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Chapter 13~ The Boot
When the sun rose yet again the next morning, I got just what I expected. Tew found me huddled in the corner of my room. The sight of him wasn’t welcoming in the least. All through the night, I had imagined how this scene would play out. First, he’d drag me up by my collar and hurl me across the room like some mangy mutt. Next would come the screaming and shouting. He’d have an hour or two of pain and suffering planned out. And above deck, the crew would undoubtedly get a kick out of hearing my pleas and cries. No need for a new shanty, I suppose…
But, none of it happened the way I’d thought. No, Tew stalked close and just watched me tremble underneath his shadow. I came to realize that the devil wasn’t a blood-red, gnarled creature half-hidden in darkness but a man not much different than the ones you’d meet any day. He was calm and focused but had a burning heart of decay and bane. His face was strong and stiff like stone—hardened from a lifetime of hatred. And his eyes—black like the soul he once had. And, on some occasions, the devil wasn’t even a man.
Tew needed not a description of his cold fury. And I needn’t waste my energy lamenting the aghast alarm I’d felt when the captain finally did take action. Tew slowly knelt. He took my face between one enormous, heavy hand and hissed, “No one is waiting for you out there in this world. Only a fool like you would believe in anything anymore. I have saved you.”
“Funny," I groaned, a line of saliva dripping down my lip, " A lot of people have been telling me that lately.”
“Don’t you understand, you insolent girl?! Your father will never come for you! You are completely alone!”
I had understood this—for longer than I cared to admit. But, only when Tew said it did I finally accept it to be true.
My father had moved on with his life. And there was no one to blame. No one to dream about. No one to picture when watching the horizon.
The captain’s face was so near me that I could smell his heavy, rancid breath and see the wild look in his eyes. It was time to stop kidding myself.
“I know.”
Then, something in the air changed. Tew stopped short. A prideful smile crept onto his face. His entire demeanor screamed of his newfound and worked-for success. And the tension relaxed drastically. But, Tew wasted no more time.
“Then, this should be simple for the both of us. You tell me what I want to know and perhaps you’ll make it out of here alive, lass.”
However, I shook my head slightly in response. “That doesn’t mean you’re getting anything out of me, Tew. I may not believe in my fate anymore, but my father still has a life to live. I’m not betraying him for anything.”
The temperature dropped unexpectedly all around us as did Tew’s amusement. The world was once again cold and unforgiving. He raised a swift hand and dealt my face a blow. Outraged, the captain climbed back to his feet and paced the room.
“You bitch! You must think yourself so miserable, huh?! You know no terror nor suffering!!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. Tew halted and faced some of the other crew in the room. He then muttered in his deepest, most booming voice, “Bring the boot.”
The boot was composed of two, thick iron slabs held together with large screws. It was an old, bulky invention, to say the least. The inside of the iron slabs was lined with small spikes stained in a dark brown. Crew members carried this monstrosity forward. As the realization finally came to me, I threw myself back onto the wall behind me and prayed I might sink into it. Fear swam in my eyes and overcame my entire body until I was paralyzed. Cries and sobs continued to fall out of my mouth.
“No!! Please, no!!” 445Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkq5LGH0ZE9
None of it, however, was any use anymore. Tew snatched me by my right ankle and yanked me forward. My back caught the floorboards, splinters ripping through my flesh.
“Oh, this? This is just a little something we picked up while you pranced all about the town. You should feel honored. It’s all for you,” he laughed.
With the help of the other heartless men, my whole right foot was placed in the contraption, lying flat against the spikes. They began to crank the thing tighter together, even without Tew’s word. The danger hadn’t become imminent just yet. But, I could see the anticipation in the pirates’ eyes. They hadn’t gotten to perform torture in a long time. Tew crouched beside me again and pulled my face to his rage-mutilated one.
“You tell me where your father is or lose a foot, you bitch.”
“Go to hell!” I groaned in defiance. With a roar of aggravation, Tew hand-cranked the boot’s screws. The spikes pressed into my old ankle wounds and opened them up again. The blood ran warm down my skin and dribbled onto the floor like jelly.
“Where is he?!”
“I can’t!!” I screamed. My back arched reflexively as Tew cranked more and more. The sound of splintering bones reached my ears, only making my screams louder. 445Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsntwHW6PXQ
“Help me!!” 445Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0SmElHOpF
I dared not look at my foot, for I knew one glance at the mutilated thing would surely kill me. The blood pooled around my waist and soaked more and more of my shirt. My heart was pounding out of my chest as hot sweat soaked my entire face. Tears and the metallic perfume of my own blood might’ve been the most nauseating smell in this world—so awful that I had to heave breaths from my mouth.
“Perhaps if we mangle your foot, you’ll never run away again, you mangy bitch! I’LL KILL YOU!!”
Finally, Tew twisted the screw once more. The spikes dug deeper and the bones cracked like tree bark. But, black spots were appearing in my visions. There was nothing to hear over my screams. Every muscle in my body was tensed in terror. The pain was so excruciating that my right ankle had numbed as if fully roasted by flames.
Relieve me, death, I thought to myself. Give me that sweet bliss that no one on this earth knows. I have prayed for it. Let me see my mother once again.
And I believed my wish was granted.
**********
To wake up screaming is not a pleasant beginning. Not in the least bit. To feel every limb writhing about like a possessed heathen was terrifying in a way that can only be fully understood by experiencing it yourself. But, I eventually gained control of myself again and saw what had happened. There I was, sprawled across the center of the floor like rubbish left in the streets. An unbearable pain proliferated off my right ankle as I gained consciousness until I was yelping and clutching at it.
Only then did I finally bear witness to the horrific disfiguration. My ankle was hardly what it looked like before. Embossed on my skin was the pattern of the spikes that the boot had contained—as permanent as a tattoo. My blood colored the floorboards like I was painting them a new ugly shade of scarlet. And dried blood caked the entire foot. I could even see chalky bits of a broken bone.
With an ill leap in my stomach, I desperately tried to vomit, but my stomach was empty. My uncontrollable gagging carried on for a while. Tew was right. I’d never walk on my own again. This maimed foot was my death sentence after all. Tears built up in my eyes and rolled down. I couldn’t stop imagining all the places I’d dreamed of going one day, all the things I wanted to do if I ever made it out of this ship. Fantasies are only fantasies after all. I was foolish to think otherwise.445Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIFCVd7QIr
The door creaked open, but I hoped it’d lock and never open for him again. Edmund didn’t need to see me like this.
“Don’t…” I moaned terribly, “Piss off.” But, he slipped in anyway, as silent as the night itself.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…” he whispered. He set down the food and water and ran over. “What did they do to you?!”
“I’ll be okay…”
“Constantine, your foot-”
“I didn’t want you to see this,” I said under my breath.
“Why not?” he snapped, plainly irked, “Because—what? Then you think someone might actually care about your miserable state? Well, that’s somethin’ you don’t really control, Constantine.” Edmund looked just the way he did when we talked in the alleyway. He knelt close to my injury but I was already shaking my head.
“There’s nothing you can do for me now, Edmund.”
“No. Don’t you say that. I should’ve known he’d do this. I should’ve known!” Edmund turned his attention to the pressing matter and unraveled a few rags and a chunk of leather from his coat pocket.
“Ever been shot before?” he asked. 445Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOL7QbAiSNt
I shook my head, moving my other leg to distract from the pain. 445Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLUtOT7hft
“Well, you’re gonna know what it feels like. Drink this.” 445Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOC1dvxp5TZ
He unlatched a small bottle of some golden-colored liquid and tossed it in my lap. I pulled out the cork stopping it and took a whiff. Rum.
I took a swig of the sweet, strong poison and let my head fall back onto the wall. But, Edmund was already digging out something else.
“Bite on this.” He handed me the chunk of leather which I quickly stuck between my molars. Edmund cleaned his hands off in the water and wet the rags.
“You’re gonna have to be strong for me, Constantine. You can’t move your leg. Can you do that?” I nodded and softly stifled the sobs. 445Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzrEJvgzEx
Edmund closed his eyes and reassured himself. His fingers shook, but both of us were terrified.
Then, the Cabin Boy did something that would’ve made me vomit if I’d anything to work with. He dug his fingers into my open flesh. The leather worked wonders, for my bare screams probably would’ve woken the crew. I forced myself to shut my eyes, to think of something else—anything pleasant. And that’s when I remembered the first time my father took me aboard a ship. 445Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAZMhgZ36U
I was a tiny lass and barely reached above the railing. But, I remembered the puffing white sails that seemed as big as our house. Father had invested all of our savings into his sailing career and had spent months creating the ship’s majestic nature. He had created this giant, breath-taking ship for only one purpose. My father always dreamed of living happily. Both Mother and Father had grown up poor. While Mother learned how true happiness was being with loved ones, my father never stopped imagining a life of fortune and fulfillment where we’d never be in need of anything but each other. And, though I hated to believe it, Father fell in love with that fantasy life. And, that little logwood freighter became the life he could never provide for us. It was a sign of what was to come. I soon learned that my father would always commit his life to the sea. Still, I could see the gulls perched atop the mainsails and my little hands on the wheel; they could only reach the bottom handles.
“Someday you’ll sail a ship, my dear,” he’d say. “And you’ll be so legendary that every man, woman, and child on the seas will know your name.”
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