“What is it?” she asked me. She wanted to tell the others the good news and so seemed a little impatient.
“I want to tell you something,” I said. I decided that since it was her desire to be closer to me, I needed to do something to prove that I wanted the same. I decided to be honest…to a point. I held up my hand so that she could see the ring. “Do you see this ring?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said. “When did you get that? Why did you get that? You’re not one for jewelry,” she said.
“I know,” I agreed. I quickly told how the ring came into my possession. I told her how I really did make Mrs. Janson naked on the street. I also told her that I made all of them naked, only to want her clothes to reappear.
“I always thought you had a crush on some of them,” she teased me.
“Well…only Mrs. Gabrielli, really,” I mumbled.
“Hmm,” she said. “I wonder what two reasons you could possibly have to explain that attraction,” she teased.
I had to laugh at her joke. There were probably only exactly two reasons why I had a crush on Mrs. Gabrielli. “Have you seen her with six?” I asked as I continued to laugh.
“Of course,” she said. “It’s a wonder she can still stand up.” I admitted everything so far up to the werewolf wish. I was slightly afraid she would ask about that. “So why are you telling me about this?” she asked. I was relieved. “And I really am not so sure that it does what you say it does.”
“Then what happened to their clothes?” I asked.
She was about to give an answer but her mouth hung open when she realized she did not have one. “I still think you should prove it to me,” she said. “Just so I can see it.”
“OK,” I said. I looked at our kitchen table. It was round. I wished that it was square. I did not say it, so I could prove to her that I did not have to verbalize my wishes. The table instantly changed shapes.
“Oh, my god,” she gasped. “Joe, that’s…incredible.” She stared at the table in disbelief. “So why are you telling me about this?”
“Well,” I said. I lowered the volume of my voice so that we would not be heard by the others. “I don’t really want them to know about it,” I explained. “I don’t know them well enough. I just want to keep this between us, OK?”
“That’s fine with me,” she answered. “But I don’t want you to make any wishes about me without telling me. And I don’t want you to do anything you might regret, OK?”
“OK,” I said. I had every intention of honoring her request. However, I decided that I would have to be flexible.
“Let’s go tell the others,” she said. We walked back into the living room. The other women sat in the same places. They were still whispering to each other. They stopped when they saw us return to the room. “Good news,” my mother told them. “Joe is OK with it.” They all clapped and cheered. They were clearly more excited than I thought they would be.
Just then…