“You know, I remember when your grandfather gave me that ring – you know the one with the owl that I lost? It meant the world to him – I knew that. But one day…actually one night… he handed it to me. He said it was for my protection.
“I was alarmed…what could your grandfather be protecting me from? He said it would protect me until the day I die – but he wasn’t any more specific than that. No, he just told me never to lose it -- that if it ever parted from me I would be in danger. I never thought to ask him what would happen to him without the ring, without the protection, no, I just selfishly took it as he offered it. I respected him to the fullest. He died a short while after that.”
Little Joe felt miserable. The thought of he and Sal colluding to keep the ring from his d
