February had left me with an ugly pinkish scar above my right eyebrow. Rosie would run her fingers across it and ask, "Does it hurt you, Les?"
"Not anymore," I would tell her.
Life at that point was great. I couldn't have asked for anything that I didn't already have. Content with the way things were going, I relaxed a bit, and began to have fun.
Poppy and I took Rosie to Coney Island twice—both times in April. The three of us rode the Ferris wheel until we could hardly take it anymore, and after that we'd fill ourselves with all the popcorn and candy we could afford with the money Rosie helped us make.
That second trip to the island was the last time our makeshift family was happy together.
We were on our way home. The sky above us had long since turned black. Rosie sat up on my shoulders; with one hand I held her feet securely to my chest. Poppy had sweetly taken my free hand in hers. As we walked, she stared up at the sky.
"I can see stars tonight, Les," she said quietly.
I, too, looked up. "Yeah," I replied. "They're great." Normally I didn't pay any attention to the sky, but lately Poppy had made me realize how pretty it really was. Why hadn't I noticed before?
Because now you're in love, I answered myself. Lots of other things made much more sense now that I had Poppy, like the meaning of devotion, and why we were alive.
We were about halfway home when I smelled smoke. I thought nothing of it; fires in trash cans were pretty common things to sense on cool nights. I began to worry, however, when I noticed that a cloud of smoke had formed, and its origin was in the direction of the lodging house.
"You don't think...?" I asked as I looked at Poppy.
"I don't know," she said. "But that's an awful lot of smoke, Les."
As we rounded the corner onto Duane street, I found that what I feared was true. I stared wide-eyed at the lodging house, which was engulfed in flames.
"Les, what's happening?" Rosie asked from my shoulders. I let got of Poppy's hand and crouched down. As soon as Rosie's feet were planted securely on the ground, I stood up.
"I donno, sweetheart," I said. My home was on fire. Everyone was standing outside on the street, as were all the neighbors. There were so many people, I was afraid I'd loose my girl. I grabbed on to Rosie's tiny hand. "Whatever you do, Rosie, do not let go of me."
Poppy had already run up to the mob of people. She was yelling for Six. Rosie and I made our way towards the crowd, and I scanned it for Johnny. Sure enough, there he was, closest to the burning building. I pulled Rosie over to him.
"What the hell happened?" I yelled over the noise.
Johnny didn't even look at me. He stared up at the lodging house. Sweat and ash covered his face. "Six fell asleep with a cigarette," he replied. He had this blank look on his face. It was something that happened when he didn't know what to do.
"Is he all right?" I asked.
"No," Johnny said. "I think he's dead, Les."
Johnny's words hit me right in the chest. "...Dead?"
"Yeah, dead," Johnny said angrily. He turned to face me. "How many times do you want me to say it, Les? He's dead, all right? He's dead."
"Les!" Poppy yelled. She came up behind me. "I can't find Six." I only stared at her. What was I supposed to say? "Les, are you all right? What's wrong?"
"Your cousin's gone, Poppy," Johnny told her. Well, that took care of things. "He lit a cigarette and fell asleep. His clothes caught on fire, and so did his bed, and then the rest of the building." Poppy only blinked. Her mouth was slightly open. She glanced at the lodging house, which was still very much on fire. "I'm sorry, Poppy."
She didn't say a word, but only closed her mouth, looked at me for a moment, and then walked away.
I let go of Rosie and followed her.
"Poppy, wait!" I yelled as I ran after her to catch up. "Please, just wait for a second!"
"Les, don't," she said over her shoulder. "I'm going back to Brooklyn. Leave me alone."
I was close enough to put my hand on her shoulder. "You shouldn't be alone tonight," I told her. "Let me take you back to Brooklyn. I'll take you back to your place and I'll stay with the guys tonight. We'll come back to Manhattan tomorrow and make the arrangements for Six's funeral—"
"I don't want a funeral, Les," she interrupted. "I just want to forget." She bit her lip. "It'll work better that way. As far as I'm concerned, I never had a cousin."
I took her into my arms and let her cry. I felt pretty damn helpless. The girl I loved had just lost the only remaining family member she had, and all I could do was hold her.
But it seemed to be enough. We stood a block away from the lodging house until the fire was out and the people had all cleared away. Poppy had stopped crying, but I still held her.
"I donno how the Brooklyn boys will feel about having a little girl around," she said suddenly. "Maybe it'll be best if I take Rosie home with me tonight.
I nodded. "Yeah, that's fine," I said. Then it dawned on me that I had no idea where Rosie was. "Oh Jesus..."
"Les?"
I ran towards the remains of the building, screaming Rosie's name. I didn't see her anywhere, but I saw Johnny. He sat on the sidewalk in front of the lodging house, and he looked hopeless.
"Johnny!" His head sprung up. "Have you seen Rosie?"
He shook his head. "She walked away after you left," he said. "I thought you had her."
I didn't waste any time in looking for her. I yelled as loud as I could, hoping and praying that she'd hear me and come out where she was hiding, but she never did, so I began to search. Poppy and I looked in every alley and walked up and down every street, but there was still no sign of my Rosemary. I yelled until it hurt to even utter the softest syllable. We stopped looking around midnight.
How could I have been so stupid? I sank to my knees in the middle of the sidewalk. I was half-lost, tired, and hoarse. I had no place to sleep. Everything I owned was gone.
I cried. No, I sobbed. I was in hysterics. At one point, Poppy put her hand on my shoulder, but I pushed her away.
"Go home," I croaked. My throat burned. I didn't even hear her walk away. I was alone in the middle of the night in Manhattan, with nowhere to go and nothing but the clothes on my back. I had no money, and one of my best friends was dead. I lost the only person who had ever depended on me for anything. I'd failed her.
I fell asleep where I'd fallen to my knees that night. When I woke up, the sun was just beginning to rise. I yawned and scanned my surroundings. The street was deserted, save for one boy with a half-empty bottle in his hand.
"You think it's too early to drink, Les?" Rum asked as he sat down next to me and offered his bottle to me.
I just stared at him. I didn't even want to try to talk. Rum took my hand and put the bottle in it. "Have a drink," he said. "You look like you could use it." So I took a sip, and then another. It tasted disgusting. I wasn't one to drink too often.
"What is this?" I asked with some difficulty.
"Whiskey," he replied.
"Where do you get this stuff?"
"Wherever they'll sell it to me."
I gave him back his bottle. There was no use in getting drunk during the day. Besides, I had things I needed to do. "Hey Rum?"
"Yeah, Les?"
"Do you know how to get to Brooklyn?"
I went to a Jack Johnson concert this weekend, while all of you guys were stuck at home...I win! I don't even know what's going to happen, so...yeah. Review!
Bookey—I can't concentrate enough in class to write fanfic. I donno, maybe I'm just weird like that. Anyways, "oh my dead shit"? ...Where did THAT come from? You = awesome
Kpstar25—And you still read! Haha, thanks!
Dreamer—Now that I read over the reviews, and everybody's like, hooray Rosie, etc...I feel bad for losing her! But maybe this'll work out or something, we'll see. Have fun with that whole marching thing... (And by 'have fun' I mean 'tolerate')
Cricket—I think that if Davey lightened up a bit, the world would be a much better place, and so would The Movie! He's kinda cute, though, so I can't complain. And PS—if you do decide to kidnap Rosie, let me know where she is, coz I obviously can't find her!
Buttons—Hooray for muses! Ontario is, like, not very far away from Wisconsin. It's like we're related, except not. Your long reviews put a smile on my heart, if hearts could smile. I don't think they can.
Lady Rach—David is dumb, so it's okay. I love Les. Here's your update! (A la "here's your knife!)
