Passed on

“Did you steal this diamond?” Sofia asked Paolo after he had passed it over to her and lay, spent, beside her on his bed. “Are the cops going to come knocking on my door Paolo? It’s a really cool diamond... but is it hot?”

“No worries” was Paolo’s immediate answer. “It was paid for fair and square, but the person I got it from doesn’t need it anymore. She isn’t going to want it back.”

“She?” queried Sofia.

“Couldn’t take it with her. It’s all she had left to give me!”

“Your mother?” Sofia asked. “She passed away?”

Paolo wept.