Jack didn't get very much sleep at all with his family hooting and hollering downstairs all night. He wiped the guck from his eyes as he slowly walked over to the banister. Downstairs, pirates were sprawled out throughout the living room and kitchen. Any space on the floor where there wasn't a drunken passed out family member of his was empty or spilled alcohol. Jack knew knowing he was probably the only one that wasn't completely hungover, he would have to clean up after them all.

Where's Valerie? Jack quietly walked over to her room across from his, where her door was slightly cracked open. Through the crack of the door, he could see Valerie sprawled out on her bed, with blankets over her and an arm hanging off the bed. Jack felt a little bit of pain in his stomach and it gurgled. An evil smile spread across his face.

He slowly opened the barely creaking door and tiptoed across her room to her bed. He gently picked up her arm and put it back next to her on the bed, making sure to not wake her up. He lifted the blanket a little, put his behind close to her face, and...BRRRRRT! He quickly pulled the blanket over her head, tucked it under her mattress, and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He stayed by the door, pulling on the doorknob to keep it shut. After a short minute, he heard a groan, a gag, and yelling.

"OH GOD JAACKIEEEEEEEEE!"

Jack couldn't contain his laughter anymore. He howled in laughter as his poor cousin pulled and banged on the door.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE YOU LI'LE SHITE! I'M DYING! AHHHHHHHH!" Valerie cried out in between coughs.

Jack held the door shut as tears ran down his red cheeks in a fit of laughter, not noticing someone had come up behind him.

"AHEM!"

Jack quickly stopped laughing and looked up behind him to see a not very happy Teague.

"What are you doin', boy?" Teague grumbled with arms crossed.

Jack looked over at the door. He let go of the doorknob and watched as it swung open. Valerie fell onto her hands and knees. She looked weak from exhaustion, and possibly from the wreaking smell as well. She slowly crawled through the doorway, coughing and gasping for air. Jack burst into laughter again at the sight of Valerie nearly passing out from the stench that was his own.

"Y-your welp...trapped me!" Valerie then dramatically fell onto the floor and laid there limply.

"That is what I call a Dutch oven, lassie!" Jack smirked, once again pulling himself back together.

"What are you? A child?" Teague scoffed, looking down at his own disgrace.

"Well, my boons haven't dropped all the way yet, so technically I am," Jack responded.

Teague looked at Jack with increasingly angry eyes. He grunted and shuffled through his own attire, pulling his belt through and out the buckle. Jack knew exactly what this meant. He screamed and ran down the stairs. He couldn't help but laugh a bit at the angry Teague. Halfway down the stairs, his foot got caught on a step and he tumbled down the rest of the way. He sat there on the floor at the bottom of the staircase holding his foot and ankle. Jack looked up and saw a silhouette of his father at the top of the stairs with a belt in his hand.

Jack screamed again and quickly shuffled his way into the kitchen, fighting through the pain in his ankle. He crawled into an empty cabinet and quietly shut the door. He heard footsteps come down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Why didn't I just go into my room? Stupid, stupid, stupid! Everything was quiet except for the sound of his own breathing and footsteps coming towards him. He held his breath as the cabinet door quickly flew open and he felt something grab him by the hair.

As much as he should have been afraid at this moment, he always found Teague's hot-headed temper quite amusing, even if it meant he usually came out of it with bruises. This was just horse-play to him compared to the one who he actually feared,...Grandmama. Jack was thrown onto the ground and he felt a few hard smacks from the belt hit his back while he laughed like a maniac.

Teague stopped hitting the boy and stepped away to leave the room. Before he headed out, he turned to Jack, who was still laughing and pulling himself back up.

"Clean up the place. There's a meeting in the Great Chamber at noon," Teague ordered. Before Jack could respond, he added, "and you're coming."

Jack's smirk dropped into a frown. "WHAT?! Why do I always have to go to these? I'm not even a pirate lord!"

"It's not just pirate lords that have to show up," Teague explained. "You have to come to these to learn."

"Learn? Then how come Valerie doesn't go to these?! You told me you have more faith in her than you do with me anyway," Jack asserted.

Teague rolled his eyes. "Because,...she's not my child so she doesn't need to go if she doesn't want to, and she doesn't need as much learning as you do."

"Then can I just have Uncle 'Ace' as a dad instead of you?" Jack asked.

"Are you sure you want Valerie as your sister?" Teague pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Jack's face twisted into a cringe. She was already annoying enough as a cousin. He didn't want to even think about her as a sibling.

"But I don't want to—"

"You're a pirate goddamnit! You're coming!" Teague growled before turning his back and storming off.

Jack sighed. He already had to clean up after a bunch of hungover pirates in the morning, go to see Borya Palachnik to do chores on one of the Koldunyas in the afternoon, and he also now had to squeeze this meeting in between. He was also hoping to see Anne that evening. He wiped his brow just under his bandana with his sleeve and began to limp on his hurting ankle to the living room, which the family had finally mostly cleared out of, to begin the cleanup.

The meeting in the Great Chamber had already commenced for about fifteen minutes and Jack had still not come down. Jack never liked going to those meetings. They were never that important and it was mainly the locals that would show up. He still didn't get why he always had to be dragged down there with Teague. In protest, Jack always showed up late, or sometimes not even showing up at all. On the days he showed up, he acted out as much as he could to get on Teague's nerves.

Jack showed up down the stairs, purposely with a loud thud, and everyone turned their heads and looked at him.

"Not to fret, everyone. I am here!" Jack proudly announced. He saw Teague who was also looking at him with a disapproving glare. Jack took notice of the empty seat next to Teague and limped over. "Well look at that! You saved a seat for me. You shouldn't have!"

Jack sat down next to Teague and looked at everyone at the table, who were all still staring at him in silence. "What are you all looking at? Come on now! Carry on with the meeting!" Jack then crossed his arms and sat quietly.

The pirate who was rudely interrupted glared at Jack for a few seconds longer before proceeding with where he left off.

As the meeting dragged on, Jack got more and more bored. He picked dirt out from under his fingernails as he listened to different people ramble on. He ran his fingers along the table over some nasty curse words he had scratched into the wood throughout his young life.

With his right hand, he put his finger tips on the table with his hand straight up. He then lifted his middle finger up towards the inside of his hand. He lifted his thumb and pinky and began to rub on his middle finger. His whole hand resembled some...well...disgusting act. Jack smirked a little and took his other hand and put his index and middle finger straight onto the table. His right hand "walked", with the index and ring finger as legs, and stuck the middle one between the two fingers on his left hand. He then proceeded to move his finger in and out and let out a small, high-pitched moan. Teague smacked him on the arm and quietly growled at him to stop. Jack quickly hid his hands under the table and sat up straight.

Jack started to play with his fingers again. He pulled on each of his fingers and cracked some of his joints. He counted his fingers while making noises. "Duuurrrrr...doooohhh...daahhh—"

Teague smacked Jack on the arm again and snarled through gritted teeth. "Shut it, boy! We're pirates goddamnit!"

Jack twitched his head and muttered some swear words under his breath. Teague smacked his arm once more.

Teague stood up to speak. In the middle of a sentence, a loud grumble erupted throughout the room. Everyone looked around the room trying to figure out where the noise came from. Teague looked down at Jack who was looking down at his stomach.

"My stomach seems to be telling me that I'm hungry," Jack said.

"Well, tell your stomach to shut up. We'll eat after the meeting," Teague rebuked.

Teague began to speak to the room again when Jack's stomach interrupted the meeting the second time.

"But Teague, I'm hungry!" Jack complained.

"I told you you'll get food after the meeting," Teague hissed.

Jack then leapt off his seat onto the floor on his hands and knees. "P-please! I haven't eaten in forever and I'm starving to death!" Jack begged.

All the pirates in the room stared at the two. With Jack's frame being quite...scrawny, they all could have easily mistaken Jack to actually be unfed and starving to death.

"And I can't get the food myself. My ankle still hurts too much from when I fell down the stairs because of you!" Jack whined.

Teague growled a little and squeezed his hands into fists. He looked back at the room full of pirates, who were all glaring at him like he was a monster. He then breathed a sigh as he relaxed his fists.

"Meeting adjourned," Teague said flatly.

Jack sat on the Koldunya's railing, with one leg hanging over the other side, loosening and retying the riggings. Borya stepped over to Jack and surveyed his work.

"You done good work today, boy," Borya praised.

Jack always enjoyed Borya's praise. Not looking up, he smiled a bit and replied. "Thanks," Jack finished a knot and looked over to Borya. "I'm heading out after I'm finished here."

"To where?"

"With some mates."

"Mates? Friends?" Borya blinked. He was stunned to hear Jack talk about friends. Jack was never known to make or keep relationships.

"Aye," Jack said, starting another knot.

Borya leaned in closer to Jack and lowered his voice. "It's a lass, da?"

Jack stopped and stared at Borya for a moment. "Err, yes," he answered quickly before continuing with the knot.

"Ah. No shame in that, Jack-boy," Borya reassured.

"Yes,...no shame in that until Teague finds out," Jack said.

"How about we keep it between us, da?"

Jack looked at Borya again. He smiled a little and nodded.

"You say you consider her...girlfriend?" Borya asked.

"I suppose," Jack shrugged. He had only been out with the girl for one night and he wasn't sure of what she thought of it.

Borya smiled, showing all his small white teeth. "You are smart boy. You'll take good care of the lady." Borya dropped a small pouch of coins in Jack's hands, ruffled his hair, and went down the gangplank and the docks.

Jack finished the knot, and not a moment too soon, Anne came down the dock.

"Jack!" Anne called out.

Jack's face lit up as he waved. Like always, Anne looked absolutely stunning. Jack swung his leg that was hanging over the railing back around, hopped back on the deck, and went down the gangplank to the girl.