THE DIARY OF MRS. TOMY RYAN
Chapter Nine
Tommy and I spent a lazy day in the third
class common area. The life shown there was amazing. These poor people, who
were looked down on by the rest of society, knew how to enjoy life. I had never
had as much fun as I had that morning. Tommy seemed undaunted by it, and I know
it was because his life had been much like theirs. They were people who had to
work in order to survive. They worked on the farms that grew the food, they
worked in the factories, and they worked in the best homes. They truly were
people of their time. These were the people I wanted to save, the nameless
masses who wouldn’t even be given a chance at a lifeboat.
"Katie, what are you thinking? You look
like someone took away your new puppy."
"You don’t really want to know. Would
you like to go out on deck?"
"Sure."
We got up, and Tommy held my hand as we
walked out on deck. "Let’s go up there," I said, pointing to the boat
deck.
"Why up there?"
"Oh, I don’t know. Maybe to take a look
at the lifeboats?"
"Okay."
We walked up the stairs and onto the boat
deck. I ignored the looks we got from the other passengers. We started to look
at few of the boats; they really weren’t that interesting to look at. I looked
up and saw Mr. Andrews coming. It looked like he was leading a tour of the
ship. I pulled Tommy in between two lifeboats to get out of their way. I saw
Cal and Mrs. DeWitt Bukater go by, but no Rose. We started walking when I saw a
sign for the gymnasium. "Let’s see what that’s like," I said. As we
were walking towards the door, I saw Rose walking very fast towards us. She had
her head down, and she didn’t seem to want anyone to notice her. I got out of her
way; she really didn’t spare us a glance. We turned the corner just in time to
see Jack walking away from us. Tommy was just about to yell when I pulled him
into the gymnasium. "It’s obvious they had a fight. We should just leave
him alone."
"All right, Katie. Look at this
place."
We spent a few minutes in there, and then we
went down towards the bow. We continued to walk around on deck, not really
saying much. I’m sure we walked all over the ship! When we got hungry, we went
and ate a small lunch in the café. I ignored the looks and the talking. It
didn’t seem to bother Tommy at all, just like the noise of the children
playing.
Afterwards, we went to my stateroom. I let
Tommy inside. He looked around and sat on the bed. "So this is where
you’ve been staying?"
"Yes. A little smaller than I’m used
to," I said, teasing. I knew his room was the same size, only he had to
share it with three other men.
I looked over at him to see that he was
smiling. For some reason, I yawned. "I guess that walk made me
tired."
"Maybe we should take a nap."
"We?"
"Yes."
"All right."
Tommy got up and pulled the covers back. Then
he sat and took off his shoes. As he climbed into bed, I sat and removed my
shoes, and the pins from my hair. I had never shared the same bed with anyone.
I was quite nervous. But Tommy knew just how to relax me. He pulled me into the
bed next to him and kissed me. It was wonderful feeling his weight next to me.
He was lying on his side, and I could look up and see his face above mine. I
turned on my side, so my back was to him. He pulled me close and held me. And
that’s how we fell asleep.
I awoke several hours later, and jumped up
out of the bed. I couldn’t believe that I had slept so long! I hurried around
the room, trying to find the light switch. I had to know what time it was! How
could I have slept? I knew what was going to happen. I finally found the light
switch and turned the light on. I saw Tommy sitting up in the bed. He was
rubbing his eyes. "Why have the engines stopped?" he asked. And then
I noticed it, too. The engines were stopped! Had we already hit the iceberg?
I knelt down and threw Tommy his shoes; then
I grabbed mine and sat on the chair to put them on. "Come on. Hurry. We
have to go see what’s happened." As soon as he had his shoes on, I took
his hand and opened the door.