Brooklyn, Baby | Spot Conlon ²

Chp. 20: Sam's Promise

Talk to her, Spot thinks. Just say a couple words. Approach her slowly, she might attack. Offer to listen to her problem. If you can't get her back...

Be her friend. 

Spot cautiously walked to the barn that next night, where Kenny was. She sat in the loft, where you could overlook the whole property, and the sky view wasn't too bad. 

She didn't turn when she heard him. He simply sat next to her, maybe a foot away. They sat in silence for two and a half minutes. 

"Penny for your thoughts?" He broke it. 

"They're worth so much more," She spoke softly. 

"Well, I ain't got much, but I's willing to listen. I render that priceless," 

She smiles a little. "I told myself when you died I would one day understand that you were gone. I would move on and marry, as it was my duty to this family. Then, Eric came along. He came so suddenly, like you did," 

Spot continues to look out the window. 

"Spot, I think you should leave," 

"Leave?" 

"Yes, permanently. You could stay at the ranch in Santa Fe, or somewhere else out West. I think it would be in both of our best interests to part ways," 

"Doll--" 

"Don't call me that," She snaps. "Please," 

"Why can't ya say my name?" 

She stiffens. 

"Huh? Why can't you? You haven't said it once," 

"Why? I'll tell you why. When I say your name, my mind takes a sudden trip to the old days in Brooklyn. It takes me to when I first heard it, and something inside told me to find out just who you were. It takes me to when I screamed for you to come back after I broke your trust," She says. "Mostly, it was what I repeated over and over in my crying for so long after you were gone," 

Spot looks at her. 

"But, it doesn't matter now. It all dwells in the past," 

"Say my name," He says. 

She looks at him questioningly. 

"Please, I need ta hear you say it," 

She looks at the ground, then at him. 

"Spot," 

He grins. 

"You ain't in love with him," 

"And you are the judge of this?" 

"I know you better than almost anyone," 

"You don't know me," She says. "Not who I am now," 

"You ain't changed. You's the same fiery goil from New York, no dress or vocabulary gonna change that." 

"Well, I would like to think I am in love with my fiance," 

"You ain't. You don't look at him like you once looked at me," 

"That means nothing," 

Of course it did, it meant everything. 

"But it does," He inches closer. "Tell me," 

"Do you shiver when he looks at you," 

Kendall looked away. 

"Does he make you forget about me, Kenny?" 

"Stop," 

"Does he touch you like I did?" Spot runs his hand up her arm. 

Kendall stands up to descend the ladder. Spot stands up as well, determined to follow her. She goes into the house with him at her heel. 

"What are you gonna do, huh?" 

"What will I do about what?" She keeps walking. 

"When you's stuck in a marriage you don't wanna be in," 

"Sometimes adults must do things they do not wish to do, but it is the right thing to do," She blinks. "Who says I don't want to be married to Eric?"

"Your eyes," 

"Stop paying attention to my eyes--" 

"Which body part would you prefer, then?" 

"--And start paying attention to your plan to permanently leave," 

"You will miss me when I's gone," 

"I've learned to adjust with your absence," She says calmly, sitting on her bed, untying her hair. 

"That was when you thought I was dead," 

She rolls her eyes. She reaches for her bag, searching for Romeo and Juliet. When it wasn't in reach, she dumped out the entire bag. 

"Did I forget it?" 

"What, your beloved book? Shame," 

"Tell me a story." 

"What?" 

"You heard me," She lays back and closes her eyes. "Tell me a story," 

"Alright, um, when I was younger.." 

Flashback 

"Spots, come sit up here with me,"  Sam, the Brooklyn leader, said. 

Tommy immediately obeyed. He climbed the crates carefully to sit next to Sam, his idol. Sam grinned, leaning his head on his hand. 

"I'm in love, Tommy boy," 

"In love?" The seven year old didn't understand. 

"Yes, in love. This goil from Uptown," He sighed. "Man, is she somethin'," 

"How do ya know?" 

"How do I know? Spots, listen ta me. You's gonna get olda' some day. You is gonna be quite the looker, too. You is gonna meet a goil, and she will make you feel like you neva' felt before. She will look atcha with these beautiful eyes, Tommy boy. Her eyes will just beg you to come closa'." He has the young boy in a trance. "She will make you feel like a fish outta the sea, and she's the water. When you touch her, you get electrocuted from the spark between ya two. Tommy boy, listen to me," 

He held the young boy by his shoulders. Spot nodded quickly. 

"Promise me somethin'. When you find her, you keep her. You neva' hurt her, and you neva' let her go." 

"I promise," 

Kendall was laying still, and Spot stood up. He pulled the blanket over her small body. 

"He didn't tell me what ta do if she didn't love me back," He said softly. 

Kendall kept her eyes closed, but she wanted so badly to spring up from the bed, and yell, 

But I do. 

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