Chapter XV – Never Say Never
Michael looked over at Rachelle who was finishing her dinner at his desk. He hated that desk. Any reading or math that had to be done, it was up to him. To the ship, he had the highest education on board. Well, that was true until Thomas arrived. Now the work was up to the cabin boy, but Michael had developed a hatred for his desk that still lingered, even though it was pretty much empty and blank. At times Thomas had him do simpler things for him, so he could just concentrate on the tougher stuff. Michael only did it because the Pearl and Jack needed those things done. He shouldn't have to listen to anyone but the captain, but sometimes positions didn't matter. The ship mattered and the captain mattered. And they all worked for him.
She was silent, but it was an odd sort of silence. She also seemed to be sniffling as her fork raised to her mouth, then lowered between bites. He just kept throwing pieces of dried fruit around the room for Monkey to fetch and eat. Once the animal would scamper off and grab a piece, he would sit there and usually hold it in both hands. Then he would diligently eat it until it was gone. The next piece of fruit was then thrown. Monkey really enjoyed this game.
"C-can you please stop throwing food around?" Rachelle whispered, sounding near tears.
Michael sat up frowning, and then rolled himself a cigarette. "I'm room mates wit ye now, so I wanna know why yer bringin' my morale down." But he did cease throwing fruit, which made Monkey fly at him angrily and cling onto his face. Falling back onto the soiled bed, Michael spluttered, trying to pry the miniature beast off him. After screeching and gnashing of teeth from both parties, and fur and hair going every which way, Michael finally had Monkey off him and in the air by the neck as he sat up.
"Don't do that again!" he shouted. Monkey seemed to shrug and make a few noises as if brushing his master off and rolling his eyes. His frown deepening, he dropped Monkey onto the bed and swivelled about, sitting on the edge of his bed. He lit up his cigarette.
"Did you really see J-Jennifer raped?" Rachelle held back her tears, biting her knuckle.
Michael hesitated and picked lint off his pants, then dropped it to the floor after rolling it between his fingers.
"Yes," he said softly.
"How could you let that happen?!" she cried, sending Monkey into a shrieking fit.
Michael smacked Monkey to shut him up, making him hit the wall. Once again, Monkey was latched onto his face and they struggled with each other. Throwing him off onto the bed, he shouted, "Monkey!" and Monkey replied on automatic, scrambling up him and sitting on his shoulder.
With a sigh, he said, "Much better."
"Why did you watch!? Why did you not stop them?!"
"How?" he roared, startling Monkey, making him hunch his shoulders. "By doin' what? Tellin' them that rapin' is wrong? It's what we do, love, get used to it."
"No!"
"I was her age! The crew woulda killed me too," he slurred, desperately trying to explain for some reason, and also wishing he had rum. Or more precisely, that Jack had rum he could steal. Stolen rum always tasted better, especially out of the captain's private cache.
"You pirates are dastardly, devilish folk!"
"Yip," Michael said, leaning back on his bed, hands behind his head. Monkey scrambled up onto his chest to avoid tumbling off his shoulder. "Ye got us bang on."
"How could you let someone do that to an innocent girl?!"
He shut his eyes, trying to think.
"Have," he said slowly, eyes shut so tight that he could see purple and red splotches amongst the black, "I let ye be attacked?"
"No," she said slowly, turning about in her chair, body perpendicular with his. She stared at him with her left eye then turned her head to glower straight on. "But that is because you are saving me for yourself!" She shuddered and Michael opened his eyes for the sole purpose of rolling them.
"Yer too innocent to know about that. And yer wrong, girlie, very wrong. I'm protectin' ye."
"Why would ye do that?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. Let's jus' say, ye aren't to my tastes."
A blank stare washed over her. "Why not?"
"Erm, too . . . not enough . . ." he said as he made vague gestures towards her, "I uh, dunno. But yer safe with me." He smirked.
"You are lying! You are going to ravish me in the middle of the night soon!"
He sat up abruptly, eyes flashing with malice. "Don't ye think I woulda done ye by now if that was my intent?!"
Monkey watched the argument from his spot on Michael's headboard, turning his head from Rachelle to Michael.
"You are just waiting for my defences to go down!"
"Defences?" he spluttered, "you have no defences! Ye do not even understand the bloody danger yer in, even now!"
"Yes I do! It is from you!"
"No! A woman like ye cannot be our prisoner. Yer a guest, but still, to some of the pirates, yer still fresh booty."
She stared at him in apparent disgust. She was absolutely appalled by what he just said. Especially since she had a feeling that he was absolutely correct.
"All you pirates are the same! Sick, twisted fiends who prey on the innocent!"
"You try my patience!" Michael said at the top of his lungs, jumping out of his bed.
"You want to be powerful so you do it in the worst possible way! You cannot have power with the government, so you make yourself big men by trying to destroy everything in your paths!"
"Now now, there's more to pirating than destruction."
"Name one thing," she rasped in challenge, too forgone in anger to be discomfited about her tone, or her words. Or the fact that she was yelling and screaming like a banshee.
Opening his mouth to answer and putting up in finger, he stopped. One thing? He was sure there was something.
"Travel?" he offered lamely with a shrug. He dodged the plate she threw at him, barely getting aside in time as he was so shocked she would physically attack him. It shattered against his bed and sprinkled to the floor. Some of it in large chunks, some of it in dust.
"You pig! I hate you! I hate all pirates! You feed on the innocent, on the wholesome, all to serve your own ends!"
Hearing screaming through his wall, Jack had got up and opened the door to his first mate's room, where the shouting was going on. He drank from one of the last bottles of rum he had stashed away, listening and watching. It was more entertaining then the rest of the crew at the moment, at least.
"I'm sure that ye will find that not all pirates are bad," Michael said in an attempt to calm her, palms held out flat in as a peace offering. "Ye may even come to like this crew."
"Your crew is the worst of them all!" A cup followed where the plate had been seconds earlier. Michael dodged this as well. Monkey leapt up on to his shoulder, staring at the fuming woman.
Jack felt proud when she screamed that. Made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Or it was the rum. He shrugged and continued drinking.
"I am so pleased," she continued to screech, "that my husband wants to destroy all you . . . you . . . good-for-nothings!"
"This mus' be a decade of rage pent up, eh love?" he said, smirking.
"I will give you a decade of pent up rage!" she screamed, throwing a nearly empty inkwell in Michael's direction. He took one step to the side and it smashed against his bed. "Now who's this great, bonnie lad who'll get rid of all us terrible pirates?" he cooed mockingly.
"My fiancé, Commodore Norrington!" she yelled right at the first mate.
The two occupants of the room heard a shatter. They turned to the door and saw Jack standing there, aghast, his bottle of rum having slipped out of his hand.
"Y-yer rum, cap'n," Michael said, almost as shocked as he.
"M . . . Me rum!" Then he looked up at Rachelle, eyes wild. "Yer marrying the Commodore?!" Glancing over at Michael, he backed away slowly.
"Looks like ye got another one, cap'n."
Jack snickered then stared down at the puddle of rum and glass. Then he stomped off to his room, wondering why all his rum had to be nearly gone.
"I will make sure he kills every single one of you!" Rachelle shouted at Michael. "I hate you! Pirates are horrible! He will rid you from this earth for me!"
"Ye poor women, ne'er allowed to express anything but happiness. The brains bred outa ya, trained to be docile and well-kept." He gestured towards her. "This is what 'appens when you don't allow yerself to express, savvy? Ye get all flustered and start throwin' things."
"What does savvy mean?!" she screeched, looking about ready to start tugging on her hair and ripping it out in furious frustration.
"A few things," he said offhandedly. "Now will yeh calm down and speak peacefully? We're protectin' ya now. Ye'll learn to get along with us."
"No! You make me sick! You probably enjoy watching women being raped and killed! That first taste of it twelve years ago must have really whetted your whistle!"
Enraged with this expletive, Michael stormed to the door. Wrenching it open, he spat, "Ye will learn to like us, love."
"I will never like pirates!"
He glowered darkly at her, half in the room, half out in the corridor. "Never," he growled irately, "say never." And he stepped out into the hall, slamming the door so fiercely that it shook in the doorframe.
Rachelle was left in near darkness, totally stunned, staring at the door, unable to think of a single word.
~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***
I thought I'd be nice and post another chapter. I'm being a bad, bad girl right now because I'm supposed to be writing out the recipes I'm doing for my exam (mon and wed). And I'm supposed to write out my mise-en-place list. Uh, basically that means prep, I guess. So I'm being bad, but also kinda nice ":D I'm posting a chappie, yay! *listens for celebration . . . cricket, cricket.* Sweet.
Sukkumbus and the absent, semi-MIA Mika