The Box

In the summer of 1987, in a top floor apartment in upper Manhatan I was having lunch with two of my brothers and my dad. It was in fact very hot and humid and the top floor apartments in Washington Heights were really hot. Now I will remind you, that this particular neighborhood was at the time notorious for drugs, crack to be specific. Unfortunately I do have another brother who at the time was in the grip of this powerful vice. My brother James was notorious for being slick, ruthless, and a guy who would steal your wallet and then help you look for it. He was by no way or under any circumstance allowed to be in my dads apartment. At the time James, who I’ve since dubbed The Genius was living on the rooftop landing right down the hall from my dad and brothers John and Paul, and my mom who wasn’t home this day. So we’re around the kitchen table when we hear a faint knock at the door. With much care and attention I looked out the peek hole and saw my brother holding a beautiful bright blue Tiffany box. It had a lace ribbon around it and appeared to have never been open before. Now mind you I can see this through the peek hole as James made sure of it. He asked if he could come in for a glass of water. I obliged because I thought he would never try anything with my two brothers and father right there, and what I mean is he would not try to steal anything. This was my first lie I told myself. So we let him in and gave him a glass of water all the while staring at the very enticing box. Now my brother looked the part of the homeless crackhead, he was dirty , almost black, grimy, smelly and and looked like so many others who were addicted to this monster and scourge of the city. But my brother walked in like a prince. He didn’t walk he kind of slinked in and strategically placed this box right in the middle of the kitchen table. We all looked at him and I swear in unison we asked” what’s in the box?” Well at this moment this crackhead filthy dirty bum had us all mesmerized when he said simply “ a box “ as he slinked away to drink his water. Now I’m the oldest of my three brothers here and felt I should see what treasure James had. It was of obvious value and my eagerness to open this box was only surpassed by my father and my two little brothers. We quickly opened the box, careful not to damage the ribbon, and as we opened it my brother the genius says “ it’s just a box” and steps aside. Well we opened the first box, then the second identical and then the third, we were all filled with curiosity and excitement, we were going to find a beautiful treasure for sure. Finally after opening five boxes all getting smaller and smaller, we come to the last box, it’s the perfect size for a ring , or a pair of diamond earrings, I can just tell we got a score here. We almost ripped the small box open, we were drunk with anticipation, all of our attention was directed to that kitchen table and when we finally opened it there was nothing more than a note, handwritten by my brother the crackhead, thief. The note said simply, I told you it was just a box. At that moment we all looked up, we were dripping with sweat, and totally disappointed in the fact that there was no diamond ring or gold jewel. We all looked up and we stared at each other. I knew at that moment that we had beef duped. James was long gone. And with him my younger brothers gold chain and both of there wallets as well as all the cash my dad had laying around on his dresser and end table. He was gone right down the fire escape and onto Fort Washington avenue. My brother the shrewdest person I know, the most brilliant criminal mind I’ve ever seen had used our greed and the thrill of finding a treasure in a pretty blue box, against us to get what he needed. It was the ultimate in misdirection and slight of hand. He knew we would all be mesmerized by that Tiffany box and he was right. He planned it and timed it perfectly. This was a huge lesson for me, I believe my Dad and my brothers were to angry to see the lesson and the value of the trickery bestowed upon us. But I did, as I realized that the nicest looking, too good to be true things in life usually come with a price. Today it was few hundred dollars and a couple of gold chain. For me it was a lesson in behavior and human nature. The Genius had struck again. This was not the last of my brothers misdeeds.