NEPO BBY

5

"And, Mr. Depp, did you ever visit your father on the set of the Pirates of the Caribbean?" Camille asked.

"Yes, many times," I replied.

"And could you tell the jury, if anything comes to mind, of how your father was whilst on set?"

• • •

Mum packed us up and we jetted from France to meet Dad on set of Pirates. Dad was in hair and make up when we arrived. Lily and Sparrow loved to be in hair and make up with him. But I, not so much. It wasn't my thing. Instead I hung out with Mum.

Mum - she was no actress. But she certainly was a celebrity. Sure, being Johnny Depp's wife played a factor in her fate. But people naturally gravitated towards her. They liked her. They wanted to talk to her. Mum and I would walk through the set making small talk with the crew. They invited us in for donuts and coffee. Mum and I would would gather up some donuts to bring back to Sparrow and Lily. Mum hated coffee - but Dad loved it. So she'd bring him a cup back.

We'd walk into his hair and make up trailer. Mum would walk over next to him, look him over, give him a sweet smile and then hand over the coffee. "Why thank you my pretty lady," he'd say. And everyone would laugh. Everyone always laughed at him. He had the best jokes. Nobody could compare to Dad's joke.

"Give me one!" Lily would say snatching the bag of donuts from my grip. I glared at her. She took out a sprinkle chocolate donut and walked off with a smirk.

"How's my Jackie boy doing over there?" Dad would call out. "Get over here! Let me get a good look at my boy!" He'd stretch his arm out and I'd walk over. He'd wrap an arm around my shoulders.

"Hey Dad," I'd say.

"Dad? You've got a father? Where is he? I'd like to meet him," he'd say in his Captain Jack Sparrow voice. I would try not to laugh but proven to be unsuccessful. "For I, I am - Captain Jack Sparrow....what's the matter with you, Jackie boy?" He'd frown at me.

"Nothing," I'd shrug.

"Clare wouldn't go to the dance with him. She rejected him in front of the whole school."

"It wasn't the whole school!" I snapped at Lily.

"Sorry, the whole grade," she rolled her eyes at me.

"And it's not a big deal! I didn't much like her anyways."

"Then why'd you ask her?" Sparrow asked me. I glared at him. He grinned and turned back around in his chair.

"Clare, huh?" Dad said in a soft voice. I nodded. "She's missing out because there's not a better dancer than my Jackie boy," he said rubbing my shoulders. I just assumed how would he know what rejection felt like - he was Johnny Depp.

There was nothing quite like being on set with Dad.
While Mum was strict, Dad was carefree. He let us eat whatever we wanted. Most of the time, we had so much sugar we got belly aches. Dad rehearsed his lines for us and it felt like a VIP ticket to the show.

Lily, Sparrow and I would fight over who got to sit in his chair whilst he was on the set filming. So Mum had to set ten minute timers for us. It always saddened us to leave Dad behind to return to France. The three of us would throw an outright fit to stay behind.

"Listen up kiddies," Dad stood before us still in full costume. "We must be on our very best behavior if we want to go to the island after I'm finished with the film."

It would almost instantly make us stop crying.

"Be good for your mother. Do good in school. And then when I'm done, we'll be heading to the island again," he announced.

"Can I bring friends?" I asked.

"That's not fair!" Lily shouted at me. "I want to bring my friends too!"

"Yeah, me too!" Sparrow chimed in.

"You can bring whomever you'd like so long as you give your mother no trouble."

The three of us were happy after that. I watched Mum and Dad kiss goodbye. I knew Mum didn't like leaving Dad behind either. She was good about hiding it but I always could tell. She was always waiting for him to come home. She was always waiting for him to call. She was always waiting for him. We all were. And I believe he also was waiting to be with us, longing to be home with us.

It was always challenging for Dad to juggle his career as Johnny Depp and also being a normal father and husband to all us. I just never imagined a day would come where he would not be able to juggle it. A day where life would change for all of us. Because we did have it so good - most of friends were jealous of us. Despite Mum and Dad having to live separately throughout the years due to his work, they always made it work. Gabriel's parents, who lived together, couldn't even make it work. They got divorced and I felt terrible for Gabriel. He was my best friend and to watch him go through that was difficult. I was just thankful it wasn't my fate. Yet.

But one day it would be. One day my fate would be worse than his. And it was about to happen quicker than I'd anticipated.