tito and Miko looked at each other in a quick surprise. It would look stupid to relate the chaotic experiences they had just survived. Instead, Miko took the initiative to quench her curiosity.
“I’m afraid not a good one,” he added. “I don’t think you want to hear it.”
“That’s what I like,” Polly answered. “None of the rubies you sold me had a pleasant story. Why is it like that all the time?”
“That’s the nature of rubies genesis,” Tito said. “When a hot red ruby is sitting on my palm, I also thought about it several times. But I don’t think there is much use worrying about what happened before we were even born. What we all should worry about is after it has taken up its residence in its right place. How long are they gonna stay? If the rubies think they want to continue their passionate journey above the ground, then they will move from hand to hand depending upon the times. History is full of such painful journeys. You could prevent that if you know how to handle them reverently. They are very conscious beauties, which very few people understand. Those who do understand their language know how to live with them without any side-effects and all that stuff.”
“So that’s the secret of this ruby?” she echoed her thoughts.
“More than that,” Miko added. “It started its journey deep inside the jungles of Burma. The miner who found the rough screamed out of hell, when he spotted a red stone sitting in the dirt. When he plucked the rough from the dirty ground, his eyes almost popped out of their socket. It was a big one.”
She interrupted. “Then what happened?”
“He wrapped it in a newspaper and hid the piece in his underwear to avoid suspicion. The guy was trigger-happy and foolish. The lifelong dream had come true after a stressful period of ten years. He knew where to sell.”
“Bangkok, right?” Polly uttered unconsciously, “and then?”
“That meant a long journey to the town, and from there to Bangkok,” Miko said.
“Only his wife and brother knew about his new found luck. But his jealous brother killed him, while accompanying him to the Thai border. As he continued the journey, he refused to stop at one of the military checkpoints, so the Burmese soldier shot him. After searching the corpse, he found this ruby and headed to the Thai Burmese border town of Mae Sai, and this chap got shot while swapping the stone with a Thai by a Thai soldier, who mistook it for a drug transaction in the jungle. And the lucky Thai continued his journey to Chantaburi disguised as a Buddhist monk, and from there it has reached the right person to enjoy the beauty and rarity for the rest of its life.”
“That’s a very sad ending,” she commented. “I pity the poor fellow. What happened to the Bangkok buyer? Is he still alive?”
“Very much so. He is still alive,” replied Tito glancing at Miko.
“Lots of death with this ruby, aren’t there?” she commented looking elsewhere.
“It’s with all big stones everywhere in the world. The ruby is innocent all the time. Instead, it’s the ignorant couriers who get into trouble and go through all the inconveniences. It’s technically speaking avoidable if you just know how to do it,” Miko said tactfully.
“So, at last, I’m the lucky woman to hold this ruby for the rest of my life,” Polly said happily, after hearing the thrilling story.
“That’s your destiny, Polly,” Tito added, “and you deserve it.”
“You are thinking like me,” she replied, “and that’s good. How should I pay you this time?”
“Like always,” Miko said, “bank transfer. Here is the Swiss bank account number, and the price of the ruby.” He gave her an envelope.
“That’s all?” she asked. “Well, you all made my day with a good ending. Now let’s celebrate this purchase with the African punch. What do you say?”
“As you wish, Polly,” Tito said.
Meanwhile deep inside, they thanked Winston, Sanders, Jeb, and Baddy for making this event possible in the last minute, and the lucky jackpot lottery. All in one! They couldn’t conceal their happiness, as they laughed with Polly’s jokes, while drinking her favorite African punch. The taste was horrible, but the ruby was gone, and the money was in.