The Cracker Jack Ring

THE CRACKER JACK RING

A Short Story

By Kathy Hayes

Six-year-old Ben opened a box of Cracker Jacks. His mother had handed him a bowl, anticipating that he would pour out the popcorn to find the prize inside. He was eager to find a magnifying glass, especially since Jack, the boy next door, had received a magnifying glass the previous week, and Ben had been envious of it ever since.

Ben opened the small package.

“Awe shit!”

“Ben! Do you want your mouth washed out with soap?” Ben heard his mother say from the next room.

“No mam,” Ben said.  Ben’s mother could hear the disgust in his voice.

Ben looked at the small ring with the red stone and wondered why they gave him a wedding ring.   He would not need this for a long time.  He carried the ring to his dresser, opened his sock drawer, and hid it in the back.

It was a beautiful fall day in the Midwest.  Ben was eight now.  He was on the school playground holding a swing.  Holding a swing for Julia.  Ben was pretty sure he was in love with Julia.  Her features resembled Ben's.  Both children had chestnut brown hair, large round dark brown eyes and their golden summer tan had not yet faded.

Since school had started, Ben talked about Julia all the time.  “Julia is so smart, Julia is pretty, Julia has a puppy named Popsicle.  Julia's mom brought Popsicle for show and tell.” Ben would go on and on as long as someone listened. 

That morning Ben had opened his sock drawer, dug to the back until he recovered the Cracker Jack ring.  He held it up to the light and looked at the red stone.  He decided earlier that week he would propose to Julia.  Ben went into his mother's bedroom and opened the bottom drawer of her dressing-table.  Ben dug around in the drawer until he found an empty velvet jewelry box.  He grabbed the box and ran into the kitchen.

“Mom, can I have this?  I found it in your bottom drawer.”  Millie turned away from the stove and took the box in her hand.  It was the box for her own engagement ring.

“Yes, Ben, you can have the box, but you need to ask before you go into my bedroom and start going through my drawers.”

“Okay, Ma. Thanks so much.” Ben ran out of the room.

So that day, while holding the swing next to his, Ben tried to come up with the words to say to Julia.

Julia came racing out of the school and jumped into the saved swing.  She began pumping her legs, forcing the swing higher and higher.

Ben, speaking over the squeaky chains, said, “Julia, I want to ask you something.”

Julia looked at Ben swinging next to her. 

“Tell me, tell me.  Is it about a teacher?”

Ben studied her face and almost backed out, but found his courage.

“Stop swinging for a minute, okay?”

Both swings came to a stop.  Ben jumped out of his swing and stood before Julia.

Before he could back out, Ben reached into his pocket and retrieved the velvet box.  He dropped to one knee and held the box in front of Julia.

“Julia, will you be my fiance?”  There was a little quiver in his voice.

“Ben, I am sorry.  I thought you knew.  I am engaged to Timmy.”

Ben looked at her wide eyed, trying to think of something to say and trying not to cry.

He said, “Who?  Who is Timmy?”

Julia looked at Ben with those big brown eyes.

“Oh, you don't know him.  He goes to Central.  We have known each other since we were babies.  One day we will be married.”

Ben snapped the box shut, turned on his heel, and told the recess teacher he needed the restroom.  Mrs. Huffman gave him an orange card, and he headed inside.  Ben fought back tears, determined not to cry on the playground.  Once in the bathroom, he placed his hands on a sink and watched his tears fall into the sink and run down the drain.

When Ben got off the bus at home that afternoon, he went to the kitchen to find his mother.  She was there, removing brownies from the oven.

“Your favorite.  Do you want one or two?  Your milk is on the table, son.”

“I'm not hungry.”

Ben pulled the black box out of his pocket and handed it to his mother.

“I don't need this anymore. You can have it back.”

Millie looked at her young, handsome son.  She figured she knew what happened, but she did not push him to tell her.

“Ben, are you sick? Let me feel your forehead.”  Millie knew he wasn't sick but wanted to give her little man an out.  

The next day, Millie let Ben play hooky.  She told Ben's father he needed cheering up.  She took him to the Disney movie Son of Flubber.  After the movie, they ate burgers at the brand-new McDonalds.  The next day, Millie slipped the box into the back of Ben’s sock drawer.

Ben was in much better spirits after their afternoon together.  Ben never mentioned Julia again, and he never again held a swing for anyone.

Ben entered eighth grade when he was thirteen and he fell in love with a blond hair, blue-eyed beauty.  Her straight, thick hair fell to her waist. Her name was Marie Ann.  They both rode the first load bus and arrived at school early.

Marie Ann may not have been popular by the standards of cheerleaders or athletes, but she had her own group of admirers.  She held court every morning in the common area while waiting for her first class.  Her books were on the lunch table.  She did not carry them.  Marie Ann never had to carry her own books.  She always sat with her chair pushed back from the table, her panty hose clad legs crossed. Her tiny feet always sported three inch chunky heel leather shoes with a strap around her delicate ankle. She had several color variations of the same shoe.  While other girls were wearing jeans, Marie Ann always wore skirts, always short skirts.  The seventh, eighth and ninth-grade boys gathered round her table every morning.  Marie Ann had beautiful eyes that were always glistening.  She was being raised by her grandparents.  Unfortunately, her mother visited often and Marie Ann learned to mimic her mother at a young age.  This behavior turned little Marie Ann into a very sexual young lady.  Even teachers couldn’t help but notice the young girl.

Everyday Ben joined the other boys at Marie Ann’s table.  They all vied for her attention, giving her small gifts of chocolate or other tasty little treats.  All the boys told her stories about anything they could imagine and felt rewarded when she laughed her delicate little laugh, and her eyes would glisten with tears of delight.

There was a fall sock hop coming up and Ben was determined to ask Marie Ann to be his date.

The day that Ben was going to ask Marie Ann to the dance, he opened his sock drawer, and the drawer stuck. He pulled hard, and the drawer flew out and the long forgotten black velvet box fell to the floor.  Ben picked up the box and flipped it open.  Memories of Julie flooded his mind, and he gave a little chuckle, remembering the boy he once was and how hurt he was when he found out Julia was already engaged.  Oh brother, he thought, he was so naïve.

When Ben arrived at school, he saw Bobby Reston, a ninth-grade boy, sitting at Marie Ann’s table.  As he got closer, he noticed there were no other boys at her table.  He came to a stop and turned on his heel when he saw Marie Ann and Bobby holding hands.  Instead of going to what was now Marie Ann and Bobby’s table, he got a pass from the PE coach to go to the weight room every morning before school. Marie Ann and her mother died two years later.  An ex-boyfriend of Marie Ann’s mother shot them both in a drug-addled jealous rage.  It was a sad event, and Ben would always remember the beautiful girl with the glistening eyes of melancholy.

Girlfriends came and went over the years.  There was not a special girl until Ben was a junior at Ohio State University.  Ben was studying computer engineering and computer science.  

Ben, still the dark complected brown-eyed boy he was as a child, bumped into a girl in the bookstore.  All the books she was trying to manage flew from her arms and scattered helter skelter.  

“Excuse me, I am so sorry,” Ben said when he saw what he had done. Then, Ben stopped in a half stoop as he was bending to retrieve the books.  He was nose to nose with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She possessed long, voluminous auburn hair and dark brown eyes set within a petite oval face. She had a smattering of freckles, but the cutest thing was her dimples when she smiled. He looked down at the books he was picking up, reading the titles.  They were all chemistry and biology books, except for one lone Spanish IV book.

“My name is Ben.  So sorry, I should have been paying attention.  Wow, this is a lot of science books!”

“Yes, I am pre-med.  Oh, my name is Agatha.  Nice to meet you, Ben.”

“I noticed the Spanish book. Is that just for fun?”  Ben was grappling for something to say.  

Ben thought, “Oh dear Lord, did I just say that?”

Agatha chuckled and remarked, “I wish I undertook activities just for enjoyment. My goal is to establish a clinic, so I must become proficient in Spanish.”

From that moment on, Ben was smitten.  He asked her for a date at that very first meeting.  During Ben's junior year, they dated, spending every minute together.  

Ben took Agatha home to meet his parents. Mollie knew during their first visit Agatha was special.  Mollie loved Agatha almost as much as Ben did.

During Ben's senior year, the couple bailed out of the dorms and moved in together, financing their expenses with student loan money.  Both had been lucky and, until this point, neither had student loan debt.

The next year Ben and Agatha moved to Nashville so Agatha could go to Vanderbilt Medical School on a full ride scholarship.  Ben could get his masters in a year, doubling up and not taking the summer off.

Ben was already working at Datacheck as an intern.  Datacheck had offered Ben a position when he graduated.  It was a job he could do anywhere in the United States, working from a home office.  Ben was an exceptional employee and upper management material.  His starting salary would be six figures and included stock options.

Meanwhile, Agatha was working toward her goal.  Ben and Agatha were a power couple with a bright future ahead of them.

During the Christmas that marked Ben's transition to full-time employment and Agatha's tenure as a hospital intern, the couple enjoyed a two-week holiday at the home of Ben's mother. It was a much-needed break for both Ben and Agatha.

Ben’s mother asked them to go to Christmas Eve services at the family’s Methodist church.  Ben and Agatha were not church goers, but they agreed to attend. Before they went to the church, Millie said she wanted to show Ben something.

Ben followed his mother to her bedroom.  She opened a dresser drawer and removed something.  She turned around, and she was holding a little velvet box.  

“Remember this,” Millie said as she smile.

Ben took the box from his mother’s hand and laughed a deep, hearty belly laugh.

“Why in the world did you keep this?”

“Because it is a part of your childhood, and I thought it was so sweet.”

Millie handed the box to Ben, and he flipped the lid open.  Ben stared into the box and snapped the lid shut.  He opened the lid again as if it contained a poisonous creature.

Ben’s eyes went large, and he turned the box so his mother could see the contents.  Instead of the Cracker Jack ring, it contained a huge sapphire ring, a good two carats.

“Mother, did you do this?”  Millie looked into the box, eyes going wide.

“Ben, you know I am not financially capable of purchasing this ring.  Did you do this?  Are you planning to propose?”

Dumbfounded, Ben shook his head no.

They both stared at the ring in a moment of silence.

Millie said, “Well, maybe you should think about it.  I think this is a sign that you are on the right track.”

Ben looked at his mother.  He said, “I am going to do it.  Tonight, after church, I am going to ask her.”

Ben’s father, Richard, had died two years earlier, so it was just the three of them.  After the service, Millie said she had a headache and needed to go home.  Millie had made reservations for three at Everything Italian earlier in the day.  She told the kids to go on and enjoy the meal and she would see them in the morning.

Ben did not have any original idea for a perfect proposal for Agatha, so he relied on things he had seen on television.  He decided he would put the ring into Agatha’s champagne glass.  Agatha asked why they were having champagne.  Ben told her he felt like celebrating their good fortune.

As the evening progressed, Ben's concern grew.  Perhaps Agatha would not visit the ladies' room. Just as they were ordering dessert, she stood up and went to the ladies’ room.

Ben fished the box out of his pocket and flipped it open. He stared at the ring to make sure it was still a sapphire.  He removed the ring and dropped it into her glass and poured more champagne.

Ben could not wait for her to find it on her own.  “Let's make toast.  To a long and happy life together.”

Ben waited as she lifted the glass to her lips.  Agatha saw the ring, but did not let him see that she did.  She tipped the glass up and took a long swig, the ring going into her mouth.

Ben jumped up, prepared to do the Heimlich maneuver, and said, “Agatha, don’t swallow that!  Stop!”

Agatha was smiling as spit the ring back into the flute.

“Do you even know what to do with this?”

Ben grabbed the glass, dumped the ring out on his napkin, dried it, and then dropped to one knee.

“Agatha, will you marry me?  Please, will you marry me?”

Agatha looked into Ben's eyes.  “Yes, I can’t wait to marry you.”  Ben stood up and drew Agatha into his arms to the thunderous applause that came from the restaurant patrons and employees.

Over dessert and coffee, they held hands.  Ben wondered at the beauty of Agatha.  He told her about the Cracker Jack box and the miracle of the ring.  Agatha was not skeptical. She did not doubt for a moment that he was telling her the truth.  Agatha vowed to cherish the ring always and promised it would become a family heirloom, passing down the story with the ring.

Millie went to bed after she got home. It had been a long day, and she felt drained. She opened her dressing-table drawer and removed the Cracker Jack ring and placed it on her pinky finger.  As she stared at the ring, she felt at peace knowing she had given the kids the best gift ever.  It had taken every penny she could scrap together to purchase the ring. Everyone deserves a little magic in their life.  A start like this for those two would ensure the success that she and Richard had enjoyed.  She drifted to sleep, wearing the ring, vowing to hide it before she saw the kids in the morning.