Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ikissdhimbck) wrote2014-01-29 03:32 pm
ikissdhimbck) wrote2014-01-29 03:32 pm
Entry tags:
OOM: All Hallows' Eve, New York, with Tommy Gavin pt. 2
[following this:]
Just because Tommy is working doesn't mean Kate can't enjoy the city on her own. It hardly does her any good to escape the bar only to be cooped up in his apartment with nothing to keep her from her thoughts except daytime television and the occasional story from his father. She is learning quite a bit about baseball, but as happy as she is to be here she has to be on her toes around his family, which means she can never relax.
It's hard to make him understand that, or why she's so eager when Lou tells her she can take the subway to get anywhere she wants. Tommy insists on driving her into the city when he goes to work, which she tries not to take as him thinking her incapable of navigating travel on her own.
The city is a big, scary place, where she should never make eye contact, or stop to give someone the time, or go down any dark alleyways, or keep her money in a visible place, or stray too far from the city center where neighborhoods start to get rough, or — she asks him to kindly shut up, and assures him she will be safe.
The fresh air will do her good.
---
"Oh, hey Kate. Kate, isn't it?"
There's a subway stop just a few blocks from the fire station, so Kate gets out of the truck with Tommy rather than let him drop her off somewhere else. She smiles at the sandy-haired man, remembering the friendly face.
"Hi, ah — Sean?"
"Yep, yep, that's me. Heh, hey how ya doin'? It's been a while."
The last time she was in the fire station she set the sirens off. She sticks with friendly pleasantries this time, and keeps her hands firmly in her pockets. Sean is an affable man, clearly surprised to see her, but happy to keep conversation on how she's enjoying New York and if Tommy has taken her to see any sights since she's been here. He's joined by the tall, dark fireman she remembers as Franco.
"You're still hangin' around Tommy's sorry ass?" Franco asks, grinning from one side of his mouth. "I would have thought you'd wisened up by now."
"I'm a slow learner. Be nice, Tommy's pro'ly listenin' from somewhere around the corner."
She's almost sure she hears him grumble, 'I am not.'
"Yeah, you're probably right. I should let you get outta here before he gets the idea I'm makin' a move on you."
"Uh," Sean pipes up, opening his arms. "What about me? I could be making a move on her."
"Heh, yeah right. T's real scared you'll steal his girl."
"Yeah? Well. He should be. Why not? I could be, y'know — I mean, it's not like I don't. You know?" Sean sighs. "Is it because I'm too nice?"
Franco snorts, chewing on a toothpick. "Yeah, Sean. It's 'cuz you're too nice."
"Well, then that makes sense!" Sean bobs his head, turning back to Kate with a charming smile. "I am a nice guy. Mothers? Love me."
Kate hides a snicker behind her hand as Franco smacks Sean, pushing him toward the back of house.
"Yeah, yeah. Get your mother-lovin' ass back to work, huh? Nice seein' you, Kate."
"Nice seein' you, too."
Oh, she's glad she didn't let Tommy drop her off in the city.
---
Stepping foot in a subway station for the first time is a little daunting. It feels like she's crawling down into the belly of New York. She's been given more than the necessary instruction on which 'lines' to take to get where she's going, which 'stops' correlate with which landmarks, how to convert her dollars into a 'MetroCard' (it's all done by a machine, as it turns out), and above all, which direction she needs to be going.
It ain't quite following the sun or stars on horseback, but she knows how to get from point A to point B. It's just a matter of not looking silly in the process.
Unfortunately, right from the get-go she's amused more than a few subway workers by getting stuck in one of the turnstiles.
No hurt ever comes from looking a little silly now and then.
---
Loading into a subway car kinda reminds her of herding cattle up into a boxcar, only she's one of the cows.
She holds onto a metal bar, eyes drifting over the sea of people sharing the car with her. Everyone's so different, from their hair to their color to the clothes they wear and the things they carry with them. It's kinda beautiful. Like a Seurat.
Alarms go off as the doors close, a woman's voice crackles from somewhere overhead.
She can't understand a dang thing.
The train moves, and she does her best not to stumble into the next person over.
Well. This is interesting.
---
The last time she was in Times Square, she found the whole thing altogether overwhelming. Dr. Lecter has been helping her work through her panics, but what helps most of all is being here at a different time of year. July is characteristically not her best month.
She marvels at all the billboards and buildings, peeking in windows as she walks by. She's wholly unimpressed with the window display for 'Forever 21', but she goes inside the big toy store and looks at all the gadgets on display. There's even a Ferris Wheel inside. She stumbles upon a few people dressed as Disney characters walking the street, though she's not sure who they're supposed to be (other than entirely alarming). She touches every violin in the first music shop she happens by. She stops at a cart selling t-shirts, hats, and hoodies.
(She doesn't buy anything else with 'I ♥ NY' on it, though.)
She thinks she sees Sam as people cross the street.
But when she looks again, he's gone.
---
She stumbles upon a bookstore, and decides to stop in for a minute. It's called 'The Strand'.
She doesn't leave for several hours.
The building is quite expansive, and yet it's still filled to the brim with books. Every aisle is packed tightly, leaving little room to move. It's as if they just ran out of space for everything. Kate has never felt more at home.
She wanders up and down every aisle, stopping to admire leather tomes or glance over the first page of a story that catches her eye. There are so many that she ends up leaving with a tall stack, some she'll keep for herself, others she'll give away. After she's read them, of course.
The smell of old paper and glue is a welcome change from the smells of the busy city outside. They're re-binding books in the back, and Kate wishes she could spread out on the wood floor and lie among the books until the day passes, blanketed in the comforting rustle of a thousand worlds.
---
"Chrrrrrrrffff vryere nao approaching Fffffvth Avfhenue/Fivvffftenonff Street stashhhon..."
The train starts to slow down.
This is probably her stop.
Right?
---
Central Park goes on for miles. There's too much of it to see in one day, so she picks a direction and just starts walking. She had no idea how much of it there was, meadows and wilderness and museums. Some of it is quiet, rural; some of it bursts out of the city sidewalks like stubborn weeds.
She gets food from a cart and sits on a park bench to eat, her bag of books propped against her leg. She pulls off bits of bread and feeds the pigeons, listening to the hum of the world around her. Cars, taxis, carts, bicycles, strollers, the hurried slap of tiny feet keeping pace with adult ones, the shiver of leaves and the scratch of woodland creatures.
She could almost swear one of the carts sounds familiar, glasses tinkling as an old mule bears it along, wagon wheels creaking and a sweet, warm voice peddling onions.
She glances up, catching the sun in her eyes. But when it clears, he's gone.
---
She found a horse!
She can't wait to tell Tommy.
---
She favors a path that takes her through the woods, a gently winding bed of fallen leaves. Oranges, yellows, and browns, dotted every so often with bright reds. It's secluded, and Kate likes that. As much as the city thrills her, she likes having the quiet in which to gather her thoughts.
She passes over a stone bridge, and pauses to watch the water.
"I thought I saw you the other day, y'know. At the park."
Her voice is softer than usual.
She can hear his boots behind her, and when she closes her eyes she feels the brush of his arm against hers. She imagines him smiling, secrets dancing in his eyes.
"You were busy. Y'had someone with you."
Her mouth quirks into a sad smile. A family of ducks float on by.
"I look for you now, anywhere I go. I know you'll be there. Jus' not at the bar. How come y'don't come t'Milliways?"
"I told you before, y'don't need me when you're there, Miss Katherine."
"I always feel like I need you, Sam."
His hands are rough. He fixes things, built his own boat; when he holds her hand, she wonders how many of those calluses he got fixing the school's roof. She moves her fingers just to feel the scratch, making guesses on which burrs are new and which have been part of him for longer than she's known him.
"You got a nice fella here."
Another sad smile.
"When he is here."
She feels his eyes on her. He's got this way of seeing through her when she says something he don't like. It's like he's trying to see the cut, and fix that too.
"You ain't told him why you're nervous 'round kids. He don't know how y'feel, you know."
"I know. S'hard talkin' t'him."
"Don't see why."
She closes her eyes again. "'Cuz — I'm scared I'm gonna disappoint 'im. An' I'm scared he's gonna disappoint me. He's from a whole different world, Sam. He looks at me like I'm excitin', like I'm from one'a these silly moo-vees. But he don't wanna think 'bout what I do out there. Y'should'a seen his face when I told 'im I was gonna shoot Voodoo for causin' so much trouble. It was like he was lookin' at me for the first time, an' I don't think he liked what he saw."
She shakes her head, breathing in the breeze and letting it back out again.
"An' I knew it, goin' in. He wasn't s'posed t'care 'bout me. I didn't think he ever would. Now here we are in this fine mess, people from two different worlds, an' he's bringin' me home t'his family. Me, a killer an' an outlaw, with his children. How do I fit in?"
Sam slips an arm around her, and she leans back. She always did fit real proper against him, like they was made to go together. Her head rests under his chin.
"S'jus' easier talkin' t'you."
"May be easier, Miss Katherine. Don't mean it's right."
"You understand."
"I do. Don't mean he won't."
Her brow furrows.
Why can't things just be easy?
"Stay here awhile, Sam? With me?"
"I'll stay as long as you need me, Miss Katherine."
---
"Hey. Didja have fun?"
Tommy collects her bags, letting out a startled gripe at how heavy they are. No, Tommy, she didn't buy bricks. She bought books, of course.
"I fell over on the subway on my way back, an' landed in gum. Didja know they make somethin' like washin' your hands with soap an' water, but it all comes in a tiny bottle? They call it 'hand sanitizer'. A nice lady on the train told me all 'bout it. She was on her way t'Harlem t'visit her son, an' she gave me some t'get the stickiness off. An' I saw horses 'round Central Park, Tommy. Pullin' a bona fide carriage an' everythin'."
"Wait, you-- what? Wow, that's-- exciting."
Tommy blinks at her.
She smiles serenely.
---
The city looks like a thousand twinkling stars in the gathering night.
---
"Hello, my dear!"
Michael greets them as they return to the apartment. Lou's made spaghetti and garlic bread, and the whole place smells warm and inviting.
Kate puts her new purchases in her room, and steels herself for the rest of the night. She smiles, and laughs, and comments on the ballgame. Tommy explains some of the more obscure rules, and tells her about the players from their 'stats' to whether or not their biographies were any good. And by biographies he means what would fit on a trading card. She doesn't tell him about Sam. What they spoke about is kept in a secret place, where no one is allowed but her.
But she does tell him about the rest of her day, and that's a start.
Just because Tommy is working doesn't mean Kate can't enjoy the city on her own. It hardly does her any good to escape the bar only to be cooped up in his apartment with nothing to keep her from her thoughts except daytime television and the occasional story from his father. She is learning quite a bit about baseball, but as happy as she is to be here she has to be on her toes around his family, which means she can never relax.
It's hard to make him understand that, or why she's so eager when Lou tells her she can take the subway to get anywhere she wants. Tommy insists on driving her into the city when he goes to work, which she tries not to take as him thinking her incapable of navigating travel on her own.
The city is a big, scary place, where she should never make eye contact, or stop to give someone the time, or go down any dark alleyways, or keep her money in a visible place, or stray too far from the city center where neighborhoods start to get rough, or — she asks him to kindly shut up, and assures him she will be safe.
The fresh air will do her good.
---
"Oh, hey Kate. Kate, isn't it?"
There's a subway stop just a few blocks from the fire station, so Kate gets out of the truck with Tommy rather than let him drop her off somewhere else. She smiles at the sandy-haired man, remembering the friendly face.
"Hi, ah — Sean?"
"Yep, yep, that's me. Heh, hey how ya doin'? It's been a while."
The last time she was in the fire station she set the sirens off. She sticks with friendly pleasantries this time, and keeps her hands firmly in her pockets. Sean is an affable man, clearly surprised to see her, but happy to keep conversation on how she's enjoying New York and if Tommy has taken her to see any sights since she's been here. He's joined by the tall, dark fireman she remembers as Franco.
"You're still hangin' around Tommy's sorry ass?" Franco asks, grinning from one side of his mouth. "I would have thought you'd wisened up by now."
"I'm a slow learner. Be nice, Tommy's pro'ly listenin' from somewhere around the corner."
She's almost sure she hears him grumble, 'I am not.'
"Yeah, you're probably right. I should let you get outta here before he gets the idea I'm makin' a move on you."
"Uh," Sean pipes up, opening his arms. "What about me? I could be making a move on her."
"Heh, yeah right. T's real scared you'll steal his girl."
"Yeah? Well. He should be. Why not? I could be, y'know — I mean, it's not like I don't. You know?" Sean sighs. "Is it because I'm too nice?"
Franco snorts, chewing on a toothpick. "Yeah, Sean. It's 'cuz you're too nice."
"Well, then that makes sense!" Sean bobs his head, turning back to Kate with a charming smile. "I am a nice guy. Mothers? Love me."
Kate hides a snicker behind her hand as Franco smacks Sean, pushing him toward the back of house.
"Yeah, yeah. Get your mother-lovin' ass back to work, huh? Nice seein' you, Kate."
"Nice seein' you, too."
Oh, she's glad she didn't let Tommy drop her off in the city.
---
Stepping foot in a subway station for the first time is a little daunting. It feels like she's crawling down into the belly of New York. She's been given more than the necessary instruction on which 'lines' to take to get where she's going, which 'stops' correlate with which landmarks, how to convert her dollars into a 'MetroCard' (it's all done by a machine, as it turns out), and above all, which direction she needs to be going.
It ain't quite following the sun or stars on horseback, but she knows how to get from point A to point B. It's just a matter of not looking silly in the process.
Unfortunately, right from the get-go she's amused more than a few subway workers by getting stuck in one of the turnstiles.
No hurt ever comes from looking a little silly now and then.
---
Loading into a subway car kinda reminds her of herding cattle up into a boxcar, only she's one of the cows.
She holds onto a metal bar, eyes drifting over the sea of people sharing the car with her. Everyone's so different, from their hair to their color to the clothes they wear and the things they carry with them. It's kinda beautiful. Like a Seurat.
Alarms go off as the doors close, a woman's voice crackles from somewhere overhead.
She can't understand a dang thing.
The train moves, and she does her best not to stumble into the next person over.
Well. This is interesting.
---
The last time she was in Times Square, she found the whole thing altogether overwhelming. Dr. Lecter has been helping her work through her panics, but what helps most of all is being here at a different time of year. July is characteristically not her best month.
She marvels at all the billboards and buildings, peeking in windows as she walks by. She's wholly unimpressed with the window display for 'Forever 21', but she goes inside the big toy store and looks at all the gadgets on display. There's even a Ferris Wheel inside. She stumbles upon a few people dressed as Disney characters walking the street, though she's not sure who they're supposed to be (other than entirely alarming). She touches every violin in the first music shop she happens by. She stops at a cart selling t-shirts, hats, and hoodies.
(She doesn't buy anything else with 'I ♥ NY' on it, though.)
She thinks she sees Sam as people cross the street.
But when she looks again, he's gone.
---
She stumbles upon a bookstore, and decides to stop in for a minute. It's called 'The Strand'.
She doesn't leave for several hours.
The building is quite expansive, and yet it's still filled to the brim with books. Every aisle is packed tightly, leaving little room to move. It's as if they just ran out of space for everything. Kate has never felt more at home.
She wanders up and down every aisle, stopping to admire leather tomes or glance over the first page of a story that catches her eye. There are so many that she ends up leaving with a tall stack, some she'll keep for herself, others she'll give away. After she's read them, of course.
The smell of old paper and glue is a welcome change from the smells of the busy city outside. They're re-binding books in the back, and Kate wishes she could spread out on the wood floor and lie among the books until the day passes, blanketed in the comforting rustle of a thousand worlds.
---
"Chrrrrrrrffff vryere nao approaching Fffffvth Avfhenue/Fivvffftenonff Street stashhhon..."
The train starts to slow down.
This is probably her stop.
Right?
---
Central Park goes on for miles. There's too much of it to see in one day, so she picks a direction and just starts walking. She had no idea how much of it there was, meadows and wilderness and museums. Some of it is quiet, rural; some of it bursts out of the city sidewalks like stubborn weeds.
She gets food from a cart and sits on a park bench to eat, her bag of books propped against her leg. She pulls off bits of bread and feeds the pigeons, listening to the hum of the world around her. Cars, taxis, carts, bicycles, strollers, the hurried slap of tiny feet keeping pace with adult ones, the shiver of leaves and the scratch of woodland creatures.
She could almost swear one of the carts sounds familiar, glasses tinkling as an old mule bears it along, wagon wheels creaking and a sweet, warm voice peddling onions.
She glances up, catching the sun in her eyes. But when it clears, he's gone.
---
She found a horse!
She can't wait to tell Tommy.
---
She favors a path that takes her through the woods, a gently winding bed of fallen leaves. Oranges, yellows, and browns, dotted every so often with bright reds. It's secluded, and Kate likes that. As much as the city thrills her, she likes having the quiet in which to gather her thoughts.
She passes over a stone bridge, and pauses to watch the water.
"I thought I saw you the other day, y'know. At the park."
Her voice is softer than usual.
She can hear his boots behind her, and when she closes her eyes she feels the brush of his arm against hers. She imagines him smiling, secrets dancing in his eyes.
"You were busy. Y'had someone with you."
Her mouth quirks into a sad smile. A family of ducks float on by.
"I look for you now, anywhere I go. I know you'll be there. Jus' not at the bar. How come y'don't come t'Milliways?"
"I told you before, y'don't need me when you're there, Miss Katherine."
"I always feel like I need you, Sam."
His hands are rough. He fixes things, built his own boat; when he holds her hand, she wonders how many of those calluses he got fixing the school's roof. She moves her fingers just to feel the scratch, making guesses on which burrs are new and which have been part of him for longer than she's known him.
"You got a nice fella here."
Another sad smile.
"When he is here."
She feels his eyes on her. He's got this way of seeing through her when she says something he don't like. It's like he's trying to see the cut, and fix that too.
"You ain't told him why you're nervous 'round kids. He don't know how y'feel, you know."
"I know. S'hard talkin' t'him."
"Don't see why."
She closes her eyes again. "'Cuz — I'm scared I'm gonna disappoint 'im. An' I'm scared he's gonna disappoint me. He's from a whole different world, Sam. He looks at me like I'm excitin', like I'm from one'a these silly moo-vees. But he don't wanna think 'bout what I do out there. Y'should'a seen his face when I told 'im I was gonna shoot Voodoo for causin' so much trouble. It was like he was lookin' at me for the first time, an' I don't think he liked what he saw."
She shakes her head, breathing in the breeze and letting it back out again.
"An' I knew it, goin' in. He wasn't s'posed t'care 'bout me. I didn't think he ever would. Now here we are in this fine mess, people from two different worlds, an' he's bringin' me home t'his family. Me, a killer an' an outlaw, with his children. How do I fit in?"
Sam slips an arm around her, and she leans back. She always did fit real proper against him, like they was made to go together. Her head rests under his chin.
"S'jus' easier talkin' t'you."
"May be easier, Miss Katherine. Don't mean it's right."
"You understand."
"I do. Don't mean he won't."
Her brow furrows.
Why can't things just be easy?
"Stay here awhile, Sam? With me?"
"I'll stay as long as you need me, Miss Katherine."
---
"Hey. Didja have fun?"
Tommy collects her bags, letting out a startled gripe at how heavy they are. No, Tommy, she didn't buy bricks. She bought books, of course.
"I fell over on the subway on my way back, an' landed in gum. Didja know they make somethin' like washin' your hands with soap an' water, but it all comes in a tiny bottle? They call it 'hand sanitizer'. A nice lady on the train told me all 'bout it. She was on her way t'Harlem t'visit her son, an' she gave me some t'get the stickiness off. An' I saw horses 'round Central Park, Tommy. Pullin' a bona fide carriage an' everythin'."
"Wait, you-- what? Wow, that's-- exciting."
Tommy blinks at her.
She smiles serenely.
---
The city looks like a thousand twinkling stars in the gathering night.
---
"Hello, my dear!"
Michael greets them as they return to the apartment. Lou's made spaghetti and garlic bread, and the whole place smells warm and inviting.
Kate puts her new purchases in her room, and steels herself for the rest of the night. She smiles, and laughs, and comments on the ballgame. Tommy explains some of the more obscure rules, and tells her about the players from their 'stats' to whether or not their biographies were any good. And by biographies he means what would fit on a trading card. She doesn't tell him about Sam. What they spoke about is kept in a secret place, where no one is allowed but her.
But she does tell him about the rest of her day, and that's a start.