ODE TO TITANIC
Chapter Nine
Later came, and Cal returned,
angry fire in his eyes. He was so sick and tired of Rose's attitude towards him
and her attraction towards the steerage trash he had just gotten rid of.
Bursting back through the door, he stood and glared at Rose.
"A little whore, isn't
it!" Cal backhanded her, not caring if he left a bruise or not. It was
time for all these little games to end. It was time for her to behave like the
wife she was meant to be. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
"Lifebelts on!" Entered
a steward, heading for their closet.
"What?" Cal glared at
the intrusion. What is it now? Didn't this man see that they were in the middle
of a conversation here?
"Lifebelts on, sir.
Captain's orders. Take a top hat and coat. It's quite cold outside," the
steward explained, handing a lifebelt to Cal. Seeing the preoccupied look on
Rose's face, the steward patted her shoulder reassuringly. "It's all
right, miss. It's only a drill."
In the Grand Salon, it was as if
everyone was at a party. People were just standing around, sipping hot brandy
and tea, wondering what all the commotion was about. Rose spotted Mr. Etches,
the head manservant of the ship, and wondered if he had any answers. She's
about to make up her way to ask when music begins.
First Class Passengers:
Strange and quite disorienting being here...
Recently awakened from a dream...
How the lights burn,
Every crystal bright as a star!
Dressed in your pajamas in the Grand Salon,
Looks to be bizarre in the extreme...
Things could improve if the steward opens the bar!
Oh...it's a memory I'll want to keep
Now...I would like to go
Back to sleep...
Dressed in your pajamas in the grand salon
Wondering if things are what they seem
Can you be sure? Do you ever
Know where you are?
Etches:
Mr. Astor please, your lifebelt
Mr. Guggenheim, please put it on now...
Captain's orders
Ladies and gentlemen, wear your lifebelts!
Mrs. Widener, if you would ma'am
Mr. Thayer, we must insist now
It's a mere formality
There is no cause for concern.
Etches and Stewards:
We'll be on our way!
We hardly need stay now...
In a moment or two she'll be right again
Traveling west!
John Thayer:
See here, Mr. Etches, I demand to know exactly what's happening!
Etches:
The latest word, sir, seems to be that she's damaged one
Of the wing propellers and we could be delayed for an entire
Day, sir.
Thayer:
I don't like the way this sounds...
Benjamin Guggenheim:
Not a bit, not a bit, not a little bit...
Thayer:
We spent eighteen hundred pounds.
Guggenheim:
Not a bit, not a bit, not a little bit...
Guggenheim and Thayer:
This is not the sort of voyage we paid for!
I demand to know what the ship is delayed for!
Right now!
First Class Passengers:
How could this have ever come to pass?
Ruth:
Christ! Look who's here!
It's the second class!
Alice Beane:
Everything is gorgeous in the Grand Salon!
Stunningly appointed for the cream
Thousands of bucks
Gets a trip deluxe without par!
Passengers:
Dressed in your pajamas
Etches:
Mr. Astor, please.
Passengers:
In the Grand Salon.
Etches:
Your lifebelt.
Passengers:
Feels to be bizarre.
Etches:
Mr. Guggenheim, please.
Passengers:
In the extreme...
Etches:
Put it on now.
Passengers:
How the lights burn.
Etches:
It's a mere formality.
Passengers:
Every crystal bright.
Etches:
There is no cause for…
Passengers:
As a star.
Etches:
Concern.
Stewards:
We'll be on
Our way!
Passengers:
Strange and quite
Disorienting.
Stewards:
We'll be on
Being here! Our way!
Passengers:
Strange and…
Stewards:
A minor delay.
Passengers:
Quite disorienting being…
Stewards:
Now!
Passengers:
Recently
Awakened in a…
Stewards:
A minor delay here! A simple…
Passengers:
Daze!
Stewards:
Now!
Passengers:
Recently awakened in a…
Stewards:
Precaution!
Passengers:
Every light is…
Stewards:
A simple…
Passengers:
Burning.
Stewards:
Precaution.
Passengers:
Daze!
Stewards:
A moment of…
Passengers and Stewards:
With intensity! Every light is burning with
Rest! Everything a moment of intensity!
Surrounded by a haze!
We'll be on rest! We'll be on
Our our
Way! Strange and quite we'll be on way!
Quite disorienting our
We hardly being here! Way! Strange and
Need quite disorienting
Stay now recently we hardly being here!
Awakened in a need...
Etches:
Mr. Guggenheim, please
Upstairs now...
Everyone Else:
Mrs. Widener, if you would wondering if things
Ma'am...are what
They seem...
It's a mere formality, can you be sure?
There is no do you ever know
Where you
Cause for concern are?
Stewards and Passengers:
We'll be on
Our way! Strange and quite
Disorienting we'll be on
Being here! Our way! Strange and
A minor delay! Quite disorienting being
Now! Recently
Awakened in a minor delay! Here!
A simple! Daze! Now! Recently awakened in a
Precaution! Every light is a simple
Burning Precaution Daze!
A moment of with intensity! Every light is burning with
Everything A moment of Intensity!
Rest! Everything A moment of Intensity!
Surrounded by a haze!
We'll be on Rest! We'll be on
Our Our
Way! Strange and We'll be on Way!
Quite disorienting Our
We hardly being here! Way! Strange and
Need Quite disorienting
Stay recently We hardly Being here!
Awakened in a Need...
Now Daze Stay now! Recently awakened in a
Any minute now! Daze
Any minute!
Any minute Any minute
Now! Now! Any minute!
Any minute Any minute
Now! Now!
All:
We'll be on our way!
We'll be on our way!
We'll be on our way!
Our way!
Our way!
Meanwhile, Jack was decks below,
handcuffed to some pipes. He was thinking of the look in Rose's eyes. The
dawning mistrust. He couldn't believe that she would believe anything that
lying snake told her. Sighing, he remembered his friend's warnings about
becoming involved with a first class girl. Warnings he had ignored, confident
that, in the end, she would choose him.
Jack:
Somebody somewhere told me
You were gonna break my heart
Somebody somewhere told me
You were gonna break me apart
I didn't listen and I didn't care
I didn't think that talk was anywhere
I didn't listen and I didn't care
Nobody told me 'bout your lowdown friends
Somebody somewhere help me
I got to find a brand new way
Somebody somewhere help me
I got to make a brand new way
I didn't listen and I didn't know
I didn't think it would hurt me so
I didn't listen and I didn't know
Nobody told me 'bout your lowdown friends
Somebody somewhere help me
I got to turn it, turn it 'round
Somebody somewhere help me
I got to get my feet on the ground
I didn't listen and I didn't care
I didn't think that talk was anywhere
I didn't listen and I didn't know
I didn't think it would hurt me so.
Jack stared out of the porthole,
watching the water rise slowly, and turned his gaze around. Lovejoy was sitting
at the desk, letting a bullet roll across it again and again and finally
putting it into the gun he was holding in his hand.
Slowly he got up and stepped
closer to Jack, who watched him distrustfully.
"You know, I do believe this
ship may sink. I've been asked to give you this small token of our
appreciation..." he stated, punching Jack in the stomach, making him gasp
for air.
"Compliments of Mr. Caledon
Hockley…" With these words, he put the handcuff key into his pocket and
left.
*****
In the meantime on the boat deck,
Rose, Cal, and Ruth were standing among a huge crowd of first class passengers
who were entering the boats, one after another.
Rose watched the scenes of
farewell around her and again her mind was filled with thoughts of Jack.
Suddenly, she felt so stupid. She wondered how she could even have let those
men take him under arrest. She desperately wondered how she could have doubted
him at all. There must have been some terrible, terrible mistake.
"Will the lifeboats be
seated according to class? I hope they're not too crowded…"
Ruth’s voice interrupted her
thoughts and Rose slowly turned her gaze towards her mother, not believing what
she had just heard.
"Oh, Mother, shut up!"
she hissed, making Ruth wince. "Don't you understand? The water is
freezing and there aren't enough boats... not enough by half. Half the people
on this ship are going to die."
"Not the better half."
Cal stepped closer with a strange expression on his face. "Maybe I should
have kept that drawing. Must be worth a lot more by morning." In fact, he
had found Rose’s drawing locked up in the safe, together with a very
challenging note by Rose, and he had almost torn it up, but he hadn’t. He had
put the drawing back into the safe, thinking of framing Jack instead.
Now he was looking at Rose, but
he saw nothing but disgust in her eyes.
"You unimaginable
bastard," she whispered, and from somewhere she heard someone else calling
her name, telling her to get in the boat. She turned around and saw her mother
leaning on the edge of the boat, reaching out a hand to her.
Molly Brown was sitting next to
her, urgently demanding Rose to enter the boat.
"Come on, Rose, get in the
boat. You’re next, darling," Molly told her, but Rose took a few steps
back.
"Rose, get in the
boat," her mother urgently begged her, but Rose just shook her head.
"Good-bye, Mother," she
stated and turned around, walking away in a quick pace. She heard her mother’s
frantic screams behind her as the boat was being lowered. But Rose could only
think of one thing--she had to find Jack. She had to get to him, apologizing a
thousand times, somehow making him forgive her for being so stupid.
She felt Cal’s hand grip her arm
roughly, making her turn around.
"Where are you off to?"
he exclaimed. "To him? To be the whore of a gutter rat?"
He was still holding onto her
tightly, but she didn’t struggle to pull free anymore. Actually, she was very
calm, looking him straight in the eyes.
"I would rather be his whore
than your wife."
He had never heard her speak in
such a steady and certain tone of voice and for a moment, he could do nothing
but stare at her in disbelief. She suddenly pulled her arm away, struggling to
get away from him.
He was fighting with her for a
few seconds when Rose, all of a sudden and completely unexpected, spit into his
face. This made him finally let go off her and he was standing right in front
of her, his face frozen in a shocked expression.
Rose:
I can't believe what you did to me
Down on my knees and I need to break free
All these years, you violated me
I don't know why I can't feel inside
Trying to hide, can't make it all right
It's overkill, now I'm ready to fight
I don't need nobody trying to make me over
I just wanna live simple and free
I just wanna get away!
Save it, all your bullshit, for another day!
Feeling confined, like I'm being forced in
My vision's blurry and I'm lost in regrets
It's overload, and I'm out of control
So sick and tired of feeling so misused
Taking me down with all your mental abuse
I must say, gotta get you out of my head
Everybody's always trying to look me over
I just wanna live simple and free
I just wanna get away!
Save it, all your bullshit, for another day!
I'm the only one who can rescue me from me!
Leaving the house another quarter to five
Slipped on my boots and I'm ready to ride
And I feel so high, I feel so alive
Let down my hair, feel the wind on my skin
Crossing the water where my new life begins
And I close my eyes and take it all in
I don't need nobody trying to make me over
I just wanna live simple and free
I just wanna get away
Save it, all your bullshit, for another day
I'm the only one who can rescue me from me
I just wanna get away
Save it, all your bullshit, for another day
I'm the only one who can rescue me from me
You wanna bring me down
You wanna bring me down
You wanna bring me down
You wanna bring me down.
She turned around and left with a
quick and secure pace, leaving Cal behind who was urgently wiping the spittle
off his face.
He was staring after her, feeling
the anger rising in him.
Shaking his head at her
unbelievable behavior, he began to sing.
Cal:
Met a girl
Thought she was grand
Fell in love, found out firsthand
Went well for a week or two
Then it all came unglued
In a trapped trip
I can't grip
Never thought I'd be the one who’d slip
Then I started to realize
I was living one big lie
She fucking hates me
Trust
She fucking hates me
La la la love
I tried too hard
And she tore my feelings
Like I had none
And ripped them away
She was queen for about an hour
After that shit got sour
She took all I ever had
No sign of guilt
No feeling of bad, no
In a trapped trip
I can't grip
Never thought I'd be the one who’d slip
Then I started to realize
I was living one big lie
She fucking hates me
Trust
She fucking hates me
La la la love
I tried too hard
And she tore my feelings
Like I had none
And ripped them away
That's my story
As you see
Learned my lesson
And so did she
Now it's over and I'm glad
'Cause I'm a fool
For all I’ve said
She fucking hates me
Trust
She fucking hates me
La la la love
I tried too hard
And she tore my feelings
Like I had none
And ripped them away
La la la la la la la la la la la love
Trust
La la la la la la la la la la love
Trust
And she tore my feelings
Like I had none
She fucking hates me.
But, no…he was certainly not willing
to give her up and let her go that easily. He certainly wasn’t.
*****
Rose was running through the
first class corridors, desperately trying to find Mr. Andrews who would
possibly be able to tell her where she could find Jack.
Finally, she spotted him as he
was opening the doors in order to make sure that all the passengers were up on
deck.
Out of breath, Rose ran up to
him, urging him to tell her where she could find someone who was under arrest.
It took her a brief time to convince him to tell her since he was trying to
convince her to get up on deck and in one of the boats. Finally, he gave her a
detailed instruction and she started to run towards the first class foyer
elevators. She roughly told the operator to take her down, but when she arrived
at E Deck, she could feel the ice cold water swirl around her legs. The floor
was completely flooded, nevertheless, Rose jumped out of the elevator,
struggling to make her way through the corridors.
She desperately screamed out
Jack’s name until she could finally hear a response from somewhere.
She pushed open one of the doors
and there she spotted Jack who was handcuffed to some pipes, the water rising
slowly.
"Jack!" she exclaimed
and he smiled at her with a mixture of hope and relief.
"Jack... I'm sorry! I'm so
sorry!" Rose struggled to get over to him which was a difficult process.
Not only was the water rising steadily but also her long coat kept her from
moving fast.
She threw her arms around him and
hugged him tightly.
"That guy Lovejoy put it in
my pocket," Jack uttered, but he didn’t have to tell her that. She already
knew.
"I know, I know," she
assured him again and again and Jack smiled.
"We’ll have a wonderful
life, Rose. You’ll never regret your decision."
Jack:
So close no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters
Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don't just say
And nothing else matters
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know
So close no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know
Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don't just say
And nothing else matters
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they say
Never cared for games they play
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
So close no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters.