Chapter three ready for you guys!
After only 45 minutes spent talking to her, I've already made my decision. "Beatrice, do you trust me?"
She pauses before she gives a truthful answer. "I don't know you that well, but I think I do."
I smile and take her small hand. "And you are all alone out here?" She nods, looking away with a shameful expression. I squeeze her hand lightly and she looks back at me with a small smile.
"Beatrice," I start, "would you want to come live with me?"
Her eyes widen. "No sir, I couldn't possible burden you-"
"No, please. I want you to. I live alone. I don't have a wife or children and I have plenty of space for it. As your mother's friend I feel some sort of… Responsibility. I want to take care of you."
She stares at me for a moment and then retracts her hand. She turns toward her box and grabs her stuffed animal. "Well, let's go see if your place beats my box."
"WOAH! YOU HAVE A BALCONY?!" Beatrice runs out to look over the ledge.
I already feel my heart racing. "I don't go out there very often."
She giggles and looks back at him. "Why not? Scared of heights?"
I say nothing. Now she gets it…
"Oh. You are. That's okay, we're all afraid of something." She closes the door and comes back inside, plopping unceremoniously onto the couch, limbs sprawled out.
"Oh yeah? You don't seem afraid of anything. You're pretty brave. What are you afraid of?"
She frowns. "I don't like dogs. Or guns."
"Why not?" I ask, sitting on my bar stool, undoing my tie.
She quickly flips over and lies on her stomach. A fidgety little thing, she is. Buzzing with energy. "The police men would bring their dogs to our street. They weren't nice. And a gun killed my momma."
I stop what I'm doing and look at her. "I thought you said she got sick?"
Beatrice nodded, now sitting normally on the couch, her elbows on her knees and chin in her hands. "When I was real little, I used to go out and look at the stars while my momma slept. I liked to think I was really high in the sky, that I could touch one. One night, a man came towards me, trying to steal something out of my pockets. I didn't have anything in there, but I screamed because I wanted him to leave. Momma came out and punched the man right across his face. She was real strong and tough. The man didn't know how to fight so he pulled out a gun and shot her. It hit her leg, but she kept going. She kicked the gun out of his hand and flipped him on his back. She grabbed me with one hand placed her hand over my eyes and grabbed the gun with the other. I know she shot him in the head. Momma was smart to. She took the bullet out of her leg, but she didn't have any supplies to stop infection. She got blood poisoning, apparently. That's how she died."
I curse silently under my breath. Lauren was always a good friend, a normal Dauntless friend who I could go to about questions with training or the computer program. The story leaves a sour taste in my mouth. After a moment or two, I realize she's still in her thin clothing and I don't have anything for her to wear. "Beatrice? How about we get you cleaned up. You wanna take a hot shower?"
She nods enthusiastically and pops up off the couch. I lead her to my bathroom and turn on the shower for her while setting out a towel. "Do you need, um.. my help?"
She rolls her eyes. "Contrary to what I look like, I have had the luxury of bathing every once in a while. I think I can handle it." She places her hands on my lower back and escorts me out of my own bathroom. I chuckle. As I enter my living room again, I realize the situation I'm in. I am now the care taker of a child. I don't have a room set up for her or clothes. That's when I start to panic. I pick up the phone and call Christina.
After explaining my situation, I almost lose hearing in my ear when she screams "You WHAT?" I then babble on about how she has no family and lived in a box and her name was Beatrice and her mother was Lauren and I felt responsibility and sympathy deep in my gut like the blade of a knife. Christina sighs on the other end. "Oh Tobias. . . I'm actually quite proud of you. I'm heading that way with some extra clothes."
I sit on the couch and close my eyes. Then I hear her.
"TOBIAS!"
I come running to the bathroom door. "Beatrice, what's wrong?" I twist the door handle-
She pushes back on it with much force. "No! Don't come in here, I'm naked!"
I blush and reply softly. "What do you need?"
"I need something to wear." She sounds embarrassed as well, and I suppress a laugh at our awkward situation.
"My friend Christina is coming with some new clothes in about twenty minutes."
"I can't just sit in here for that long!" I hear a small bump that sound like she put her head against the door.
I look down at the bottom of the door and see her toes sticking out. "Give me a second, okay?"
I run in my room and look in my closet. There's a box that has a few of Tris' belongings Caleb let me have: nothing from her Abnegation life and a few outfits from her Dauntless life. I also have her watch and a locket that belonged to her mother. I was surprised that Caleb let me have this, but he said all he wanted was his mother's files from the Bureau and Tris' notes about them. He found piece the only way he knows how: through knowledge and words. None of Tris' clothes would fit her now, so I go to my area. I find the smallest boxer shorts I have, folding part of it and pinning it to make it even smaller, and I get my smallest sweater that I know will engulf her. "Here," I say as I slide them under the door.
"Please tell me you've never worn these." She says, obviously talking about my boxer briefs.
I roll my eyes. "Beatrice, they're clean. Cooties aren't real."
I hear her mutter something along the lines of "how would you know, only girls can see them" and she walks out, her wet hair against her face. She glares at me for a moment, then smiles and pats my arm, skipping away to the living room.
Who knew ten year old girls could already be so dramatic?
I clean up some of the water in the bathroom and hear a doorbell.
"I'll get it!" The door opens. "Hello, my name is Beatrice."
I walk to the front door and see Christina standing there, jaw dropped.
She raises her eyes and smiles. "Her name is Beatrice, she's got blonde hair and blue eyes… Couldn't help yourself, could you? At least that's it for the similarities. If she really looked like Tris it would be borderline creepy."
I shrug and embrace her quickly. "Thanks again."
"And who are you?" Beatrice asks looking up.
"I'm Christina. I'm Tobias' friend. I brought you some clothes." She holds up two large bags filled to the top with clothes.
Beatrice frowns. "Oh, no I couldn't-"
"Oh please. These are my daughter's old clothes. They are just sitting in my house." She takes the girls hand and leads her in my bedroom and closes the door. When they return, Beatrice is wearing a pair of jeans and a dark red sweater that hang loose on her. Feed her properly and they might just be a perfect fit.
I smile. "You look very nice."
Beatrice blushes then smiles. "I know. Christina said so."
I laugh and pat the couch seat next to me. Christina and Beatrice join me as we sit in silence for a moment. Beatrice then turns to Christina.
"Did you know my mother? Lauren?"
Christina nods. "Yes, I did. Not for very long. You look like her, except for your blonde hair."
Beatrice nods as if she already knew this. "My dad had blonde hair. So I've been told." Then she turns to me. "Can I ask you for something?"
I smile. "Of course."
She takes a deep breath. "There's something that I have always wanted. . ." She breaks off and I nod at her to continue. "I would like to have. . . a nickname."
Christina laughs. "Really? Why?"
"Well. There was always this family that I would watch walk by. The mother would hold the little boys hand and call him Johnny. Then one time, he ran away from him and she called him Jonathan. I realized Jonathan was his real name and his mom gave him a nick name cause she loved him. I asked my momma if I could have one and she said no. She said Beatrice was the perfect name and the only nick name she could think of wouldn't fit. She said it wasn't because she didn't love me; it was because she always wanted to call me 'just Beatrice'. But now, I'm starting a new life living here with Tobias. So, I want Beatrice to be my formal name like if I get in trouble. But I want a nick name so I know you're comfortable around me and…" She shook her head. "It's a silly request."
I grab her hand. "Hey, no it's not. Of course we can think of a nickname. Christina and I both have one, too."
She looked up. "What are they?"
Christina smiled. "Sometimes people call me Chris. And Tobias used to go by the name Four."
Beatrice looked at Tobias with wide eyes. "Like the number four?"
Christina laughed. "I wouldn't say that if I were you. . ."
I smirk at Christina and remember her as a smart-mouthed Candor initiate. I look back down at Beatrice. "Long story."
Christina looks at me questioningly. "Tris?"
My eyes turn sad, and Beatrice must have noticed. "Is that what you called your friend?" I nod. "Then I don't want to be the same as her. I want to be different."
I smile, grateful that she didn't want to be called Tris. I may be at peace with Tris' death, but I'm still not to the point where I could call someone else her name. "How about Bee?"
"Bee… Like a bumble bee?" A dimpled smile overtakes her face. "Bee. I like that."
I hope you guys caught that I made her ten because 4 + 6 = 10... ahh well, it made my day at least. Thanks for reading!
