Kristie was so thrilled. Her great grandmother had given her a special present. It was her Aunt Lenora’s soft gold baby ring. Kristie was very pleased with herself to be honored by this very special gift. She wore the ring on her baby finger which was the only place that would fit.
She didn’t know about pinkie rings and how easily they slip off. She was full of curiosity and looking for adventures in that awkward stage between Tom Boy and Lady Girl. She had not yet been awakened sexually, but she was up for kissing games. She also liked to hike and explore things in nature.
When a family friend invited them for the weekend, she was curious. A boy about her age was the main reason for her enthusiasm. Charlie was cute and blond. He had green eyes and that swagger that pubescent boys develop as they are becoming men. He had the slightest hint of a mustache forming on his upper lip, and he smelled like a big wet dog, but Kristie liked him immediately.
They took off hiking in a new housing development that was currently under construction. There was lots to explore. Some building pads had been carved into the hillside. Concrete forms were constructed to lay out the perimeters of each house. Framing had started and there were nails to harvest. They found an old can and began picking through the construction debris to find what they were looking for: the large 16d nails that the kids called “three penny nails!”
They were having a contest about who could find the most. Kristie had five and Charlie had seven. If Charlie won, she was going to have to kiss him. She thought she might lose on purpose. She liked kissing boys.
They sat down beneath some trees nearby and began looking through their collection. Most of the nails were bent and crooked. That’s why they had been cast aside. But to the two kids they were amazing. How strong would you have to be to even hammer one in place? They pondered their collection as Charlie leaned in for his kiss.
He had chapped lips and his breath smelled like milk. Kristie thought this experience was like kissing a puppy. They picked up their nails and headed back to the house for a snack and to show off their findings to their little sibs. When Kristie walked in her mother asked her, “Where is your new ring? I want you to show it to Charlie’s mom.”
Kristie looked down at her hand. The ring was gone! “Oh God, what was she going to do now?”
Her mother sighed exasperated, “I knew you were still too young…. you better go try to find it.”
The kids didn’t hesitate. All four of them took off to try to find the ring retracing their foot steps exactly. The younger siblings helped. Kristie told her sister that she would give the ring to her if she could find it. She promised Charlie that she would kiss him again and let him feel her budding breasts. But they never found the ring.
She couldn’t eat dinner. She was too stressed about losing the ring. Her mother told her that she would have to tell her grandmother how she lost it. Kristie thought she would leave the part out about kissing. Somehow she felt that she was being punished for her sexual awakening by losing that precious ring.
Her grandmother told her the story of how Lenora had died at the age of seven from a small pox vaccination. That made the loss even worse. “You looked like Lenora from the time you were born,” she said wiping a tear away from the corner of her eye with her white linen handkerchief. “I always meant for you to have that ring.”
She didn’t tell her grandma about the three penny nails. She took her five nails, wrapped in an old newspaper and buried them out beneath her favorite avocado tree. She would never get over the disappointment she caused. She thinks about the ring from time to time over the decades of her life. She would have worn it as a necklace at some point, and then bequeathed it to her daughter… Three Penny Nails.
(First published 11/14/13)
