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Chapter 9
They were stuck in the deep recesses of space. Ed leaned her head against her arm and stared about, trying to find some logical conclusion. Meanwhile, next to her, Johnny Builder counted the hours, the minutes, the seconds. He still was uncertain why he had acted so rash, why he had let this beautiful young girl pull him into the action of this stupidity. What was he doing? He was trapped in the middle of nowhere, the fuel tank empty, and his father's prize star cruiser far from the garage where it belonged. He had never imagined being here, seeing these things from such a close perspective. He didn't even know how to drive in the gravity-defiant world. He suddenly felt like a little boy who wanted his mother to solve the problem.
He could not overlook, however, that on some level his dreams were coming true. He had always fantasized about having beautiful Francoise on his fingertip. He imagined that she, herself, had had a lapse of sanity. He was going to be a man about it, get them safely home, and then experience the privileges rendered to any dashing prince by the damsel in distress.
Johnny Builder knew nothing about Ed. He couldn't even imagine how her mind worked, and who was still shining inside of her heart. A part of Ed hated him, but another part still longed for his affection. The affection of the first man whom she had ever loved, the attention of the first man who had broken her heart. She knew she had to forget about him, however. Life was stretching ahead quickly, and she had to find what she was looking for. She had to find Faye; she had to find Jet. Inside, she was longing for her past, for her beautiful, imminent past. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, the memory of her father still existed. Yet Ed did not know what to do with it. Seeking him seemed futile, all of a sudden. It was during this very search that she first got herself into this trouble.
"We're stranded," Johnny Builder declared.
She turned to him and smiled, that same, lively smile, "Stranded? Of course not."
"No? We're out of gas, I can't drive this thing, and we don't know where we are. Look, Ed, I'm going to call my father, ask him to find me and bring us back home."
She laughed, a bold and ringing laugh, "Are you kidding? We're only just starting out!"
Was she mad? She must have sustained a head injury, he could find no other explanation. She knew the circumstances and yet she did not care. It was as if the uncertainty of the situation didn't bother her one bit.
"Ed, we have no other choice. What do you suppose we do?"
"We wait," she said lightly, "Until someone passes us by and gives us a lift."
He stared at her. "A lift? A lift to where?"
She smiled at the naïve boy, "The gas station, silly!"
"You mean you're actually intending to go on?" He screamed.
She nodded matter-of-factly.
"You're crazy. Where are you going to go?"
"I'll manage," she declared, "Don't worry about me."
"Look, you've got a family back on Mars, you're a sixteen-year-old girl! What are you planning to do? How are you planning to 'manage'?"
She studied his handsome face, his dark hair and innocent blue eyes. Maybe he was a God in his own world, in the protective world called Suburban Mars. Maybe somewhere out there, someone would consider this boy dangerous, exciting. Yet, to Ed, he seemed like nothing more than an adorable nuisance. He was the sort she would have loved to spend the rest of her life with, had she been able to love him. But she was never going to love him. She was never going to feel anything than sweet contempt. She thought to herself something that made her shudder. Maybe this pretty little boy was the same thing to her that she was to Maxim.
"Listen, Johnny Builder," she sighed, "I'm going to give you some options, all right? You're not going to call your dad right now. We'll hitch a ride to the nearest floating convenience center, and, once there, you'll either call your father and have him come get you, you alone, or stay with me and see where life takes us."
"You've got to be kidding me," he shook his head, "You can't possibly be thinking about running away! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there?"
"Johnny, like I said, you don't need to worry about me."
"Just tell me something," he pleaded, "Why do you want to run away? I mean, what? Are you bored with your life or something?"
She looked out at the stars, "Something like that."
"Well," he began to lecture, "This is a big world we live in with some bad people in it."
"Tell me about it."
"Well, if you know all that, why are you still being like that? Don't you understand that a teenage girl who's never seen the stars has no business running around like that?"
She shook her head, "You really don't know anything about me, Johnny. And, by the way, drop the holier-than-thou act; it makes you sound old."
"I'm only trying to prepare you---"
"I should be preparing you, Johnny. Like I said, there's things about me you don't know."
"You're right," he nodded, "I don't know a lot about you. But the little that I do know makes me say these things to you."
Ed smiled, "What do you know about me, Johnny Builder?"
He sighed, this was going to be the moment when he would reveal everything.
"I know that you're kind," he began, "and you're funny, and you've always got a smile on your face even when the world gets you down. I know you're strong. You must wonder how I know that, Franscoise. I know that because I've been watching you since the first time I've seen you walk into class one day. You know, I've seen many pretty girls, but you just top the cake, you know?"
Ed stared at him, aimlessly wondering what to say. "I top the cake, huh?" she finally managed.
"Yeah, you're so beautiful. You know, that's why I went with you. I would have never acted this dumb if it was with any other girl. And now you tell me you're leaving. Where are you planning to go?"
She sighed. She didn't want to have to tell him, but she realized that she had no choice.
"I'm not as primitive as you think I am," she smiled, leaning her chin on her hand, "I've been 'seeing the stars', as you put it, since I was a little girl."
"What?"
"You ever hear the name Radical Edward?" she continued.
"Yeah the greatest hacker in the gala---" he paused, "Franscoise---Ed?"
"Like I said," she smiled, "I manage."
"But---how?"
"It's not a question of how, it's a question of when. Three years ago, I was riding the galaxy with a group of bounty hunters on a ship called the Bebop. Circumstances came between us. One of them died. I'm looking for the other two."
Johnny Builder didn't believe his ears. The pretty redhead, with her fiery eyes and her full lips, with her innocent expression, did not strike him as being the dangerous kind. She must have been lying, she must have been! Either way, Francoise was crazy. She was just a pretentious little kid playing the games of the big boys. She may have been Radical Edward in her own world, but to the rest of reality, she was nothing more than a silly girl.
"Francoise," He paused, "Listen, baby, you're talking crazy talk now."
She beamed at him, "You're calling me baby now?"
"Now look, let's just go home, forget this thing ever happened. Here---I'll call my dad and---" he reached for the transmitter only to encounter a large gun pointed to his head. He looked up to see Ed's face, still smiling, completely unaffected by anything around her. It took him another moment to realize that Ed was the one holding the gun.
"Wh---what are you doing?" He stammered.
She grinned her friendly grin, "Johnny Builder, you promised you wouldn't call your father."
"Francoise, put that thing down!" He exclaimed.
"I told you before and I'll tell you again," she said cheerfully, "My name is Edward."
"E---Edward---" he paused, "Please, put that gun down."
She smiled and did as she was told, stashing it into her pocket.
"Where did you get that thing?" he fidgeted with his hands nervously.
"Oh, you know, the top cabinet in my kitchen."
He stared at her, "You carry a gun around with you all the time?"
"Pretty much," she nodded.
"And do your parents mind that?"
"They're not my parents," was the first thing she said before adding, "What they don't know won't hurt them."
"They're not your parents?" he stared at her, "Is that why you want to run away? Did you get mad at your stepfather or something?"
She touched his cheek with her hand, running her fingers against his smooth skin, "Oh, Johnny," she smiled, "You're so pretty."
And suddenly, the gas station came into view.
.
.
.
"The fuel tank is loaded," Johnny said, looking at Ed. She was studying the lights of the massive, drifting Ship turned Rest Area. It was overflowed with various persons. Tourists were scattered throughout, with their strappy sandals and their tan skins. Bounty hunters stopped by for gas and information. Business travelers resided in the many cafés, working out one issue or another. Ed looked back at Johnny, who watched the proceedings around him with fascination.
"Is it better than the mall?" she asked quietly and he didn't hear her. She was glad.
Then he turned her way with a different expression on his face, almost as if he understood what she wanted to escape to.
"Ed," he whispered.
"Yes, Johnny?"
"Would you please go home with me?"
She looked into his sweet eyes with endearment, "Yes," she smiled, "I'll go home with you."
Something in his heart sprung with happiness. Maybe she was not as crazy as he thought. She realized her mistake and was ready to correct it. She would go home and assume her old life. She would become his girlfriend, and he would walk around and flaunt her to all the other guys. The two of them would be perfect together. And some day, they'd get married, have children, and live in a nice house in a nice Mars neighborhood, with a nice dog named Lucky. Yeah, he thought, that would be the life he'd always dreamed of.
"You mean it?" He smiled with excitement, "You'll go home with me?"
"Yep," she nodded happily, "I'll go home."
"Great!" He exclaimed, "well, let me call my dad."
"All right," she smiled, "But if you don't mind, could you please get me something to eat before that. I need some sustenance for the shit storm we're both about to get."
"Oh yeah," he smiled, "You haven't eaten for two days, of course you must be hungry!"
"You can't even imagine!" she smiled.
"I'll be right back!" He exclaimed, still flowing with excitement. He had finally gotten this pretty girl where he wanted her. She was dependent on him, the Alpha male. He was even going to provide his woman with her feed.
Quickly he hopped out of the ship and galloped to the fast food stand not very far away. The line was not very long and when it came time for him to order, he asked for a large Buterbrod, the new and hip term for hamburger, and some Voda. He turned to walk back in excitement, his hands filled with a bag of food. It took him time to register that his ship was taking off, and even longer to note that Ed was in the drivers seat. He ran towards her only to be pushed back by the pressure of the soaring ship. He bumped into various tourists, aimlessly trying to pry his way back. But it was to no avail.
"Bye-bye" she mouthed with her lips.
Her smiling face was all that he remembered; her smiling, innocent, flawless face, beaming at him as she took off in his father's spaceship and vanished forever in the dark trenches of outer space.
Chapter 9
They were stuck in the deep recesses of space. Ed leaned her head against her arm and stared about, trying to find some logical conclusion. Meanwhile, next to her, Johnny Builder counted the hours, the minutes, the seconds. He still was uncertain why he had acted so rash, why he had let this beautiful young girl pull him into the action of this stupidity. What was he doing? He was trapped in the middle of nowhere, the fuel tank empty, and his father's prize star cruiser far from the garage where it belonged. He had never imagined being here, seeing these things from such a close perspective. He didn't even know how to drive in the gravity-defiant world. He suddenly felt like a little boy who wanted his mother to solve the problem.
He could not overlook, however, that on some level his dreams were coming true. He had always fantasized about having beautiful Francoise on his fingertip. He imagined that she, herself, had had a lapse of sanity. He was going to be a man about it, get them safely home, and then experience the privileges rendered to any dashing prince by the damsel in distress.
Johnny Builder knew nothing about Ed. He couldn't even imagine how her mind worked, and who was still shining inside of her heart. A part of Ed hated him, but another part still longed for his affection. The affection of the first man whom she had ever loved, the attention of the first man who had broken her heart. She knew she had to forget about him, however. Life was stretching ahead quickly, and she had to find what she was looking for. She had to find Faye; she had to find Jet. Inside, she was longing for her past, for her beautiful, imminent past. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, the memory of her father still existed. Yet Ed did not know what to do with it. Seeking him seemed futile, all of a sudden. It was during this very search that she first got herself into this trouble.
"We're stranded," Johnny Builder declared.
She turned to him and smiled, that same, lively smile, "Stranded? Of course not."
"No? We're out of gas, I can't drive this thing, and we don't know where we are. Look, Ed, I'm going to call my father, ask him to find me and bring us back home."
She laughed, a bold and ringing laugh, "Are you kidding? We're only just starting out!"
Was she mad? She must have sustained a head injury, he could find no other explanation. She knew the circumstances and yet she did not care. It was as if the uncertainty of the situation didn't bother her one bit.
"Ed, we have no other choice. What do you suppose we do?"
"We wait," she said lightly, "Until someone passes us by and gives us a lift."
He stared at her. "A lift? A lift to where?"
She smiled at the naïve boy, "The gas station, silly!"
"You mean you're actually intending to go on?" He screamed.
She nodded matter-of-factly.
"You're crazy. Where are you going to go?"
"I'll manage," she declared, "Don't worry about me."
"Look, you've got a family back on Mars, you're a sixteen-year-old girl! What are you planning to do? How are you planning to 'manage'?"
She studied his handsome face, his dark hair and innocent blue eyes. Maybe he was a God in his own world, in the protective world called Suburban Mars. Maybe somewhere out there, someone would consider this boy dangerous, exciting. Yet, to Ed, he seemed like nothing more than an adorable nuisance. He was the sort she would have loved to spend the rest of her life with, had she been able to love him. But she was never going to love him. She was never going to feel anything than sweet contempt. She thought to herself something that made her shudder. Maybe this pretty little boy was the same thing to her that she was to Maxim.
"Listen, Johnny Builder," she sighed, "I'm going to give you some options, all right? You're not going to call your dad right now. We'll hitch a ride to the nearest floating convenience center, and, once there, you'll either call your father and have him come get you, you alone, or stay with me and see where life takes us."
"You've got to be kidding me," he shook his head, "You can't possibly be thinking about running away! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there?"
"Johnny, like I said, you don't need to worry about me."
"Just tell me something," he pleaded, "Why do you want to run away? I mean, what? Are you bored with your life or something?"
She looked out at the stars, "Something like that."
"Well," he began to lecture, "This is a big world we live in with some bad people in it."
"Tell me about it."
"Well, if you know all that, why are you still being like that? Don't you understand that a teenage girl who's never seen the stars has no business running around like that?"
She shook her head, "You really don't know anything about me, Johnny. And, by the way, drop the holier-than-thou act; it makes you sound old."
"I'm only trying to prepare you---"
"I should be preparing you, Johnny. Like I said, there's things about me you don't know."
"You're right," he nodded, "I don't know a lot about you. But the little that I do know makes me say these things to you."
Ed smiled, "What do you know about me, Johnny Builder?"
He sighed, this was going to be the moment when he would reveal everything.
"I know that you're kind," he began, "and you're funny, and you've always got a smile on your face even when the world gets you down. I know you're strong. You must wonder how I know that, Franscoise. I know that because I've been watching you since the first time I've seen you walk into class one day. You know, I've seen many pretty girls, but you just top the cake, you know?"
Ed stared at him, aimlessly wondering what to say. "I top the cake, huh?" she finally managed.
"Yeah, you're so beautiful. You know, that's why I went with you. I would have never acted this dumb if it was with any other girl. And now you tell me you're leaving. Where are you planning to go?"
She sighed. She didn't want to have to tell him, but she realized that she had no choice.
"I'm not as primitive as you think I am," she smiled, leaning her chin on her hand, "I've been 'seeing the stars', as you put it, since I was a little girl."
"What?"
"You ever hear the name Radical Edward?" she continued.
"Yeah the greatest hacker in the gala---" he paused, "Franscoise---Ed?"
"Like I said," she smiled, "I manage."
"But---how?"
"It's not a question of how, it's a question of when. Three years ago, I was riding the galaxy with a group of bounty hunters on a ship called the Bebop. Circumstances came between us. One of them died. I'm looking for the other two."
Johnny Builder didn't believe his ears. The pretty redhead, with her fiery eyes and her full lips, with her innocent expression, did not strike him as being the dangerous kind. She must have been lying, she must have been! Either way, Francoise was crazy. She was just a pretentious little kid playing the games of the big boys. She may have been Radical Edward in her own world, but to the rest of reality, she was nothing more than a silly girl.
"Francoise," He paused, "Listen, baby, you're talking crazy talk now."
She beamed at him, "You're calling me baby now?"
"Now look, let's just go home, forget this thing ever happened. Here---I'll call my dad and---" he reached for the transmitter only to encounter a large gun pointed to his head. He looked up to see Ed's face, still smiling, completely unaffected by anything around her. It took him another moment to realize that Ed was the one holding the gun.
"Wh---what are you doing?" He stammered.
She grinned her friendly grin, "Johnny Builder, you promised you wouldn't call your father."
"Francoise, put that thing down!" He exclaimed.
"I told you before and I'll tell you again," she said cheerfully, "My name is Edward."
"E---Edward---" he paused, "Please, put that gun down."
She smiled and did as she was told, stashing it into her pocket.
"Where did you get that thing?" he fidgeted with his hands nervously.
"Oh, you know, the top cabinet in my kitchen."
He stared at her, "You carry a gun around with you all the time?"
"Pretty much," she nodded.
"And do your parents mind that?"
"They're not my parents," was the first thing she said before adding, "What they don't know won't hurt them."
"They're not your parents?" he stared at her, "Is that why you want to run away? Did you get mad at your stepfather or something?"
She touched his cheek with her hand, running her fingers against his smooth skin, "Oh, Johnny," she smiled, "You're so pretty."
And suddenly, the gas station came into view.
.
.
.
"The fuel tank is loaded," Johnny said, looking at Ed. She was studying the lights of the massive, drifting Ship turned Rest Area. It was overflowed with various persons. Tourists were scattered throughout, with their strappy sandals and their tan skins. Bounty hunters stopped by for gas and information. Business travelers resided in the many cafés, working out one issue or another. Ed looked back at Johnny, who watched the proceedings around him with fascination.
"Is it better than the mall?" she asked quietly and he didn't hear her. She was glad.
Then he turned her way with a different expression on his face, almost as if he understood what she wanted to escape to.
"Ed," he whispered.
"Yes, Johnny?"
"Would you please go home with me?"
She looked into his sweet eyes with endearment, "Yes," she smiled, "I'll go home with you."
Something in his heart sprung with happiness. Maybe she was not as crazy as he thought. She realized her mistake and was ready to correct it. She would go home and assume her old life. She would become his girlfriend, and he would walk around and flaunt her to all the other guys. The two of them would be perfect together. And some day, they'd get married, have children, and live in a nice house in a nice Mars neighborhood, with a nice dog named Lucky. Yeah, he thought, that would be the life he'd always dreamed of.
"You mean it?" He smiled with excitement, "You'll go home with me?"
"Yep," she nodded happily, "I'll go home."
"Great!" He exclaimed, "well, let me call my dad."
"All right," she smiled, "But if you don't mind, could you please get me something to eat before that. I need some sustenance for the shit storm we're both about to get."
"Oh yeah," he smiled, "You haven't eaten for two days, of course you must be hungry!"
"You can't even imagine!" she smiled.
"I'll be right back!" He exclaimed, still flowing with excitement. He had finally gotten this pretty girl where he wanted her. She was dependent on him, the Alpha male. He was even going to provide his woman with her feed.
Quickly he hopped out of the ship and galloped to the fast food stand not very far away. The line was not very long and when it came time for him to order, he asked for a large Buterbrod, the new and hip term for hamburger, and some Voda. He turned to walk back in excitement, his hands filled with a bag of food. It took him time to register that his ship was taking off, and even longer to note that Ed was in the drivers seat. He ran towards her only to be pushed back by the pressure of the soaring ship. He bumped into various tourists, aimlessly trying to pry his way back. But it was to no avail.
"Bye-bye" she mouthed with her lips.
Her smiling face was all that he remembered; her smiling, innocent, flawless face, beaming at him as she took off in his father's spaceship and vanished forever in the dark trenches of outer space.