Pirate City

Chapter 4 Boy

Stephano took me down a white-walled hallway and turned to the left, he paused at a pair of double brown doors, his hands right above the handles.

"This is the dining hall," He said. The noise made it obvious that there were lots of people inside. "You will be eating all of your meals here; breakfast, lunch, and dinner." He listed them on his fingers. I nodded slowly. I was hungry and the sweet smell of bacon and dark coffee spilling from the room didn't help. He took my hand carefully and opened the door, a couple hundred faces turned in our direction. They all looked uniform; suits with the first 3 buttons on every shirt undone, sleek dark hair, and the same burly look on every man. Every man meaning everyone; there were literally no women.

Stephano's leathery hand tightened around mine as the room fell quiet. He put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me in front of him, his hands linked as he placed them on my chest. I felt my cheeks heat up and kept my eyes down as he spoke loudly to the crowd, trying to figure out what he was saying. It sounded almost Spanish but the accent was off. Perhaps Italian?

Once he had finished everyone went back as they were, I allowed myself to finally look up. My eyes darted nervously around the room; there were black padded benches with wooden frames attached to the walls and dark wooden tables, much like what one would find in a restaurant, all filled with men eating, talking, and laughing noisily. There were about 8 men to a table. Stephano took me to a table in the back where only 4 or 5 other men had plates of fluffy white bread with something on top, thick pieces of bacon, and large black mugs of coffee. Everything on the ship seemed so clean, I had always imagined a ship as something that was supposed to be dirty, this didn't seem any different to a building.

The boy from earlier - the one who had brought the shot glass- came up to the table with 2 trays of food and gave one to me. He looked to be around my age, perhaps a little older. He tried to talk to me but he spoke in the language I didn't understand and when I looked for Stephano he was no longer there. I ate in silence and looked around at all the men at the tables, making it a game to find someone who looked different from the rest. I ate slowly, trying to savour the salty taste of bacon on my tongue. It was easily some of the best food I'd ever had, had it been under better circumstances maybe it would have been more enjoyable.

Stephano came back a while later, his eyes smiling but his lips drawn.

"Finished?" He asked. I nodded quickly; I wanted to leave. It was loud. My head hurt. "Good," he nodded, "Come," he turned quickly and started walking away, leaving me to scramble behind him. What was up with that?

He took me to a room with yet another heavy metal door and a large wooden desk. "You can write a letter, yes?" He asked, turning to face me as he spoke.

"Yes." I said, standing awkwardly at the threshold. 

"Good," He took a paper and pen from the desk and handed it to me. I sat down at the desk and put the tip of the pen to the page, he spoke slowly so that I could keep up.

"Hello Adamero,
I have successfully boarded the ship, we are on the east coast of woodlen. I hope for your safe travels, we will meet after the first snow.

 Respetta,

-Stephano" 

I had so many questions; Who was Adamero? Why did Stephano need me to write? Why was he giving "Adamero" our location? Why did he want to meet? Stephano put a finger to his lips and made a shushing noise with his mouth. 

"Our secret." I was surprised, another secret? Why was I the one to keep it? I decided that if Stephano didn't know about Amber's secret, then Amber would not know about Stephano's. I had to tell someone, even if they didn't know what I was saying. I nodded, too tired to do much else, keeping my eyes fixed at the crack at the bottom of the closed door.

"Did you want to go explore the ship?" He asked. I wanted to go back to bed. 

"Ok,'' I nodded. I slipped off the wooden chair and waited for Stephano to lead the way but he stayed where he was.

"Go." He said, opening the door and motioning me out. My eyes widened when I realised what he meant. Alone. Why did he trust me?

"Where?" If I got lost no one would come to help me.

"You'll be ok, ask for help if you need. I'll be here." He said, trying to reassure me. "We will be having dinner at seven in the dining hall" He called as I walked -still dazed- from the room. I paused hesitantly before turning left and walking down the hall, the same white walls and metal doors as all the other hallways.

There was a door wedged open by a brick of wood, letting soft voices filter into the dim hall. I stopped walking when I heard the hushed chatter on the other side clearer, hoping to get some idea as to what they planned to do with me. I held my breath, scared that even such a subtle noise would disturb them. They were speaking English. I tried my best to listen to the conversation but I could only make out small phrases.

"She's.. child!..traumatized.."

"Spy? What if......"

"Family... "

"Drug cartel?!"

I realized quickly what the consequences would be if I was discovered, there could be a security camera watching every hallway on the ship. My ears started ringing and my head was rushing.  I kept my head down and limped quickly past the door, using the wall as support. Hushing sounds radiated from the room and the voices quieted as I sped to the end of the hall, through a door labeled 'DECK'. Tears blurred my vision as the door shut behind me, bright sunlight burning into the back of my skull. 

The deck was dark, warm wood that felt nice on my feet. I waited against the guard rail, watching the mesmerizing waves until the sun was almost completely down, trying to think of what had happened so far and how I was going to fix it.

Streaks of colour were painted across one side of the sky, the other side was dark, almost completely black, with the exception of the moon and the stars. So many stars. The artificial light was poor on the deck, I assumed it was to reduce the chances of being seen. I snapped out of my daze when two soft hands landed on my hips, I tensed, tempted to re-enact what I had done earlier. 

"You're late," A voice breathed down my neck, making the hairs on my neck stand up. The voice was decadent, smooth, it travelled down my back, sending racing shivers down my spine.

Hands pulled me closer and turned me to face the warmth of his body. The whiskey boy stood so incredibly close. He would have been really attractive under better circumstances; he was quite tall and had defined features in his face, dark brown eyes, and curly dark hair fell loosely around his eyes. His clothes were different too, a baggy white t-shirt fell freely around his torso, but fit him tightly around his biceps, hugging the prominent muscles in his arms. He wore black runners on his feet, partially covered by his black cargo pants much like the ones I'd been given. Much like my first impression with Amber, he looked different from everyone else. 

"We were getting worried." He whispered, his voice purred as he spoke. I tried pushing his chest away from mine gently, backing up until my lower back pressed gently against the rail. He resisted and placed on hand on either side of me, wrapping his fists around the bar. It's not that I didn't like him. I was trapped. I panicked. I shoved him harder. He looked down at me with a smirk on his face. My breath sped up. My hands balled into fists and my vision went white. 

My arm lifted as if it were being controlled by someone else and I socked him in the jaw. Hard. He stumbled back and spit blood over the side of the boat.

"You hit hard for a girl." He snarled, slowly stalking back towards me. I raised my arm again and he flinched. What have I done? I looked down at the cowering boy. I'm just like him. I backed away slowly, the realisation slowly setting in.

"Oh god I'm so sorry" I whispered. I ignored the pain in my leg and ran. 

He was right. I was just like him.