ONLY HALF THE MAN I USED TO BE
Chapter Ten
"Can I please speak to you
for a moment?" asked a very official-looking man. Rose and Jack looked up.
It was a few hours after Fabri’s death, and Jack was still very upset.
"I’m sorry. Can we please
talk to you later? Whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait. Something terrible
just happened," Rose said. Jack sat in silence.
"That’s what we need to talk
about, Miss," he said, this time speaking a little softer. "A man was
shot on board this ship. We need to sort it out."
"No, you need to sort him
out!" Jack said harshly, speaking for the first time since he had left
Fabrizio's cold, lifeless body.
"Who might this be?"
the man asked.
"Her ex-fiancé, Caledon
Hockley," he said, the name tasting bitter in his mouth. "It was him.
I know it."
"Did you see this,
sir?" he asked, taking out a small notebook.
"No, but I know it was
him," Jack said, quietly but bitterly.
"I saw," Rose said,
standing up. "It was him. I saw him with a gun at that time, just above
us. Right after, he ran."
"Can I take a
statement?" he asked.
"Of course," Rose said.
Hopefully, this would get him off her case for good.
"Are you coming, sir?"
the man asked Jack, who had remained sitting.
"Can I stay here? If that’s okay
with you, Rose," he said, looking towards her.
"Yes, of course," she
said kindly. She knew he needed to be alone now.
"Don’t worry," Jack
said, almost his light-hearted self. He had seen the scared look in her eyes
that told him that she was worried that if Cal had been aiming for Jack, which
he had been, he wouldn’t give up this easily. "I don’t plan to get shot
anytime soon."
Rose smiled at Jack and gave him
a small wave before heading off with the man.
*****
"Please tell us who you
believe shot this man, Miss," a second man said as she arrived.
"His name is Caledon
Hockley," she said. "He is my ex-fiancé."
"Now, wait a minute…"
the man said, as if he were piecing something together. "Caledon Hockley’s
fiancée was Rose DeWitt Bukater. You, however, are called Rose Dawson."
"That is correct," Rose
said simply. "DeWitt Bukater was my old name. I am no longer that person,
so I no longer use the name."
"All right," he said, a
little confused. "So, the man you are with--he is Dawson?"
"Yes. Jack Dawson," she
said, smiling just with the feeling of his name coming out of her mouth.
"So, why," the man
asked, "would Caledon Hockley, who we know to be a very law-abiding man,
shoot this Fabrizio di Rossi, as you called him?"
"He wasn’t trying to shoot
Fabrizio," she said. Her blood boiled at Cal being called a law-abiding
man. He had never been such a person. Rose had seen the dodgy deals, and as for
possessing a gun, and then shooting an innocent man… "He was aiming for
Jack, but Fabrizio dived in front of him, saving his life," Rose said,
speaking the last three words softly, with the honor he deserved.
"And why," the man
asked, "would he want to shoot Mr. Dawson?"
"Because," Rose said.
She was becoming infuriated with these stupid men. These were meant to be detectives?
Wasn’t the reason a bit obvious? "I have left Cal for Jack. Cal doesn’t
like this, so he wanted to…eliminate the competition," Rose said, trying
to put it as simply as possible.
"All right. You may
leave," the man said. "We shall investigate."
"Thank you," Rose said.
She left the room, muttering to herself in a manner she was proud to say her
mother would not have been proud of. She knew full well that Cal would simply
bribe the men, as he had done many times before. Her eyes teared at the thought
of Fabrizio’s death going unpunished.
She got back onto the deck and
saw Jack leaning against the railing, looking out to sea.
*****
Jack was staring out into the
cold Atlantic Ocean, thinking about the last few hours. Fabrizio had given his
life for Jack’s. Jack felt guilt with every breath he took, because all the
time he was here, speaking, breathing, and living, it would be because Fabrizio
was not. He felt weak and helpless. He willed with every particle in his body
for that scum, Cal, to get what he deserved, but Jack wasn’t an idiot. He knew
the way the world worked. Cal would get off simply because it was the word of a
steerage passenger against a first class passenger. Even if someone took a
chance and believed him and Rose, Cal would simply pay them off to support him.
When Jack had met Rose, he had felt the same social class barriers, but love
had broken them. Jack was happy to be alive for Rose, but angry with himself
for living when his best friend had died.
Just then, he heard footsteps
coming up behind him. He turned around to see Rose approaching him.
"Hello," she said
softly, putting a hand on his arm.
"Hey," he said, turning
back to look out at the sea. "How did it go?"
"I told them what
happened," she said. "But I don’t think anything will happen."
"Because that’s just the way
the world works, isn’t it?" he said bitterly. "Rich, first class men
will be believed above poor steerage gutter rats."
"You aren’t a gutter rat,
Jack," she said, tears pricking her eyes that he was talking about himself
like this. "You are one of the most gifted, amazing, talented people I
have ever met."
"I used to be," he said
sadly. "I’m not any of those anymore, not without my arm."
"You are to me, Jack,"
she said softly, with heartfelt truth. "And you always will be."
They stood in silence for a
while, looking out at the vast, freezing waters that had claimed so many lives
just a couple of days ago.
"I’m sorry," Rose
finally said, breaking the silence.
"What for?" Jack asked.
"Everything," she said.
"It’s my fault. If I hadn’t left Cal, he wouldn’t have tried to kill you,
and he wouldn’t have hit the wrong man. Fabrizio wouldn’t be dead," she
said sadly. "It’s all my fault."
"Rose," Jack said,
turning around. He automatically tried to reach his hands to her beautiful
face, but now only one could move. "It’s not your fault, and it never will
be. You know that, Rose."
"Thank you," she said
softly, as if he had forgiven her, even though he had never blamed her.
They both stared out into the
ocean, each lost in different thoughts. The ship steamed onwards, on the voyage
that the Titanic, sadly, never completed. Rose and Jack stood on the deck, and
despite the extreme sadness of losing a dear friend, they were both strangely
at peace.