Chapter 13 Rose leaned against the door as she pulled Jack close to her, kissing him passionately. She ran her hands along his neck and slightly down the back of his collar, this time making Jack weak at the knees. "God Rose, you're really trying to make this hard for me to leave. At this rate, I don't think I'll ever be able to go home." Jack mumbled in between kisses. Rose grinned and replied back much the same way Jack did. "Then don't." "I just might-" Jack was interrupted by a strange force pulling him down. The kiss broke suddenly and both Jack and Rose looked up to find that the front door had opened and having nothing to lean on, Rose had started to fall back into it and had brought Jack with her. Catching their breaths, both quickly backed away from one another as they noticed the looming presence of Ruth Dewitt Bukator standing in the doorway with shocked, nervous and anxiety filled features. Rose turned to Jack and back to her mother, smiling nervously. "Mother…you remember Jack Dawson don't you?" Ruth looked over at her daughter and back over at Jack, scanning him from head to toe. She was extremely nervous as well as she forced a fake smile and nodded slowly. "Yes of course. What a pleasure to see you again Mr. Dawson." Jack simply nodded and was about to say something but Ruth interrupted him quickly. "Ugh…Mr. Dawson, I've recently been informed of some unfortunate news that I was told to relay back to you as soon as possible. It's your uncle- he's fallen seriously ill this afternoon. The doctors are doing the best they can but…still…" Jack's smile had suddenly faded as his face had fallen extremely worried and serious. Rose too was worried as she looked from her mother back to Jack. He made eye contact with her, conveying a secret message to her, which she silently nodded at. "Oh God. Well, I've gotta get going then." Jack looked around him quickly and turned around slightly. "Goodbye Mrs. Dewitt Bukater…bye Rose and…thank you." He then quickly turned and practically ran back to the car and drove off with a start. Rose was left alone at the door with her mother and a slew of unanswered thoughts. "Rose?" Ruth's voice rang in her head, slightly perturbed at witnessing her daughter take part in such a forbidden activity outside her own house. Rose looked at her mother nervously once again. She knew that she was in for it. She nodded and stepped inside. Ruth shut the door with a loud but yet controlled thump. "Would you care to explain anything to me Rose?" Rose opened her mouth to speak but her mother spoke before she could let out a single syllable. "I was waiting for you all day Rose. You didn't even tell me when you were leaving, whom you'd be with or even where you were going. And then, to make matters worse, I find you here on my doorstep at nearly midnight with a boy who you seem to be very fond of." Ruth crossed the room, keeping her eyes dead center on Rose. Rose felt like a hunted animal as her mother circled her, watching her and inspecting her from head to toe. "You look an absolute disgrace! Your hair is falling every which way, your dress is a wrinkled mess and…you…Rose? What on earth…? Is this sand in your hair?" Rose once again tried to speak, but her mother interrupted her. "Yes…it is! You went to the beach didn't you? This is absolutely disgraceful! Rolling around in the sand like some mangy little puppy…I can't believe this! You're 17 years old and-" "That's right Mother. I am seventeen years old and I think that I can make my own decisions. I wasn't rolling around in the sand like some mangy little puppy. Yes, we did happen to go to the beach but-" Ruth held up her hand in silence and immediately started talking. "I don't suppose you even remember what you were supposed to do today…do you?" Ruth watched satisfied as her daughters forehead wrinkled in confusion. "No…I thought so. A Mr. Caledon Hockley came here at about 1:45 this afternoon." Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath, just now realizing what she had forgotten. "He had hoped to take you out for the remainder of the afternoon, but you were not to be found. He waited here you know, for over half an hour while you…went gallivanting around some dirty beach with that boy." "His name's Jack…Jack Dawson." Ruth threw her hand up in disgust. Her tone was sarcastic as she spoke. "Oh yes…the Dawsons! How could I forget? Rose, I'm not too fond of that rough and uncouth family. I'm going to say this and I'm only going to say this once- I don't want you hanging around that Dawson boy, you hear? They're in for a lot of trouble. Andrew is extremely ill. The doctor told me he hasn't much time left. You…you remember what happened when your father died." Rose just nodded her head, not knowing where this conversation was going. "Your father and Andrew Dawson were business partners up until the day your father died. They had the same businesses, made the same deals, earned the same money and shared the same bills. Andrew is in the same position your father was in…he's flat broke. He can hide it for a while and even Jack can ride on his family name for a while, but after that…Jack's going to be no richer than the men you see begging on the street corners." Rose just shook her head. She was thoroughly disgusted with her mother. "Why would that matter mother? Is it the money? That's it, isn't it?" Ruth's voice was harsh and firm. "Rose, we have no money. We need financial support. Jack is not support Rose." She paused and continued with a growing rage inside her. "What do you think you're going to do Rose…what? Let's just say you run off with this Jack…then what? You marry him out of pure puppy love, thinking that everything will be ok…that he'll love you forever, no matter what. You'll end up out there with the rest of them Rose- dirty and hungry with more mouths to feed than just the two of you. And back home, back here with your litter sister and your own mother, we'll be in the same position. Do you really want to see me working in some dirty factory just so I can put food on the table? Is that what you want? To see your little sister have to quit school so she can work all day to help pay for the rent on some rickety little house. And to have to sell all of our fine things…your father's things, things that I know he would hate to see sold to some stranger all because his daughter wouldn't think about her family obligations and instead spent her days daydreaming with some worthless boy. What would your father say if he could see you now Rose?" Ruth smiled smugly as she watched the inner struggle clearly play out on her daughters features. She knew she had hit a sore subject with Rose's father and it seemed to be working. Rose closed her eyes once again, taking a long and shuddering breath. What would my father say? Would he agree with my mother? Would he tell me to just follow my heart? What about Clara? She's only 9 years old. I can't just abandon my family like that. I feel like I'd be betraying not only them, but my father's memory. Rose thought to herself before replying. "Alright mother. What do you want me to do?" |
