Jeb Williams is as predictable as any retiree, which was why Ashley knew he'd find him in St. Nicholas Park's playing a game of dominoes with a group of other elderly black men under a sagging evergreen. Ashley walked up and was quickly noticed by one of Jeb's gaming buddies as he approached. The man in question didn't see him at first, with his back turned, but Ashley caught his attention when his buddies pointed him out.

Jeb was quite the oddity among the group. The other five men were at least in their 70's and looked it: knobbly handed experienced weathered faces and wiry silver hair. Jeb, in contrast, looked like he was in his late twenties, not a single grey hair in sight.

Looks were quite deceiving because Jeb was at least twice the age of the oldest one.

"Ashley! Good timing, come watch your old man whoop some ass!" Jeb frantically waved over.

His opponent, a sagging man in a newsboy cap, spoke up. "Pff. Tough talk from someone who's only getting lucky."

"Chris, do luck streaks last years?" His father quipped. "Just admit you're going to lose."

"Chris is just embarrassed some young punk's given him such a thrashing." Another man spoke up.

"Good morning to you to dad," Ashley said as he pulled up a chair to watch this organized chaos play out. "Do you have any money on the line?"

"Nah, Chris is too much of a coward for that, but he'll owe me a drink when I trounce him." His father teased as he turned half his attention back to the game. "But what about you? What brings you back home?"

"I was popping over to Laney's; I need some help with gems."

"Ah, I'll walk you over there. Let me finish stomping these fools."

...

Laney's was a tiny jewelry shop sandwiched between a laundromat and a restaurant with the best BBQ in New York City, which created a confusing aroma of delicious food and detergent. There was barely any space in the store for both Ashley and his father. Ashley dropped a velvet bag of recently made jewelry on the counter.

Behind the counter were two women with an unmistakable family resemblance. The younger one opened the bag and inspected the pieces as the older one greeted the pair.

"It's good to see you again, Ashley, Jeb. The pieces are perfect as usual." She said as her niece held up a delicate gold necklace. "You'll get your money the usual way."

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Jeb nodded in acknowledgment but quickly turned to inspect a hanging display of cut and uncut assorted semi-precious stones.

"Thank you, Vanessa, but can I get part of my payment in a different way? I need help cutting some amethysts." Ashley said as he dumped another bag on the counter.

"What spell could you possibly be cooking up with all these amethysts?" Vanessa questioned as she took the bag.

"It's a quartz, so I'm guessing some kind of detection?" The younger woman spoke up as she finished inspecting the last piece of jewelry.

"Right on the money."

"Well, then, you'll get the amethysts back by next weekend."

Ashley and Jeb left the store soon after a few minutes of chit-chat. Ashley was preparing to say goodbye when his father spoke up. "You lost your earring?"

"What?"

"You're refining more quartz to replace the earring you lost."

"Oh, that. Lost it at a bar last night."

"That's very unlike you," Jeb commented, eyes squinted as he studied Ashley.

"Yeah, but mistakes happen." Ashley shrugged, trying to appear casual.

If Jeb noticed, he didn't say anything and quickly changed the subject before Ashley could. "I need to give you something, but it's in my apartment. Let's swing by Tito's for lunch, then my place."

...

Jeb lived on the top floor of a medium-sized brownstone, exactly where he's lived for the past fifty-odd years or so. Trinkets and bobbles filled the flat in neatly organized stacks and rows, crowding it despite its decent size. Ashley's not sure if his father is a hoarder; the man's merely lived long enough to accumulate a lot of crap. Still, hoarding harmless oddities wasn't his worse trait.

Ashley passed a small pyramid of neatly stacked glass bottles, ignoring the smell of alcohol coming off of them. There was no point bringing it up. His father seemed to be having a good day; talking about it would stress him out.

"It's in my bedroom. Wait," Jeb said as he disappeared into his room and quickly came back with a box carefully wrapped in paper. "Found it."

He handed it to Ashley, who carefully unwrapped the paper to reveal an antique ash wood box with swooping spirals and gemstone patterns carved into the box. There was an inscription on the lid in Celtic: Bhí an rud is luachmhaire ar domhan sa bhosca seo.

"You're giving this to me?" Ashley asked, voice barely above a whisper as he gazed at the antique. It had seen better days: chipped varnish, faded engravings, and stripped of its gems during moments of desperation, but as far as Ashley was concerned, it was still as beautiful as the day he first saw it.

His father shrugged but couldn't hide his smile. "I should pass it on; The box isn't much use to me anymore."

His father dropped onto the couch as Ashley continued to inspect the box. "So, you said you were at the bar last night? Meet anyone new?"

"Dad!"

"What? It's an honest question. You haven't dated anyone since that Benjamin kid in the 90's. How long will I have to wait to get grandkids?"

"Probably in a century or two. Dating is difficult, relationships are messy, and frankly, I don't have the best track record when it comes to picking partners."

"Can't argue with that."

"Dad!"

"You said it first."

"And you were supposed to disagree with me and say you just haven't met the right man yet. "

"No such thing, you waste time chasing the right person, and you'll end up like me."

"Eh, you could have it worse," Ashley said as he looked around the crowded living room.

"How?"

"She could have stuck around."