ONLY HALF THE MAN I USED TO BE
Chapter Eleven
"We have decided," the
man who had questioned Rose told her and Jack the next morning, "that
Caledon Hockley has a strong alibi for the time of the shooting. Therefore, he
had nothing to do with it."
"That’s not true!" Jack
shouted. Although he was still filled with sadness, his actions and feelings
were back to the passionate man he was before.
"Sir, this is what we have
decided. Please leave now. Thank you," he said.
"How much did it cost for
you to decide?" Jack spat, anger rising in him, even though he knew this
would happen. "Maybe one hundred pounds? Two hundred pounds? What price
was put on my friend’s life? How much did he bribe you?"
"That is a very serious
allegation," the man said coldly, but a blush rose in his cheeks.
"Leave it, Jack," Rose
begged. "They’re not worth it."
"They might not be," he
said, heading for the door. "But I know who is."
Rose ran after Jack, who was
storming up towards first class. Several men tried to stop him, but he simply
stormed past them.
"You son of a bitch!"
he shouted when he found Cal.
"Now, now," he said
sarcastically. He knew very well why Jack was angry. "That’s not a very
nice greeting, is it, Dawson?"
"You son of a bitch,"
he repeated. "You shot my friend. You will pay," he threatened, his
moveable fist curling into a tight ball.
"I’ll pay, will I?" Cal
laughed. This just angered Jack further. He stormed towards Cal and punched his
left fist into his stomach. Cal doubled over slightly, but regained himself and
grabbed hold of Jack’s left arm. Now there was nothing Jack could do. His only
working arm was being held. Cal punched his fist over and over into Jack’s
chest and stomach. Rose watched in horror as Jack tried to stop crying out in
pain. He wouldn’t give the man the satisfaction.
Cal finally stopped and threw
Jack to the floor. He crouched down next to Jack and whispered in his ear.
"Yes, I killed your little gutter rat friend. It’s a shame I hit the wrong
person. Still, it wasn’t a wasted bullet!" he spat, the hot breath blowing
into Jack’s ear. Jack wanted with all his might to smack his fist into the
man’s smug face, but he was in too much pain. "I always win, Dawson. I
always win."
The smug tone of his voice hit
Jack like a freight train. He suddenly swung around, hitting Cal in the face.
He fell back and landed on his back. By this point, three men had run up and
pulled Jack up off the floor, while another helped Cal up.
"What’s the problem here,
sir?" the man addressed Cal.
"I believe this man doesn’t
belong up here. Please remove him," he said smartly, dabbing blood from
his lip.
"Did he do this to you,
sir?" he asked, glaring at Jack. "We can take him in for assault if
you’d like."
"That isn’t necessary,"
Cal said, smiling. "Just take him back to where he belongs, and…oh…"
Cal said, pulling a twenty pound note out of his pocket and tucking it into the
man’s pocket, "…and see that he doesn’t make his way up here again."
"Very good, sir," the
man said. "Take him back," he said, addressing the men holding Jack.
They pulled Jack down the stairs as Rose headed over to Cal.
"You really are one
unimaginable bastard," she said sharply before turning to the stairs to
head back to Jack.
"You go, then!" Cal
shouted. "Back to that one-armed gutter rat. See what kind of life you
have then."
Rose wondered if she should shout
back or carry on. Eventually, she walked back to Cal and quietly but sternly
said to him, "I’m sure it’s a much better one than I would ever have had
with you."
Rose smartly turned around, heading
back towards the steps down to third class. She eventually found Jack sitting
on a deck chair.
"Are you all right?"
she asked him softly, sitting down beside him.
"Yeah, I’m fine." He
sniffed. "But I’m useless, Rose. I couldn’t fight back against him. If
those guards hadn’t shown up, he would have finished me off."
"But he didn’t, Jack,"
she said. "And he never will. You’re not useless. As long as you’re here
with me, that’s all the use you need to be." She hugged him close. His
head rested on her chest as they drifted closer to America and a new life for
them both.