AN (12/29): This is such a sad chapter. I kept putting it off and putting it off, so please tell me how to improve it if it is confusing.
AN (12/30): I promise that Chapter 3 will be up soon-I have just been having a hard time writing it. I will probably put it up tomorrow, if my brothers let me use the computer.
Chapter 2: Revelation
Jacob slowly meandered his way up to his family mansion and sugar plantation. He passed several slaves in the fields and talked to them, as usual. Something today seemed rather strange, however, so he made his conversations really short. He enjoyed making the slaves feel better, hating the entire slavery institution.
Jacob was wondering what his mother was up to as he approached their walnut front door. He was wrapped up in his own thoughts, but constantly aware of his surroundings. He always scanned the environment around him, just in case an ambush was waiting. Jacob seemed to make a lot of enemies rather than friends.
Jacob had put his hand on the handle of his family's front door when he heard a pitiful moan. He snapped around, his brown eyes moving wildly from side to side. He heard the moan again, coming from near the bushes to the side of the door. Jacob walked over to the bushes, noting the trail of rustled grass and squashed leaves that lead up to it. A man's boot was sticking out of the bush. Torn homespun pants were covered in leaves right above the bush.
Jacob thought that a slave had been trying to flee from his father again, but remembered his father was down in Oxbury purchasing a new dress for Jodi. Jodi was obviously with him, ensuring her dress would be proper and look lovely on her.
Jacob heard a moan again. There was something very unusual about the moan as it sounded too high to be a man's voice. Jacob moved one of the branches aside and was absolutely stunned at the sight that greeted him. His mother was dressed in standard pirate gear. Her beautiful ebony hair was tied up in a tight bun. Her head was propped on an odd three sided hat. She was clutching a pistol and had a sword in a scabbard to her side.
"Mum!" Jacob exclaimed as soon as he found his voice. He pushed the bushes away from her and gently stroked her face. She blinked and struggled to open her eyes.
"Jacob." Rosalyn's voice was very faint. Jacob leaned in closer to hear her better. "Ye weren' supposed t' see me like this." She tried to smile, but soon lost consciousness.
Jacob struggled to keep the tears back, vainly seeking his sanctuary, but he couldn't. Sobs of rage and intense pain filled the air as he picked his mother up. He carefully carried her into the mansion, trying to keep a grip on reality. His mother needed him to stay together.
Jacob moved as fast as possible to his father and mother's room, careful to not bump Rosalyn against anything. He had inhuman strength due to the adrenaline coursing through his body. Carrying Rosalyn felt like carrying a pillow. He reached his parent's room in two minutes.
Jacob pushed the door back and gently placed his mother onto her four poster bed in the middle of the room. A memory came to him and he knelt beside her on the bed. He gently reached for the gold chain with the small key on it and took it off. She didn't move, which was a very bad sign.
Jacob ran out of the room towards the kitchen. None of the black house slaves dared stop him, for he had a maniacal look on his face. He rushed into the kitchen, almost knocking down the cook.
"Young master, where be the problem?" The cook's face was etched with concern as she saw the look of terror on Jacob's face.
Jacob ignored her, going from cupboard to cupboard trying to find the special one his mother always had locked up. He screamed in frustration as he realized he couldn't find it. "Where be the special cupboard?" he asked the cook, spitting the words out as fast as possible.
"It be right o're there, inside that cupboard." She pointed toward an especially large one he had missed in his hurried search.
Jacob threw the door to the cupboard open, breaking the hinges. The door clattered to the floor, but Jacob didn't mind. He fumbled around with the lock for a while, his fingers refusing to calm enough to get the small key into the lock. When he finally opened the special cupboard, he grabbed all the bandages and bottles he could possibly carry.
"Do y' need some help, boy?" The cook looked into Jacob's eyes, trying to figure out why he needed that many bandages.
Jacob blinked, trying to knock some sanity back into his mind. "Yes. Can y' please bring me some boilin' water in me mum's room?" He peered into the woman's eyes, trying to give her the same sense of urgency. She nodded and he ran out of the room, careful to not drop anything in his strong arms.
Jacob soon reached his mother's side and was aghast at the fact she still hadn't moved. He put the bottles and bandages down next to her. He gently stroked her again, hoping for the response he got outside. She didn't move.
"Mum!" Jacob started to panic even more. He grabbed the bottle closest to him and uncorked it. He smelled it, just to make sure it was rum and not some other substance. The familiar smell assaulted his nose. Jacob carefully opened his mother's mouth and poured some rum into it. Her eyes quickly opened when the taste of alcohol registered in her numb brain. She looked at Jacob with love and compassion. Jacob carefully let his mother drink all the rum and was relieved when some of her color came back. He put the empty bottle down.
A knock at the door made Jacob jump. He got up and walked over to the door. He slowly opened it enough to see outside. The cook was there with a bowl of warm water in her hands. Steam rose off the water as it hit the slightly cooler air around it.
"Here, m' boy. D' y' need any help?" The cook looked into Jacob's eyes, relieved that they were much calmer. Jacob gratefully took the bowl, careful not to let her see into the room.
"No. Thank ye. Mum an' I were jus' playin' a game." He gave her a reassuring half smile and closed the door. The cook walked off, knowing she had been brushed off, but unwilling to get onto Jacob's bad side by insisting she see inside.
Jacob walked over to the bed again, careful to not spill the water. He placed it on the table next to the gilded headrest.
"Jacob." Rosalyn was sitting up with her back against the headrest. She smiled at him. "Ye coulda' let the cook 'elp. She knows her stuff, that woman."
"I know." Jacob sat next to his mother. "I din' want her to see you look so unrespectable."
Rosalyn's eyes widened. "Oh yeah. I forgot tha' I looked so "unrespectable". Can ye please clean me up enough to change me back in'o a dress. I need to die a lady, not a pirate."
"You aren' going to die, mum. I won' let you." Jacob smiled his half smile, trying to convince himself the same thing.
"I am, me sparrow. Oh well. E'ryone dies sometime." She pulled her simple homespun shirt up just enough to show Jacob the horrible gunshot wound in her gut. Jacob gasped. "I bet this looks terrible. Me own fault, y' see. I shouldn't have gotten so restless when 'ere Jodi an' Richard lef' me alone in the house."
Jacob looked closely at the wound, amazed that his mother was still alive. The wound was bleeding profusely. The bullet had made a hole the size of Jacob's finger. Burn marks surrounded it. It was liable to become infectious if it wasn't already. It was bleeding profusely. He grabbed a pillow and tore it out of the pillowcase. He then applied the pillowcase to the wound to stop the flow of blood.
"Who did this?" Jacob looked into his mother's eyes, struggling to not let his panic show at the severity of her wound.
"Commodore Dennis. I ran in'o him whilst pilfering the general store. He shot me 'fore I 'ad a chance to do anythin'." Rosalyn's eyes filled with hate at the memory of the Commodore.
"I see. Why were ye pilferin' mum?" Jacob stood and found a rag. He dipped it into the bowl of warm water. He began to gently clean away the dried blood around the wound. The pillowcase was stained scarlet by the blood.
Rosalyn attempted to divert her attention to something other than the pain by talking. "I jus' got so blasted bored waitin' around all day wi' you at school an' ye sister wi' ye father. I 'ad to do somefink." Rosalyn thought about what the end result of her boredom was and reconsidered her opinion. "I shoudn' have done anythin'. I jus' got so sick of stayin' home. Richard wouldn' let me come on account of the baby."
Jacob looked up from his task of cleaning around the wound and said, "Wha' baby?"
"I was going to have a baby, boy. Richard raped me, ho'e're. Said you never learned ye're lesson, so 'e'd start over wi' a new son." She glanced over at Jacob to see how he took the statement. She noticed the pain in his eyes. "Don' feel bad. Richard isn' your father, so there was no need to impress 'im." The gentle cleansing ceased abruptly.
"He wasn' me dad?" Jacob said with surprise. "Then who was?"
"I can' tell ye, me sparrow. I am really good a' keepin' secrets." Rosalyn smiled at Jacob. Jacob grabbed a bandage and wrapped it around his mother, covering the pillowcase up. He knew that if he moved the pillowcase, she'd start bleeding profusely again.
"Well, tha's all I can do, mum." Jacob was frustrated that he could do no more to help his mother, but masked it when speaking to her. "Only a doctor can help ye now."
"Aah, me boy, there be no sense in callin' a doctor. He'd report to the Commodore an' Richard's name'd be sullied. We can' have tha', now can we? Jodi needs to marry someone respectable. Her chances would be shot to Hell if'n I was discovered to be a pirate." She grinned up at Jacob. "Now don' you fret, me boy. I have to die sometime. No one lives forever." She noticed the tears and frustration welling up in Jacob's eyes. "How'd ye like a story?"
"Mum! How can you be so unconcerned a' a time like this?" Jacob sat beside his mother, looking her earnestly in the face.
"Simple, me sparrow. I've lived a full life, much more than I ever asked for. I was what I wanted to be." She lay down on the bed, lacking the strength to sit up any longer and still talk.
"How long have ye been a pirate?" Jacob was desperate to keep Rosalyn's mind occupied so she wouldn't slip into oblivion.
"Since I was a gel of sixteen. Me dad was a lieutenant in the navy, an' I had known 'ow to sail since I was five. When me mum died, I ran away an' joined a pirate ship. Me dad went crazy after me mum died an' I didn't want to stick around him. I foun' Calico Jack an' he offered me a place on his ship, the Black Pearl." She seemed lost in memories as she spoke, rarely looking up at her son.
"You mean Calico Jack was a real pirate?" Jacob asked incredulously.
"Of course! Do ye honestly think I made 'im up? He's the best pirate in the whole Caribbean an' the Black Pearl is hated by all the British Navy!" Rosalyn tried to rise and defend her point, but Jacob gently pushed her down.
"I see, mum. There's no point in ye wastin' all your energy to defend a pirate."
"Oh, me little sparrow, Calico Jack is more'n a pirate. He's a good man as well. You remind me of 'im so much, it's astonishin'. In fact, when I die an' after Jodi gets married, I want you to join 'is crew."
Jacob was astonished that his mother was actually giving him permission to be a scallywag. "And where would I find him?"
"He usually stops at Tortuga once in a while. Bu' you need to wait 'til Jodi gets engaged. I don' wan' to leave her wi' just Richard." She looked up at Jacob. "Swear you'll wait 'til she's engaged." Her eyes seemed to peer into his soul.
"Al right, I swear I'll wait until she's engaged before I turn scallywag." He grinned a reassuring half grin at his mother. Her eyes lost their intenseness. He decided to change the subject. "Why did ye stop being a pirate, mum?"
"Cause o' you an' Jodi. I din' want to have a baby on a pirate ship. I told Calico Jack about me predicament an' we staged me death as Sandra. I assumed the name Rosalyn Kline and duped Richard into marrying me. Calico Jack acted like 'e was me brother. It was good fun. I 'aven't seen Calico Jack since then. I wish I coul' see 'im 'fore I die. Ah well, p'rhaps it's better this way." Rosalyn's eyes were full of regret and sorrow.
Jacob was desperate to give his mother something to talk about. "So, uh, am I a lot like me real father?"
"Oh, yes, me boy, ye are. If only I could'a stayed on the Pearl." Rosalyn's voice was full of regret. "Don' forget to mention Sandra to Calico, when ye sign up for a position on the Pearl. He'll trea' ye be'er. Please watch out for Jodi. She don' wan' to be a pirate. She enjoys bein' a lady. After I'm dead, dress me in a silk dress an' clean up all the blood. Sew up the bullet hole, an' tell the doctor I hunched over in pain. They'll think t'was a miscarriage." Rosalyn's voice became weaker and weaker and her eyes glossed over.
"Mum, don' give up yet!" Jacob started sobbing as his mother took labored breaths. He laid beside her, struggling to keep her conscious. It was a futile gesture.
"Jack, I'm waitin'." Rosalyn said with her last strength. She drew in one final tortured breath and gave up the ghost.
Jacob screamed in agony as he realized his mother was dead. He went into a rampage, throwing trinkets and furniture all over the floor. He would have gone into his mind's sanctuary, but his mother was the person he talked to while he was there. He couldn't very well talk to a dead person. He continued mindless destruction in an attempt to stave off the pain.
Whenever Jacob calmed a little, he would spy a trinket on the floor that reminded him of his mother and would rampage even harder. He broke chests and chairs and bruised himself up.
The pain from the whip he had received earlier that day finally broke through his consciousness and he huddled on the floor, weeping in agony. He remained that way for several hours until his commitment to his mother prevailed.
Jacob slowly got up from the floor and began cleaning the various things he'd broken. He was determined to follow his mother's wishes and become the best pirate captain ever.
A small gold coin caught Jacob's attention. It was the first money he had ever earned. He'd given it to his mother as a present. Jacob decided he'd keep it in her memory as a loving mother. Soon the room was tidied up again and Jacob was left with the gruesome task of cleaning his mother's body.
Jacob went to his mother's trunk at the foot of the bed and opened it. He grabbed his mother's cherished embroidery kit and opened the little tin. He grabbed a needle and some flesh-colored thread and began the gruesome task of sewing the bullet hole back together.
Jacob blocked the rest of the experience from his mind, but needless to say, it fooled his father and the doctor. Jacob also went outside and cleaned the path she had made while crawling to the house. He caught a glimpse of the three-sided hat and decided to keep that and wear it to commemorate his mother as a pirate.
Jodi was devastated at her mother's death, but Jacob vowed to never let her know what their mother had really been like. He also vowed to never let anyone mean as much to him again. The revelations his mother had given him were tucked away, close to his heart. He awaited the day his sister would marry with great anticipation, eager to continue his mother's legacy.
Sida- Thank you for reviewing me! I hope it gets better and happier, but I'm not sure yet!
ChaosLightning13- Yeah, I could make it more emotional, but I was getting sick of feeling so depressed as I wrote it, so I ended it.
FairyObsession- I thank you from the very bottom of my heart and I am immensely pleased you're catching on to the story!