Ten

Oscar and Lucy continue their travels

After Lucy had agreed to travel with Oscar, he didn’t want to scare her. He desperately wished to keep her on-side and avoid the tiresome discussions that had plagued their travels thus far. For that reason, but also for his own satisfaction, Oscar picked his mobile from the glove box and dialled the number for station. He noticed Lucy eye him as he did this.

‘Don’t worry, I’m a good driver’, he professed,

‘It’s not that’ she replied in a shot ‘You just don’t strike me as the kind of guy to have lots of friends’. Jesus, thought Oscar, this girl really is something. Station answered.

‘Code’ the voice said flatly.

‘6442, put me through’. The line went dead for a moment, then;

‘Yes’, a different voice now, just as unrecognisable.

‘It’s Bockscar’ Oscar recalled in a flash the ridiculous code-name.

‘What the f**k happened back there? You could’ve killed me’

‘You knew that was a risk when you signed up’

‘I knew it was a possibility but not that you’d actively try to kill me’

‘We didn’t kill you. We cleared up your mess’

‘Listen, I don’t need your f*****g hounds tracing my every step, I’ve got it covered’

‘And what about her Oscar?’ Oscar immediately recognised the implication and veiled threat ‘Don’t worry’ the voice continued ‘As long as you don’t let her interfere with the job we’ll allow it. Just remember if she does interfere, we’re capable of dealing with it’

‘You couldn’t’ Oscar replied, unfazed.

‘We could. Oh, and no more calls until you’re done. Good night’. With that the phone went dead and Oscar put it back to its original position. Lucy was still looking at him. She refused, however to say anything.

‘What?’ Oscar felt compelled to confront the stare.

‘Good call?’ Oscar was surprised, he’d thought sarcasm was beyond Americans. He chuckled, closing the glove box.

‘You really aren’t like the other Americans I’ve met over here. Well, maybe a little but…’ Lucy cut him short.

‘How so?’ Oscar looked at her slightly taken back by her forwardness.

‘Well you’re ruder for one. But also, I don’t know, you’re difficult to read’

‘Difficult to read?’ Lucy echoed.

‘Yeah. Most of your lot are open books, but you. Not sure I’ve figured you out yet.’

‘Yet?’ Lucy said, almost as a challenge.

‘Well, you’re still American’. Lucy chuckled at this, whilst turning away from Oscar. She didn’t feel the need to reply, so Oscar went on.

‘You’ll probably need some clothes and whatever so if I stop at one of the stores near the hotel you can pick up some stuff’

‘Cool with me’ she replied, seemingly uninterested. The pair continued for about another 20 minutes until Oscar pulled into the parking lot of a store open late. The sign read ‘convenience’ but the run down brick building didn’t strike Oscar as that kind of store. The variety of goods on offer inside dwarfed those offered by the supposed British equivalent, newsagents. Oscar opened his door after unbuckling his seatbelt and got out, with Lucy following suit. Locking the door he strode towards the brightly lit doorway. The air was still and slightly cold, tolerable as far as Oscar was concerned but perhaps not so for Lucy, judging by her shivers, Oscar thought. As they entered the store they began to walk around, with Lucy choosing a number of things she felt she would need; sleep-wear, toothbrush and the like. After she was satisfied with her shop, Oscar picked up a few things, some food and alcohol, always useful. Upon reaching the counter Lucy turned to Oscar, holding out her hand.

‘You got any smokes? I’m gonna go outside’ Oscar reached into his pocket, after raising an eyebrow to the request, pulling out a cigarette.

‘You aren’t gonna make a run are you’ he said to the girl’s disliking. She rolled her eyes and walked off toward the door,

‘I’m not a child Oscar’. He was silenced for a moment. It was the first time she had said his name.

‘Smoking kills ya know’ he shouted after her, a jibe she ignored.

Oscar wandered forward in the line when it was his turn and watched the Latina lady behind the till scan the items. Out of the corner of his eye, beyond the shop front he could see 4 or 5 men approach Lucy. He turned his attention back to the lady. After letting her finish scanning he took out some cash and paid, thanking the woman and allowing her to keep the change as he walked away. Exiting the shop he turned to see two of the men grabbing Lucy by her arms to her protestations. Placing the shopping bag carefully on the floor with a sigh, he shouted over to the group.

‘Guys’ they all immediately turned to the source of the noise, but did not release their hostage. ‘I’m gonna have to ask you to let her go’. Oscar didn’t know why they had decided to pick on the girl but could guess a number of possibilities. Unfortunately for this bunch, she was under his protection.

‘Hit it buddy. Don’t worry about it’ the big one shouted back, still holding the girl.

‘No, I’m afraid she’s with me. So if you could just…’ the big one suddenly pulled out a flick knife, releasing Lucy and stepping toward Oscar.

‘I said hit it’, at this, reluctantly, Oscar removed his dark blue jacket, stained black in parts from the earlier blast, and placed it carefully on the shopping bag.

‘I advise you to rethink’ Oscar offered, standing facing the group. The last thing he heard before the other man let go of Lucy and they all ran towards him was the girls yelp

‘Oscar!’ came the cry. After that it all happened very fast, as it always did. Initially Oscar was slow avoiding the lunge by the front-man. As a result the knife glanced his shoulder, opening a wound, how deep Oscar wasn’t sure. After the lunge the man was off-balance, so Oscar kicked through the side of his knee and elbowed him across the nose. Grabbing the blade he turned to the second man, now swinging for him. He moved out the way with an effortless re-alignment of his body position and stabbed at the man’s neck as his fist went past Oscars face. This incapacitated the man at once and sprayed a large amount of blood over Oscar. The third man came at Oscar with a bat, which he had failed to spot to that point. The bat made contact with Oscar’s left arm, but with his other he stabbed the man repeatedly in his gut, seeing him cripple to the floor clutching the damaged area. At this the final two men, hesitant even before the blood, turned and fled, leaving Lucy. Obviously in shock, she stared blankly at Oscar while shaking, who dropped the knife nonchalantly and wiped the blood from his eyes. Looking around he quipped,

‘Told you smoking kills’, then, after a pause and noticing Lucy’s immobility, he took control. ‘Get in the car, now’. After a short think she did exactly that and Oscar got to work cleaning up his mess.

 

Oscar pulled into the parking lot of the hotel he had chosen to stay at. He had stayed there on previous visits to the states and had a good relationship with the owner. A small somewhat rundown building with only a few rooms, Oscar had been satisfied with the state of the rooms themselves. Beyond that the owner either chose to ignore, or didn’t care what business it was Oscar conducted while staying at the residence. Either way he felt safe there, and so was relieved when he finally arrived. Having cleared up the bodies outside the shop �" one of which was still alive he had called an ambulance for �" Oscar had changed the number plate of the car. Lucy had been exceptionally quiet on the journey, muttering nothing but the odd grunt of agreement. The wound on Oscar’s shoulder had continued to bleed, a fact that had not gone unnoticed by him. None the less he felt fairly at ease, with his most pressing concern the laptop in the seat behind which he still had only looked at once. Having turned off the engine Lucy spoke the most she had since the convenience store,

‘Thank you’, Oscar looked across at her, with a somewhat bewildered expression, ‘for helping me’ she went on. ‘I just want you to know I’m not scared or freaked out about what you did to those guys. You were doing it because you had to. So thank you’. Oscar nodded in approval of the girl’s words. He had expected her to be frightened by the level of violence he had spontaneously unleashed and was impressed by her maturity.

‘Well, no problem. I said I’d keep you safe and I wouldn’t be doing a very good job if I let a bunch of horny a******s get their hands on you would I’. Lucy looked back at Oscar. He couldn’t read the expression.

‘Your shoulder is still…’

‘Yeah don’t worry about it. Let’s go inside’. Oscar opened his door and shut it behind him, wandering round the car. Lucy did the same and both listened for the distinctive two beeps that would be heard when Oscar locked it. On walking through the sliding glass doors that represented the entrance Oscar was relieved to see Sanjay �" the owner �" manning the reception. He looked up and a look of glad recognition immediately worked its way across his face.

‘Mr. Clay! So nice to see you, you didn’t phone ahead? What can I do for you?’ Oscar usually phoned the hotel to warn Sanjay of his impending arrival but had not done so this time due to numerous distractions.

‘Yeah sorry about that Sanjay, nice to see you’, Oscar reached a hand across the counter and shook the other man’s hand, at which point he noticed the blood.

‘Mr. Clay are you ok? Shall I call the hospital for you?’

‘No I’ll be fine. I know it’s late notice but you don’t happen to have two single rooms opposite each other for tonight do you?’ Sanjay somewhat reluctantly turned his attention from Oscar’s arm to his leather binder Oscar knew rested on the other side of the counter, but only after briefly looking toward Lucy. The man had refused to invest in a computer and, with the amount of business he saw, probably was a wise choice. Sanjay seemed to deal perfectly well with physical records anyway.

‘We do!’ Sanjay exclaimed, almost jubilantly, ‘rooms 24 and 25, I’ll get you the keys’ the little man walked off and reached around a corner to grab two keys, once he walked away from the counter it became far more apparent how short the man really was.

‘There you go’ he handed the keys to Oscar,

‘Thank you, this is a real help’

‘No problem, now are you sure I can’t call the hospital or…’

‘No Sanjay I’ll be absolutely….’ At this point Lucy interrupted, to Oscar’s shock.

‘Do you have a first aid kit?’ she was quizzing the hotel owner who until that moment had all but ignored the girl’s presence.

‘Yes we do’ he reached under the counter and pulled out a small green box with a white cross sketched on the front in marker.

‘Thank you’ Lucy replied grabbing the box from the man’s hands, ‘I am trained in first aid so I’ll be able to handle this’ she gestured to Oscar’s shoulder, ‘We will be quite alright’. Sanjay stared at the girl for a moment before a smile emerged.

‘Excellent. I like this one!’ he said this last statement to Oscar, ‘Well have a good night’s sleep. I’m going to lock up down here and then head home so I may see you in the morning’. With that the man turned around. Never one for goodbyes as Oscar recalled, he gestured for Lucy to walk up the stairs and called to behind the counter

‘Good night’.

The two then made their way up the stairs to their rooms, they were not opposite, but were next to each other, a fact which didn’t bother Oscar until he realised there was a door connecting the two rooms. He thought Lucy would have felt safer with a bit more independent space but it would have to do.

‘Well, we can just keep this closed’ Oscar offered, after peaking his head around the separating door.

‘It’s fine, now come here and sit down’ Lucy gestured to a chair while opening the green box. Oscar replied questioningly,

‘What?’

‘I’m going to stitch you up, the longer that cut is open the more chance of it getting infected and the more blood you’ll lose’. Oscar wearily trudged over to the chair, which was placed about 40 cm, facing away from the bed upon which Lucy was sat, preparing the needle.

‘Do you even know what you’re doing?’ Oscar asked unsure, whilst taking his seat,

‘Yes. I’m in medical school, remember?’, Oscar didn’t.

‘Why would I remember?’ He replied,

‘Well aren’t you some super-secret agent who knows everything about everyone? Hold still’ Lucy poured over some fluid into the wound which she had started cleaning without warning. A shooting pain accelerated down Oscar’s arm but he tried not to flinch. ‘Take this off’ she tugged at his T-shirt. Oscar obliged, but before he sat back down pointed to the small fridge positioned in the corner of the room.

‘I’ll get something from in there’, Lucy looked at him confused,

‘We don’t need any of that, the antibacterial fluid I’ve just put in is plenty’, ripping the cap off a small bottle of wine with his teeth and spitting it away, he moved the bottle to his lips,

‘Not for that’ he replied simply, and took a well-earned sip. He caught Lucy rolling her eyes as he made his way back to the chair and sat down, but ignored this.

‘Don’t you need to like, be aware at all times or something?’ she asked disapprovingly.

‘We’re fine here’ he replied, lying. ‘Besides I can hold my liquor’ he lied again. The truth was that it was one of his few weaknesses. He wasn’t an alcoholic, or dependent, by any means. But he certainly enjoyed being able to relax in this way. Besides it hadn’t got him into any trouble so far. Having sat back down Lucy finished preparing the needle.

‘This might hurt’ she warned.

‘I’m sure it will’, and without further warning she plunged the cold sharp tip into the broken skin of Oscar’s shoulder. He immediately felt it, a pain unlike that he felt from the fluid, more like an extremely hard pinch mixed with an almost as uncomfortable cold sensation from the needle touching the flesh underneath the skin. He had grown used to this pain, having experienced stitches several times before. It didn’t make him any less glad to have the bottle of wine in his hands though.

‘So’ Lucy began to try to distract Oscar, although he was unsure how he felt about her concentration being split. ‘Where are you from in Britain’. Oscar decided talking would help distract from the pain.

‘Uh, I’m from London. But before I started all this I was actually living in a city called Bristol’

‘Bristol? I haven’t heard of that…’ Oscar expected this response.

‘Yeah it’s not quite as big as London but I liked it’ he paused waiting to see if Lucy would attempt to interrupt him as she had grown so fond of doing, then continued, ‘What about you. You always been from here?’

‘What Washington State? No. I’m from Idaho originally’ Oscar was surprised. Her accent didn’t strike him as having such origins, but then he never was one for placing American accents.

‘Your family from there or something?’ enquired Oscar.

‘Well, I never knew my Dad. I remember my Mom. She was nice enough. She did her best, you know, with me. But I think in the end she realised she couldn’t do it. So she gave me up. I must’ve been about 4? Put me in one of those homes.’ Oscar was listening intently at this point.

‘I never liked it much’, Seeing Oscar’s face, Lucy felt the need to clarify. ‘I mean, nothing ever happened to me. Not like that. I think those kinds of people were always more into boys’ Oscar was taken by surprise, but didn’t say anything. ‘But they were never very nice to me’ Oscar offered her the bottle of wine he had been swigging from. She accepted, took a couple of sips and then went on. ‘Anyway I got lucky. Not long after my 6^th birthday I was adopted by my family. The Robinson’s. They were nice to me. Helped me through school and, you know. I was basically your average girl. Eventually I got a scholarship to Washington State University but had no-where to stay and no money to rent anywhere. So I put my name into one of those “help our youths” programmes and that’s when Mr. Reinhardt took me in. I’d only been there 6 months, but they seemed like nice people. Especially the mom.’ A silence filled the room as Oscar grappled with his guilt. Lucy seemed to realise she had said something wrong so Oscar changed the subject.

‘So you don’t see your real Mom anymore?’

‘No’ replied Lucy without hesitation, ‘She burnt that bridge. But one of my earliest memories of her is always in my mind. When I was really young, only 3 or something. She used to tuck me into beds in different motels and give me this cuddly toy. A horse or something. Anyway she’d whisper into my ear “I’m just gonna stand outside to keep the baddies away”. Then she’d leave. I remember sleeping so softly thinking she was there. But now I know…’ Oscar felt a tinge of sadness for the girl. He realised then that the front she put up hid an ocean of emotions bubbling under the surface. Trying to distract her he reminisced about his own memories.

‘I remember one of the last times I saw my mother. She came down to Bristol to visit me. There’s this river that goes through the city and on the riverside there’s a line of boats, imposing themselves on the horizon. But in the summer sun it really is kind of beautiful. Anyway, we were walking along there, talking about something. I don’t even remember what, something stupid. But then she just stopped and looked at me. She took me completely off guard and just said “We are so proud of you Oscar” and she smiled at me. I can still remember that smile. And she put her hand on my cheek’ Oscar brushed his own cheek subconsciously ‘I’ll always remember, just the warmth. How content I was. So strange how happy someone else can make you like that’

‘Mother’s always know what to say’ Lucy interjected after a moment’s pause.

‘Yeah.’ Laughed Oscar. ‘Anyway, couple months later I get a phone call from this French officer telling me that my parents have been killed in a terrorist attack in Paris. He apologises and then hangs up. And that’s it. My life is never the same.’ Lucy looked at Oscar with the same look he imagined he had, listening to her story. ‘So I head down to London to sort some things out and when I get to the house there’s this letter there with my name on it. And it tells me I have a job opportunity. And now’ he spread his arms ‘Here I am’. Another silence filled the room. This one more tolerable than the last to Oscar. Perhaps because it was his own misfortune that had led to it.

‘I’m sorry’ Lucy said softly.

‘No’ replied Oscar. ‘I should be sorry. For getting you into all of this.’ Lucy finished sowing up Oscar’s shoulder and putting a bandage over it and allowed Oscar to turn on his chair to face her.

‘I forgive you’. Oscar looked to the ground, in guilt.

‘You should know. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.’ Lucy tilted her head to look at Oscar carefully.

‘Can I ask, why me?’ Oscar thought for a moment.

‘I’ve hurt a lot of people. I wanted to help someone. And it had to be someone, so why not you’

‘That doesn’t really answer the question’ retorted Lucy.

‘Well, as soon as I saw you I knew’ He said simply

‘Knew what?’

‘That you were a good person. That you deserved it’

‘But how?’

‘I just knew’. He smiled at her, and for the first time she smiled back. Just soft, unassuming smiles, but smiles that meant a lot to the two people wearing them. Oscar snapped himself back to reality. ‘Anyway’ he said looking at his watch. ‘It’s getting late so I’m gonna go get ready for bed and I suggest you do the same’.

‘Yeah, course’ Lucy replied as Oscar stood up and re-clothed. He grabbed the laptop and opened the separating door to walk through.

‘Oscar’ Lucy offered. He turned his head to look at her ‘Thank you’.

He smiled again.

‘No problem’. Then he walked into his room and softly closed the door. He had his shower and put on the sleep-wear he had in his bag before crawling into bed.

He always kept a gun in the bedside table on the side he slept and with the knowledge it was there, let his head hit the pillow and began to fall asleep. But just as he was going he heard a knock on the separating door, followed by a creaking as it was opened. Already drowsy he tried to sit up to get a better look at Lucy. Her hair had been let down (she had been wearing it up in a bun most of the day). She was wearing a large dark olive t-shirt with the words “I’d rather drink vodka than that s**t” printed on the front. She was also wearing small pink shorts. Both items had been picked up at the convenience store although the latter were hardly visible, mostly hidden by the t-shirt. Oscar tried to ignore the fact that he was probably attracted to the girl. She had an unassumingly pretty face, and diminutive figure.

‘Oscar’ she enquired after he hadn’t said anything. ‘This is gonna sound really stupid, and it’s really embarrassing.’

‘What’s wrong?’ Oscar became worried that she was about to start talking about some female problems he could not help with.

‘I…uhm…’ she was obviously finding it hard to say, ‘I really struggle falling asleep in new places. Especially without people I know around’. Oscar was relieved.

‘Ok’ he said slowly.

‘Is it ok if I sleep in here?’ Oscar considered this for a moment, wondering what difference it would make being in this room as opposed to the next, before realising the girl wanted to sleep in the same room as him.

‘Sure’ he said without moving, then got up out of bed, ‘sure, sure, come in’. The girl slowly walked forward into his room, closing the door behind her. Oscar got out a bunch of blankets and a spare duvet he knew were kept in the room. He placed them carefully on the floor and grabbed a couple of pillows off the bed. Lucy started walking toward this newly mocked up den. ‘No’ Oscar stopped her ‘You sleep in the bed I’ll sleep here’. Lucy looked surprised but Oscar caught a glimmer of a smile.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah I am seriously. Don’t worry, compared to some of the places I’ve slept this is still like the Ritz.’ Lucy laughed.

‘Ok’. Then she wandered over to the bed and got in, while Oscar tucked himself into the makeshift sleeping area. As his head hit the pillow Lucy spoke up one last time, whispering ‘Thanks Oscar, night’.

‘Night Lucy. Get some sleep’ He replied. Then both drifted off to sleep, with Oscar’s last thoughts being how much money he’d wasted on the extra room.