The Last Gent

Snacks & Naps

Phil I like him, I really do...it's not my fault that you love me." was the response to a sincere text that Trademark sent as a result of his friendship with a woman he had invested his feelings in. Being Trademark's roommate, I could testify that she was the constant name on his lips-which was strange to me as Trademark was well-known and not willing to commit, so females were always welcome in our cabin...well at least in his bed. We always gave females nicknames on the ship as a means of communicating without our intentions being known; but, honestly, I gave her the name Miss 0-100 because of how quickly she changed moods without feeling anything. Initially, Trademark was against it, but when I explained it he agreed to give her the slave name as she would have done anything to be accepted by all. Trademark was my roommate and friend from our previous contract; hearing him talk about this same girl-who was from a distant place he called home, who he missed because of how sentimental things on the ship were-Miss 0-100 was a reminder of home for my friend, a comfort blanket to get through his rotation; so, it was no surprise that she decided to work on the ship because of how intriguing the idea of being in Hawaii was. Little did we know, that small interest would intentionally create disgusting results.

Miss 0-100 was a beautiful black woman with an expected juicy, yet firm ass, standing at a sexy height of 5 foot 3. Coming back from my five-week vacation, I did not know what to expect from her-only that she was an idea of happiness for my friend. However, in the back of my mind, I was somewhat skeptical. The thought of her potentially using Trademark was slightly dominant in my mind, but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. At first, I'm not even going to lie, all was well. We all were having a good time together, but gradually we picked up on a pattern when it came to her-well... at least I did; Miss 0-100 could do no wrong in Trademark's eyes because that was his comfort, a little bit of truth from home, something real in this leech-like illusion we called ship life. Every night she would come by in a routine like fashion, drinking all the beers or alcohol that we had in the cabin-as if it was an entitlement, some kind of reward after an obvious hard day-treating our room like the travel center of America, a pit stop to another destination which was always either the Crew Bar or another victim of her routine. Then, occasionally, almost as a way of feeling sorry for Trademark, she would "reward" him with some sexual release which she was always selective about-selfish in every way, always unapologetic. It was then that she inherited the name that would define her for the next five months...Snacks & Naps.

Months passed of Trademark walking around mindless-a zombie with Snacks &Naps being the master of his heart, but forever denying that she had such power over him. Snacks & Naps knew how to manipulate my friend, timing his ego by disappearing at the right times, but also knowing when to be seen. But, Trademark was no fool, quickly wising up to the situation that was being presented to him in a humiliating manner. Soon, it became clear to him that the same person he called a friend-whom he was intimate with while on vacation and on the ship-was embarrassed of him and preferred the company of a Caucasian audience. To me, it was not who she preferred to be around because I respect myself and everyone around me, but it was how she played my friend by taking his feelings and walking out on his life. Without trying to make my friend sound overly sensitive, there was nights when I could hear Trademark cry, but I remained silent for obvious reasons. Sharing the same room with him hurt me as well as he was a reflection of how I felt last contract. Feeling betrayed, I could sense a darkness growing in my friend; he started to lose focus on why he was onboard and decided to seek revenge by becoming a predator at the Crew Bar. It quickly became a failed attempt as he was still unintentionally seeking Snacks & Naps approval to be jealous, forever making unnecessary decisions to please her when she just didn't care. All of the attention was on her, feeding her ego and continuing the cycle of humiliation.

Soon, a gentleman became the prominent figure in Snacks & Naps ship life-whom we nicknamed Creepy Tinman, after one of the villains from Charlie's Angels because of the resemblance and stalker tendencies. He supposedly was present everywhere that she was; this was funny to me as she looked Trademark in the face and told him she was not interested in a relationship, but my friend wanted more as he took her sentimental words seriously. Full of envy, Trademark recruited me to find out if they were intimate, but I warned him of the obvious results based on her mannerisms. Weeks passed of no results until, unintentionally, I saw him in the club and he complimented the way I dressed. Being a well-dressed Gent himself, the social interaction was easy, but I acknowledged that I was undercover for my true friend. Being too drunk, nothing was gained from the night except that Creepy Tinman was not a bad guy-just hated because he had something Trademark wanted with every breath in his body. With Snacks & Naps being defensive, Trademark kept pressing me for results until on one Saturday night of exhaustion, I bumped into Creepy Tinman on St. Patrick's day in the line to purchase my Guinness. Realizing that he was blatantly drunk, I attempted to initiate the conversation, but was cut off by his words, "I don't know why your friend hates me." Realizing that he was vulnerable, I pressed him for more information until, finally, he said the words of confirmation almost in sync with Trademark walking into the bar, "Yes, we have been intimate." Leaving me with a heavy heart, a messenger of pain that would destroy my friend's image of life for the duration of his contract.

"I know what's going on; I could tell from your facial expression from the distance." Trademark said to me. I admit I felt guilty of destroying a friendship, or at least what was left of it; although, he had given me instructions to infiltrate. It was not my intention to cause harm by being the messenger of bad news, especially because I knew you were recovering from the previous news of betrayal. After that, everything changed as far as Snacks & Naps went; Trademark approached her about the situation, but she denied it. Weeks passed with no word from either of you until the day Creepy Tinman, finally, left the ship. Then, she attempted to talk to you. Realizing that it was bad timing on her part, she retreated within the attention that was being fed by finding a new Caucasian male-who was oblivious to everything. She made him the new prominent one-Creepy Tinman's replacement.

Heartbroken and limping through his last two weeks on the ship, Trademark often spoke about whether or not she would act differently when both of you were back home and how it would affect the friendship. I was in utter amazement to how naive you were towards the situation. Trying to stay strong and focus, he ignored all her texts to reconnect that last week. Unfortunately, her actions forever showed that unforgiven routine-the Snacks & Naps route. The last day on the ship was here and thoughts of celebration and excitement finally replaced sorrow. I remember vividly his words of exhaustion, "No matter what happens tonight I will be off the ship tomorrow." It seemed as though Trademark was almost calling to existence the upcoming night. As we drank to celebrate his contract completion, Snacks & Naps and her gang entered on cue. We drank in the Crew Bar for two hours and not once did she come across and celebrate with him. As his friend, I brought a girl over just for presentation purposes-to make her jealous and for Trademark not to be lonely, but I feared it wouldn't work. I apologize that I could not be there for you more. Safe Travels my friend.