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Chapter 5~ Women
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If there was one thing I knew about mutinies, it was that you always had to watch out for a knife in your back, or else what was the point of it all? Not that I had ever been in a mutiny. Though I’d certainly prayed for one enough times.
A long time ago, I’d imagined myself as a leader—maybe some kind of a war hero or a general of sorts. A leader of men. At this particular moment, I knew this was probably the closest I’d ever get in my life to leading anything. So I damn well had to get it right the first time.
“Bring me to William Kidd.”
The pirate I held captive trembled silently under my grasp. But he walked, pushed open the door, and let in the dimming sunlight. Reyes followed.
“No,” I stopped him, “This could get dangerous. It isn’t for someone like—”
“Like what? Like me? Do not forget, white boy, that I was your big plan to escape.” And he kept walking.
We were immediately subjected to the bustle and looks of the other pirates who knew exactly what was going on. Though I wished at least one of us knew how it was going to end. I could see that night was about to fall and I needed to come up with a battle plan quickly before confronting Kidd.
“Reyes,” I whispered over. 230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcN11aXQziJ
He caught back up and nodded. 230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjuAtcSZ1D
“What are we gonna say?” I asked.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡparZw1Bm2D
He suddenly became hollow. “You don’t know what you will say?”
“No, I figured you were the brains and I was the muscle—of course, I don’t know; we just settled on this plan moments ago.”
“Tell Kidd we want to be released on the nearest inhabited island with our belongings. Simple enough, no?”
“Simple enough.” Why couldn’t I stop picturing Captain John Wright’s brains splattered across every surface of the deck?
I turned back to Reyes, but he was a whole step ahead of me.
“If things go bad, I shall speak. As you can see, white boy, I have quite the charm. And the guts,” he lilted. 230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxqztp9js5
But, I just rolled my eyes and quietly mumbled to myself, “Stop callin’ me that.”230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuZuTXXaq3
We eventually reached the studded dark door that held William Kidd inside, and I could already feel my muscles clenching up tighter and tighter. Several times I had to make sure I wasn’t strangling my hostage. Reyes, on the other hand, was calmer than I’d ever seen him—tranquil, almost. In a way, I figured, this kind of intensity and violence wasn’t new to him. To not even have gotten your first shave and to know the cruelty of mankind is a horrific wonder of its own to some. To people like me—quite ordinary. And so we walked in silence. Chaos and fear of imminent death on my mind; nirvana on Reyes’s.
When we reached the door, the kid glanced up to me in question and I, in turn, nodded. Reyes was quite the showman, after all. He gently unlatched the door as to not cause notice, then, with all the might in his little right leg, kicked open the cracked door till it rattled against the other side of the wall in vicious reaction. He hurled himself inside in the grandest manner and hollered, “William demonio Kidd, you have come aboard this ship. You have strip away the lives of these men. But you have dared to cross the deadliest man here—Edmūnd Heming-…day?
“Hemingway-”
“Hemingway! Edmūnd Hemingway!” Then, Reyes turned over the attention to me with an eager expression. 230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdPFne5VQe
There was Kidd, sitting complaisantly by his desk surrounded by other, less-respecting pirates. He rested his hands and watched, almost amused by the sight. All at once, I tried to think of something to say—something demanding and powerful enough to stand up to Reyes’s grand introduction. Something…Dammit, anything at all…
But, I’d gone completely mute. In fact, I could hardly remember just what I was doing. It felt like several minutes of undeniably painful silence had gone by before Reyes spoke again.
“We want passage off the ship. And you will give us what we want or your man is dead,” he hissed with all the venom his blood could muster. 230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyexrSX5KA
I figured at least I could appear tough and pulled the dagger closer to the uncomfortable hostage. Something about us gave the impression of foolishness to Kidd; I could clearly tell why. And he wouldn’t rather stay quiet for much longer.
As he stood tall, Kidd replied, “You’ve got quite the spitfire, mate. You remind me of myself as a young lad.”
Reyes reignited like flint on stone. “I am nothing like you, you filthy hombre malvado! Any man is twice the worth of you. Give us the ship or death!”
“Unless I’m mistaken, I am the one with the guns and soldiers, aye?”
“We will spill blood until it is the only thing you taste. Kill the pirata!” 230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61bIt1jBMT
I readied myself.
“Stop!” contested Kidd with a step towards me. And I did. I felt a sudden change in leadership once again. William Kidd observed me like a thief eyeing a possible victim. I felt him all over my skin.
“So young,” he soliloquized, “And such a past.”
“You know nothin’ of me,” I said, a low fire sparking in the pit of my stomach.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08RzR3qe9B
“On the contrary, Edmund. I know you, your family. I know why you’re here.” The tease of a smile tugged on his lips as he leaned in a bit closer. And he spoke in a low whisper, “I know what you’ve left behind—or should I say—who you left behind.”
The muscles in my body hardened. My stomach dropped to the floor and my throat felt drier than sand. It was an instinct. I tried lunging myself forward but not before feeling the dreadful poke of a knife on my back. Kidd grinned a nasty smile.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…What shall we do with you two, huh? It seems to me you certainly didn’t think all this through. I mean, for fuck’s sake, Edmund,” he guffawed, “a knife in the back is child’s play.”
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Over the next week, I became quite acquainted with the cargo hold of our ship. After the failed mutiny attempt, Kidd deemed me too stupidly radical and dangerous to be held with the rest of the crew. So, I was awarded my own space. At the bottom of the ship. Surrounded by barrels and boxes and loads of rope and cloth.
It wasn’t as terrible as you might imagine. I certainly had it better off than when Constantine was held hostage. I’d fashioned myself a bed out of the boxes and cloth. And to my good fortune, I’d found the supply of imported silks and expensive satins we’d been transporting to India. I tried not to let the constant rocking of the ship consume my sleep. The worst part was that in the most damning way, I was completely in the dark. I hadn’t a clue where we were going or how long we’d be sailing. All I was sure of was the clatter of footsteps above my head at all times.
I tried to find some sort of entertainment at the bottom of this place. I’d sing the shanties we used to holler at the top of our lungs on clear, sunny days. I’d count the inventory over and over again until I’d memorized the 84 bales of raw silk, the 1,400 bags of brown sugar, and the 80 cases of opium. But, when my entertainment ran low, I resorted to beating on the walls and yelling threats and curses, hoping for some sort of human interaction. Something. But, no one came. No one yelled back. The only sort of interaction I ever had was during sometime in the night when a pirate would stick his arm into the hatch and toss in a stale chunk of bread and leave a mug of water. In a way, I felt like Constantine. How did she not go insane like this?
Things began to change on the fifth day. I woke from my elongated sleep and barely noticed the ship wasn’t moving anymore. I’d become so accustomed to it. Nor did I realize the other pirates inside the room plundering the cargo loads and hauling it out of the hull. I pulled myself up and watched, confused why I wasn’t noticed. In the middle of my wondering, a pirate shoved me aside and lifted up the crates I’d been sleeping on.
“Where’s Kidd?” I asked anyone. "Where's Reyes?" 230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4b3Dy7yesa
No one responded, and it was clear they were too busy to mind me. So, I made my escape back up towards the blinding light outside. For several seconds, I was completely disabled. The sunlight drove my senses to numbness. My ears rang from the stinging in my eyes. My skin crawled upon the feel of new warmth. It felt like a lifetime since I’d seen the day.
Fortunately, I wasn’t shot during my immobilization as I’d been so worried about. When I could finally open my eyes to a hesitant squint, I caught sight of another workday on the ship—only a different crew to work it. Just as I had suspected, we weren’t moving. We had ported, finally, in Cochin.
I looked around, trying to find some sort of direction. But no one noticed me or came for me. I leaned over the railing of the ship to see a beach bursting with palm trees. Further beyond was a small town nestled in the greenery. We’d docked on a worn-down pier where boxes of cargo were being unloaded. I leaned over further to get a better look when a large hand grabbed my shoulder.
“Ah, you’re awake. I thought it might be time to have a little talk,” came the grumbling voice of Kidd.
After catching my breath, I replied, “What do you want from me?”
“I don’t want anything from you, Edmund Hemingway. But, I can tell there is much you want from me. Let us take a walk.”
From there, the captain began walking down the planks leading to the pier and ushered me to follow. Despite my anger towards my capture, I couldn’t ignore the curiosity burning in my skull. Kidd knew things that no soul should know. So, I followed.
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Cochin was a slow-moving settlement full of slow-moving people. It hardly seemed the place to sell valuables of our kind. Kidd took me down to the beach where the afternoon tide was just beginning to roll out. I watched him walk, digging each foot into the sand as if he owned the sea, the land, and all its inhabitants. I quickly learned—this man thought himself God.
“Allow me to share something with you, my lad,” he said after a long silence, “I am not an evil man. I didn’t come to ruin the lives of young dreamers such as yourself. I am simply a subject of the Queen’s will—a martyr of the wretched if you will. But that is not to say I am to be taken for a fool. I know you hate me and what I am a part of. But, in time, you will see my men live by nothing but honor and justice for all.”
“In time?” I instinctively questioned. 230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGEjwEyS48
He turned his head back at me in response.
“You don’t expect to run free, do you? You’re to be one of us. I’ll sell off some of the men on your ship and keep others as sailors. They’ll learn to be loyal. As for you, Edmund—we have many things to discuss.”
We kept walking. Kidd looked across the horizon, eyes slightly squinted. Then, he stopped and glared down something far away.
“Do you like women, Edmund?”
“What sort of question is that?” I asked.
“Allow me to rephrase—do you love women?”
I didn’t answer but instead followed his gaze to where a tall, shack-of-a-building stood nestled between an herbalist’s shop and a bookstore. It was a brothel.
I glanced back at him as soon as I made the connection. He smiled.
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I’d only visited a brothel once in my life. I was seventeen years old and I was still under the authority of Thomas Tew. Tew claimed he was a married man yet never once let the notion resurface while porting. He visited a great number of brothels, always taking with him a small group of loyal, excited pirates. I would only remember the lewd things they said as they stumbled back in the mornings, drunk and half-erect.
But, on my seventeenth birthday, we happened to be ported off the edge of Bordeaux, which was seeing great change and was already expected to grow into the next London. I don’t believe Tew was even aware it was my birthday which would probably make his motives even more questionable. Nevertheless, he decided that night to bring me along to their merry and disgraceful soiree. I didn’t try to escape. I barely knew what a brothel was and no man denied Tew and survived.
It was quite a loud night. Women with white and red silks that swam across their bodies danced on tables and leaned on other men. They threw back their heads, laughed at boring jokes, and let their long locks tickle their backs. Men at the tables played music, half-hoping to stop to go enjoy the women, half-praying the dancing would never end. So, they played on in a vicious circle of desires. Rum painted the walls and tables. No one could keep their heads up straight. Hell, even the women drank.
I never openly participated in the sweaty entertainment. But, that didn’t mean I wasn’t called upon. I remember blonde ladies years older than I circling themselves around me like predators. They sang in forcibly hushed voices and never raised their eyes above mine no matter what. I couldn’t tell who was more afraid of who.
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Things hadn’t changed so much since I was younger.
Kidd had gathered his best men with him and set out with me to town. We first landed at a pawner’s shop where I was made to wait outside while Kidd spent nearly an hour inside, squabbling over the price of our looted cargo. I took the time to learn Cochin and to watch the people pass by—mostly natives and the occasional white sea captain. It wasn’t enough to entertain me for that long. So, I began fixating my gaze on the passerbys' actions. Well, that provided even less amusement than before—until about five minutes before our departure. Amongst the unhidden faces, I picked out a shadow, a figure lingering on the walls and market stands. They seemed to be shopping, same as so many others. But, their mannerisms were simply too conscious. The figure lurked under a well-fitted, but concealing, juniper green cloak. They never turned their head quite enough for me to obtain any clues to their identity. The only hint was a hesitant gait and a number of novels in their basket. After much time spent deciphering this figure, Kidd finally returned from the pawner’s shop.
“Damn bastards have the right mind to threaten me. With my own men standing guard! Damn fools,” he muttered to himself. Kidd peered up at the sky. We all noticed the sun falling and the colors changing.
“Well, boys, I believe our night in paradise is upon us,” he chuckled, followed by a round of whistles and laughs. As they gathered their belongings, I glanced back at the streets but found that the juniper figure had gone.
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