House of Diamonds

by Harry Buschman

Looking woebegone in the late afternoon sun, Ruby Lee-Diamond sat on the patio with both bare feet on the seat of the chair in front of her. Her red plastic shoes stood toe to toe on the table next to the empty lemonade pitcher.

Her skirt was pulled above her knees in a late afternoon attempt to absorb what little was left of the sun. A careful look at her legs would reveal varicose veins in a fine network of lavender and blue lines like those you might see on a rare old ceramic vase.

She was edgy. From time to time, although she had nowhere to go, she checked her wristwatch, flexing her elbow to bring the time into focus. ‘This is the problem,’ she thought to herself. ‘TIME! I had no idea there would be so much damn time.’

Somerset watched her from the kitchen window. He shook his head sadly and crossed to the opposite wall to check the calendar hanging next to the refrigerator. Although it was still September, the page was turned to the month of October. An im