But morning came anyway.
And I didn’t have another way.
The pawn shop was small. Quiet. The kind of place you go when you’ve run out of options.
A bell rang when I walked in.
An older man looked up from behind the counter.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
I hesitated. Then I stepped forward and placed the necklace down.
“I need to sell this.”
He barely looked at it at first.
Then he froze.
His eyes locked onto the necklace. His hands stopped moving.
Color drained from his face so fast it scared me.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, barely above a whisper.
“It was my grandmother’s,” I said. “I just need enough for rent.”
“What was her name?”
“Merinda L.”
Something changed in his face.
“Miss… you need to sit down.”
My stomach dropped.
“Is it fake?”
He shook his head slowly.
“No. It’s real.”
Before I could say anything else, he grabbed a phone and dialed fast.
“I have it,” he said. “The necklace. She’s here.”
I took a step back.
“Who are you calling?”
He covered the phone and looked at me like he’d seen a ghost.
