I sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry."
Trinket's icy stare warmed and she tilted my face to her. "What is it, Gin?"
I pulled away and stalked past her. "Nothing." I said coldly. "Nothing, at all."
Chapter Two…Virginia the Pirate
Mama Ruby raised her hand and brought it down on my cheek. "How DARE you?" She shrieked. "You know BETTER than that! I've taught you to ALWAYS stay in the tavern or the brothel. You know BETTER than to take off without permission. You're lucky I haven't killed you for it!" I simply stared at the floor as she raged about my disobedience. "That it!" She cried. "I'm 'upgrading' you. You will no longer work with US." She laughed her shrill, nasally laugh. "You'll be working with THEM now. Just like the rest of the girls!"
I looked up at her defiantly. "Do what you like." I spat out. "I won't be here much longer. I have two months left with you. That's it!"
Mama Ruby and the girls snorted. "And just where are you planning to go?" Asked a redheaded whore named Scarlet.
"Yeah." Spouted Vivian. "You're an orphan now missy! You ain't got no family but us left."
Tanya, a quiet, dark skinned beauty just shook her head. "You can't survive out there, Virginia." She sighed. "It isn't as easy on the streets as it is here."
Mama Ruby nodded. "These girls know what their talking about, Ginia. Listen to them. Without me, you're nothing. Without me, you'll die."
"I- I'll find a ship!" I argued. "I'll dress like a man and find a ship to work on."
The pretty blond named Giselle cocked and eyebrow as Mama Ruby laughed. "And when you get caught in the rain and your clothes stick to your chest?" She suddenly snarled. "You're not much of a woman but what you are is still too much for a man to ignore. Especially at sea. Putting yourself on a ship full of men will just get you raped. And when you're raw and bleeding from all those men, they'll still take you. It will be agony, Virginia. There is no way you will survive."
I glared at her. "I won't survive here, either. I'll put in my last two months and then I am gone." With that, I turned on my heel and marched straight up to my room where I locked the door.
For the next two months, I suffered quietly at the hands of the drunks of Tortuga. I did my duty and pleased them as best I could. I raked in the cash because the men said it was like loving the sea. My eyes were the color of the Caribbean herself and my hair was black like the sky. The men loved my flesh because it was white like the sails of their ships and soft as Mama Ruby could scrub it. Finally, my two months of servitude ended and I took off. I stole a pair of breeches from one of my patrons and a shirt from another. I bought a pair of boots from the cobbler down the road and found a man who sold hats. I cut my hair and kept it bound at the nape of my neck while I strode about like a young man. I did my best to be rude and dirty and I kept my chest bound so tight it hurt.
All my work paid off and I was taken aboard a ship. After three months the ship returned to Tortuga and the captain kicked me off of the ship. He said it was taking me too long to learn the ways of pirating. Tossing me a small bag of money he told me to take a hike and I did. I went back to my old tavern for a while, where I met a captain who was desperate for a crew. I signed on with him and, two days later, I was off again. This time, I was on a ship with black sails. There were two women aboard. Their names were Ana Maria and Elizabeth. If it wasn't too late, I'd have revealed that I, too, was a woman. Unfortunately, I knew it wasn't a good idea, so I remained Alex the Warf Rat. I was on that ship for nearly a month before Mama Ruby was proved right. I got caught in the rain and the men noticed how my clothing clung to places it shouldn't.
"Well, well, well…" The fat, balding man known as Pintel sneered. "What have we got here? A little poppet to play with, eh?"
I glared at the men as another one, this one tall and thin with a fake eye, laughed. "Kinda skinny, but she'll do alright. 'Specially for what I've got in mind!"
I backed away from them slowly, only to find myself pressed into the mainsail. A midget named Marty looked over to where the two of them had me cornered and I threw a frightened look at him. He was really quite nice to the women and I prayed to all the gods I'd ever heard of that he'd get someone to help me. Apparently at least ONE of those gods existed for he took off faster than you could say 'bugger' and reappeared just as quickly with Gibbs and the captain on his heels.
"What have you got there, mates?" Captain Sparrow called out as he approached.
Ragetti laughed his sick little laugh while Pintel answered. "A little Poppet decided to play dress up. She's quite a lovely one, really… In her own way."
"Really now?" Sparrow laid a hand on Ragetti's shoulder. "How about we have a look-see then, shall we?" Ragetti and Pintel stepped aside and Jack cocked an eyebrow at my chest. "Lovely, you say?" He muttered to Pintel. "Well, as you say, then…" He turned and began to walk off. The two pirates stepped back in place and began to reach for me. "Oh! And one more thing!" He looked over his shoulder. "I'll be needing my cabin cleaned… Whatever your name is. And I'd like it done in the next ten minutes."
"Captain!" Gibbs jumped in front of him. "It's frigh-"
"Yes, yes, I know, Gibbs. It's frightful bad luck to have a woman aboard." Jack patted the man's shoulder and pointed at Elizabeth and Ana Maria. "BUT as you can see, we already have two and nothing bad has happened as yet, so what's the harm in one more?" Jack waved over his shoulder at me and swaggered off.
"BLAST!" Pintel whipped the bandana off of his head and threw to the ground before grabbing Ragetti's arm and dragging the dour-looking man away. "TO HELL WITH HER, IT, HIM, AND THEM!" He shrieked over the moaning waves. "TO HELL!"
I laughed and untucked my shirt before calling up to the women. "Neither of you would happen to have a spare dress would you?" Elizabeth smiled and motioned for me to join her. "Thanks, mate!" I hooted as I followed her below.
"Anytime." Elizabeth laughed heartily "Ana Maria's not too good at talking about some of the more 'womanly' things, but you might be. I must say… I was beginning to question your sexuality."
"What do you mean?" I cried indignantly. "I made a GREAT Warf-Rat!"
"Oh, no doubts about that." Ana Maria grinned. "It's just that the both of us caught you staring after a certain someone with a certain looking of desire upon your face."
"Not to mention the friendliness between yourself and this certain someone." Elizabeth giggled and eyed me curiously.
"Friendliness?" Ana Maria cackled. "If it got much friendlier I'd have KNOWN she wasn't a boy. We all would have!"
"Oh, be quiet!" I glared at the women. "The both of you! You wouldn't have known because I wouldn't DARE make a move for an engaged man!"
The girls' heads snapped around. "Oh, we're not talking about WILL." Ana Maria laughed uproariously.
"It's JACK we meant!" Elizabeth announced as she led us into her and Will Turners cabin. "You do hang on him just SO when he's about. It's funny really. You don't even seem to realize your doing it. Neither did he."
"Absolutely hilarious." Ana Maria held her sides as her laughter subsided.
"Ooooooooh!" I snarled. "Why don't you both just kiss my arse!"
Ana Maria erupted into a whole new bout of laughter. "Do you hear THAT, Lizzy?" She howled. "Maybe we were right about her after all!"
Elizabeth just grinned as she lifted a pale blue-white gown from her trunk.
