ONLY HALF THE MAN I USED TO BE
Chapter Nine
Jack was sitting with Rose on a
bench on the deck when he saw the outline of the dark Italian man that was
Fabrizio walking towards them. His head was down, his shoulders slumped
forward. Jack knew it wasn’t good news.
"Oh, God," he heard
Rose whisper from beside him. She was obviously thinking the same as him. When
Fabrizio got closer, Jack could see where tears had left tracks on his cheeks.
"Fabri," he said,
standing up and offering a hug to his friend.
"She was not," he said,
although he could tell they already knew. "She was not on this list."
"Oh, Fabri," was all
Jack could say as he embraced his friend.
"I’m so sorry,
Fabrizio," said Rose, giving him a small hug after Jack had broken away.
"Ah…bella Rosa," he
said softly. "I am so happy for Jack to have you."
"I’m glad, too." She
smiled as Jack smiled over at her.
Jack wanted to kiss Rose right
then, but he didn’t as he didn’t want to upset Fabrizio. Because Fabrizio knew
his friend so well, though, he knew what was going through Jack’s mind.
"You go," Fabrizio said
with a warm smile. "You kiss your bella Rosa, Jack."
Jack smiled at his friend in
appreciation and kissed Rose, but not before she giggled at Jack getting
permission from Fabrizio. Fabrizio thought wistfully as he looked at the two
kissing that he and Helga could have been like that. But whatever will be
will be, isn’t it? he thought, or some saying like that.
*****
Cal spat as he watched Rose kiss
that gutter rat with such passion, not caring who was around. When he had tried
to get close to her like that, she had simply shunned him. He had always
thought it was because she was shy in public, but he had obviously been wrong.
He felt in his pocket to check that what he needed was still there, and it was.
He smiled to himself, evil thoughts running through his mind.
"Oh, you’d better enjoy that
kiss, gutter rat," he whispered venomously. "Because it’s the last
you will be getting from her."
He closed his fingers around the
cold metal to pull out his gun. He loaded the bullets he had gotten from his
friend, checking that no one was around. He inched closer to them so he could
get the correct aim.
Jack pulled away from Rose and
put his arm around her waist. She gazed happily up at him. It sickened him to
see him putting his hands on his fiancée like that. How dare he take something
from Caledon Hockley? And her, looking at him like that, how dare she? She
belonged to him.
He raised his gun and took aim.
Fabrizio could feel tears welling
in his eyes. He wanted to look away from Jack and Rose, so he looked up towards
the upper decks. And that was when he saw it. That…what was his name…Cal? The
one who was engaged to Rose before Jack. He was up there and he had a gun.
Fabrizio stood still for a moment
in shock. Suddenly, he heard a gunshot as Cal’s hand jerked backwards with the
recoil from the shot. Fabrizio didn’t take a chance. He dived in front of Jack,
who was still standing there, unaware.
"Jack!" he shouted as
his body flew through the air. Fabrizio felt a terrible blow to his chest as
the bullet blasted into him. He fell to the ground as Jack spun around.
"Fabrizio!" Jack
shouted in horror, dropping down beside his friend’s body. Although Rose was
shocked at the sight of Fabrizio, she looked up instinctively. Cal stood there
with a gun in his hand. He fired again, wildly, and it narrowly missed her as
she dodged. He turned his back and ran as Rose dropped down beside Jack and
Fabrizio.
"Stay with me, Fabri,"
Jack begged, tears in his eyes.
"It is all right. I did it
for you and bella Rosa," he said softly. "Well, I nearly get to
America, yes?" He laughed softly before his breathing started to shallow
and finally stopped. Fabrizio was gone.
Jack sobbed over the body of his
dead friend as a crowd gathered. Some crew members came, wanting to clear the
body away.
"I’m not leaving him,"
he whispered.
"Come on, Jack," Rose
soothed, stroking the arm with feeling. "Let’s go."
He stood up obediently and turned
his head away from Fabrizio. He felt sick as he saw a blanket being pulled over
his best friend’s face.
Rose put her arm around him and
led him inside.
"He wanted to go to
America," Jack said, repeating it over and over. "He deserved to go
to America."
"I know, Jack," she
soothed patiently. Seeing him like this tore her up inside. "But look at
this way. He is with Helga now."
"I suppose." He
sniffed. Jack had always believed in heaven, because he wanted to believe his
parents were living on somewhere. His best friend’s final words kept replaying
in his mind. "Well, I nearly got to America, yes?" Jack
shuddered at the thought of how anyone would want to kill him, but they weren’t
aiming for Fabrizio. They were aiming for him. Fabrizio had dived in front of
the bullet for him, and as Jack accepted this, he knew who had fired that shot,
and Rose knew, too, because she had seen it.
That son of a bitch Caledon
Hockley. He was responsible for Fabrizio’s death, and Jack would make him pay.