Page 12 of Rosie and the Dreamboat
Laugh. Electric. Rainbow. I sizzle in my stew.
I can hear boots coming and the sound of Dionne’s voice. “Hey, Leo,” I say to him. “Nobody could ever accuse you of being serious, but you’re not unprofessional. You’ve managed to keep my mind off the fact that I’m buried alive in water. You’re killing it. And you’re more than a pretty face.”
“You always know what to say.” Sounding immensely cheered up, he must be getting to his feet, because when he speaks next his voice is higher above. It’s his firefighter voice now. “It’s been long enough, so I don’t want to hear it.”
“No, you’re right,” Dionne says, her voice heavy with defeat. “Are you all right in there, Rosie? Managed to relax a little? The benefits of this float will be with you for days. It’s incredible for chronic pain—”
Leo cuts her off. “I’m going to have to ask you to quit sugarcoating this.”
“I’m sorry. Rosie, in advance, I appreciate your patience and understanding. It seems that if there’s no manual lever inside—”
“There’s no lever,” Leo cuts in. “She’d have found it by now. It’s faulty, admit it.”
“I got a hold of the American distributor, and they’ll be sending a repairman to look at what has occurred here.”
“It occurred because it’s a piece of crap. Here they come,” Leo responds politely, and then the chaos he foretold begins. “Remember what I told you, Rosie.”
Men are piling in now, more than just Leo and Frank, and they’re all talking at once.
“I’m just—”
“If you hold—”
“Into this—”
“No, the smaller—”
“Don’t tell me how to do my—”
“Well, do it right!”
“Save it, before I—”
The tank begins to move, they all laugh, and I let out a whimper.
“I’m here, Rosie Clamshell.”
“Get the grinder.”
“Lady, tell your staff it’s not a show—”
“Carlie says if I forget her Valentine’s flowers I’m—”
“I’ll buy Carlie flowers any day, don’t you worry—”
“What’s this fucking thing made of? Pure lead? I can’t—”
“Gotta hand it to the Japanese, they can sure—”
Leo, only Leo: “Breathe, Rosie. Keep breathing for me.”
“She’s not running out of air, is she? Fuck—”
The noise ceases.
Leo snarls back, “If she was, I would have mentioned it by now, don’t you think? She’s gotta be scared as hell. We’re just working out the best way, Rosie, all right? What did I tell you to remember?”
Someone interrupts before I can answer. “That you’re a dreamboat?”
