Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
“I think we lost them”Gabriel said as he ran behind Salomi. He slowed down,”Damn you run fast”
Salomi realized that she was holding her breath most of the time and she let out a huge sigh of relief,”Thanks…”she said breathlessly.Then she looked around,”Where are we?”
“Welcome to third class”he said,”Come on you can meet Adam”he said as they walked down the crowded hallway. The hallways in third class were small and narrow. You barely had room to walk. The walls were white and the floors were wood. No decorations, very plain. They stopped in front of a small door at the end of the hallway and he knocked twice and kicked the door. Then he walked in, Salomi followed.”Hey Ad we got some food….”he said and then stopped,”God it smells like throw up in here”he said
“That’s all I have been doing all day”a voice from under a small and thin blanket said.
“You’re not better by now?”Gabriel asked as he walked up to him
“No….and I don’t want any food off this damned ship. Im not hungry”
“Oh….well…”he said and then looked at Salomi who was standing by the door,”Oh you want to meet the person who saved me yestersday? The one who gave us breakfast?”
“Hi whoever you are”Adam said, not moving.”Sorry that Im not cordial but I feel like shit”
“Its ok…nice to meet you…”she said.”Do you need anything?”
“I need you two to stop shouting”he said as he pulled the covers back over his head.
Gabriel stared at him, he was getting delirious too. Should he worry or was it just some 24 hour thing? “Fine,um…we will leave you alone but heres some food in case you do get the munchies ok?” Adam didn’t answer. He mouthed “come on” to Salomi and they left the room quietly.
“I should try to buy him some medicine in the morning”Salomi said
“Well lets wait it out…its probably just some 24 hour thing. He should be better by morning”Gabriel said with a shrug. “Lets feast”he said. Then a huge group of people walked past them and they could hear music.
“Sounds like another ball is happening down here”Salomi said with a laugh
“Lets go see”Gabriel said to her as they followed the crowd.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
While fun was just beginning in third class, fun was going to soon end for the first class passengers. There was about 30 minutes left of the party but no one seemed to want to leave. The band played better music by the minute and the wine kept flowing.
“Whoooo!”Dorothy said as the band finished another uptempo. She jumped up and down a little and caused some of her wine to spill.
“I think you have had enough”Abraham said as he tried to take the glass from her.
“No I haven’t, this is only my….5th glass?”she said and laughed and finished the rest of it,”How many have you had?”
“You know what? I really don’t know….and I really don’t care”Abraham said as he finished his as well. Dorothy laughed.The band started to play a slower tune and he put his glass on a tray that passed by, Dorothy did as well.
“Help me”he heard someone whisper and he saw Vernon and Molly. Molly was holding onto Vernon like he was a life saver and she swayed to the music.
“You’re on your own buddy, this is kind of funny”Abraham said.He was too tipsy to deal with that right now and Vernon was too. He accepted defeat and put his head on Molly’s shoulder as she swayed a way through the crowd for them and soon they disappeared. He turned to Dorothy and held out his hand to her and said,”May I have this dance?”he asked her
She looked at him with tears in her eyes,”I need some air”she said and then rushed out.
Abraham stood there, confused, what happened? What was wrong with her now? Then he panicked, was she feeling suicidal again? He immediately turned around and went outside to find her. Some people were leaving and some people weren’t even close,”’Scuse me”he said as he walked through the crowd. He walked around and called Dorothy’s name but she didn’t answer. He didn’t see her. He tried to look for her reddish brown hair and emerald green dress. He walked up to the top deck and it was even colder than last night. He could see his breath even more now. He then saw her by the railing. She was crying,”Dorothy? Whats wrong?”he asked her as he came up to her.
She was shaking, shivering and crying. She looked like she wanted to say something but couldn’t. She then threw her arms around his neck and continued to sob into his chest. He sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. They didn’t say a word as they silently held each other.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Wow”Salomi said as both of them walked into a small room eating their stolen goods. There was a small band playing and people dancing.”Snazzy shindig we got here”she said as they walked and sat down at a small table in the corner of the room. The band had a singer and a few fiddle players and various men playing a drum and buckets and pails. Everyone was either dancing, or sitting down and drinking whiskey and watching the dancers.
“I guess they solved their problem”Gabriel said
“What problem?”Salomi asked as she finished the small hot dog.
“A lot of the third class passengers were upset that only the first class could party. So I guess they made their own”he said with a laugh. Salomi nodded. It wasn’t fair. It seemed like the Captain only cared about his first class passengers more than them. They both clapped along to the music and someone handed them a bottle of whiskey.
“Viva la third class!”he said to them with a laugh and went back out to dance.
“Viva la third class”they both said and laughed. Gabriel took a few sips of the whiskey. Salomi clapped along to the music but noticed that some of the women were looking at her strangely. Then she looked down at her nice and expensive clothing, that was why. All of a sudden she felt uncomfortable, they must hate her. She sighed as she took a sip of the whiskey and made a weird face, it tasted hot and strong!
“Whats wrong?”Gabriel asked her,”Don’t like it?”he asked her,”Its kind of an acquired taste”
“They’re looking at me funny”Salomi said
“What? Why?”he asked her
“Look at me. For one I am dressed different. I don’t belong here”she said, and that hurt her the most. If only they knew that she was like them. If only they knew that the clothes that she wore was just a cover up for their lie.
“Yes you do, don’t be silly”Gabriel said as the band ended the song and the crowd burst into applause.”All you have to do is mingle a little bit…”he said and then he stood up,”Dance”
“Dance?”
“Yes”he said as he pulled her out onto the floor. The fiddles started to play and the singer described his next song as his favorite.
The devil went down to Georgia
He was looking for a soul to steal
He was in a bind because he was way behind
And he was willing to make a deal
When he came across this young man sowing on a fiddle
And playing a fiddle hot
And the devil jumped on a hickory stump
And said,”Boy let me tell you what!”
“Well I bet you didn’t know it but Im a fiddle player too
And if you care to take a dare I’ll make a bet with you
Now you play a pretty good fiddle boy
But give the devil its due
I’ll play a fiddle of gold against your soul
Because I think Im better than you”
The boy said,”My name is Johnny and it might be a sin
But I’ll take your bet
Your gonna regret
Because Im the best there has ever been”
The fiddle players started to play and battle against each other and the crowd went crazy. This song was obviously a favorite. Gabriel proceeded to teach Salomi a dance that everyone else was doing. She soon clapped and did the steps along with everyone else and forgot about being ashamed at all. She turned around and noticed that Gabriel moved on and danced with a little girl. Everyone proceeded to switch partners every few bars and people were impressed that she picked up. She was one of them. Gabriel came back to her and danced the step with her and smiled. The fiddle players stopped battling and sang the last few verses of the song:
The devil bowed his head because he knew that he’d been beat
He laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny’s feet
Johnny said,”Devil just come on back if you ever wanna try again!
I done told you once you son of a bitch, Im the best there has ever been!”
The fiddle players continued to fiddle as hard as they could and the music got faster and faster. Salomi kept up with Gabriel and did the steps just as fast. They played the last few chords and he grabbed her and dipped her. The song ended and the crowd burst in loud applause, shouting “Encore! Encore!” and stomping their feet. The band looked tired but continued to play a mid tempo song.However Salomi didn’t pay attention, all she could do was hold onto Gabriel and get lost in those baby blue eyes of his.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Its ok to cry”Abraham said as he wiped Dorothy’s tears.
“She is the reason why I did this acting thing in the first place. Now that shes gone. I have no passion to do it anymore. Sometimes I don’t have the passion to live”she said as she held onto him
“Then don’t do it. Do what makes you happy. Life will be better that way. Your mother will understand”Abraham said to her
Dorothy nodded, he was right. All her life she was doing this for her mother to make her proud and she succeeded in doing that. But now she has to live her life the way she wants to.”But I don’t know what to do…all I know is the stage. That’s all I have ever known”
“You’ll find something”Abraham said to her
Dorothy looked at him.”You’re so understanding”she said to him as she stroked his cheek. Then impulsively, she pulled him toward her and kissed him hard on the mouth. He hesitated a little out of shock and that made her pull away,”Oh God…Im so sorry”
“No its fine-“
“I need sleep”she said,”I gotta go..”she said and then ran off, leaving Abraham shocked but tingly all over.
“There you are!”he heard Vernon shout as he ran to him,”What the hell are you doing out here?Its cold!”he said to him,”We gotta get back to the cabin before Molly finds me”he said to him as he pulled him back,”And I don’t appreciate how you left me hanging in there. Some friend you are”he said as they walked into the cabin,”Im going to sleep. You go to your room and you think about what you have done to me”he said and closed the door behind him. Abraham walked into his room and sat down on his bed. Then the room got cold and he looked up and saw a white figure. He gasped.
“Salomi?”he asked her
“Abraham….I am here to give you another message”she said as she cried a little
“Why? What? Whats wrong?”he asked her
“You have to get off this ship”Salomi said to him,”I don’t know why…danger….you have to get off this ship”she said as she cried a little and then disappeared.
“Why!?”he asked but she was gone. He started to panic. What danger was she talking about?
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Salomi and Gabriel were giggling like 5 year olds as they left the “Third Class Ball”. It ended because the band got too drunk to even play another note. Both Salomi and Gabriel were a little on the tipsy side.”Let me take you back”he said to her
“Ok”Salomi said reluctantly.She didn’t want to leave though. She wanted to spend all her time with him. She had so much fun with him. He walked her up to the first class quarters and it was very quiet. The total opposite of third class. The ball died down a long time ago and everyone had went to bed by now.
“Well…this is good night then”Gabriel said reluctantly as they approached her door.”Can I see you tomorrow?”he asked her
“Of course”she said to him,”I would love to see you. Thanks for everything. I had a really good time”
“Me too”he said to her. He then leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.”Sweet dreams”he said and then he walked off quickly, not wanting to get caught. Salomi slipped into the cabin quietly and closed her bedroom door behind her. She sighed happily as she got into bed. She was in love.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Abraham tried not to think about Salomi’s warning the next day when he tried to find Dorothy. He and Dorothy got very close over the last two days and it scared him. It was all moving so fast. They would dock in New York tomorrow and they would never see each other again. He had to check to see if she was ok, but she wasn’t in her room. He then saw her talking to some other first class passengers. She was faking a smile, which meant that she wasn’t really enjoying the conversation. He decided that he needed to save her. But then a worker got in his path.“Abraham Squires?”he asked
“Yes?”Abraham asked.
“We caught your daughter stealing food from the ball last night. She was accompanied by some boy in third class. Now we wont press any charges, we will just give you a warning but we suggest that you discipline that daughter of yours”he said to him,”Have a good day”he said and walked away.
Abraham nodded, getting furious. Salomi? Stealing? With a boy? He looked around and tried to find her. He walked around the deck and then saw her. She was talking and laughing….with a boy, that must be the troublemaker no doubt. He walked up to her and pulled her away from him.
“Hey!”she said and then turned to him,”Daddy?-“
“Go back to the cabin, this instant”he said to her
“What? Why!?”she asked him
“Because you need discipline obviously! Now go!”he said to her
“But Dad!-“she said but before she could finish, he slapped her across the face. She gasped as she held her cheek. The boy gasped as well. She then started to cry and ran off. He instantly felt guilty but then he looked at the boy.
“Stay away from her”he said,”My daughter is only 12, shes still a kid and shes a good girl and she doesn’t need to be hanging around with thieves like you. Now get out of here before I report you”he said to him. The boy nodded and walked off.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Salomi ran to her room and cried for hours. Her father never came back to check on her and she was glad. She didn’t even want to see him. She hated him. Then she heard a knock on the door and she opened it, it was Gabriel.”Oh hi”she said. She was upset too. It was his fault that she got in trouble in the first place. It was dark and she could see big packs of ice floating in the water. She could also see that Gabriel wasn’t happy either.
”Im sorry ok? But…your 12?”he asked her
“What? Yeah”she said
“I thought you were older…”he said,”16 at least”
“I didn’t know that age mattered to you”she said,”Ok so go on, Im just a little kid right? But you know what!? Im not rich! This is all a lie! We arent farmers, we didn’t find gold. My father and Uncle work in organized crime! We could go to jail! We were dirt poor, we are third class without all this money we have been lugging around. There! Now you have more reason to hate me”she said as tears fell from her eyes. It hurt because he hated her now and even though she was mad at him, she still loved him,”It was nice knowing you Gabriel”she said. She started to close the door but then he stopped her. He then pulled her toward him and kissed her.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“She’ll be fine. She doesn’t hate you”Dorothy said to him. After his argument with Salomi, he ran to Dorothy for advice. She was happy to give it since he has helped her out all along.”Just give her time. She has probably cooled off by now. Just don’t let her go to bed angry. Us girls don’t like that”she said and winked at him.
“I just feel so bad. I have never slapped her before. I feel so-“then he was interrupted when the boat shook violently, which caused them both to fall off the small couch in her room.”Are you ok?”he asked her. She nodded. They both opened the door and saw big packs of ice on the deck.”What happened?”he asked someone that obviously witnessed it.
“We bumped into one of those huge icebergs” they said.
*______________________*