Top of the World,
I don't have to answer any of these questions...
Don't have no God to, teach me no lessons,
I come home in the evenin', sit in my chair...
Things, however, weren't always as perfect as they seemed to be though. Jackie and Elizabeth were always fighting over everything. It didn't matter what the particular subject was that was causing them to yell, but they fought long and hard, sometimes for two or three hours at a time.
The first fight they had since Jackie's diagnosis came around mid-October, when the leaves on the trees were beginning to die and turn different colors. It started when Jackie volunteered to help clear the table after dinner. Will and I went outside as they did; I sat in an old rocking chair, playing my guitar as Will played with his Noah's Ark boat. Then, we heard their voices raising slightly with tension, like a volcano waiting to explode. I stopped playing my guitar and Will had a tiny giraffe in his one hand and a elephant in the other as we paused waiting, just waiting...
Then we heard the first plate being thrown. CRASH! It hit the wall. Will dropped the little wooden figurines on the ground and covered his ears as his mother's voice came poring out from the open windows. It was high-pitched and shrill, like a cat whose tail was being tugged.
"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE SO SORE ALL THE TIME!?" she screamed.
"WELL, IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU KISSED ME AND LEFT ME FOR DAVY JONES' LOCKER!" he yelled back.
Oh God, I thought to myself. They're fighting about that again.
"HYPOCRITE!" Elizabeth screeched. "YOU FILTHY HYPOCRITE! I CLEARLY REMEMBER YOU CALLING ME A PIRATE WHEN I DID THAT! THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE, JACK, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE BOTH ARE IF YOU HAVEN'T BLOODY NOTICED!"
Jack's voice got angrier and louder. "THAT'S BESIDES THE GODDAMN POINT, LIZZIE! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, EVER!"
"HYPOCRITE!" she retorted again. The bickering went on for a few minutes, with the occasional sound of plates either being hurled across the room or dropping into a bucket of water to soak. It was times like these I wish I could stop their fighting with the help of my crew or Gibbs, who understood Jackie the most. Both, however, were heading to Tortuga to smuggle medicine back to Shipwreck Island. The trip there and back would take a month each, unless if they got stuck in the ocean because of storms. I sighed wearily and put my guitar to my side as I heard their voices subside.
The first one to emerge from the building was Elizabeth. Her face was red as blood rushed to it, and angry tears clouded her eyes. Walking over to Will, who still had his hands over his ears, she picked him up and cuddled him close to her.
"You hurt my ears," Will said quietly, wrapping his arms around her neck. She kissed his cheek.
"Of course. I'm sorry dearest," she said back, patting his back.
I stood up. "I'll go and talk to him."
"It's fine, Teague," Elizabeth shook her head, her eyes shut tight.
"No, it's not. I'll go knock some sense into him," I headed inside to see what Jackie was doing; he was mumbling curses under his breath as he swept broken pieces of clay into a small pile.
"So, how many plates have you broken this time?" I asked him, leaning against the doorway.
"Two," he said nastily, looking up at me. "Why? You want to yell at me for something else now?"
"Oh stop that!" I snarled.
"What?" he snapped back.
"Your sass, boy!" I folded my arms. "This isn't the time to have idiotic arguments with people!"
"What? Because I'm sick?" Jackie glared at me with his dull, dull brown eyes.
"Not only that, but with the fact that Will's gone and Elizabeth has to take care of their baby. You know she's having a difficult time with it all?" I spat.
"Yeah, but I'm helping raising him, aren't I, since Barty dropped me back into his hell-hole?" He was holding the broom tightly in his hands.
"You love him, don't you?" I asked him.
"Who? Barty?" Jackie looked disgusted.
"No! Asthore!" I cried out.
"Of course! Why?" He was suddenly like a grizzly bear protecting her cubs.
"Then why do you choose to pick fights with his mother when he's right in front of you?" I pointed out.
"Because, Dad! With her complaining and everything-it gets so annoying at times!" Jackie said.
"You see what I mean?" I cried. "That's such a pointless reason why you fight with her all the time!"
Jackie's face was as red as Elizabeth's by now. Unfolding my arms, I said, "Get me a bottle of rum, boy."
The angered look his face disappeared instantly. Instead, he looked suddenly unnerved.
"I said, get me a bottle of rum boy!" I repeated.
He continued to stare at me, suddenly trembling. "You get it yourself!"
"Excuse me?" I said angrily. "What did you say to me?" And before he could even open his mouth, I remembered how much rum he drank everyday before he got ill and spat, "You know what? I agree with Elizabeth-you are a hypocrite!"
The angry look on his face returned as he spat back to me. "Fine!"
He went into another room where we stored extra drink and food and came back with a bottle, almost full to the top with rum. He threw to my chest and began to walk outside. "I just wanted to remind you Dad, of how nasty you can get when you get drunk! I don't want you venting all your anger at Asthore like you did to me and Abigail when we were children!"
I looked back up him, flabbergasted. "Now, Jackie you know I didn't mean-"
"Bugger off, Dad!" Jackie said, turning back to me. "I don't want to risk starting another pointless argument, like you said!"
And he turned away and stormed off over to Elizabeth, where they'd watch the sunset, play with Will and pretend they had never fought, like they always did. I walked back outside and took my seat in my rocking chair, sipping on rum and remembering old memories I badly wanted to forget. If you were wondering what Jackie was yelling about how I used to 'vent my anger' on him and his little sister Abigail, let me explain. And to start off, I wasn't that much of a good father when Jackie was a child.
A/N: Oooooo! So much suspense, haha! Please R&R. And also, if were scratching your heads a little about Barty, I was referring to Bartholomew Roberts, an actual notorious pirate. When Jack was heading towards the Fountain of Youth, they happened to meet sometime, and Bart took him in to his ship for reasons unknown. And also, I apologize for the late update! I had a busy weekend and that sort of thing, you know ;)