An Unlikely Upbringing

Chapter Two: A Father, A Son

"Jacky," The elder of the two Jack Teagues, the Captain of the Seas (as Jacky so lovingly referred to him as), grinned a rare smile and sat on the edge of the "bed", taking little comfort on the only box of "treasures" Little Jack owned. With avidity not normally displayed at bedtime. But ever so attentively Little Jack listened as his father spun tales earnestly of the seas, Davy Jones, ghosts, mermaids, sirens, and of other oceanic creatures that lurked in the deep. By the end of it all, Little Jack was sleeping soundly in his hammock and a gentle kiss was pressed against his forehead and the ruffle of his thick, dark hair as Captain Teague left the room to greet Nima, his lovely wife, in the doorway.

Nima smiled into their goodbye kisses, though the smile was to hide the pain of being left as Captain Teague, even before sunrise, had departed. Again.

A certain amount of brooding left Jack and his pocketful of money somehow meaningless, cast against the rocks against the shore without a care to the world, yet his breakfast had been bizarrely eager considering his less than friendly demeanor ever morning. Jack, to say the least, was not a morning person. Truth behind his eager? The bribery that would cast him a working man at the age of seven as he dashed a beeline to the docks of the East India Trading Company and the idea of money in his pocket, earned fair and easily, or as easy as it gets being a man of the seas. A truth he will never admit to be the reason behind his determinations and ambitions. His mother, Nima, was his life and at the threat of death, he would go to the World's End for his life. His father left her poor for weeks at a time, forcing her son and herself to eat stale bread and peg for spare change, the two performing odd tasks only to make ends meet. Jack needed a sense of stability in life devoid of normalcy. He needed money for schooling, clothes, and the life's pleasures for a young boy willing to live his childhood as the poor kid with a lack of a father for nearly ten months of every year.

However, Jack was exception in three ways: He was exceptionally good looking, exceptionally sharp and witty, and exceptionally and inexplicably short. Jack counted his many blessings for his first two gifts from whoever steered him clear of danger, the big being upstairs. Though, dreaded the aspect that was otherwise viewed as a sacrifice towards his good looks, a height issue that was no more explainable than female patterned baldness or a bearded woman—Jack was cursed with something always. Nima, his beautiful Indian mother, was average—not too tall, nor too short—and she was fine amongst the other woman. As for his father? Elder Jack Teague was a tall man, no doubt about that so where did this problem have its evil root? Jack had no idea but he only prayed to that big being with the pistols upstairs to let the Trading Company see beyond his height to the ambition and hard work ethic installed in him and hire him—he' deal with his mother when things were certain, if they ever would be. It took forever to pool together his money, what if half the time spending it for food.

With great, confident strides, Jack stopped at the man in a white wig at the end of the dock, a piece of parchment and a quill in either of his strong-appearing grips. "Sir?" Jack politely inquired, staring up at the tall man, feeling as though he was an ant. "I need your help, sir."

"You lost, boy?" The man leaned down with a gentle smile. Adults always treated him that way.

"No, I know exactly where I am and it's where I want to be," Jack began to pace the dock as he stared at his feet, now self consciously aware of the many scuffs in his worn boots. "I want to work for your company, sir. I'm a hard worker, my father even says so. I learn quickly and I need the money. I have some as a….hiring fee?" He extracted from his coat pocket his rather large sum of cash and sifted through it with his hands. The man clad in the white wig gazed upon the loot with a smile and picked a piece with his fingers, rolling it between his index and middle.

"You? A worker? So young and so desperate?"

"My mother and I—"

"Jack Teague." The man seemed disgusted and threw the coin back. "Captain Jack Teague, that dirty rat, your father, is he boy?"

"Well—" Jack felt offended. Thoroughly offended. His father was no rat! His father, though dubious in his ways, was a good man. A fine man. Nay, a perfect example of everything Jack so very strongly longed for with all his salty heart. Salt of the sea. Salt of his love. "Can we leave him out of this, perhaps?"

"Well, give me half of your money boy and I'll put you to work. Hope you don't think you'll be on a ship soon. You have to go to get into shape before that, and ripen." The wigged man looked over Jack, only guessing his young age correctly and continuing to scribble on his parchment.

With a grateful grin Jack stuffed his spending money into his pocket and looked at the man who had already barked Jack's schedule. Every morning before school, every afternoon after and no tardy arrivals will be accepted or punishment thereafter. "Jack Teague…that your name?" The man finally asked.

"Yes sir."

"Jack's a nice name." With the sun rising high, the man crossed Jack's path and off the splintered deck, leaving Jack in awe. His father hated these men but why? He was only doomed to find out.

Well, it's my second chapter and Jack's got himself some plans and I have his father a first name. I feel accomplished, to be honest. Nothing feels better than knowing that even though you're busy you can still do something mildly important. Though I apologize for miss-spelling or grammatical errors, I've been so busy lately I hardly have the time to read them afterwards and I don't trust my family to read them, so anyways…Hope you liked it.

Thanks to:

Reviewers: Sparrows-Luv1345, sd13, DCoD, and Queen of Halloween

Anyone and everyone who alerted and added the story as their favorites, I love all of you and you know EXACTLY who you are!

I'd appreciate the response, I want ideas and I want feedback. Alerts and favorites are perfect if anything.