Jammy in Corozo Buttons

I slipped through the side gate into the brick passage behind the haberdasher's shop to get out of the afternoon sun. Resting on a recessed stone sill was a card holding four carved corozo nut buttons. I did not touch it right away. I crouched, testing the vegetable-ivory grain with the side of my palm. Dense, cool, dyed a muted slate gray with faint concentric rings. The cross-stitching on the bottom button had slackened, letting it wobble on the card stock. Using both thumbs, I eased the knotted linen thread back through the paper eyelets until the button pulled flat and flush. Solid now. Not going to drop into the dirt.