Ch.9-Where the Kids Go on Saturday Night
Shanks was exhausted. It took him nearly two hours just to teach Victoria how to control her emotions so she could control her powers and he couldn't even do it alone. He had to have Maura, Johnny, and Kyler help calm her down but at least the job got done. He also spent the next few hours teaching one-armed fighting moves to all the other kids except for Lynn, who did not give a damn about fighting as she claimed that she would easily break a nail, and Larry, who already knew how to fight good enough with his own two hands to learn anything else. Amazingly, Shanks had an easier time getting the others to obey him when he was fighting and he didn't even need to scream like the "Gordon Ramsey" Kyler mentioned earlier that day.
By the time it was ten minutes before the last bell rang, Shanks chose to give out an easy assignment for the rest of the class to do. It was similar to the assignment they got while reading the Harry Potter book. All they had to do was write a paragraph of something that happened in Howl's Moving Castle. "In English, not Al Bhed, Johnny. I also want to see more words than numbers and drawings Larry and Victoria. I also want a whole paragraph Kurt and Elie. Spelling and grammar does count Maura and Kyler. Lynn, I also want you to actually do the assignment."
Eight groans of different pitches came from the eight students, but were quickly replaced by cheers when the bell rang. Like what happened every day, the rest of the class practically shoved each other out of the way just to get to the doorway.
"Okay, guys! I'll see you tomorrow!" Shanks shouted.
"Pfft. Yeah right. Like we'd really be going to school on a Saturday." Maura said with a little laugh.
"We'll see you on Monday, Mr. Shanks!" Victoria called before she left the room with the rest of the class following her.
Shanks was a little confused at why the entire class left in a bigger hurry than they had the last few days and why Victoria said that they'd be back on Monday. His confusion was taken away when he asked Manson about it. Apparently there wasn't any school on Saturdays and Sundays. He had the whole weekend away from those little hellraisers unless he ran into them when wandering the streets or something. He shook off that thought and locked his classroom door. After collecting his full day's worth of payment, he left the school and made it back to the ship for a weekend of relaxation.
It was now Saturday evening. So far, Shanks had not seen one of his students. He didn't even see any of them when he had to walk all the way uptown with a few of his crewmembers just to go shopping at one of the shops. He did, however, see some of the families of his students he met the first day he began working at the high school.
The old woman from Johnny's house that spoke no English was there, digging through bags of dried noodles with another woman that was speaking to her in the language. The old woman noticed Shanks, pointed her finger at him, and shouted something in the language. The other woman responded in the same language before walking over to Shanks and asking, "You're Johnny's teacher?"
Shanks let out a breath of relief as the woman spoke to him in English. "Yes."
"I'm Johnny's mother. Has my son been behaving in class lately?" the other woman asked.
Shanks thought for a moment and pondered at what he would say. Had Johnny been behaving? The answer: not really, but not as bad as the other students. "Well, he's been better than he was the first day of school."
The younger woman, Johnny's mother, who honestly did not look a thing like the boy, nodded and headed off to another part of the store with the old woman.
Shanks had also run into Elie's father, who was buying a case of beer, and Victoria's mother, who was walking down random isles with two of her children: a little boy and girl. Not one of the four had said anything to him and that was fine by him. He wouldn't really know what to say to them either. Elie's father would probably end up putting his daughter through more pain than he already put her through if Shanks confronted him about Elie's injuries. Victoria's mother would probably think of Shanks as a crazy lunatic if he confronted her about Victoria's new powers to control the wind and that was probably one of the last things he wanted.
It was a little difficult shopping here in this new place as most of the food in this shop had to involve items his crew did not own: microwaves, crock pots, and electric mixers. Most of the packaged items would not be able to be purchased as they involved one of the items he did not have. Thankfully, there were some items that could be cooked with a stove and an oven, which the ship had both of.
The nine large bags of meat, ramen noodles, and fresh produce (and a few cans of vegetables) ended up costing close to three hundred dollars, easily around half of a days worth of pay at the high school. The four crew members he brought shopping with him grunted as they lifted up the heavy bags of food and walked a mile back to the ship. As he continued walking, Shanks had not run into any of his students. Of course, he didn't really care where they were. As long as they were away from him, he would be happy.
Saiyoru came back early from work as he had not stopped by the karaoke bar on his way back to the ship. It was strange that he had chosen not to stop by as he had done in the one week the crew had been on Starlight Island, but that still did not mean that he did not want to stop by there earlier that night. In fact, that's what he was planning on doing anyway: bringing the crew to the karaoke bar.
"You want us to go to that karaoke bar?" Shanks asked Saiyoru in fake disbelief.
Saiyoru nodded, "Yeah. It could be fun. Plus they serve good drinks there."
"Heh. You just want to go there to see your little girlfriend, Angel-face." Ben said from the other side of the lounge, where all the rest of the Red Hair Pirates were seated. The rest of the crew laughed when a slight blush came across Saiyoru's face. Whoever this "Angel-face" was, Saiyoru certainly liked her and wanted the rest of the pirates to meet her.
Shanks shrugged, "Okay, we'll go. I want to try out the drinks they serve on this island that isn't thrown in my face." It was settled. The Red Hair Pirates were going to be going to the bar, wherever it was.
The Island Transit was taken to the bar, which happened to be about two miles away from the marina. It almost couldn't fit all twenty-five crew members that were going, but thanks to the lack of other passengers and the fact that all the men squashed together in their seats, they were able to fit.
Shanks and the rest of the pirates finally stood in front of a rather large-sized building in the uptown part of the island. The area around the building was clean except for a few discarded cigarette butts and a food wrapper that lay on the sidewalk. On the top of the building, in bright neon red and blue letters were the words Capricorn Karaoke Bar. The group was in the right place.
As soon as Shanks opened the door, the heavy scent of booze, food, and sweat hit his face. Music blasted from all the corners of the building. A stage was against the far right wall with a microphone standing upon it. Girls of different ages and sizes were dressed in the same short skirts and short dark blue tops decorated with tiny white stars were handing out food and drinks to people seated at tables. There were also some men and boys dressed in jean pants and tight dark blue tops also decorated with tiny white stars, handing out the same food and drinks the girls were. There were also a few men in dark clothes standing at the far end of the room, but they weren't doing anything. The other people that were seen were just random kids and adults at tables. All they were doing were drinking, eating, and talking amongst themselves.
Most of the tables were already occupied by kids and adults, but there were two large ones that seemed to fit all of the pirates that had just entered the karaoke bar. The second they all sat both of the tables, two girls with large smiles on their faces and folders in their hands came up to the tables. At the same time, both girls handed the folders out and said happily, "Welcome to Capricorn Karaoke Bar."
Shanks smirked at the girl on the right, who was handing out folders to the table he sat at. "Hello, Maura."
Maura let out a little groan, "What the hell are you doing here, Bastard?"
The other girl, a blonde about two inches taller than her, turned to Maura and asked, "You know these guys, Angel-face?" Maura was the Angel-face that Saiyoru kept talking about?
Shanks took a closer look at her. The way Saiyoru talked about her and the name "Angel-face" made it seem as if the owner was somebody hot. Maura wasn't. Sure she was cute for a fifteen-year-old, but not enough to actually earn the name "Angel-face"…or at least that's what he assumed. Apparently Saiyoru and Kyler thought differently.
"Unfortunately. The red-haired guy's my teacher." Maura answered to the other girl. She let out a tired sigh and replaced her frustrated look on her face with the smile she came to the table with. "So, what'll it be?"
"What's the strongest drink you got here?" Shanks asked without looking at his folder.
At the same time, both Maura and the other girl, whose nametag on her top read "Bright Eyes" answered, "The Zodiac Special."
"Good. We'll take twenty-five of those." Shanks answered for the rest of his crew.
"How old is he?" Maura asked, pointing at Saiyoru, unsure of how old he actually was.
"He's twenty." Shanks answered.
"I'm sorry, but the legal drinking age here for alcohol is twenty-one. He can't order any alcohol here. He can have soda or water, though." Bright Eyes answered.
"What? What the hell kind of rule is that?!" Yasopp asked.
"Where do you guys come from? Every city around this country has the rule of where you have to be twenty-one to order alcohol from restaurants, bars, and shops. Oh, and no smoking is allowed in this building." Maura asked.
"Oh, that's why there isn't a cigarette in between your fingers then." Shanks ignored the scowl that came from Maura and looked down at the folder. A name for a drink caught his eye. "Hmmm…root beer…well, it has the word beer in it."
"I'll take that, then." Saiyoru, who was sitting at Shanks' table said.
"Okay, then. That's twenty-four Zodiac Specials and a root beer. Can we get you anything else?" Maura asked while writing the current order down on a little notepad she took from a belt on her side. All the pirates shook their heads. "Okay. We'll be back with your orders momentarily."
"I don't know what you see in her, Saiyoru. You got the weirdest taste in women." Lucky told the pirate crew's chef as the youngest member watched Maura walk away from the table.
"You also better forget about getting her. She's too young for you. She's only fifteen." Shanks added. "Also, I don't think you know this, but she's also got a boyfriend already."
"She does?" Saiyoru asked in shock. "Who?"
"Look behind you." a voice from the table behind Shanks said, answering the question Saiyoru asked.
Shanks turned his head and there, sitting at the table with a smirk on his face, was Johnny sitting with Victoria and a group of other kids the man did not know. Kyler was sitting there, too, sipping a drink from a glass. Shanks stared at them. "You guys come here, too?"
"Every kid and teenager comes here on Saturday nights. We get great discounts here on Saturdays." Victoria explained while taking a sip of her drink. "Besides, on Saturday nights, all the new music is played and all the oldies are taken away."
A wobbly voice from the stage echoed throughout the building:
And on the way down
I saw you
And you saved me
From myself
And I won't forget
The way you loved me
Many people in the building winced at the horrible singing coming from the stage. Shanks turned his head and saw a boy he did not know, but had seen in the school cafeteria. The boy was slightly overweight and was singing into the microphone. His acne-covered face was starting to redden with each word he sang. Sweat rolled down from his greasy black hair and down his face. His thick glasses were starting to fog up.
The people in the tables began to boo loudly, but the boy kept singing despite the fact that everyone was basically telling him to get off the stage. Finally, one of them threw what looked like a crushed tomato at the boy and hit him square in the face. "Get off the stage!" a loud voice screamed. The singer obeyed her and ran off embarrassed.
Shanks turned his head towards where the voice and tomato came from. One of the men in the back walked over to the table and screamed at Lynn. "Hey! This is the last time we're telling you this: if you do that one more time, we're banning you from this karaoke bar!" Lynn grunted and muttered something unknown before the man went away.
"So, who's her boyfriend?" Saiyoru asked, turning his attention onto Maura.
"I am." Kyler answered from the next table, "So stay away from my woman."
The look Saiyoru gave Kyler was absolutely priceless, a mixture of anger and surprise like that of a man that was trying to protect something of his that nobody else had. He'd never given that look before and it was actually pretty funny to see him with a look like that especially since he was such a quiet and calm person. Now it seemed he was protective of somebody he didn't even know very well. He probably would have jumped up to do something about it had Maura not come back with her partner, both holding large trays covered with glass mugs. All but one of the liquids in the mugs were a dark blue color.
"Okay, that's twenty-four Zodiac Specials." Maura and Bright Eyes handed the twenty-four mugs with the dark blue liquids to the older pirates. "And one root beer." Maura handed the final mug, full of a brown liquid to Saiyoru. The two girls then walked away to another table.
Shanks looked skeptically at the mug of blue liquid. There was some clear ice inside of it, making the drink look like the night sky. Slowly, he lifted the drink to his lips and took a sip of what was inside. The taste was strong with alcohol with hints of different flavors. It was sweet, yet also tangy and a tad bit sour, but nonetheless, it still tasted good though not as good as the alcohol he was accustomed to drinking on his own pirate ship.
The music on the stage started up again, but this time, rather than a horrible voice coming from the stage, a perfect voice came. Loud cheering came from the tables as the voice started singing. Shanks turned his head and saw Maura standing on the stage in her uniform, holding the microphone and singing:
I'm hunting on the night the slave to my dream
An illustrated seen descends in the sleep
We're playing for the fights emotional games
I'm turning off my eyes and hiding my shame
Her body began to move in a free style-type dance as she sang the next part:
A never ending dream a dream of you
I believe I received a sign of you
Tonight I want to hide my feelings too
As you do and I want to be with you
The way her body moved when she danced was…amazing. She looked as if she was made to be a dancer. Her body didn't stiff up nor did it move in the wrong way. It was official. Not only was Maura an excellent singer, she was just as good a dancer and the other customers must have seen that, too. The guys and most of the girls were staring at her in admiration with each word sang and each move made by the girl on the stage. The only ones that did not look at her in admiration were Lynn and the little clique of girls she sat with. They stared at her with looks of hatred in their eyes.
Loud cheering came when Maura was finished with her song and walked down the stage steps and back onto the ground to continue her work. After that, everyone else continued their business with drinking and talking amongst each other.
The rest of the night seemed to be going along fine. Sure there were more singers, some bad and some good, on the stage and a few dancers and the noise was loud, but that didn't really matter. This karaoke bar was a good place to hang out in and the drinks were good. The bill that Bright Eyes handed Shanks was a little expensive, but also fair: $74.50. It was $72 for the Zodiac Specials (Bright Eyes had to explain that the Zodiac Special was $3 a glass) and $2.50 for the root beer that Saiyoru ordered. Thankfully Shanks brought along enough money to pay for the bill.
The pirates were about to leave when a fight came between one of the pirates and another customer. No, the pirate did not happen to be Shanks, but instead Saiyoru, who challenged Kyler to a fight for Maura's affections, something neither had done before but had wanted to try at least once in their lives.
The fight took place in the alleyway outside the back of Capricorn Karaoke Bar. A large crowd including the pirates, Johnny, Victoria, and even some people Shanks did not know was out there to see the fight in action. Most of the people were cheering for Kyler, but the pirates were around cheering for Saiyoru to win despite the fact that they honestly didn't really care who won or lost. Maura came out dressed in a pair of jeans and a thin T-shirt with a bag slung over her shoulders about two minutes after the fight between her boyfriend and another she did not know started.
Victoria leaned towards Maura and whispered something, possibly what the fight was about, and the red-haired girl smacked her forehead before whispering something back to Victoria.
The fight going on in between Kyler and Saiyoru was actually very interesting. Saiyoru was never really one to fight although he was actually rather skilled with his fists when he felt strongly about fighting about something. Kyler wasn't bad either. It looked like Kyler had had some fighting lessons while growing up even though all Shanks ever saw him do was suck face with Maura and play soccer.
Fists from both boys were flying and most were dodged. The cheering from the crowd kept going and going for both Saiyoru and Kyler. Both were fighting for the affections of a simple waitress and after ten minutes, it seemed that nobody was going to win the fight. The two fighters just kept swinging and dodging. Not one of them even got hit and the fight was starting to get boring.
After twelve minutes, the crowd started quieting and eventually leaving all together, but it didn't really matter. The fight only lasted ten more minutes after most of the crowd left. In other words, the fight only lasted about twenty-two minutes at the most.
The fight had no winner, nor did it have a loser. Saiyoru and Kyler certainly put up a fight, but what they both had forgotten was that it took a lot out of one if all they did was swing and dodge constantly…especially if they were doing it quickly. Only one swing from both fighters was not dodged and that one was the final punch that was aimed at the end. Both of them, at the same time, aimed a punch at the other, made their targets, and fell to the ground at the same time in exhaustion.
Shanks had to admit, he was pretty amused at what he'd been watching. Saiyoru was not really a very amusing person, but he really seemed determined at fighting for the love of a kid. His opponent probably didn't even take the fight seriously. In fact, Kyler looked like he was having lots of fun with this fight.
By the time the fight ended, the only people that still stood in the back of the karaoke bar were Johnny, Victoria, Maura, and the rest of the pirates that were uninvolved in the fight. They were all laughing at the sight. The kids had not seen anything like that happen on any place but television and were greatly amused. The pirates were not as amused as Johnny, Victoria, and Maura since they had been through a few little fights where something like this has happened and no matter how many times they saw it happen, it never stopped amusing them.
"Okay, time to get up, Kyler. It's time to get home." Johnny told his fallen friend as the girls attempted to help him onto his feet. The boy agreed and got on his feet and, with Johnny and Maura's help, began to head towards the front of the bar. Victoria put a smile on her face and waved good-bye to Shanks, "See you on Monday, Mr. Shanks."
"Promise me that you won't control the wind over the weekend." was the only thing Shanks said to her.
"I promise." After saying that, Victoria and her friends were gone.
As soon as the kids left, Shanks turned towards Saiyoru, who was still lying exhausted on the ground. "Okay, kid. Get up. Fight's over."
Saiyoru let out a groan as he slowly stood on his feet and brushed dirt out of his light hair with his fingers. "I lost, didn't I?" he asked in a small voice.
"Yeah, but so did the other guy. You both knocked each other down at the same time. You need to work on your fighting skills." Shanks explained with a serious look on his face. His look of seriousness then changed to a calm smile, "Now, let's go back to the ship. I want to go back before I run into any more of the hellraisers that I have to watch over almost every day."
"Aye aye, Captain!" the pirates shouted in unison. They all left the bar and headed for the ship.
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Okay, that's chapter nine. Sorry if I ticked you guys off without thoroughly explaining what Shanks did to Victoria, but this was something I really wanted to get to. I'll try not to do it again.
The song that the acne-infested boy was singing was On the Way Down by Ryan Cabrera
The song Maura was singing and dancing to was A Never Ending Dream by Cascada