A/N—Review replies shall be at the bottom of the chapter. Sorry if I don't answer them all-shall take too long, and I honestly will draw a blank, thinking of what to say. Oh, if I give the character (YOU) a name, it's because I sort of wanted to write it for my friend, and also that she'll have to give a name at some point in the story, so…yeah. Oh, sorry if the tenses get mixed up in this chapter. I was honestly not thinking straight when I wrote this, and was too far along to go back and change everything.
Chapter 2—Coins and Surprises
You open your eyes groggily as a shaft of sunlight slants across your face. Vaguely you recall what you had done last night, but the pounding of your head prevents you from remembering the finer details. Shaking your head so as to clear it-which was a bad idea on your part-you blink as you look around your dimly lit room, already hearing a shout from somewhere in the room beside yours. It seemed your family liked to yell a lot in the mornings, let alone the rest of the day.
You shove yourself out of bed, surprised you could actually do that without falling over. Rum sometimes had that effect on you, but you liked the stuff anyways. Striding out your bedroom door you slam the thin wood shut, just for the effect of it. Sure it was early, but everyone was normally up by the time you were up, so what did it matter?
"Mornin'" you yawn as you enter the dim kitchen. You note what the others are eating, which is nothing in particular. Same old crap you always eat, anyways. Picking at your portion you feed yourself as if it were a chore, one you couldn't stand and wish you were somewhere but there. The food tastes somewhat like ash, but you're used to that; it always does.
The door opens and voices could be heard outside. They seemed to be arguing, and then calming down. It was probably your mother, back from whatever she had done with whomever the night before. Your suspicions were confirmed true when she waltzed into the kitchen, her hair pinned up in an array of curls, if a slightly messy one, her eyes sparkling. "Mornin' children!" She says happily, taking a seat across from you. "How are ye all? I presume everyone didn't fight last night? Did they, sweet?" She turns her attention to you, gray eyes searching.
You shrug in reply. "I dunno. I was with Jack, down at the bar, drinkin' rum." You should've omitted the rum part; your mother disapproved of you drinking it, although the smell of it was always clinging to her.
As usual she frowned disapprovingly. "I always knew tha' Sparrow was trouble for ye, hun. Ye should stay away from 'im." You snort in reply to her words. You'd be as likely to stay away from your best friend as she would be to give up what she was doing at night.
You stand and head towards the door, mumbling something about going out. Wasn't like many people cared, right? Closing that door more gently you stride out into the street, heading towards the docks.
You see the ship Jack had been all excited about yesterday, and you have to agree-it is pretty impressive. Sitting down on an empty crate you simply sit and stare at it for a while before a voice jolts you back into reality.
"Oye, girl! C'mere and 'elp us ter unload this damn cargo!" Curious you look over, and smile slowly.
"How much?"
It was clear he didn't understand your question. "What do ye mean, 'how much?"
"I mean, how much will ye pay me if I 'elp out?" Any idiot could understand your question, you conclude, but it appears he wasn't some idiot-he was an idiot.
For a moment the man considered. "Ten shillings, more or less." Taking this to be a fair enough amount, you hop of your crate and walk over to him. Upon reaching the man you ask what you have to do. He directed you over to where a young man, who looked to be a bit older than you, was lugging crates. You were to help him, the man said. You were not to complain, you were not to bother others, you were not to….well, you weren't supposed to do a lot of other things, but you didn't care the least about them. You were gonna get ten shillings!
"'Ello. I'm Shane. Who're ye?" The young man looked up at you from inspecting a crate, smiling slightly.
"Tammy." You say. You never really liked your name; you'd much rather have something more piratey, something that didn't sound like yours. Shane grinned over at you and motioned to help him pick up the crate.
You lifted when he did, and nearly dropped it in surprise. The thin was heavy! Terribly heavy too! But you forced yourself to not drop it and follow Shane as he chattered on about what you were going to do with the crates you carried by yourself. If they all weighed as much as this one, you doubted you'd be able to even move one. But the thought of money drove you onward.
The dull ache in your back and arms grew steadily stronger as the day progressed. The sun beat down on you, and sweat chorused down your face, back and chest. A fleeting thought asked you why you were doing this, but you dismissed it. Picking up another crate you dropped it, your jelly arms refusing to allow you to pick up another heavy thing.
You sat down on the crate you were supposed to be moving, and shook out your arms. It didn't do much good, though. Looking around you saw the man who promised to pay you nearby. "Can I get my shillings now? There ain't much left 'ere to do, and I think ye can do that, so can I be paid so I can leave?" The man looked over and you thought you saw him smile, but were unsure.
"Sure ye can. Ye've dun more 'n some of them lunkheads we get down 'ere everyday." He produced ten coins from his pocket, and you took them gratefully. Forgetting about your aching back and arms, you darted off the find Jack.
Jack wasn't where you'd thought he'd be, but you found him easily nonetheless. "Jack! Jack!" You called somewhat breathless, coins chinking in your pocket. "Jack!" When he finally heard you he turned around and grinned, stopping to let you catch up to him.
"Jack, I've made me some money!" You say triumphantly. He was always the one to work at the docks and make him some shillings, but now it was your turn. "Hah!" You produce the coins from your pocket, just to show him proof.
"What you do? Steal it off some poor, unsuspecting lout?"
"No! I earned it fair and square. Although stealin' seems like a good idea, aye?"
"Aye." He agreed with you absently. "Where'd ye get it from then?"
"The docks. Helped unload some cargo. Why?"
"No reason." You thought he wanted to say something, but didn't want to at the same time.
"What you do today Jack?" You asked, changing the topic from yourself to him. It was more or less the same reply you got when you always asked him, a shrug and then some detailed description of what he did that was so heroic. Oh well.
The shadows were lengthening when you finally stopped wandering about Tortuga. For some strange reason you had stopped in front of your house. "C'min." You told Jack, opening the door and entering your house without waiting for him to follow or not.
Your mom rushed by Jack and you as you were about to kick the door shut. "'Ello sweet. Jack." She gave him a cold stare and left you alone in the dingy hallway.
You finally kicked the door shut. Looking to Jack you wandered off to the kitchen, were one of your brothers was eating something and making a dreadful mess all over the floor. "Clean that up." You order absently, used to always saying that. You look around for a moment before grabbing some rum off a top shelf, toss one bottle to Jack and keep the other for yourself, and wander off towards your room.
Flopping down on your bed you study Jack as he pops the cork off the bottle and takes a swig of rum. He sits beside you and for a while you sit in silence. Suddenly a though comes to you and sit up suddenly.
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"Tomorrow's me birthday! I get ter turn a happy 18!" You smile at Jack, who smiles back.
"Well, then ye'll be a year older, and mayhap I'll consider ye fer me crew, coz I'm gonna gets me a boat sometime soon."
You nearly choke on the rum you were drinking. Jack get a boat!? Since when? "I'm offended ye never considered me before." You laugh slightly. O'course he'd take you with him when he sailed away, you scold yourself. You are his best friend after all.
You both stand on your bed and begin to jump on it for a bit, a fun yet childish thing for you to do. "Jack, why are we doin' this?" You ask him as you bounce on the lumpy mattress. He replied with a grin, "'Twas yer idea luv!"
An hour later-it seemed to be hours and hours later-Jack announced he had to leave. "Aww, Jack!" You protest, knowing that he would leave even if you were to beg on your knees.
"'Twas fun luv. Mayhap t'morrow we can steal sumthin' nice fer yer birthday."
You smile at him. "That would be fun." You reply, knowing very well it would be and you'd steal something pretty.
Jack leaned towards you and pressed his lips gently to yours. He drew away quickly. "Happy birthday luv." He turned and strode out of your house without another word, leaving you staring shocked behind him.
Review Replies—Pandagrrl-Thank you, will keep that in mind. The parentheses did seem a bit strange after I re-read the chapter.
Jessica, Beautifulbrat, Kellie- Thanks. I'm glad you like it!
Pirate Shivers—Ehm….I shall think of something! See, I already did in the end of the chapter. =D
A/N—Okay, that may have been a slightly pointless chapter but….I have been so busy his past week I'm lucky to have anything written at all! I had confirmation, and then I was out and out some more after that and…..Eh, at least I have more time now, although I was busy today…..Any who, please press that spiffy purple button below and drop me a review. I'd love to hear from you!