She had been crying. She could see that I knew this and was ashamed of her tears.
“I was getting better, you know?”
I didn’t say anything. I just listened. I had been walking around Dark Agnes for around half an hour. I had stopped to see Mex for a drink and then walked the catwalk some more. We had been out on the water since last night and as we made our way back to Toronto harbour with the rising sun, my stomach was starting to turn on me.
“I should have just accepted my fate by now.” She looked down at her small hands and changed the subject. “I watched you fight last night.”
“Did you?”
“I always watch you fight.”
“That so?”
“Yes. You’re good, too.”
“You know my uncle was a boxer.”
“Oh yeah?”
“He used to box once month in a town not far from mine. Papa used to take me sometimes. My uncle had a lot of training. He was a very good boxer and would win most of the time.”
“Sounds like my kind of guy.”
“You box like him.”
“I doubt it.”
“What I mean is, I watch you fight and you move like him, sometimes.”
“You’ve got a big nose, kiddo.”
She touched her nose. “It’s not big.”
“It’s a figure of speech.”
“Your nose is bigger than mine in real life though.”
I smiled back at her. “Sure is. Look, I gotta run. Talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
I walked out of the room and back onto the ship’s catwalk. I was angry with myself for letting her get to me in some way. I needed to stay focused and Danika was breaking that focus with slow certainty. I tried to tell myself to stay with the fights, to keep my mind sharp and my wits about me.
I closed the door to my room. I was alone and laid down on my bed, contemplating a nap.
“She’s something, isn’t she?”
I jolted upright and cursed out loud.
“You can’t be here! Not here, not now. Get out!”
Lamia slid her chair next to the bed and sat down, putting her feet up on the edge of the bed.
“But we were just getting comfortable.”
“I’m serious. Why are you here?”
“Isn’t it wonderful that you can ask me anything you like, unlike that awful tabby cat?”
I just stared at her. I did not have the patience to deal with her banter.
“Right. How many fights do you think it will take?”
“To do what?”
“Come now Willie, to get what you want, of course.”
“You know something? Before I met you, I’d never seen a woman so beautiful and so naked, for that matter, that I couldn’t stand looking at.”
“Clever man, good for you. I can take a hint. But remember, each drop of blood will only bring you closer to an ocean of crimson. You would do well to remember that.”
“I don’t want your advice or your ridiculous metaphors.”
“And yet I give it to you for free.” She smiled facetiously.
“It’s time for you to go.”
“Mind if I use the door to leave?”
“Whatever, just get the hell out of here.”
“See you soon, Willie.”
She slipped lithely through the door and into the hallway. My hands found my face and started rubbing at my temples. She had managed to rob me of my moment alone. I decided to take out my fury on some poor unsuspecting punching bag in the gym. I needed to hit something.