Chapter five the decision

Jack made it back to his cabin quickly. He unlocked the door and ran in. Eddy was sitting on his bed watching his mini TV and Melman was no where to be seen. Eddy saw his friend standing in the entrance locking the door and got up to give him some good news. "Jack! Your not gonna believe the news I have for you! First off though, how was your date?" "It was not a date Eddy, remember? It's business." He replied. "Well did it go okay? She wasn't suspicious?" Asked Eddy. "No, but I'm going to see her again tomorrow just to be sure she has trust in me." He replied lying down on his bed. "What news do you have?" He asked, closing his eyes. "I contacted the boss, " he replied. Jack's eyes immediately opened wide with terror. "What?" He replied as he quickly sat up. "Yeah, I told him about the girl you met, and he was thrilled with the plan we came up with!" He replied happily. "Why did you tell him about our plan? I don't even know if she fully trusts me yet!" Jack cried. "Jack, you got charm, she won't be able to resist ya. And besides, even if you couldn't get her to trust you with your charm, then you'd find a different way after hearing what the boss said. "Eddy replied. Jack didn't like any of what he was saying.

"What did he say?" Asked a nervous Jack. "Well, after I told him about the girl being the captains niece and having access to the loot we want, he figured she knows where the really valuable hidden stuff is too, so he said you need to get her to spill where the big safe is." Eddy explained. "Big safe?" Jack replied, with an eyebrow raised. "There's no safe on this ship!" "Yeah there is, how else do you think the captain is storing his money?" Eddy replied. Jack wasn't sure if there was a safe, and he certainly had no idea how he was going to get her to confess where the safe was, if there was one, without getting suspicious of him. "Eddy, let's say there is a safe, how do you expect me to get her to tell me without blowing our cover?" Asked Jack in a serious tone. "That's your job, my job is to keep the boss updated about what's going on." Eddy replied.

Jack closed his eyes and sighed trying to ease the stress building up inside. "What else did he say?" He asked, hoping it wasn't anything bad. "Well, he said since we came up with this awesome plan, that when we land in England, instead of him coming on board and keeping us here to assist him as planned, he'll pay us BIG money, and he'll set us free on spot!" Eddy cried with excitment. The sound of those last few words that came out of his mouth made Jack's stomach ache with excitement and shock. "Are you serious?" He asked with wide eyes. Eddy smiled and opened his arms out for a hug. "Yeah!"He replied. Jack smiled and jumped off his bed to hug Eddy. The two cheered and danced happy to feel their freedom fast approaching. "You gotta be kiddin' me!" Jack cried happily. "No!" Eddy replied. They danced around the room with joy. As they danced, Jack began to think about Kate and what would happen to her once the heist began. He stopped dancing and starting thinking about her. Eddy saw him staring blankly into space and went over to see if he was okay. "Jack, you alright buddy?" He asked. It took a moment for him to reply and when he did, his words shocked Eddy. "Eddy, I'm worried about what will happen to Kate once the heist starts. The plan was to raid the whole boat once the ship is in the middle of the ocean enroute to Spain."He explained. Eddy put a hand on his shoulder to comfort his friend. "Jack, there is nothing we can do about this now, he said specifically he won't hurt anybody and you know the boss has been truthful in all his promises." He replied.

Jack stayed silent feeling guilty and sad for what he was doing. "Look Jack, we can't miss out on our freedom, we have a chance to be free and if we don't take it now, plus the big payout he's offering, you'll never have the ability to become an artist ... That's your dream." Jack looked at him with a sad look on his face. "I just don't know," he replied in a sad voice. "He's gonna pay us one hundred thousand dollars instead of only two thousand each, that's enough for us to live decent until we get on our feet. "Eddy added .Jack was surprised to the amount of money the boss was offering. He looked at Eddy with a surprised look on his face. "That much?" He askedin a surprised tone. Eddy cracked a smile and nodded his head. Jack was so surprised about how much money he was going to get, he had to sit down to prevent himself from passing out. His eyes stared blankly into space as he tried to process all that was said to him. Eddy sat down beside him with a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be free and taken care of bud," Eddy said in a calmer tone. Now Jack wasn't one to love money, but he knew that he needed it to get on his feet, and that was more then enough. The sound of the offer kept replaying in his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about where he would be later on after he got off the boat.

Imagine, happiness, just a few weeks away right where you can see it, but his mind also couldn't stop thinking about the promise he made to himself. He remembered making a vow to never use somebody like a cheap piece of meat again for his own personal gain. He also couldn't get his mind off of how it would affect her. The fear of having many armed men on board out in the middle of the Atlantic ocean with no ability to get help. What kind of fear and devestating effect it would have on her? Especially knowing he was the one who caused it all to happen? He shook his head bringing himself back into reality and looked into Eddy's eyes. "Ed, you know I want to be free as much as you do, but I can't put anybody through what I put the captain through again." Jack replied. Eddy sighed and thought about what he was going to say to him next. He thought for a minute and spoke up. "Jack, thanks to your parents, you've had misery all your life! Your dad hated you and kicked you out, and your mother did nothing to help you. You've been a drifter all your life because of them and now you want to short change yourself? Buddy, Kate will be fine, the boss promised he wouldn't hurt anybody and I specifically said that you didn't want her hurt, and he agreed to go easy on her. Buddy, come on,... do this for yourself." Jack closed his eyes trying to hold back tears, as memories of his childhood flooded back into his mind.

He remembered being rejected by his father, and physically thrown out of his house when he was only sixteen. He could also remember his mother pretending she didn't know him when she was out in public. He could remember her saying: "I don't know you," as he was on his hands and knees begging for her to take him back home. Eddy saw a tear coming down his cheek and figured he went to far. He hugged his friend tightly comforting him. "It's okay bud, just sleep on it tonight and let me know in the morning." Eddy said in a comforting tone. Jack just nodded his head in response unable to speak. That's when Melman came walking in after doing his laundry. He saw the two men embracing one another and quickly left the room to give them privacy. As he walked away he thought to himself. "Now I know why those two are so close."

In the late hour's of the night, Jack was tossing and turning in his bed asleep. He was having a horrifying nightmare and was trying to wake up.

(Jack's dream)

In a modern London suburb, there was a big house that looked light and beautiful on the outside, but inside it was dark and ugly. A man about forty three years old, was throwing objects off of tables and breaking furniture, trying to get to a young teenage boy who was trying to run from him. A woman about thirty eight years old was trying to stop the man from breaking anything else. "You are a disgrace to this family!" The man cried in rage. "I can't believe you would bring these things into my household! You get out now! "He cried. The boy had a tear running down his cheek as he made his way to the door. The man, who was his apparent father followed him screaming at him to leave and not come back. Before the boy opened the front door, he looked back at the woman who was his mother, with a frightened look of "Help me," on his face, but she nodded her head and said, "I'm so sorry Jack," with that, the man came over and grabbed Jack by the arm. He opened the door and threw him out. He landed on the concrete walkway and hit his head knocking out one of his back teeth. It laid in front of him in a puddle of blood that came from his mouth and cheek. He looked back at the door and saw that it was shut and locked. The porch light was off and it was late at night. It was dark and scary outside. He looked around and saw there was no one there to help him. He felt cold, scared,... and alone.

Jack woke up with a gasp and covered in sweat. He sat up and rubbed his eyes trying to adjust them. He covered his face with his hands as he began to weep. He couldn't believe he dreamt about what had happened to him as a young boy. He felt absolute anger towards his parent's and sadness over his life. He began to think about what Eddy had said to him several hours before. " Jack, thanks to your parents, you've had misery all your life! Your dad hated you and kicked you out, and your mother did nothing to help you. You've been a drifter all your life because of them and now you want to short change yourself?" He began to think about what he could have if he got that money, then he could become a painter and show his parents he turned out better without them. Eddy awoke and saw him crying. He got up quietly trying not to wake Melman and hurried over to comfort him. "Jack, what's wrong?" He whispered placing a hand around him. Jack looked over at him with eyes red and full of tears, and replied back to him in a sad and angry tone, "I'll do it," Eddy was surprised with him. "What? You will? Why have you decided to do it?" Asked Eddy. "I have to Eddo, like you said, I need to do this for myself." Eddy didn't now what to say, but he was happy that Jack was willing to do it now.