Playing for Keeps (7 page)

“He’s here,” I answered, quickly adding, “There’s a bunch of us here.”

“Well, I’m in Eloise’s stateroom,” Glory told me. “I helped her dress for dinner. Tell Neil to come on up. I’ve got to leave Eloise to get dressed myself.”

“I’ll tell him,” I said. As I hung up the phone, I relayed the message.

Neil strode to the door, but Ricky hung back. As he pulled his straw hat down over his face, he couldn’t seem to keep his hands from trembling. “
Por favor,
check the passageway first,” he whispered. “Is anyone out there?”

Opening the door, Neil stepped out of the stateroom, looking to both sides. “All clear,” he said.

To my surprise, Ricky took my hands and lightly kissed my cheek. I felt his breath warm against my ear. “Thank you, Rose,” he murmured.

Even if I’d found the words to answer him, I didn’t have the chance. Ricky slipped through the door, shutting it behind him.

I backed up, sitting on one of the twin beds. The salt-and-sun fragrance of Ricky’s skin was still with me, and I liked it.

Within a few minutes Glory burst into the stateroom and stopped short, staring at me. “You’re still in your bathing suit? You haven’t dressed yet? Well, I suppose we’ll fight over who gets the shower first. What in the world have you been doing, Rosie?”

How was I supposed to answer that question truthfully? I could hardly say “I was helping to hide a political escapee.” Trying to change the subject, I asked, “How did your bridge game go?”

“My partner and I are scoring high,” Glory said smugly. “If we keep getting dealt hands like the ones we’ve been getting, we’re going to win some big prizes.”

She grinned mischievously. “One thing about your grandmother, Rosie. I may be growing older faster than I’d like to, but I still have plenty of energy—more than
some
people in our bridge group. Alice and Myrna have cratered. They said they’d never make it to the dining room and are going to have room service.”

“You’re not getting old, Glory,” I began, but Glory didn’t seem to expect an answer. She had already found her shower cap and cosmetics bag and was heading for the bathroom.

As I walked to the chest of drawers to get my own things, I felt the movement of the ship. We were setting sail. I changed direction, sliding open the glass door to the balcony, and stepped outside. Haiti was rapidly turning into a shrinking blur of deep green mist, and a small powerboat was leaving the ship, bouncing up and down in the wake.

I leaned over the rail and stared, trying to make out the three figures in the boat. Was one of them wearing a khaki uniform? From this distance it appeared so, but it was hard to tell. If the military officer from Cuba had left the ship, then he had stopped looking for Ricky. I straightened, breathing a long sigh of relief. Ricky would be safe.

“Your turn!” Glory called, and I hurried back into the stateroom to shower and dress.

I wondered how I could find out if the officer from Cuba had given up the search for Ricky. I hadn’t been able to see the figures in the boat clearly. What if my guess was wrong and the officer was still on board? Would Mr. Diago—Mr. Urbino—know? Could I ask him? Or would it be better to pretend I knew nothing of Ricky’s attempt to escape?

What should I do?

I didn’t have a clue what my next move should be. But as my mind drifted back to my conversation with Ricky and the warm feeling it gave me when he called me Rose, I did make one decision. I might just change my name.

6

AS I STEPPED OUT OF THE ELEVATOR, TRAILING FAR behind Glory, Julieta suddenly appeared. She looked at me accusingly. “You said you’d meet me. None of you came.”

I gulped and took a step backward. “Oh, no,” I said without thinking. “With all that was happening, I forgot.”

Julieta’s eyes narrowed as she stared at me suspiciously. “What was happening?”

I fumbled for an answer. There was no way I could tell her about Ricky. “Well, we got to talking, and then Glory called from the Flemings’ stateroom and said that Neil’s grandmother needed him, and then I had to get ready for dinner, and . . . well, I forgot we had said we’d meet you.”

Julieta turned away, the hurt she was feeling clouding her eyes.

I put a hand on her arm. “Look, Julieta, I’m really sorry. There’s a problem we had to solve, and I was a little scared . . . well, worried. I’m still not sure what to do.”

“What problem?” Her look changed to one of open curiosity.

“I can’t . . . that is, it’s a personal problem.”

“You can tell me.”

“No, I can’t.”

Julieta’s eyes sparked, and she gave a little snicker. “I’ll find out sooner or later. If there’s something I really want to know, nothing can keep me from finding out.”

I was astonished. “I’d tell you if I could, but—”

Neil’s arrival with his grandmother stopped me from blurting out what I really wanted to say— that Julieta had no business being so nosy. Neil bent over his grandmother as he introduced her to Julieta.

Mrs. Fleming, peering intently at both of us, mixed us up. She graciously told me she was happy to meet me and told Julieta she hoped she’d enjoyed the snorkeling trip as much as Neil had.

Julieta rested her long fingers on Neil’s arm. “I wish we were at the same dinner seating,” she said, pouting. “But we’re not. Why don’t we meet at ten at Star Struck? They’re going to have a karaoke contest.”

“I’m sorry,” Neil said. “This has been a long day, and I’m beat. I’m going to spend the evening with Grandma.”

Julieta looked at me with a challenge in her eyes. “I suppose you’ll be with your friend Ricky,” she said.

“No, I won’t,” I said quickly. “I don’t know what Ricky will be doing.”

“Then come with me to Star Struck. Ten o’clock.” She looked as friendly as when I’d first met her.

I hesitated. I would have liked to go to Star Struck to find out what the other kids on the ship were doing and dance to some good music, but I wanted to be available in case Ricky needed me. “We’ll be docking in Jamaica tomorrow morning. How about going sightseeing together?” I asked Julieta. “Or will you be with your parents?”

She brightened. “They won’t care what I do. Want to sign up for the tour group that’s climbing the Dunn’s River Falls?”

“I’d love to.”

Mrs. Fleming twisted in her wheelchair to look up at Neil. “When are we going into the dining room? I’m getting hungry,” she said.

“Right now, Grandma,” Neil answered.

“See you later,” I said to Julieta. Glory had already entered the dining room, so I walked beside Neil as we headed toward our table.

Quietly, so only I could hear, Neil said, “I ordered room service for him. I told him to sign my name.”

I looked up, surprised. “Thanks,” I said. Guiltily, I realized that I hadn’t thought about feeding Ricky.

“A boat left the ship just before we sailed from Bonita Beach,” I told Neil. “I think that military officer was on it.”

Neil gave a shrug. “And maybe he wasn’t. Ricky phoned his uncle’s stateroom. His uncle told him to stay where he was. The uncle doesn’t trust anyone.”

“Neither does Ricky,” I said.

“He doesn’t like being cooped up in our stateroom,” Neil said. “He’s sure that the search for him was called off once the ship set sail. But I made him promise to stay there while we were at dinner.”

Neil came to a stop at our table and turned to give me a strange, almost yearning look I didn’t understand. “I think he trusts you, Rosie,” he said.

I took a deep breath and heard myself saying, “Neil, I’m too old to be called Rosie. From now on will you call me Rose?”

“Sure,” Neil said. “Rose.”

I winced. It didn’t sound the same as when Ricky spoke my name.

Neil busied himself making his grandmother comfortable. Then he sat next to me. “Your new friend wants you to call the stateroom when dinner is over,” he said, then turned to Mrs. Duncastle to continue their discussion about baseball.

During dinner, with the wonderful food and the golden staircase and the glittering chandeliers, I felt guilty about Mom. Mom loved shrimp cocktail. Mom’s favorite show tunes were included in a piano medley. Why hadn’t I made peace with her before I left on the trip?

Right after dinner I went to the ship’s library, where a sign on the desk listed the e-mail rate as fifty cents a minute. I had some spending money. I could pay Glory back.

Dear Mom,
I typed.
I miss you. You don’t always think I want to talk to you, but I really do,
and I would if you’d give me the chance. Glory listens, but you . . .

I deleted everything back to
I miss you
and started over. I wanted to tell her about Ricky, but how did I know who else would read this e-mail? Hadn’t there been lots of stories in the news about e-mail not really being private? I couldn’t write about Ricky.

Dear Mom, I miss you. You’d love this ship, and
I keep thinking how I wish you were here. Someday maybe you and I can take a cruise together. I
hope so. I love you, Rose Ann.

I clicked
Send
and
OK.

I flopped back in the chair, disappointed. I hadn’t said any of the things I really wanted to say. I hadn’t written anything that would make up for the argument Mom and I’d had. When I saw how much time it had taken me to write an e-mail that added up to the same old “wish you were here,” I was shocked. At fifty cents a minute?

It was close to eight o’clock by my watch, so I went to the stateroom and telephoned Ricky. Glory and some of her friends had gone to the lounge to see the evening’s entertainment. I was eager to talk to Ricky, even if it was only for a few moments.

I expected Neil to answer the phone, but instead I heard Ricky’s voice.

“I want to see you, Rose,” he said.

“That might not be a good idea,” I told him. “We don’t want to disturb Neil’s grandmother.”

“I didn’t mean here,” Ricky said. “Can we find a quiet place on the ship?”

“There are no quiet places on this ship,” I cautioned. “For your own safety, you should stay where you are.”

“The sunbathing deck should be deserted. Meet me by the forward elevators on deck twelve in five minutes. And wear a sweater. Night winds off the ocean can be chilly.”

“Someone might see you in the elevator.”

“I will take care not to be seen,” Ricky answered.

“You’re taking a chance, Ricky. . . . Ricky?” But he had hung up the phone.

I shivered as I put down the receiver. I pulled on a light sweater and hurried from our stateroom. All I could do was try to convince Ricky to return to Mrs. Fleming’s suite and stay there until we knew for sure he was safe. I was frightened, but at the same time I was deliriously happy that he wanted to be with me. The feelings didn’t mix well.

Rounding a corner, I nearly bumped into Tommy, the cruise director, who was pacing in front of the elevator bank. As he jabbed at the button, a woman laughed and said, “That won’t make it come any sooner.”

“I don’t have much time. I’ve got to find a few minutes of peace and quiet,” he complained.

The woman glanced at me. Tommy did too, but he went back to what he was saying as if I weren’t there. Plenty of people were like that, I thought. If you were a kid you were nonexistent. You couldn’t see, hear, or think. I hadn’t liked Tommy Jansen when I first saw him on deck, and now I liked him even less.

Tommy glanced at his watch and said to the woman, “I have to be back to close the first show in an hour and then get ready for the second show.” He let out a sigh and added, “They didn’t tell me I’d be on with this charming and smiling stuff twenty-four hours around the clock.”

“I know,” the woman said, “or you wouldn’t have taken the job.” She rolled her eyes as if she’d heard his story over and over again.

Tommy shrugged and grinned sheepishly. “Okay, okay,” he said. “I took it because I was broke and badly needed the money. You don’t know anybody who’s got a few thousand dollars he doesn’t know what to do with, do you?”

“Oh, sure,” the woman said. “Lots of people.”

One of the elevator bells dinged, the doors opened, and the two of them stepped in. I stayed where I was. I didn’t like being ignored, and I didn’t want to hear any more of Tommy’s complaining. As soon as their elevator left, I pressed the Up button, and in just a few seconds another elevator arrived— an empty elevator, I was glad to see.

When I stepped out onto deck twelve, there was no sign of Ricky. Aft on the deck, past the swimming pools, I could see tiny figures silhouetted in the golden glare of a sweep of bright windows, creatures in another world, far away and soundless. I walked from the light of the elevator area into the darkness near the rail. Ricky had been right. The night wind was chilly, and I shivered.

“Rose.”

Ricky took my hand and led me through an open doorway into the dimness of the prow. But suddenly I stopped, alert to the sound of footsteps behind us.

“Someone else is on deck with us. Wait here,” I whispered to Ricky. I retraced my steps to the pool of bright light at the elevator doors. The footsteps ahead of me quickened. I heard the ding of an elevator and the doors opening. When I reached the elevator, it had already left, and the area was empty.

Ricky stepped up beside me. “Don’t look so worried,” he said. “Someone was just enjoying the night air. Or maybe he lost his way. If he had been looking for me, he wouldn’t leave just when he found me.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said. Reassured, I strolled the darkened deck with Ricky, putting the incident out of my mind. Ricky had asked me to meet him, and I wasn’t about to spoil our time together by jumping at every little sound. The darkness pulled the stars down, magnifying their brightness, and Ricky’s hand in mine was warm and comforting.

We found two deck chairs tucked into an inside nook, out of the wind. Ricky pushed them together; we sat down, and he took my hand again. “Tell me about yourself,” he said. “You’re the person who is so kind to help me.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” I answered. “There’s just Mom and me . . . and Glory, my grandmother.”

Ricky studied my face. “There must be much more to tell about yourself. You go to school, don’t you? What do you study?”

Looking into his eyes, with his handsome face so close, I couldn’t think. “N-nothing special. I—I just take the regular classes everyone else takes,” I said.

“I think you must be the most popular girl in school. Am I right?” He smiled.

“Not exactly.” Miserable at the sudden memory of Cam’s dumping me at Cassie’s party and the police coming and Mom so angry, I tried to change the subject. “Tell me about Cuba,” I said.

“It is a beautiful island,” he answered, “but why should we talk about Cuba? I want to know more about
you.
”

“Why?” I asked.

Ricky didn’t answer. He turned on his left side so that he was even closer to me. He put a hand behind my shoulders, drawing me closer, and his lips met mine.

“Does that answer your question?” he asked, and I opened my eyes, trying to make myself believe that I was back on Earth.

“If we stood in the prow of the ship,” I whispered in a trembling voice, “and if you held me while I stretched out my arms . . .”

Ricky glanced ahead at the prow, gleaming white in the moonlight. “It is off limits,” he said. “See the barriers?”

I nodded as reality caught up to me with a thump. Discarding the romantic dreamworld Becca had put into my mind, I said, “You and I are also off limits. We have just five days left until the ship docks in the United States, and then—”

“The United States,” Ricky echoed. I could see that the yearning in his eyes was not for me.

“Ricky,” I asked, “if your request for political asylum is granted when you reach the United States, where will you go?”

“To a team in the minor leagues,” he said. “In one of your northern states.”

I shivered. “I’ll go back to west Texas. We’ll be well over a thousand miles apart.”

“Don’t think about what will happen,” Ricky said. “Think only about the present.” Before I could react, he pulled me close and kissed me again.

We were interrupted by sudden footsteps and a flash of light so bright that I threw an arm across my eyes, squinting upward.

Ricky was pulled to his feet by two large crew members, and I scrambled up too. “What’s going on?” I cried to the ship’s officer who stood before us.

The officer gave me only a brief glance before he turned to Ricky. “Enrique Urbino, I am John Wilson, chief of security on this ship. By order of the captain, I am placing you under arrest.”