Chapter 15 - THE WATCH COMES OFF
My father stopped wearing Sofia’s watch daily.
That surprised everyone.
“Why?”
I asked.
He shrugged.
“Too many idiots looking at it.”
Fair.
He placed it in a small leather box.
Wore a cheap digital watch for physical therapy.
The family nearly collapsed from aesthetic shock.
Marcus heard and apparently laughed for the first time in months.
Then one Sunday Arturo wore the gold watch again.
No council.
No Harbor meeting.
Lunch with me.
“Why today?”
“Your mother’s birthday.”
There.
Correct meaning restored.
A husband remembering his wife.
Not succession.
Not authority.
Not Bellini mythology.
Time.
Then he handed it to me.
“Hold.”
I froze.
“No.”
Arturo glared.
“I need to wash my hands.”
I took it.
He laughed.
“You look like I handed you the nuclear codes.”
I put it beside his plate.
Five minutes later he fastened it again.
May you like
Ordinary contact.
That was how symbols became objects.
