Chapter 3 – Tiny Bubbles
Bellemere threw her arm over the back of her chair and sighed with satisfaction. "That was great! I feel like I'm going to burst."
"What a pity. Does that mean there's no room for ice cream?" Doc asked.
Bellemere grinned. "I can make room."
"Why don't you two run out and get some? My treat." Doc tossed a few coins at Gen, who caught them easily.
He stared at the money. "I don't want ice cream."
"But Bellemere does. Young ladies do not walk around in the middle of the night by themselves," his mother said sternly.
"It's not even eight yet," Gen retorted.
"More for me if he doesn't come," Bellemere pointed out.
Gen's mother glared at him from across the table. "Didn't you tell me that there are supposed to be more pirates in area? She can't be walking around alone when god knows who is out there. Besides it's indecent."
"She's indecent," Gen muttered, picking up his hat, as Bellemere bounded to the door.
"And afterwards make sure to walk Bellemere back to her house," his mother called after him.
Gen rolled his eyes and opened the door.
"We'll leave you two alone now," Bellemere said, winking at Gen.
"Bellemere," he threatened, shutting the door behind them.
They heard Bellemere through the door. "Hurry up. Ice cream's awaiting!"
Doc began cleaning some of dishes away. "You don't think that was a bit heavy-handed? They're sure to figure it out."
She laughed. "Heavy-handed? Those two are oblivious."
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Thom, the owner of one of two ice cream shops on the island, was washing dishes when the duo came into his store. He grinned at Bellemere; she had a sweet tooth on her and was in all the time.
"Hey Gen. Escorting prisoners tonight?" He wiped his hands on his apron and went to the counter. "What can I get you?"
Bellemere studied the freezer cases, eyes darting over the different labels. "You go first, Gen. I don't know what I want."
Gen gave her the money. "I said I don't want ice cream."
"In that case…" Bellemere rattled off her order, naming four different flavors, all which to Gen sounded quite disgusting when put on top of each other. Strawberry with mint chocolate chip?
Gen waited while Bellemere dithered over waffle or regular cone, then watched the ice cream man build her frozen tower with expert efficiency. Thom handed it over the counter and into Bellemere's impatient hands, then pointed at a box near the register.
"We're running a promotion. Take one." Thom offered a box filled with folded scraps of paper. Bellemere paid and then rummaged in the box. She pulled out one, and handed it back.
Thom read the slip. "Too bad. Your turn, Gen." Gen took the first paper on top and pass it over the counter.
"A winner! Hang on a second." Thom bent down behind the counter and then produced the prize with a flourish.
"What am I going to do with this?" Gen asked. The vanes of the gold foil pinwheel turned slowly.
"Give it to me, if you don't want it," Bellemere said and grasped at it but he put it just out of her reach. Bellemere gave up and went back to eating her ice cream, which was melting rapidly.
He watched the vanes spin a few times before sticking it in his pants pocket.
"I have some work to do and need to get back to my house, but my mother isn't going to give me any peace unless I can assure her that I got you home," Gen said.
"Without me being attacked by werewolves or pirates or the Bogeyman?" she teased. "Or maybe all three at once?"
"So can we go?" he asked, irritated. Did she have to turn everything into a joke?
She started walking, more concerned with eating than teasing Gen. After all, she could do that any day.
Gen watched her strut up the path. Here she was happy as a clam, when last night she'd been unconscious in a graveyard.
The more he that thought about it the more annoyed he got. Half the girls her age were either married or learning a trade; but Bellemere drifted like a rudderless boat, drinking, smoking, laughing and expecting other people, namely himself, to come to the rescue when she was washed out to sea.
And at the end of the day, she ate ice cream. This was ridiculous.
He rubbed the back of his neck and yawned. He'd been up almost thirty-six hours now with only that short nap at Doc's in the morning to keep him going. He was ready for bed.
Bellemere had been quiet for some time. That meant that she had been thinking. This didn't bode well for him. No doubt she was dreaming up some outrageous thing to say to drive him crazy. Couldn't she act her age?
She took a breath and Gen readied himself.
"My dad said that stars are what you turn into when you die. Isn't that stupid?"
Gen looked over the trees and considered the idea. It was a clear night and the lights littered the sky like broken glass. "You never know. It could be true."
"Creepy. Right now, thousands and thousands and thousands of dead people could be staring at us."
"I think they have better things to do with their time."
"What are they thinking? About us?"
"Who?"
"The dead people. The stars."
"I dunno. They probably don't care about us. They're concerned with people they know."
"Then what about the ones who know us?" She didn't have to name names. Gen knew who she meant. "What do you think they're thinking?"
"What I think?" They walked in silence while Gen mulled over the question in his mind. He ran his hand over his chin, which was quickly becoming stubbly. He hadn't had an opportunity to shave that morning and the reason why was swaggering up the hill beside him.
Bellemere was being serious for a moment; it was time to take advantage of that. "I think right now that if our parents were looking at us, they'd be smiling."
Bellemere nodded in agreement.
It was now or never. "But if they had been looking at you last night, they would have been very disappointed in you."
She sucked in her breath like she'd been hit. Gen winced inwardly. He decided to keep going and try and explain a little better.
"What I – "
His teeth knocked together as his head flew backwards. The ground hit him just as hard as Bellemere had; he struggled to get his breath back.
She leaned over him and grabbed him by lapels of his shirt, shaking him. "Never, never, never say that again!"
"A little too close to home?" he asked sharply, through the blood that was filling his mouth.
She stood up, stepping on his stomach as hard as she could, then fled. Gen caught a glimpse of her running into the woods as he pushed himself out of the dirt.
He spat and pushed at his teeth with his tongue; all present and accounted for. Then he groaned, but not from pain. His mother was going to kill him.
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"Chimo, the door," his wife muttered. She pulled the pillow over her head and went back to sleep.
He found Fill Malley was on the doorstep. "Dad wants you to come quick. It's that girl again."
Chimo cursed his way to the bar; no god was left unblasphemied. Malley greeted him at the door. "She was like this when she got here. She even brought her own bottle this time."
Chimo peered into the smoky interior. She was singing at the top of her lungs; considering her escapades last night, she was a paragon of subdued behavior. Most of the patrons were either ignoring her or smiling at her performance. "Has she done anything?"
"I think she's building up to it."
Malley stepped back to make room for the officer, who stepped in and then moved off to the side. He wanted to watch the girl for a bit before escorting her out. He had to make sure she was far away from anything she could use as a weapon, like furniture or other people.
"Come on, everyone! You know the words," she shouted. She held the brown bottle in front of her, like a microphone.
"Goddam, girl. What do you think you're doing coming in here, acting all crazy?"
Bellemere's eyes slowly focused on the old man crouched over his drink sitting at the bar counter. He had the tanned leathery skin of most of the fishermen on the island. "I'm just having some fun here, gramps. You gotta problem with that?"
"I've got a problem with children who can't hold their drink," he said, sipping at the last dregs of his whiskey.
She stumbled over to where he sat and pulled out a stool. "Can too," she said darkly. "I'd beat you in a drinking contest any damn day of the week."
"Did I ask you to sit, girl?" the man said, not bothering to look at her. Chimo recognized the man; a retired Marine who lived on the east side of the island. Chimo began to feel sorry for the girl.
"No one tells me what to do," she retorted and plunked herself down, almost sliding off the leather of the stool and onto the ground. Then she got a look at the tattoo on his shoulder. "Especially not some washed up old fogey Marine."
The ex-Marine stared at his glass. "You must think you're pretty tough."
"I know I am," she said proudly.
"But you'd never survive the Marines, girl. They'd chew you up from the ground up."
"Whatever," she said breezily. "What does an old man like you know anyway?"
"An old man who could take you any day of the week," he retorted, throwing her words back. Chimo didn't doubt that he could.
"Just because you're an ex-Marine doesn't mean you scare me. I mean, if you can be a Marine, anyone could be a Marine. Hell, I could be a Marine." Bellemere tried to take another drink out of her bottle, but most of it ended up down her shirt.
The man began to chuckle. "You? As a Marine. That'll be the day."
A few other patrons laughed too. The comforting fog that enveloped her brain could not keep Bellemere from turning a darker shade of red, once she realized that they were laughing at her.
"I can too. I can do whatever I damn well put my mind to!" She gestured pointedly with the bottle, spilling more of it, and causing another wave of chuckles.
The man finished his drink. Then he stood up and walked away, not even glancing at the girl who was sitting next to him. At the door, he paused. "Being a Marine takes a lot of what you don't have, girl."
Bellemere snorted derisively, a very unwise gesture since she was drinking at the time. She choked and gagged, giving everyone else another reason to snicker at her.
Malley rang the last call bell and the patrons filed out. Chimo stayed until Bellemere found the door and stumbled through it. He nodded at Malley, then followed after her. When he was sure that she had left Gosa, he went back to his house, glad for some sleep.
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Big THANKS to rufiangel for being my beta reader! Round of applause for her, minna!
I won't do author notes every time, but I figured I should put this in now. The chapter titles; 'Room Did Sway' and 'Tiny Bubbles' come from the lyrics of two military cadences; if anyone ever wants the words I can sing them to you. : ) 'Tiny Bubbles' also refers to the nitrogen bubbles that build up and cause the bends.
'Shock Me Sane' is a lyric from the Tori Amos song 'Cruel.'