The Lone Wanderer of the Wastes
PART 2
1
The Rivet City market is more crowded than usual. Most of the population of the ship seems to be in here. Plus there are traders, caravans, and wastelanders here from all over to trade their findings to make a shiny cap or two. Most will quickly spend it on a watered down shot of whiskey down stairs in the Muddy Rudder. I am surprised I am not down there myself. Instead I am sitting on unsteady barstool at Gary's Galley. But the uncomfortable bar stool is not even what is annoying my mind at the moment.
I drink a Nuka Cola instead of alcohol. The fear of dad seeing me with booze is too strong to get over. Oddly enough, the thought of a drink makes me feel ill. Even with my Nuka Cola I am barely taking small sips as I stare off the ground behind the counter.
I find myself dreading the last comment I made to dad before I left the room. It has been two hours since I last seen him and I feel unsteady about the moment when we have to face each other again. Dad and I never get into fights. In fact I don't seem to recall a fight we had before this one.
I sip my Nuka Cola. The soda is flat and I just leave it there on the counter. I stare at the last bubbles float to the surface. Sighing, I listen to the ongoing chatter that bounces the metal walls. I rest my head on my palm. From the corner of my eye I see a kid sit next to me. I don't bother looking at the kid. I already know who the hell it is. James Hargrave.
"Hey." He says in an annoying tone. I don't move. He groans. "Hey!" he yells. Sighing I looked at the young boy too irritated to say anything. He glares at me. He does look a lot like Butch, but maybe I am mistaken by the identical personalities that they have.
"You are the lady who rammed into me the other day." He exaggerates. I raise my brows.
"Kid, I did not ram into you. I accidently stumbled into you. No need to make a fuss over it." I remark. He sits up a little straighter, possibly trying to puff out his chest like a rooster. I sigh. And look away.
"Hey, nosebleed!" he yells. I snap my head to him. Nosebleed. Flashbacks of being a child in the vault snapback in my mind.
Butch is standing over me. We are about seven or eight. Butch is beating me for a remark I say before class in the morning.
"Butch, I may be a daddy's girl but you are only jealous cause yours never loved you." I snap.

I agree that the comment was very… deep and I even regret it to this day. But he pushed me so far into anger I don't think I have ever been that angry. Him and Wally wouldn't stop teasing and laughing at me while I walked to class.
"Baby! Cry to your daddy? Waaaah!" Wally mocks.
About a few days before this incident, Butch punched me in the chest and I cried. I ran back to dad's office for comfort. They saw me run to him.
"You want a pacifier you big baby? You are such a daddy's girl!" Butch howls. Wally laughs as he points vulgarly.
"Stop!" I mumbled loudly. They continue to laugh. I bite my lip and keep walking.
"Why? We are having fun! Come on you bug dork! You're going to cry to daddy again?" Butch asks. I stop and look to the floor. I shake my head and hug my books closer.
"Really? Because that's what babies do!" Wally laughs. I glare at him.
"Daddy's girl!" Butch laughs as he points.
Now, I don't know why he was so amused that I was a daddy's girl. Or how it was humorous. But it angered me, like it meant I was weak and the baby thing just pushed my nerves over the edge.
We arrive at the door to the class. I am so relieved that I let out a sigh .But Butch gets in my way before I could continue walking into the classroom. He hits my books out of my hands.
"Hey!" I yell.
"Daddy's girl! Daddy's girl! Daddy's girl!" Butch teased as he pointed. I groaned with frustration.
""Butch, I may be a daddy's girl but you are only jealous cause yours never loved you!" I scream. He stops laughing. I could swear I saw all the blood drain from his face. He grew completely serious, as if he had never laughed once in his life. Even Wally looked terrified.
"You better take that back, nerd. Or I am going to make you." He warns. I stick my tongue out at him.
"Bite me, Butch." I say. Our teacher, Mr. Brotch comes out of the classroom, possible because he heard me screaming at Butch.
"Kids, get in the classroom or else I will have to mark you tardy." He warns looking suspiciously looking at me and Butch. We both nod attentively. When Mr. Brotch turns around I stick my tongue out at Butch.
"You are going to get it." He whispers before sitting at his desk. For the first time I wasn't scared of his threat. It wasn't until after class that I really thought about it.
So that brings up when Butch is hitting me on the ground. Wally and Paul are cheering him on. Clapping and yelling like tiny savages, they jumped for joy when Butch punched me in the nose which started to bleed.
At that moment I see Amata with Officer Kendall, Officer Hannon and Officer Wolfe. The officers scream at the boys to stop. They marched over to us.
Butch had his grip on my collar and his fist up ready to punch me again. Instead of laying another one on me, he pulls me up close to his face.
"This isn't over, Nosebleed!" he threats. I looked in his eyes for a moment as he did my mine. He could see my pain, fear and anger. I could see his pain, anger and his how dark his light blue irises seem to be.
The officers pull the kids away and take them somewhere. I lie back on the floor and breathe slowly. Amata comes to my side. She kneels and helps me sit up. But I wave her away. In a time when I was at my weakest I didn't want her to see it. I stand up.
"Are you okay?" she asks with concern and worry in her voice. I wave her away once again as I brush myself off.
"I'm fine Amata, thanks. I think I will go to my dad now."
Butch called me Nosebleed ever since then. I haven't thought of the name since he last called me by that name. It felt like I was jolted with electricity when James called me that. Almost as if he not only brought the memories back, but the feelings that I felt at the time. I also thought of the night with Wolfgang and how I thought of Butch all through the night, how I refuse to believe the mixed emotions that were brought to my attention after I pushed them back so far in my mind.
I look a James with a fierce glare. Just by changing my look I could see him shift a little. Was that fear? Or intimidation? I didn't care to know, I didn't want to know.
"Look you little bastard, if you call me that one more time I will fucking make your life as miserable as the bums that sit out of this city, got it?" I menace. He gives me a scowl.
"Whatever, asshole." He scorns. He gets up and leaves. I take another drink from my Nuka Cola, but when the drink pours into my mouth I remember it taste like shit. It isn't worth the rads. I slam the drink down on the counter
I look over the counter. I see a girl, who is about my age, sweeping behind the counter. I don't know who she is or her name for that matter.
"Hey." I say. She looks up with her piercing blue eyes. Her hair is blonde and is neatly tied up into a bun. She stops sweeping and sets the broom against the wall. Walking towards me smiles while giving me a questioning look.
"Another Nuka Cola." I say. She looks at my half full bottle and looks back up at me. After a few moments of eye contact, she takes her hands off the counter and slowly strolls to the fridge. As she walks back she opens the Cola and places it next to my half-filled one.
"Name is Angela; just ask me if you need anything else." She says with a smile.
I give her five caps. Sliding her hand over the caps and dropping them behind the counter to catch them in her hand, she twitches her head to move the loose strands of her hair out of her face. She places the caps in the cash register.
"Hey, Angela." I say after taking another drink from my Nuka Cola. She walks back to me, sighing as she places her hands on the counter.
"Yes?" she asks impatiently.
"What's up with that Hargrave kid?" I ask. When she sighed, she had a pitied look in her face. As if she disapproved of something she shook her head.
"Poor kid. He acts so mean because his mom, Tammy, is a bitch. All she does is drinks. His dad left a long a time ago and I think she blames it on James. I think she hits him." She says. I bite my lip.
Fuck, I think, this is exactly like Butch.
"He just needs someone who appreciates him, someone who understands him." she continues. I nod. She looks to my right. I follow her gaze.
"Uh oh, speaking of the devil." She whispers. I hear Angela walk away slowly. Tammy was walking over where I was. She was smoking a cigarette and holds and empty whiskey bottle. She stumbles and plops down on a bar stool.
"Angela! Come an-and get me a drink, will ya?" she stutters. Angela nods and opens the fridge. I don't stop staring at Tammy.
"What the hell are you looking at? Does it look like I have something to show?" She angrily says.
No much.
"No. But you already seem enough to drink." I say. She chuckles and calls me a nasty name under her breath.
"You… you'd… you don't know what the hell you are talking about." She hesitates. "You sound like Belle. The bitch cuts me off before I even get remotely buzzed." She says. I don't know if she notices herself swaying her head around. I don't like this bitch.
"Have you seen the top of the ship? It's lovely, especially on windy days." I say. I hear Angela laugh behind the counter.
"Oh you think you are funny aren't ya? Well, I got news for you; I am not drunk I would not fall over this boat." She slurs. I smirk.
"Want to test that?" I ask. She gets up off of her bar stool and walks over to me with her bottle. She stumbles.
"Fuck you!" she spits. Her bottle clanks on the floor. I start to wipe the spit off my face when Angela set a shot down. Tammy looks down at the drink up at Angela and then to me. She grabs the drink and splashing it in my face.
"Drink it, bitch!" demands Tammy. I sigh and get up. We are close I could smell her breath that reeked with alcohol.
"Hey, Tammy!" a security guard yells. Tammy turns she is smiling when she looks at me. I glare. I could feel Angela's tension irradiating off of her body.
"Ah, Harkness. Glad you are here! Lock this bitch up." She smirks. I chuckle.
"Stupid son of a bitch." I mutter. I place my hands on my hips. Harkness looks at me and hands me a napkin.
"Get out of here Tammy." He says. I wipe my face of what I think was Scotch, but I wasn't quite sure.
"You think I am the bad guy in this problem? She's the one wanting to push me off the top of the ship!" she yells.
"Tammy gat out of here before I remove you myself." Harkness warns. She scoffs.
"Fuck you!" she offends while pointing in his face. Then she stumbles away while mumbling to herself.
Harkness looks at me. I start wiping my hands.
"Sorry about that, she isn't real good with liquor. Most of the residents aren't." he explains. I nod while trying not to laugh, but I let a smile pass.
"I didn't notice." I sarcastically remark. He laughs and nods in agreement. When Harkness smiles, I notice how young he looks. He actually has bright green eyes. They were intriguing.
"I believe we haven't met. I'm Harkness." He says holding out his hand for a handshake. I smile down at his hand.
"I am Daenerys, just call me Danny." I introduce. I shake his hand. He smiles. When he lets go he says goodbye to me and Angela. I sit back at the counter.
"Well he was smitten." Angela says. I look up at her and frowned.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." I lie coyly. She laughs and nods.
"Okay, whatever." She says. Trying to change the subject, I try to think of another conversation. Or I could not talk. Even though that's what I would prefer, I could see Angela isn't going anywhere. I sigh.
"So what about you?" I ask. She looks at me puzzled for a moment but then soon blushes. Fumbling with her hands and biting her lip, I could tell there was someone. That's the way I looked when I thought about Freddie.
"Who is it?" I ask. Chuckling, she looks at the floor. I wait for her response and it is a while before she says anything.
"Diego. I love him, but… he isn't interested because of my age and…" she trails off looking sad. I lean in closer.
"And…?" I ask. She frowns and taps her foot.
"…and because he is becoming a priest. He can't fall in love. He has to stay true to his religion." She says.
"Hmmm." I say. She nods. Defeated, I take a drink of my Nuka Cola. I could taste some alcohol. Some of the shot that Tammy threw at me must have spilled in here. I groan. I spin the bottle around looking at the liquid swoosh around.
"What's the matter?" a familiar voice asks behind me. I turn to see my dad weakly smiling at me. I say nothing but shrug. He sits next to me. He chuckles to himself as if he thought of something funny.
"What?" I ask. He laughs. I couldn't help but smile. I haven't seen laugh, I mean really laugh, in a long time.
"You just… you remind me so much of her. Your determination. You know your stubborn trait did not only come from Me." he says. My smile widens. His smile does too.
"You know. I thought a lot about what you said. I think you are right. I think that she would have wanted you to help me. I think that would make her proud." he says.
"So what do you say? Come with your dad to Project Purity?" he asks. I smile and nod.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." I say. I wrap my arms around him. I close my eyes and rest my head on his shoulder. He moves his head to kiss my cheek. Then he whispers in my ear, "That's my girl!"