A DIFFERENT TALE
Chapter Three
The following morning, Jack and I
met with Rose on the upper decks. She had her hair pinned up in a bun and was
wearing a long yellow dress. We walked around the deck and told her bits and
pieces of our lives.
"Okay, we’ve walked about a
mile around this ship and told you about our lives. But I don’t think that’s
why you came to talk to us," Jack said, finally stopping.
Rose looked embarrassed, and Jack
waited for her response.
"I wanted to thank you for
saving me last night," she said finally.
"Not a problem," Jack
said.
"I know what you two were
thinking. Poor little rich girl. What does she know about misery?" Rose
blurted out.
"Yep," I answered.
Jack rolled his eyes at me and
turned back to Rose.
"No. No, that wasn’t what we
were thinking at all. We were thinking--what could be so bad as to make this
woman want to jump that could not be fixed?"
"Well, you see…everything
I’ve done in my life has to be perfect. Sit properly, eat properly, and now I’m
being forced to marry the man you met last night," she explained.
"Do you love him?" Jack
asked.
Her jaw suddenly dropped, as if
she couldn’t believe he had asked that question.
"Oh, my…I cannot believe you
could be so rude."
Jack sort of laughed and gasped
at the same time.
"Oh, excuse me."
"Yes, that’s right. I cannot
believe you could be so rude. You know what? I’m leaving!" Rose said
shrilly.
"You know what’s funny…you
still haven’t answered the question," I said.
"Both of you! Have you no
manners?"
She started to walk away, but
then suddenly turned around.
"You know what? I don’t have
to leave! You two leave!" she snapped.
This time I laughed at her, as
did Jack. Suddenly, she yanked the sketchbook from Jack’s hands.
"What’s this you’re carrying
around?"
She sat down and started to flip
through the pages. She told Jack how beautiful the pictures were, and suddenly
she wanted him to teach her how to do things like a man. So as the sun began to
set, Jack showed her how to spit.
That is, until Rose’s mother came
with a bunch of other rich women. They took her away, and one plump woman said
to us, "What do you plan on wearing to dinner?"
Jack and I gestured to the
clothes that we were currently wearing.
"Oh, no, no, no. Follow
me."
She led us down hallways and into
her personal stateroom. She pulled out a tux for Jack, and he went into a room
to change. She pulled out a long blue dress and was about to hand me a fur
coat.
"I love animals. Why would I
wear them?"
Before she could respond, I went
into the bathroom and locked the door. I slipped off my old clothes and slipped
on the dress. It fit perfectly. I grabbed a brush from the counter and brushed
my hair until it was in waves lying flat on my back.
I stepped out of the bathroom to
see the woman slicking back Jack’s hair with some pomade. She stopped for a
moment and turned to me.
"Why, dear, you look
stunning," she said.
I smiled and nearly laughed when
it seemed Jack’s eyes might pop out of his head. We thanked the woman and
walked into the rich section. From there, we waited for Rose, Cal, and whoever
else was joining us.
Jack tried to copy the other rich
men, and I bit my tongue. When Rose finally arrived, she took Cal’s arm and
they led the way. Jack offered me his arm.
"Shall we?" he asked.
I took his arm and smiled.
"Lead the way."
We reached the room and sat down
to dinner. They asked Jack a ton of questions. Some of them criticized him.
Finally, dinner was over and we had a chance to leave.
"Let’s go to a real
party," Jack said, standing up.
"I second that motion!"
I exclaimed, and got up.
I fixed Jack’s hair so that it
faced the front again.
"It looks better like that."
Rose thought about it for a
second, and then took Jack’s arm. Something seemed to ignite in me at that
moment. I wanted to shove Rose across the room. I held back the urge and
followed behind, trying to get rid of the black cloud that was pouring rain
above my head. You could probably hear the thunder and see the lightning coming
from that.
We reached the party of the lower
class and soon we were all dancing and having a few drinks. I even beat a man
at arm wrestling. Finally, the party ended around two in the morning.
Jack and I escorted Rose back to
her stateroom and then we reeled through the hallways back to our cabin. We
were both laughing like maniacs, and I don’t really remember ever making it
back to our room.
The next morning, I woke up by
accidentally falling out of my bunk, waking up Jack. I shot up immediately.
"I’m okay!" I said,
kind of loudly.
Jack, who had bolted up when I
had fallen out of bed, chuckled and flopped back on the pillows, slapping his
forehead with his hand.
I got dressed and went to the
upper decks, completely forgetting that I was hungry and wanted breakfast. The
sun was beautiful and I loved the sound of the ocean roaring as we cut through
it with the powerful engines.
Suddenly, I saw Jack out of the
corner of my eye. He was trying to sneak past me, so I grabbed the back of his
jacket.
"Jack, what are you
doing?"
He spun to face me. He looked
determined. He touched the side of my face with his hand.
"I have to speak to
Rose," he said.
"Oh, Jack, no," I
objected. "I don’t want to see you hurt."
But I think my comment was what
made him hurt. He took my hands.
"Please, Marie…I have
to."
I searched his expression again,
gazing into his handsome eyes.
"Oh, Jack…"
"Please," he said
again, begging.
Slowly, I let go of his jacket. He
flashed me a weak smile and disappeared down a corridor.
I stood there in the cold; my
arms crossed. I bent my head down and tried not to cry.
I felt something drip down my
cheek and touched it with my finger. I stared at the glistening water on my
fingertip.
A tear.
Of love or pain, I did not know.
A tear.