Okay, this is an idea I've had in my head since I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End on Sunday night and I finally got it written out. The character in the movie that fascinated me the most was the cabin boy from the opening scene, so I gave him a little history.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or anything else.
I Was Born to Die
Was this all worth it? Were his nine years of life—the small fraction of the men's ages before him—really all he had in him?
Jamie Pickett. That's the name he spat at the guards. At least, that's his mother's name. His father—well, he never knew much about him. Just about some tattoo. He was born and raised most of his life in Tortuga—even he knew from the moment he could walk that his father could have been anyone. His mother always seemed to have an idea who it was, though. She would smile, then look at him, insisting he looked like him, if only Jamie had darker hair. This would always give him a thrill—the idea of being like the father he never met.
Now when most boys thought of their dad's, it was a blacksmith or a farmer. Or in most cases, a drunk. Not Jamie. His dad was a pirate. A captain, his mother insisted, although sometimes she would still giggle as she said so, as if brought memories of a joke.
The women his mother would speak to were always talking about how his father was so handsome…and how he was nothing but trouble.
His mother would always argue profusely, insisting that he loved her. That one day, he would return. All of the women would end up shrieking with laughter, saying she was a fool and that all women of their profession knew that nothing came out of love. While Jamie hated them for dashing the one thing of hope she had left in her life, he also knew it was true. If he loved her, he wouldn't have left. He wouldn't have been with the rest of the women, either. When the prostitutes would leave, however, his mother would wrap her arms around him and insist that he would come back, and he did love her.
Even at the age of seven Jamie knew better than to disagree with her. Instead he nodded, giving her a smile. "Yes, mummy. He will come back."
He was jerked from his memories as the chains on his wrist tugged him forward like a dog. He quickly realized that this was it. It was his rows turn. He felt his stomach churn slightly as he was pulled along. He didn't have much choice between following to his doom or falling over the chains and becoming well acquainted with the cobbled stone. He knew that he was going to die. Atleast his mother wouldn't be there to see it. She had died over a year ago, just before he first stepped aboard a ship. And just before he saw his father for the first time.
It was two weeks after his mother's death. Jamie was still grieving, almost in a trance as he went about the days. He was left to pickpocket the drunken men as the fell in the streets and dig through the heaps of trash for a decent meal. That was what led him to find the man he knew, without a doubt, was his father.
All of the whores threw themselves at this man, pretending to scorn him as evening fell, and then leading him out of the bar later in an uproar of laughter. His mother's closest friends, however, made a point of avoiding the man at all costs. Never before had they turned anyone down. And he remembered plain as day how much they had hated this man. Earlier on they had made a point of slapping him.
Jamie couldn't help but hate this man. This man had broken his mother's heart and left. Sure, he knew about the other men his mother would see at night and that there was nothing expected of it. Why should this uncaring man have meant so much to his mother? Was it the sweet words that none of the others bothered with?
It didn't stop the fact that he was furious with the pirate before him. He had spent most of his life wanting to be like him. And this man was exactly like all the others in Tortuga. Nothing but a hopeless drunk.
As the women left him in the streets, the man seemingly to the point of passing out, Jamie crept up to him slowly. Poking him slightly and getting no reaction, he pulled up the man's sleeve. Sure enough, there it was. The sparrow tattoo his mother always remembered fondly.
Scowling at the man, still noticing that he was too drunk to react, he dove for the coin pouch at his side. He had begun to open it up and pulled out a coin when he heard a distinct click close to his ear.
"Well, is this your first attempt at pocket picking, or are the men around here just stupid?" came a slightly slurred voice. Turning slowly, he found him staring into deep brown eyes that matched his own. Pausing as their eyes locked, he felt himself tense. Great. It took him 7 years to find his dad and now he was about to be killed by the man.
"Take a look around you and tell me what you think," he muttered before looking down at the coin he held in his hand. It wasn't any sort of currency he had ever seen before. Frowning, he didn't even have a chance to ask about it. Already this man was putting his pistol back in his belt.
"Alright, listen here. What you have to do first is completely make sure the man is asleep. Trip over them, as if it was an accident—but don't hit them too hard. Drunk men get pissed off easily and they could be woken up. Just a small tap on the foot, but inconspicuously. They'll know they're being ripped off otherwise. Then you take the coin pouch and run away with it. You don't look at it while he's there. Got that?"
Nodding dumbly, Jamie hadn't known what to say. The man finally nodded, satisfied before glancing at the coin and laughing. "Of all of those to grab. Take it."
"What?" Jamie asked, incredulous as to why the man had caught him and was letting him take it.
"Take the blasted thing. No one has them anymore, anyway."
Startled, Jamie slowly shifted the coin in his hand before looking at his father. "Why did you leave?"
It was this man's turn to be shocked now. "What?"
"Why did you leave my mum?"
He was silent for a while before he managed a comment. "I don't know any mum's. I know a bunch of bonnie lasses real good, mate. But I ain't known any mummy's. By the way, why aren't you with yours?"
"She's dead."
The steps to the gallows seemed to go on forever. As he finally made his way up the stairs, his chained legs making it hard to step decently, he stopped just before the noose he knew was his. Glancing down at the coin in his hand, he could hear it. The metal vibrating as it sang, calling out for the pirate lords. Frowning slightly, he knew what this meant. It was time for the gathering—to bring all of the pirate lords together once again.
And slowly, he began to sing.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear about that, mate. Really, though, you ought to—"
"You're my father."
"I—well—most certainly," came the sputtered reply before he finally froze. "I am definitely not a dad. I mean…I work all the time, don't really get holidays. You see, I am just not father material. Really, I don't know who got you worked up over such nonsense but I am not the man you've been looking for so…clearly you have been lied to. I am Captain Jack Sparrow. I rob people and go looking for treasure. I don't change diapers or anything of the likes."
"I'm seven. I hardly need a diaper," Jamie wrinkled his nose, although he felt some tears risking an appearance. Really, was he so terrible that his own father had to reject him?
Jack made a face the moment he saw the tears arriving in Jamie's eyes. Really, he thought only women became human faucets. Baring his teeth out of discomfort, he held up his fingers quickly. "Okay, a proposition. I set you up on a ship. A nice ship. You see how you like the pirate life for a couple of years. Then you come find me and maybe I could make you…I dunno…a deck swabber or something," he threw out as a suggestion.
Feeling his mood brighten, Jamie wondered if it was true…if he would actually let him on his ship. "Alright!"
Pausing, Jack raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yeah! I always wanted to be a pirate."
"Right…" Jack trailed off before nodding. "Alright then. Go to that ship," he pointed at one at the dock. "Tell them Captain Jack sent you. You'll be set."
"But…"
"Now go along. Go. You just go before they decide to sail off without you."
Jamie beamed as he realized that this could be it. He could start a life that led him to live with his father. That was something he had wanted forever. "Okay!" he started off, not even bothering to go back to the house he stayed under. It wasn't like he actually owned anything anyway.
"Oh, and boy!"
"Yes?" Jamie turned around quickly, spinning on his heal.
"If you hear the coin ringing—you'll know what to do."
Would he really? He didn't know but it was his dad saying this. Weren't they supposed to tell the truth? Even if Jack didn't believe he was his father, he was atleast going out of his way to be nice. Nodding quickly, he hurried away, in search of a ship that could perhaps one day bring him to his destiny.
For certain the ship had. He had been cabin boy for nearly a year and a half when the ship was overtaken by Becket's men. It wasn't like they could fight against the navy. Instead all of those onboard were gathered up, even the cook who held nothing but a frying pan, and taken to the prison where they were taken out for a mass hanging. A mass hanging where atleast four shiploads of those connected to pirates. And he knew what he had to do was gather the pirate lords. Over the years, all sailing and pirate lore had reached his ears, and he now knew the truth behind what he had to do.
Looking forward, almost imagining that he could see Jack before him, he smiled slightly. He was about to die. But in his death he was giving his father what he needed for pirates to survive.
"Never shall we die."
And he could feel the barrel drop, taking him with it.
That's it. Unfortunately, I'm really disappointed in it, myself. I wish I had written it better...so don't be shocked if there is a rewrite later. I actually have an idea for how to continue this. Let me know if you want me to!