Memo: And here's the third chapter. I.Am.Courtney messaged me, so this chapter is dedicated to her. I really do appreciate anything you guys send me, good or bad. I learn from my mistakes, but sometimes I don't catch them. If you guys can help me improve, you'll enjoy the story more. Even if nothing's wrong, send something along the lines of praise. It's fun to feed my ego. =D Oh, and don't worry. I spent some time with my brothers thinking of a cool (at least in our opinion. Lol) plot that we could use. It'll start in chapter four! YAY! Sorry I had to put the memo here, but the little space up there wasn't big enough for a memo this long. Bleh, Enjoy!
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"Don't listen to them."
Naomi heard this being said over and over again, and by only one person. It wasn't from the lips of Jack or Gibbs, since they both had their fun making Naomi miserable, but from the ship cook. He was a rather skinny and lanky man for someone who was cooking for an entire crew, but he had a kind soul and wasn't willing to make his newest friend and assistant any more uncomfortable than she already was. His name was Toby. Naomi thought it was an adorable name, even on him. But the last time she heard those four words, she had to comment.
"I don't think I have much of a choice when it comes to that, you know. If I don't endure Jack's torture and end up talking back, something might happen." Naomi's tongue peeked out from between her teeth as she peeled at the potatoes Toby had given her to work on. The knife she was using was dull, which made her work progress slower than what she would have liked.
"The worst Jack would possibly do would be to give you a taste of the cat." Toby said while stirring the stew. He was sitting on a squat, worn stool that looked just about ready to break under him. Naomi looked at the back of his head, her eyes wide.
"What does that mean?" She asked.
"Means he's going to let someone whip you 'til you're raw and your skins stripped like bacon." He said without a touch of humor. Naomi paled, dropping the potato she held back into the bowl of unpeeled spuds.
"You can't mean that!" She said. Toby looked over his shoulder at her, smirking. He was usually a nice guy, but sometimes he liked to pick a little fun at her. It was all friendly, sort of like a father would to his daughter.
"I do mean it. Jack's not cruel, but he'll do what he has to if it means keeping order on this ship. He's not going to lose control as captain again." He said. Grabbing the two bowls and trash bin, Naomi skittered over to him as best as she could.
"Again? When did he lose control?" This sounded very interesting, something she could listen to while peeling away. Toby smiled and stared into the stew.
"Mr. Gibbs might tell this story better, but it was before I joined in the crew. Jack had been the captain of The Black Pearl for a while, but he was mutinied upon a while back by Hector Barbossa. A terrible man, he was." Toby shook his head in pity. Flump, flump went the falling potato peels as they landed at the bottom of the trash bin.
"Was?"
"It's a long story, sweetie. One that you'll have to wait to hear, but it resulted in Jack getting his ship back for the third time and marooning Barbossa on the same island Jack was left on twice." Toby laughed heartily, his body shaking as he did so. Naomi smiled a little. Any potatoes she peeled were chopped into small cubes and dumped into a wooden bowl next to Toby's stool.
"So Jack's as great as all his stories claim?" She asked, recalling the books she had read and enjoyed over her many years of scanning texts.
"When it comes to most of them, yes. Other stories... not so much."
"Ah, I see. At least he's being nice." Naomi shrugged and finished off the last of the potatoes, handing them over to the cook. He took them and dumped them into the boiling pot of water. They splashed before bobbing, a party of other cubed edibles joining in soon after. It was a vegetable stew that didn't look all that appetizing, but everyone was going to eat it if they knew they had nothing else for that night.
"You think he's nice?" Toby asked quietly.
"I guess. He could be making me do worse things, like bathe his crew." She gave a disgusted shudder and laughed. Toby chuckled as well, letting her relax for now. He had been told by Jack to not give her a moments rest, but Naomi was a damn good worker and she had been doing as she was told since she agreed to work.
"That's a very disturbing thought, but they'd enjoy it." He said.
"You're part of the crew..." She said, tilting her head. Toby stumbled in surprise and turned to face her. She looked completely innocent as she sat cross-legged on the floor.
"That's not... I wouldn't-" He stammered, his cheeks going pink. Naomi giggled and stood, cleaning the dried starch from her hands.
"I was kidding, relax." She said, flicking the water at him. Toby was still flustered, but he wasn't babbling anymore.
"I knew that..." He coughed, raising his head when the door to the kitchen opened. There stood Jack, jacket and hat removed. He was armless in the means of his pistol and cutlass were gone too.
"Captain." Naomi turned and gave a small bow, but Jack waved it away.
"Have you been working, or am I going to have to call you more names? It's fine if you want me to, it's fun." He said. Naomi scowled.
"No, sir. I've been doing my work as ordered." She said. Jack smirked and played with a bit of her hair when she approached her.
"There's something you haven't done, but I think we're going to save that for later." He said. Naomi laughed mockingly and slapped his hand away.
"Not likely, but thanks for the kind offer." She said.
"It wasn't an offer, but an order. But since I'm in a kind mood, you won't be needing you save your energy." He said, tugging the same lock of hair he fiddled with. Narrowing her eyes, Naomi made to speak but was cut off.
"What do you need, Captain?" Toby asked. He gave Naomi a warning look that silenced her, her lips tightening into a straight line. The look of restraint in her face and the twinkle of sinister thoughts in her eyes made Jack smirk. He wanted her to say something, anything, that was on her mind. Even if it was hateful, her scornful words would no doubt amuse him since she was a female.
"I came to reassign the little missy." He said. Naomi stared at him in nervous anticipation, her eyes speaking her mind: What are you going to make me do this time?
"To what? You haven't given me any help in here for years, and now you're going to take it away?" Toby joked.
"When you requested her, I thought you meant for... other purposes. If I had known you needed help in making gruel, I wouldn't have handed her over. The others are waiting for their turn, especially me." Jack said, swaying a little. Naomi blushed and frowned.
"I'm not a whore! Do I look like one?" She said, stomping her foot. Jack grinned and pushed his nose to hers.
"Never to late to change that, love." He said.
"You're a pig." She growled.
"So I've been told. And for that, you're going to clean the crew's quarters. It hasn't been cleaned in a while, so you might want to cover your nose with something." He said, turning to leave. Naomi's jaw dropped, but he was gone before she had a chance to reply.
"Sorry to hear that, Naomi. Here..." Toby handed her a bucket of water, a scrub brush and a bandana. Naomi got sick as she wondered what she might have to clean up, but she bravely tied the bandana around her nose and mouth, trekking to the loathsome crew's quarters. The hammocks swung gently like the ship, relieved of their duties until night came.
"Why me...?" She groaned, setting the bucket in a corner. There were a few soapy bubbles lingering around the surface, but very little. The scrub brush was dipped in and the scrubbing began. Naomi thought it would work better if she scrubbed hard and fast right at the beginning to quicken her job, but that only proved her make her arms sore. The wood of the brush shoved tiny splinters into her fingers and palms, the smell of mold and other unpleasant things staining her hands.
It was many hours that she spent trying to clean that floor, the clean spots somehow regaining the grime she had so diligently scrubbed away. For what she thought as the entire time, no one had bothered her. All was quiet and the task was almost peaceful, save for the burning in her arms. But someone had been watching her, just as silent as the atmosphere. Even the beads in the man's hair did not make noise when the ship swayed. Dark eyes watched her closely, listening to any small noise she made while working.
"How long do you plan on watching me for, captain?" With a large portion of the floor done, Naomi stood and stretched her sore limbs out. Her knees, elbows and shoulders ached, but she was going to play it off as if she had lived to clean floors.
"Until you noticed." He said, leaning against the wall. Naomi sighed and crossed her arms, a sort of staring contest forming between the two. Naomi and Jack never really spent time together, so to speak. The only time they ever spoke was when Jack gave her something to do, then he'd leave to direct the Pearl to wherever it was they were headed. So, all Naomi expected as to be told to do something else.
"Did I do something or do you have no reason to bother me?" She asked. Jack remained against the wall, but his very presence made her feel awkward.
"I'm just the curious sort. I like to know who's on my ship." He said with a shrug. Naomi shook her head and tossed the brush back into the bucket.
"Well, I don't want to get to know you." She said. Jack laughed and didn't move his eyes from hers.
"You're a hard one to catch, I see. You'll warm up to me eventually, love." He was so sure of himself, and that irritated Naomi greatly.
"And what makes you think that?"
"One very important thing." Jack paused, as if waiting for Naomi to say the reason herself. She only stood there, raising her brows.
"What's that?" She wondered. Sighing and slumping a little, Jack shook his own head.
"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Every woman wants me." Said he with an arrogant puff of his chest. Naomi moved close and played with his shirt a little. Jack smirked and stroked her hair.
"But you're also forgetting one thing, Captain Sparrow." She whispered into his ear.
"What, love?"
"I'm not every woman." She growled violently and pulled herself away, fixing her hair. Jack was taken aback by this, but he smirked again. He liked that little game she had played, but she had ended it too soon for his liking.
"We'll see soon enough. You're the only woman on this ship, and I'm sure you learned a few things from you mother." He winked in his suggestive way. Naomi flinched and turned, but he was gone. She fumed quietly to herself, putting all her anger into scrubbing the floors clean. She cleaned well into the night, ignoring those that were mocking her from their beds. Gibbs, Cotton and the sleeping pirates were the only ones who clamped their mouths shut, and it was a good thing they did.
"I've got something you can clean with those hands of yours." One said with a chuckle. A few others joined in, but it died down when Naomi stood. All eyes watched her that weren't closed as she shook her hands and lifted the bucket. Naomi walked over to the man and smiled sweetly.
"And I know just the thing." That sweet smile shifted into a sneer as she dumped the entire bucket of water on him. But that wasn't it. Once empty, the wood bucket was used to thwack him around the head a few times. It was painful and the man was begging her to stop, but she did only when she felt she needed to. With his face slightly bruised, Naomi dusted her hands on her shirt and stormed up the stairs. She was glad no one was coming after her, but she was scared now. Surly he would want revenge tomorrow. Sighing, Naomi leaned over the edge of the ship and stared down into the swirling waters.
"I hate this..." She said to no one in particular. The water didn't respond, nor did the air. There was a rhythmic groaning from the ship, but that was a different conversation altogether. The moon was extremely bright on a dark night like this, the stars scattered about like the beads of a snapped pearl necklace. They stopped their roll to tease her. The stars were free and beautiful, unlike her. That's what she thought, at least. Even the clouds, as sparse as they were, had free reign over what they did. Naomi had been told in Tortuga that a ship wasn't just used to get from one place to another. No, it was freedom.
A ship was an escape from a life that would have otherwise kept their feet glued to the ground. Lives on land were dull and eventless, unlike those on the sea. The waving of the water was unnatural anywhere but here, and they were ever changing. Nothing could match the color of the Caribbean, but people often told her that her eyes were dead on. They were close, but not exact. Warm, cold, high, low, deadly, serene, tranquil... There were plenty of words to describe it, but Naomi couldn't think of them all in so little time. But that didn't matter. She wasn't able to enjoy the sea when she knew she had to work all day, everyday for as long as she stayed on this ship.
"Perfect time to clear out your thoughts, eh?" Said a voice, Naomi jumped and whirled out to find Jack behind her.
"I, er... I'm really sorry about what I did to one of the guys down there. He-"
"Shush. It's fine. Everyone got a good laugh out of it, even him." Jack stood beside her and leaned on his elbows, dreads following the breeze. Naomi relaxed and stood the same way, staring out to the distance.
"Captain Sparrow...?"
"Aye?" Jack glanced down to her, seeing that her eyes were down to the water now.
"You're not as evil as some people say you are." She said. It was a random thought and statement, but it was her way of trying to tell him that she was thankful for being allowed to stay on the Pearl.
"It's a matter of perspective." He said. Naomi nodded.
"I suppose. I guess I meant to say thanks for letting me stay." She managed to get it out, looking away shyly. Jack smirked and patted her shoulder.
"There's only one way you're allowed to thank me, and you'd better do it fast. We're docking tomorrow afternoon and you're being left behind." He said. Naomi gasped.
"Jack!"
"Yes?" Jack turned again, staggering. Naomi was a little stunned by this, so she didn't speak for the first two seconds.
"You're just going to kick me off?" She asked. Jack nodded and grinned.
"Yep! Pretty much, mate." He said. Naomi stepped up to him, waving her hands wildly.
"But what about all the jobs that need to be done?" She asked. For some reason, she didn't want to leave the ship. She didn't want to go back to the dull life of land, even if she hated being treated the way she was now. Jack sighed.
"I already have man to do that. Now unless you plan on following me back to me cabin, I don't think you'll be any use to me." He said. Naomi flushed and huffed.
"Oh, you... UGH!" She stomped off and out of sight, back down to her bed in the brig. The floor eagerly awaited her return, though she was less than happy to see it. Jack, who was still standing on deck, shook his head.
"I thought so..."
