Page 91 of Dancing Fools and All That Jazz
The thief twisted and kicked out at Ruby. The phone flew up in the air and the youth sprang up and ran off into the distance, quickly disappearing into the crowds.
Ruby shouted a good number of obscenities before slowly getting to her feet. She picked up the phone and started to hobble across to me when a deckhand from thecruise ship ran down the gangplank, jumped on her and pulled her arm behind her back.
‘Voleur.’
‘What the fuck?’ Ruby tried to pull away from the man.
‘Let her go,’ I screamed.
‘Voleur. Thief,’ the man shouted.
‘You bastard.’ Ruby turned her head to scream in his face, ‘Let me go.’
‘Let her go this minute. She is not the thief you bloody bigot.’ I rushed to Ruby to pull her away from him.
The deckhand glared at Ruby, spat on the floor, and returned to the boat.
‘What an arse.’ Ruby rubbed her arm and glared in his direction.
‘Are you OK?’
She nodded. ‘You?’
‘Just hurt my hand when that kid pushed me to the ground.’
‘Little bastard kicked me in the shin.’ She bent to rub her leg. ‘Ouch. I’m afraid your mobile’s smashed.’ Ruby handed me the phone. The screen was completely shattered and blank.
‘Thank you. But honestly, Ruby, you put yourself in such danger. You could have been badly injured. I mean,he could’ve had a knife.’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Ruby mumbled. ‘Guess I was lucky. Although it would’ve been no more than I deserve… after I’ve stabbed someone in the back, even if I didn’t know it at the time.’
I watched her limp away as Bonnie and Cath rushed across from the boat, gushing out their concerns and wrapping me in their arms.
‘Oh, Monica.’
‘Are you OK, lass?’
‘We saw the whole thing from the boat.’
‘It was spectacular how Ruby managed to jump that gobshite… Oh no. Will you look at your mobile? That’s well and truly smashed.’
‘Shall we call the police?’
‘No, I’m OK. I just need to sit down.’
They helped me onto the cruiser where Clarissa dismissed them and took over my care.
Now Ruby’s words are going round and round in my head.Even if I didn’t know it at the time…I rack my brains to recall any occasion where Ruby had been in the same place as Vince and it dawns on me I can’t remember a single one. Of all the school plays, fundraisers, parents’ evenings, sports days and socials, Vince hadn’t attended one. He saw that as my role, plus he was away most of the week. We had never had Ruby round to our house when Vince was at home. He always maintained he hated socialising, as he had to do so much for work. Ha. The lying bastard. The more I think about it, I realise none of my friends have met Vince.Hell, it wasn’t just Ruby who assumed I was a single parent. I give an involuntary shudder as any remnants of outrage start to ebb away.
‘Are you all right, Monica?’ Clarissa’s voice interrupts my thoughts. ‘You are shivering. I hope you are not going into shock. You need to be in good shape for the finals tomorrow.’
‘Sorry, I was far away. I’m fine, thank you, Clarissa. Just a bit bruised. Annoyed my phone is broken but it could have been much worse. I’m extremely glad the thief didn’t get away with my bag. My passport and cards are all in that. Far less easy to replace than a handset.’
‘Well, the captain has reported the matter to theGendarmes, but he says they will do nothing other than give you a log number so you can claim insurance. He says there is a lot of theft near the key tourist spots. I am glad we will be on this cruise for the evening where no one can target us. The key thing is that you and Ruby are able to dance tomorrow. We are already one dancer down.’
I see Ruby stand and tentatively test her leg. She smiles at Clarissa when she manages a few steps and puts her thumbs up. ‘All good here. Loads better. Now I need a good stiff drink after all that drama.’ She moves towards the door leading to the dining area.
‘Ruby, wait a minute.’ I touch the chair next to me. ‘Clarissa, can you give us a moment?’
