Chapter 41: Rampage
"OPEN THIS GODAMN DOOR!"
Wendy drops her book in shock. She was right in the middle of a good part of her book and the sound of this…man screaming nearly gave her a heart attack. It had been a quiet night for the maid since Mr. Hockley took her place at escorting Miss Rose to the dinner. She went to a small café in the hotel for dinner and read her books as the sun went down. She was taken in by the beauty of the city and tried to practice writing some poetry. She had basically been reading ever since.
As she approaches the door, she recognizes the man's voice. He's yelling at someone down the hall telling him to shut up and he can yell if he damn well wants to. Wendy doesn't really want to open the door as she fears for her own safety. She grabs a glass bottle from the nearby desk and holds it beside her, prepared for anything.
She reluctantly opens the door.
"M-Mr. Hockley?" she asks timidly.
Cal shoves his way inside, pushing the door and Wendy away from him. He's red in the face, his eyes have this wild, unstable look in them. His hair is no longer gelled and he's covered it what seems to be dirt.
He begins tearing up the room, flipping over a table and turning up the bed covers. Wendy is paralyzed in fear, confused and very upset that Mr. Hockley's rampage will hurt her or someone else.
"WHERE IS SHE?!" he barks at the maid. "WHERE IS SHE?!"
"Miss Rose?" Wendy asks quietly.
"Yes, Miss Rose," Cal yells. He kicks the nearest object which happens to be a nightstand with the telephone on it, causing everything to go clattering to the floor. "Where is she?"
"I-I don't know sir."
"Don't you lie to me!" he yells.
"I-I'm not sir…" Wendy was afraid this might happen. When Rose takes off for the sunset, towards freedom, of course, Wendy would be asked by many people if she knew anything about it. It was something she had yet to discuss with Rose, she feared that she would lose her job. However, now it wasn't just her job, it was her life.
"You're lying!" Cal hollers. "You knew something. The minute I turn my back, she's running away like a thief in the night. Now I discussed with Mrs. Bukater how concerned I was that you had become so close, but now I believe that you know something. Women always keep secrets for one another… One of the most annoying and stupid traits they carry!"
Cal suddenly spies the book that Wendy dropped in shock. He picks up the book and rips it in half.
"NO!" Wendy shrieks.
"You and your useless shit about being equal. Your equal pay, your education, your rights. You'll never be equal to a man, you've always been the weakest of the species and as long as men run this world, you will always be nothing, but worthless pieces of…"
"Please, sir!" Wendy begs. "I don't know where she is…"
Cal collars Wendy against the wall. The maid doesn't even have time to bring the bottle up to protect herself. Wendy doesn't even have time to scream he does it with such force that she gasps for air.
"Where is she?" he hisses in her face.
Wendy can smell the liquor on his breath, it's overwhelming that the maid just might vomit from it.
"I-I swear sir I don't know…" Wendy says, tears streaming down her face.
"I…don't…believe…you…" Cal hisses, his voice eerily calm. Wendy can only cry as she is in the arms of a madman.
"HEY!" a voice yells.
Cal and Wendy turn to see a man, not much older than Wendy, standing at the door, wearing a night shirt and in bare feet. He has dark eyes and dark hair, that almost seem to shine in anger. It doesn't take long for the man to take in the scene.
"At first, it was just annoying mere intoxication, but now it's gone too far. The police are on their way, so kindly put the girl down and get out of here!"
Wendy is amazed at the boy's courage, standing up to this drunken man, not an inch of fear in his eyes. Cal, however, is very much annoyed. Like an angry bull, he begins to switch targets. He slowly releases his grip on Wendy.
"Get the hell out of here," Cal says. "This doesn't concern you."
"If you're about to hurt an innocent woman, it does concern me!"
"Get out before I hurt you too,"
"You don't scare me," the boy says bravely.
Cal completely releases Wendy and approaches the boy. Not a flash of fear crosses the boy's eyes. Cal brings his fists up.
"Very well, it's your funeral."
Cal lunges forward with his right fist, but the boy ducks. Cal turns to swing again, but the boy decks him with one punch. Cal goes falling to the floor. The boy stands back, clearly only wanting to fight in defense. Cal, however, does not. He gets back up and punches the boy across the face. The boy goes down on one knee and Cal lands another punch, forcing the man to the floor. Cal gets on top of him, the boy kicking and thrashing, fighting to get up. Cal hits once more…
Wendy smashes the bottle over his head. Cal rolls off the boy and lands on the floor unconscious and bleeding. The maid goes to help the boy up. She's still in shock about what she just did, she knew for sure that she would lose her job now, but she wouldn't want to work for such horrible people anyways.
"A-Are you okay?" she asks.
"I'm fine," the boy says, dusting himself off. "I just couldn't let him get away with hurting you like that."
Wendy is impressed. Her heart beats quickly and she smiles. She feels like she was just swept off her feet and rescued by a knight in shining armor. When he looks at her, his eyes seem to gleam and she blushes slightly.
The police enter the room and both conscious individuals tell them what happened. The police cuff Cal, pulling him up off the floor and forcing out of the room. The officers offer medical attention to either of them and congratulate the boy for standing up to him. They ask if Wendy wants to pursue charges, but she says no. There would be very little chance that she could win anyways. They leave after getting their statements.
When the two are alone, Wendy turns to her rescuer.
"I can't thank you enough," she says gently. She then notices his wound. "Oh, your lip's bleeding."
"It's okay," the boy says, wiping the blood off his lip. "I've had worse."
"I just can't believe you stood up to him like that," Wendy says. "He was so dangerous and you could have been seriously hurt."
"I knew that I just hate it when bullies take advantage of others like that. Picking on the weaker, or more helpless in this case."
Wendy smiles. She then looks over at the mess that Cal made. She looks down at the remains of her book. She kneels down and begins picking up some of the pages. To her surprise, the boy kneels down to help her.
"Wow, Death in Venice," he says, reading the cover. He seems rather impressed. "Is it any good?"
Wendy nods. She can't help but cry at the remains of what was her book.
"Are you okay?" the boy asks, reaching out to grab her hand.
When they touch, Wendy's face turns red and her heart beats harder. She's never felt like this before, but she likes it.
"I-I'm fine, it's just…" Wendy wipes her eyes, clearly embarrassed of crying over a silly book.
"You like books?" the boy prompts.
"Yes, and this wasn't even mine, it belonged to the library."
"I'm sure they'll understand," the boy says gently. "It got pretty sticky there for a second and what he was yelling about women never being equal, that's a load of crap."
Wendy looks surprised. "R-Really?"
"Yes…" the boy says with a smile. "Women are equal and they deserve to be so. It's unfair the way men treat women and I believe that everyone is important."
Wendy sits down on the bed and looks at the remnants of the book.
"I was just getting to the good part," she sighs.
"Don't be too down on yourself, I just like that you can read, from a woman of service that is…"
"What's that's supposed to mean?" Wendy says defensively.
"Not that I…I just assumed with the outfit that you were in service and the way he treated you. I-I'm sorry, I'm an idiot. I can't read very well anyways and I just mean that many people that I've met who are in service can't read and…"
Wendy giggles a little bit to stop his ranting apology. "It's okay, to be honest, I've heard worse from others. I guess it is impressive that I can read, but my mistress taught me how."
"Sounds like she is a good person."
"She's the best. She actually encouraged me to pursue my dreams and is helping make it happen."
"What is you dream?" the boy asks.
Wendy immediately shrinks away, moving towards the edge of the bed. Despite the fact that Rose was helping her achieve her dream, it still felt silly and just a dream at this point. She was still a maid and still learning to read.
"What's wrong?" the boy asks. "What did I say?"
Wendy says nothing.
"I just asked what your dream was…"
"It's stupid, you'll laugh," the maid says.
"No, I won't,"
"Yes, you will."
"Listen, I've heard of all the dreams in the world. My friends have told me their dreams and trust me they are not stupid."
Wendy keeps her head down and her face away from the boy.
The boy pauses and then sighs.
"What if I tell you my dream, you tell me yours?"
Wendy doesn't say anything, but it sounded fair. If his dream was as crazy as hers, they would be equal.
"When I was growing up, I always wanted to be a hockey player. I thought that maybe someday I would go to the Olympics and bring home a gold medal. But…" the boy's face suddenly falls. "Ever since I hurt my knee, it's impossible. If I did try skating again, I'd probably never walk again"
Wendy's heart goes out to him immediately, and she thought her dream wasn't achievable, but by the sounds of this boy's dreams, it's like it's already dead.
She goes back over.
"What happened?" the maid asks.
"Stupid accident on the farm. My brother dared me to climb to the roof of the barn on a rope, I made it, until the rope pulled down a piece of the rafters and when I fell, I landed funny, breaking my knee cap. I haven't been able to walk that well ever since."
The boy lifts up his left pant leg, revealing that his knee was crooked, parts of the kneecap were sticking out a weird angle.
"I-I'm sorry," Wendy says. She did feel sorry for him. She wished that she could help this boy in some way, but of course, there is nothing that she can do. She wishes she could work miracles. The words of what Rose said when they talked about their dreams for the first time echo in her head.
Everyone has a chance to be anything they want to be. Nothing is impossible
However, by the looks of it, this boy's dream would only stay that way.
"It's okay," the boy shrugs. "I did something stupid and I paid for it."
But with your dream… Wendy says in her mind. She feels like she wants to cry in sympathy for him. They are quiet for a few moments.
"I want to be a writer like Jane Austen," Wendy says. The boy looks at her with a smile.
"How is that a stupid dream?" he asks.
"Because for a long time, I couldn't read or write and it seemed like a stupid dream. My mother and father even say so."
"Well, your mother and father don't know what they're talking about. People who say things like that never achieved their own ambitions. That is a very good dream, something that I think you can achieve if you keep on trying,"
Wendy smiles and finds herself blushing harder than ever before. She becomes dizzy as if she just ran a long distance and has just won the race. The boy reaches over and grabs her hand.
"Thank you…" Wendy says. "It's been a long time since anyone has said that to me."
"You're welcome," the boy grins.
They sit in comfortable silence for a while, holding hands.
"So…" Wendy says, breaking the silence. "You lived on a farm?"
"Yes,"
"So did I and I did some pretty stupid stuff too."
"Like what?" the boy asks.
Wendy tells the boy about her life in the country. They begin sharing stories of their past, laughing and reminiscing about their days on the farm. Wendy likes this boy, a lot and she wants to stay with him for as long as possible. He begins to crack many jokes and even does impressions of other people, making Wendy laugh so hard she might wet herself. She has never met someone so funny and wants to keep him here. This boy is full of surprises and she wants to know everything about him. They both enjoy each other's company until the sun begins to poke its rays into the window.
"Well…" the boy says. "I'd better go…"
"But wait!" Wendy says. But stops, feeling embarrassed that she is asking the man to stay with her.
"What is it?"
"I feel like I've been rather shaken up by the ordeal and may need the company of a man for a little while."
The boy grins widely. Wendy turns a dark shade of red, very mortified by her lame excuse.
"Well, I shouldn't leave a woman alone in such a big city. Perhaps this shaken woman would like to accompany me to breakfast," The boy says, playing along with a big wide grin.
"I think she'd like that,"
"I'll to see you soon then,"
"Wait!" Wendy calls. "What's you name?"
"Tommy. Tommy O' Donnell"