Chapter 02
Jack had made up his mind to come and see Karen today, no matter how nervous he felt. He had got up about an hour earlier than usual so that he could get the animals fed, and bring his tomatoes in. They still needed to ripen a bit, but he couldn't leave them out any longer, considering the frost they had yesterday. Jack walked briskly towards Karen's house.
Jack swung the old knocker that was on the wooden door. It was stiff, and creaked loudly. The door was opened by a young man, about Jack's age. The man wore a purple bandanna, and he looked as if he hadn't shaved in about a week. "Hello," said Jack. "Is Karen home?"
"Oh Yes. Everyone wants to see Karen. Always Karen. Karen's so special, let's all go see Karen..," the man rambled on. Jack could tell he obviously didn't like Karen.
"My I see her?" asked Jack.
"Huh, oh yeah, what ever. Her room's upstairs," grumbled the man.
"My name's Jack," he said as he stuck out his hand.
The man looked at him inquisitively for a moment. He ignored Jack's outstretched hand. He could tell that not shaking his hand made Jack feel uncomfortable. He smiled wryly at that as he walked right past him to the kitchen. Jack was still puzzling over the man's behaviour when he heard a familiar voice call his name.
"Jack!" cried Karen, as she ran down the stairs towards him. "What are you doing here?" She smiled warmly at him, and almost instantly, he ceased to be nervous.
"I was just going to stop by and see how you were doing," Jack said as he smiled back.
"Oh, I'm doing much better. I was just going to head out to town. Care to join me?"
"Sure!" Jack exclaimed. "I'd love to. What are you going to be doing there?"
"Basically just shopping around, blowing time," Karen replied.
"Sound's like fun."
"Bye Mom!" Karen called over her shoulder as she slid her boots on. "I'll see you whenever I get back!"
"Don't be gone too long!" Mrs. Miller called from the kitchen.
"Don't worry!" Karen Shouted back just before she slammed the door shut.
"Who was that guy who wore the purple bandanna?" Jack inquired.
"He's Kai, my cousin. Why? Was he harassing you or something?" Jack could sense that Karen seemed slightly worried for a moment.
"No, Not really," Jack replied. "He doesn't really seem to like you too much."
"He doesn't like anybody in my family. He only stays here because we're the only people on this island who are willing to provide work for him."
"Why's that?"
"He's gotten into trouble in the past, mainly petty theft. The only reason we let him work for us is that he's my cousin, and we're desperate for workers."
Jack left it at that. He didn't really like the idea of being really nosey.
After a moment of silence, Karen spoke. "So, where are you from?"
"Huh?" Jack asked. Karen's question interrupted his thoughts.
"Where are you from?" she asked.
"Oh! Um, I'm from the mainland. I lived in a small house in the outskirts of Edmonton."
Karen nodded her head. "Cool. So you're the guy who took over that old farm, eh?"
"Yeah. It's a wreck, the yard I mean. I've only started on the field. It has to be cleared for spring." Jack thought back to his grandfathers last words. He pushed the thoughts out of his head. Jack decided to change the subject so he wouldn't start crying. "What kinds of facilities are there in town?"
"Not too many. Let's see, we've got a bar, a bakery, a tool shop, a general store, a library, a church, a medicine shop, and flower shop. I work at the bar, and some of the people that come there, I tell you. Some of those people are real nut-cases."
"So I've heard," Jack said as they walked into the town. "This place isn't as small as you've been making it out to be." Jack's attention was caught by a sign. It said 'There will be a dance held in the town square tonight.' Jack smiled to himself, and looked over to Karen. His smile grew even bigger. "Karen, would you be interested in going to that dance tomorrow?"
"Dance." she thought for a moment. Karen smiled right back. "Oh, that dance. Why not?"
"Really? I mean if it's going too fast for you or-"
Karen cut him off, and put her finger to his lip to hush him. "You silly boy, I said yes, okay?" Jack nodded. Karen smiled warmly, such a warm smile that Jacks heart could've melted, or something like that. "Good. Now, shall we do some shopping?" * * * * * * * * * * *
The last stop they had made was the Bakery. Karen began to scrounge around in her purse for some money to buy lunch, but then Jack put a firm hand on her wrist. "Hey, I'll pay for this one." Karen had been giving her purse a serious workout. Everything that she had purchased, she had paid for. When ever Jack had offered to pay for something, she didn't let him. Perhaps he just wasn't being aggressive enough, or something. Jack stepped up to the counter.
Karen stopped digging in her purse. She didn't object at all, one reason being, she didn't have enough to buy lunch. He is so thoughtful. Karen thought to herself. She couldn't stop thinking about how nice the boy was. She knew that she was in love, and there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it. She was still lost in her thoughts when someone tapped her on her shoulder. "Ah!" she screeched in surprise. She spun around to face Jack. "Oh, it's you."
"Are you ready to go?" Jack asked.
"Go? We haven't eaten yet."
Jack smiled at her. "I thought we could eat in the town square, get away from the people."
Karen nodded in agreement.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Jack dug the food out of the brown paper bag. There was a couple of hamburgers, and a couple bags of fries, and two cans of sprite. Not what a nutrition obsessed person would call a balanced breakfast.
"I suppose we should pray," said Jack.
"Huh, what for?" Karen asked with a confused look on our face.
"Well, where I come from, we always thank God for our food," replied Jack. They bowed their heads. "God, I would just like to thank you for this meal we are about to share, and I pray that you will bless it to our body's. In Jesus name we pray, amen."
"A-men. Lets eat," said Karen.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It was beginning to grow dark out. Jack shivered in the cold as he walked towards Karen's front door. He had promised to pick her up for the dance. He knocked on the door. It was opened shortly later by Mrs. Miller.
"Hello Jack. Come on in. I'll go get Karen," she said as she hurried up stairs to Karen's room.
Jack looked around the living room. It's was a whole lot better than his living room. He left it at that, because he didn't want to start griping to himself on how pathetic his living room was. Moments later, Karen came down the stairs towards him.
"Hi Jack. I'll just grab my coat and I'll be right with you," she said as she dashed to the coat closet.
Jack looked at Karen for a moment. She was wearing a nice, sparkly purple skirt and top, also, she had her hair done up in a bun. Jack on the other hand had just changed into clean clothes, and combed his hair, but he never really was the type to dress up fancy unless it was absolutely necessary. "You look great," Jack commented as Karen returned to the living room with her coat on.
Karen grinned broadly. "Thanks."
"Well, shall we go?" Jack asked.
"Yes, we shall," Karen giggled. "Bye Mom. See you around midnight."
"Okay dear. Behave yourself," Mrs. Miller called back from the kitchen.
"Don't worry," Karen replied as she closed the front door to the house.
Jack and Karen began their little trek to town down the dirt road. As the house grew further and further away, Karen slowly grasped Jack's hand with her own.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The town square was full of people, although Jack couldn't quite say it was crowded. At the front of the town square, there were large speakers, and a bunch of sound equipment, as well as lighting stuff. The town square had been designed to be able to be closed up to the weather. There were posts for tarp to be fastened as walls and roof. Today, that was how it was being used. Also, scattered around the edges of the town square were electric heaters.
The mayor stepped up to a microphone to make an announcement before the dance started. "Ahem. Lady's 'SQUELCH' and gentle- 'SQUELCH', oh my, lets try again. Lady's and Gentlemen. Welcome to the seventh annual town dance. This year, Harris and Maria have volunteered to be our DJ's. Harris will be using some new CD's this year, so hold on to your pant's. So, I'll turn the stage to Harris and Maria." The mayor then entered the crowd. Music began to play. It was obviously a new enough CD that Jack wasn't able to recognize the song being played, or something, but it was a slower piece of music, and that may have been why Jack didn't recognize it. He never really listened to much of that sort of stuff. Jack was tapped on the shoulder. He spun around to face Karen.
"Would you care to have this dance?" Karen giggled, and blushed slightly.
Jack smiled back at her. "I'd love to." Jack and Karen danced. While they danced, Jack never took his eyes off of Karen's. If he were to die right now, he would die a happy man. This was nearly perfect. When he lived back in the city, life seemed way too repetitive. Every day, the same basic thing. Now that he's lived on this island, life has had more variety, way more fun than life in the city. Several songs came and went. Finally, the music began to liven up, so much so that they couldn't slow dance anymore. "Would you care for a drink?" Jack asked.
Karen looked up from the bench she was sitting at. "Sure." She grinned at Jack.
Jack walked over the refreshments stand, and began to pour Karen a small cup of pop. In this particular refreshments stand, there was both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Karen had told him that they use the wine that they make on her vineyard at these sort of events. Jack was knocked aside by a fat man. "Hey! Watch it."
The man glared at Jack. "Git out of my way, cause if you don't, you won't live to hear the echo. Now scram," the man bellowed before he began guzzling the wine. Jack looked up a the man. "That guys huge" Jack thought out loud. The big man that Jack was referring to turned around.
"What did you call me?" he asked.
"Er. The mayors nose, it's huge," Jack said, wondering if he could really bear face his way out of this one.
The fat man was actually convinced that Jack was actually talking about the mayor in the first place. He began chuckling loudly. "We might make a man out of you yet." With that the man continued to guzzle the wine.
Jack retreated to Karen with the half empty cup of pop. Karen had overheard the commotion by the concession stand, and she was feeling uneasy. "Here you go," Jack said as he handed the cup to Karen.
"Thanks. Maybe we should go home," Karen said.
"Why?" Jack asked. "It's only ten O'clock.
"I heard what was going on over there. The that got mad at you over there was my dad. And, in about an hour, he's going to be extremely drunk, and very dangerous."
"I catch your drift. Let's go then," Jack replied.
Karen grabbed her purse, then both she and Jack got up to leave. Then they heard a voice, Kai's voice. "Hey. where you goin?" he asked as he grabbed Karen's arm. His speech was slurred, and his breath rank of booze. He was drunk, very drunk.
"Not with you," Karen replied angrily.
"Just one dance? You know you want to." Kai began, pulling more aggressively on Karen. Jack looked into Karen's face. He could see a tinge of fear.
"Kai, take a hint, I said no, so screw off," she said as she jerked away from him. "Come on Jack, lets go." Jack grasped Karen's hand as they walked away. He last thing they heard Kai shouting was something about a time in seventy two. Neither of them spoke until they reached the edge of town.
"What was that all about?" Jack asked in.
"You mean with Kai? Oh, nothing, he's just drunk," replied Karen.
"Looks like he gets pretty aggressive."
"Oh Yeah, you don't know the half of it. He's given me quite a few scars, let me tell you," replied Karen. "Some of them have been pretty serious. You know, sometimes I wish alcohol never was invented?"
Jack nodded. "I know how you feel." He thought back to the beginnings of his own childhood, how his father used to get drunk before he became a Christian. Once that had occurred, his father felt like he had more reason to quit drinking.
They continued their brisk walk up the cold path to Karen's house. When they were about 50 or so meters from the house, Karen stopped. "Thanks for taking me to the dance tonight Jack," Karen said. She gave him a big hug. Jack then caught on to what she was doing, he returned the hug. "Good night Jack." Karen let go after a moment and walked to her house.
Jack sighed. This had indeed been a near perfect night.
Jack had made up his mind to come and see Karen today, no matter how nervous he felt. He had got up about an hour earlier than usual so that he could get the animals fed, and bring his tomatoes in. They still needed to ripen a bit, but he couldn't leave them out any longer, considering the frost they had yesterday. Jack walked briskly towards Karen's house.
Jack swung the old knocker that was on the wooden door. It was stiff, and creaked loudly. The door was opened by a young man, about Jack's age. The man wore a purple bandanna, and he looked as if he hadn't shaved in about a week. "Hello," said Jack. "Is Karen home?"
"Oh Yes. Everyone wants to see Karen. Always Karen. Karen's so special, let's all go see Karen..," the man rambled on. Jack could tell he obviously didn't like Karen.
"My I see her?" asked Jack.
"Huh, oh yeah, what ever. Her room's upstairs," grumbled the man.
"My name's Jack," he said as he stuck out his hand.
The man looked at him inquisitively for a moment. He ignored Jack's outstretched hand. He could tell that not shaking his hand made Jack feel uncomfortable. He smiled wryly at that as he walked right past him to the kitchen. Jack was still puzzling over the man's behaviour when he heard a familiar voice call his name.
"Jack!" cried Karen, as she ran down the stairs towards him. "What are you doing here?" She smiled warmly at him, and almost instantly, he ceased to be nervous.
"I was just going to stop by and see how you were doing," Jack said as he smiled back.
"Oh, I'm doing much better. I was just going to head out to town. Care to join me?"
"Sure!" Jack exclaimed. "I'd love to. What are you going to be doing there?"
"Basically just shopping around, blowing time," Karen replied.
"Sound's like fun."
"Bye Mom!" Karen called over her shoulder as she slid her boots on. "I'll see you whenever I get back!"
"Don't be gone too long!" Mrs. Miller called from the kitchen.
"Don't worry!" Karen Shouted back just before she slammed the door shut.
"Who was that guy who wore the purple bandanna?" Jack inquired.
"He's Kai, my cousin. Why? Was he harassing you or something?" Jack could sense that Karen seemed slightly worried for a moment.
"No, Not really," Jack replied. "He doesn't really seem to like you too much."
"He doesn't like anybody in my family. He only stays here because we're the only people on this island who are willing to provide work for him."
"Why's that?"
"He's gotten into trouble in the past, mainly petty theft. The only reason we let him work for us is that he's my cousin, and we're desperate for workers."
Jack left it at that. He didn't really like the idea of being really nosey.
After a moment of silence, Karen spoke. "So, where are you from?"
"Huh?" Jack asked. Karen's question interrupted his thoughts.
"Where are you from?" she asked.
"Oh! Um, I'm from the mainland. I lived in a small house in the outskirts of Edmonton."
Karen nodded her head. "Cool. So you're the guy who took over that old farm, eh?"
"Yeah. It's a wreck, the yard I mean. I've only started on the field. It has to be cleared for spring." Jack thought back to his grandfathers last words. He pushed the thoughts out of his head. Jack decided to change the subject so he wouldn't start crying. "What kinds of facilities are there in town?"
"Not too many. Let's see, we've got a bar, a bakery, a tool shop, a general store, a library, a church, a medicine shop, and flower shop. I work at the bar, and some of the people that come there, I tell you. Some of those people are real nut-cases."
"So I've heard," Jack said as they walked into the town. "This place isn't as small as you've been making it out to be." Jack's attention was caught by a sign. It said 'There will be a dance held in the town square tonight.' Jack smiled to himself, and looked over to Karen. His smile grew even bigger. "Karen, would you be interested in going to that dance tomorrow?"
"Dance." she thought for a moment. Karen smiled right back. "Oh, that dance. Why not?"
"Really? I mean if it's going too fast for you or-"
Karen cut him off, and put her finger to his lip to hush him. "You silly boy, I said yes, okay?" Jack nodded. Karen smiled warmly, such a warm smile that Jacks heart could've melted, or something like that. "Good. Now, shall we do some shopping?" * * * * * * * * * * *
The last stop they had made was the Bakery. Karen began to scrounge around in her purse for some money to buy lunch, but then Jack put a firm hand on her wrist. "Hey, I'll pay for this one." Karen had been giving her purse a serious workout. Everything that she had purchased, she had paid for. When ever Jack had offered to pay for something, she didn't let him. Perhaps he just wasn't being aggressive enough, or something. Jack stepped up to the counter.
Karen stopped digging in her purse. She didn't object at all, one reason being, she didn't have enough to buy lunch. He is so thoughtful. Karen thought to herself. She couldn't stop thinking about how nice the boy was. She knew that she was in love, and there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it. She was still lost in her thoughts when someone tapped her on her shoulder. "Ah!" she screeched in surprise. She spun around to face Jack. "Oh, it's you."
"Are you ready to go?" Jack asked.
"Go? We haven't eaten yet."
Jack smiled at her. "I thought we could eat in the town square, get away from the people."
Karen nodded in agreement.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Jack dug the food out of the brown paper bag. There was a couple of hamburgers, and a couple bags of fries, and two cans of sprite. Not what a nutrition obsessed person would call a balanced breakfast.
"I suppose we should pray," said Jack.
"Huh, what for?" Karen asked with a confused look on our face.
"Well, where I come from, we always thank God for our food," replied Jack. They bowed their heads. "God, I would just like to thank you for this meal we are about to share, and I pray that you will bless it to our body's. In Jesus name we pray, amen."
"A-men. Lets eat," said Karen.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It was beginning to grow dark out. Jack shivered in the cold as he walked towards Karen's front door. He had promised to pick her up for the dance. He knocked on the door. It was opened shortly later by Mrs. Miller.
"Hello Jack. Come on in. I'll go get Karen," she said as she hurried up stairs to Karen's room.
Jack looked around the living room. It's was a whole lot better than his living room. He left it at that, because he didn't want to start griping to himself on how pathetic his living room was. Moments later, Karen came down the stairs towards him.
"Hi Jack. I'll just grab my coat and I'll be right with you," she said as she dashed to the coat closet.
Jack looked at Karen for a moment. She was wearing a nice, sparkly purple skirt and top, also, she had her hair done up in a bun. Jack on the other hand had just changed into clean clothes, and combed his hair, but he never really was the type to dress up fancy unless it was absolutely necessary. "You look great," Jack commented as Karen returned to the living room with her coat on.
Karen grinned broadly. "Thanks."
"Well, shall we go?" Jack asked.
"Yes, we shall," Karen giggled. "Bye Mom. See you around midnight."
"Okay dear. Behave yourself," Mrs. Miller called back from the kitchen.
"Don't worry," Karen replied as she closed the front door to the house.
Jack and Karen began their little trek to town down the dirt road. As the house grew further and further away, Karen slowly grasped Jack's hand with her own.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The town square was full of people, although Jack couldn't quite say it was crowded. At the front of the town square, there were large speakers, and a bunch of sound equipment, as well as lighting stuff. The town square had been designed to be able to be closed up to the weather. There were posts for tarp to be fastened as walls and roof. Today, that was how it was being used. Also, scattered around the edges of the town square were electric heaters.
The mayor stepped up to a microphone to make an announcement before the dance started. "Ahem. Lady's 'SQUELCH' and gentle- 'SQUELCH', oh my, lets try again. Lady's and Gentlemen. Welcome to the seventh annual town dance. This year, Harris and Maria have volunteered to be our DJ's. Harris will be using some new CD's this year, so hold on to your pant's. So, I'll turn the stage to Harris and Maria." The mayor then entered the crowd. Music began to play. It was obviously a new enough CD that Jack wasn't able to recognize the song being played, or something, but it was a slower piece of music, and that may have been why Jack didn't recognize it. He never really listened to much of that sort of stuff. Jack was tapped on the shoulder. He spun around to face Karen.
"Would you care to have this dance?" Karen giggled, and blushed slightly.
Jack smiled back at her. "I'd love to." Jack and Karen danced. While they danced, Jack never took his eyes off of Karen's. If he were to die right now, he would die a happy man. This was nearly perfect. When he lived back in the city, life seemed way too repetitive. Every day, the same basic thing. Now that he's lived on this island, life has had more variety, way more fun than life in the city. Several songs came and went. Finally, the music began to liven up, so much so that they couldn't slow dance anymore. "Would you care for a drink?" Jack asked.
Karen looked up from the bench she was sitting at. "Sure." She grinned at Jack.
Jack walked over the refreshments stand, and began to pour Karen a small cup of pop. In this particular refreshments stand, there was both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Karen had told him that they use the wine that they make on her vineyard at these sort of events. Jack was knocked aside by a fat man. "Hey! Watch it."
The man glared at Jack. "Git out of my way, cause if you don't, you won't live to hear the echo. Now scram," the man bellowed before he began guzzling the wine. Jack looked up a the man. "That guys huge" Jack thought out loud. The big man that Jack was referring to turned around.
"What did you call me?" he asked.
"Er. The mayors nose, it's huge," Jack said, wondering if he could really bear face his way out of this one.
The fat man was actually convinced that Jack was actually talking about the mayor in the first place. He began chuckling loudly. "We might make a man out of you yet." With that the man continued to guzzle the wine.
Jack retreated to Karen with the half empty cup of pop. Karen had overheard the commotion by the concession stand, and she was feeling uneasy. "Here you go," Jack said as he handed the cup to Karen.
"Thanks. Maybe we should go home," Karen said.
"Why?" Jack asked. "It's only ten O'clock.
"I heard what was going on over there. The that got mad at you over there was my dad. And, in about an hour, he's going to be extremely drunk, and very dangerous."
"I catch your drift. Let's go then," Jack replied.
Karen grabbed her purse, then both she and Jack got up to leave. Then they heard a voice, Kai's voice. "Hey. where you goin?" he asked as he grabbed Karen's arm. His speech was slurred, and his breath rank of booze. He was drunk, very drunk.
"Not with you," Karen replied angrily.
"Just one dance? You know you want to." Kai began, pulling more aggressively on Karen. Jack looked into Karen's face. He could see a tinge of fear.
"Kai, take a hint, I said no, so screw off," she said as she jerked away from him. "Come on Jack, lets go." Jack grasped Karen's hand as they walked away. He last thing they heard Kai shouting was something about a time in seventy two. Neither of them spoke until they reached the edge of town.
"What was that all about?" Jack asked in.
"You mean with Kai? Oh, nothing, he's just drunk," replied Karen.
"Looks like he gets pretty aggressive."
"Oh Yeah, you don't know the half of it. He's given me quite a few scars, let me tell you," replied Karen. "Some of them have been pretty serious. You know, sometimes I wish alcohol never was invented?"
Jack nodded. "I know how you feel." He thought back to the beginnings of his own childhood, how his father used to get drunk before he became a Christian. Once that had occurred, his father felt like he had more reason to quit drinking.
They continued their brisk walk up the cold path to Karen's house. When they were about 50 or so meters from the house, Karen stopped. "Thanks for taking me to the dance tonight Jack," Karen said. She gave him a big hug. Jack then caught on to what she was doing, he returned the hug. "Good night Jack." Karen let go after a moment and walked to her house.
Jack sighed. This had indeed been a near perfect night.