Chapter 1 Captain and Crew #3
I place my hat on my head and leave my bedroom.
Once I reach the deck, I see Captain Rodrigo’s ship pulling closer.
It’s a gorgeous vessel, one that commands your attention when it’s near.
There are people lined up at the edge of the docks just to see it.
I’m not sure if it’s the red sails, but there’s something about it that just looks powerful, somehow it seems even more powerful than my father’s ship.
“Ah, there you are. Dashing as always, just like your dad!” my father says, as he grabs my shoulder.
“Yeah, we’re practically twins,” I say sarcastically, while looking out at the approaching ship.
“Cologne smells good. Jenny’s gonna love it. Is she going out with you boys tonight?” my father asks.
“What?” I tilt my head to the side looking at him. “No. Definitely not. Why would I bring her out with us? I’m not interested in her.”
“Not interested? What’s not to be interested in? She’s gorgeous and her parents are wealthy, add to that the fact that she doesn’t mind that you’re a pirate and it’s a match made in heaven,” he says proudly.
“Hardly,” I say. “I’ve told you so many times that I’m not interested in being in a relationship with anyone, especially not Jenny. How many times do I have to say it?”
A familiar voice calls in the distance, “Ahoy! You sack of garbage!” The voice belongs to a man who looks nearly identical to my best friend, except for the age difference of course—it’s Vincent’s father, Captain Rodrigo.
But where is Vincent? Ah, there he is, standing on the bow of the ship, it didn’t take long to find him, since his bright red coat sets him apart from everyone else.
But his face looks flushed—he must’ve had a rough trip.
I straighten my coat and head toward him, while my father crosses in front of me, making his way toward the loud obnoxious man that is Vincent’s father.
My eyes meet Vincent’s for a moment, and I instantly feel happy.
I’ve been waiting to see him for almost a year, so we could run the town, and the moment is finally here.
“Hey, the old man is just as loud as ever,” I say while I hang an arm around Vincent’s neck. He gives me an uncomfortable kind of smile and wriggles a bit from my hold. That’s strange. “What’s wrong? Seas give you guys a bit of trouble? You don’t look well,” I say cautiously.
“Well, my dad was in a mood earlier, and today has just been… Never mind,” he says while avoiding eye contact with me.
“Hello, Sivan,” Matteo calls out as he walks over to join us.
Once Matteo is beside him, Vincent turns away, looking out at the dock. I glance out at the crowd that’s gathered, to see if there’s something that’s caught his attention, but nothing is standing out to me. “Matteo, how was the trip? Vincent doesn’t look so great.”
“Ah, well, he’s pissed that he slept with Harlow, and somehow it’s my fault,” Matteo says with a laugh.
Vincent shoots him an uncomfortable scowl over his shoulder. “Thank you for sharing that, Matteo,” he says through gritted teeth.
“What? Why would you be pissed about that?” I ask. “That’s nothing new, unless she’s finally pinned you down—she hasn’t, has she? God, I hope not, we have the whole port to ourselves. Can’t have some ship trash wrapping you around her finger.”
“Nah, she hasn’t brought up marriage in a while. She knows it’s not gonna happen. I mean, what do you care for anyway?” he asks, turning around, and playfully shoving me. “Come on, let’s go find the rum, Sivan. Rum, then girls!”
“Matteo, are you joining us or hanging out with the old crawdaddies?” I ask.
“No, not right now, but maybe later. I have to chat with someone before meetings convene. Keep Vincent out of trouble, will you? The last time you two were here, we had to pay for way too many bottles and a few chairs, if I’m remembering right.
Try to at least act civil, would the two of you?
” he says, placing his crimson red hat on his head.
Vincent scoffs. “Thanks, I didn’t know you were my effing babysitter.”
Okay, I’ve never seen him actually mad at Matteo like this. But Matteo doesn’t seem to care at all—he just walked away without saying anything, while Vincent is just shaking his head.
“Hey.” I nudge his arm with my elbow. “What’s up? What actually happened?”
“Nothing, same old shit. I tire of him always up my ass. Earlier, I was getting ready for our meeting, trying to get everything done and he plotted with Harlow, trapping me in my room with her. She threw herself at me, like always, and you know, one thing lead to another and—” He pauses, rubbing his chin, slowly looking me up and down.
“I’m just pissed about it. Then my dad lectured me about marriage, duty and freaking hats… I don’t know.”
I laugh heartily and reply, “Well, what’s wrong with that? Certainly, you can’t be upset because you had sex before pulling into port? Just means you’ll last longer for the next round, right?”
“Boys!” Captain Rodrigo calls out.
Vincent groans at the sound of his father’s voice and tugs firmly on my forearm. His eyes widen when he grips it. “Just ignore him,” he says, releasing my arm.
“I can’t do that. Your dad is the captain and I’m on his ship.”
Vincent’s head drops forward and we both turn toward our fathers.
“Hello, Captain, how are you?” I extend my hand in greeting and Captain Rodrigo grips it, pulling me in for a hug.
“Whoa, what have you been lifting? Kegs?” He pats my biceps firmly and looks at my father. “He’s bigger than you, Ray.”
My father nods. “That he is. If only he had half a brain to go with those muscles.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be talking about my best friend that way,” Vincent says. My father gives him a hug and pats his back. “Not when your best friend can’t even explain the meaning of his tattoos,” he adds.
Captain Rodrigo’s mouth is wide open. He’s looking around at the crew on deck. No one can hear us over here, though. It’s far too noisy in the port.
My father crosses his arms. “What are you talking about, Vincent?”
“Don’t say another word,” Captain Rodrigo warns. “Head to my office. We can talk when we get there.”
“Your office?” my father asks. “Don’t you want to go get a drink, Rodri? What do we want to hang out with the boys for?”
Vincent smirks, looking at my father. “He’s too embarrassed to tell you that what I said was true. He wants us to go to his office, so no one will hear him.”
Captain Rodrigo leans in close toward Vincent and whispers impatiently, “I am taking all the rum. Now, move your ass!” He shoves Vincent playfully while looking around. “Where is Matteo? Matteo!”
“Captain,” I say. “Matteo said he—”
“Here, Captain,” Matteo says, walking up behind us.
Vincent drops an eyebrow at him. “I thought you had to go do something? Ah, whatever, let’s go, Sivan.” He starts walking toward the lower deck, and I follow him.
I’m not really sure what’s going on, but if Vincent is gonna get in trouble, I’ll go down with him. He’s kind of mumbling to himself while walking in front of me. “Are we actually going to your dad’s office?” I ask.
“Yep. He wants to make me look stupid, but it’s not gonna work. I made a point earlier about tattoos, a good point I might add, and he got all pissy about it.”
I have no idea what kind of a point he could be talking about, but it’s probably something to do with our captain’s tattoos we’ll be getting this year.
I glance over my shoulder and see our fathers and Matteo following close behind.
I’m still confused by how mad he is at Matteo.
I mean, why would he be pissed that he set Harlow up in his room?
I’m sure he’ll explain it later. He’s not usually one to stay quiet when he’s upset.
We step onto the lower deck and walk toward Captain Rodrigo’s office. “Excuse me,” Matteo says, quickly hurrying past us to open the door.
“You know you don’t need to do that,” Vincent says. “No one expects you to hold doors open for them. That doesn’t need to change just because Captain Crawford and his crew are here.”
“Well, when you’re captain, I’ll keep that in mind,” Matteo says.
We all file inside, and Vincent and I take a seat on the large, navy-blue couch, while the others join Captain Rodrigo at his desk, sitting across from him in oversized black leather chairs.
Vincent and I know better than to sit over there.
We only sit there when we’re ready to be yelled at for something we’ve done.
Since I just got here, we haven’t done anything to warrant that yet.
My father holds his palms out. “What is it, Rodri? The last thing I want to do is be stuck in your office for hours before meetings.”
Captain Rodrigo removes his coat and rolls up his long white sleeves.
“This is so stupid,” Vincent mumbles.
“Ray, why do we have these tattoos?” Captain Rodrigo asks, examining his own arms. “Vincent says he doesn’t understand them. Can you tell him what they mean? Or why we got them?”
I look at Vincent and whisper, “Is that really why we’re here?”
“Yep. My dad has no idea what the tattoos mean. Let’s just see how this plays out.”
My father glances at the two of us. “Sivan, tell Vincent what the tattoos mean.”
“Captain and crew. Those are the two things we base all decisions on. We need the tattoos to remind us that our duty as captain is to our crew.”
“Not exactly,” my father says.
“What?” I ask. “How is that wrong? That doesn’t make sense.”
“We have the captain tattoo because we are captains. You need to remember that you are a captain once you get that tattoo. Every decision matters, every action or inaction has a consequence. You live for the crew. You live for your captain. And when you’re captain you expect that others will do the same. ”
Vincent laughs and I suck my lips in, stifling a laugh of my own.
“Captain Crawford,” Vincent says through laughter. “Why would I need the tattoo to remind myself that I’m captain? Am I expected to forget? Have you ever forgotten that you were the captain?”
Matteo cuts into the conversation. “What’s the point of this debate? Vincent, you don’t want the tattoos? You’ve been looking forward to getting them since we were kids. What changed?”
Vincent removes his hat, placing it on his lap.
He shakes his dark brown hair free, smoothing it.
“First and foremost, I don’t think that I will ever forget that I’m captain.
Second, if I’m expected to look at both my arms to remind me of where my duty lies, would it matter which arm I looked at first?
Because if I look at the captain one first, then the decision is based on whatever I want.
So, screw the crew. If I look at the crew first, then screw me, right? ”
“I got it!” I say. “The point of the captain tattoo is so that when you’re drunk and passed out, someone could easily identify you as captain. That makes the most sense.”
Vincent nods at me in agreement. “Yeah, and if I pass out alone somewhere, someone will know I’m a captain and return me to my ship. It’s kind of like a lost and found safeguard. I’ve been thinking about this all wrong. Thanks, Sivan. You cleared it up.”
We laugh loudly together, and I elbow him in the side, but when my elbow makes contact with him, he shifts ever so slightly to the right. Almost like he’s moving away from my touch.
“So, your son is an imbecile, too,” Captain Rodrigo says to my father.
“It would appear so.” My father shakes his head. “Any chance we can clone you, Matteo?”
“No. I’m not interested in being captain. Vincent can do it, he just doesn’t want to be forced to marry. That’s what this is all about.” He stands from his chair. “Am I right?” he asks Vincent.
Vincent salutes him, sarcastically. “Right on.”
“May I be excused, Captains?” Matteo asks. “I have an appointment and I’m already gonna be late, I’d rather not be any later.”
“Oooh, you got a date?” Vincent asks.
It’s too fun of a topic for me not to chime in on. “Yeah, Matteo. Do you have a sexy side piece in the port of Darshley?” I pump my eyebrows at him.
Matteo tilts his head at us, then looks back to Captain Rodrigo, seeking permission to leave.
“Go, go, all of you can go,” Captain Rodrigo says. He lifts his chin toward us. “Boys, the meetings start at six. Don’t be late. You guys can have fun with girls after.”
Matteo smiles and walks toward the door. “Don’t be late, Vincent,” he says as he reaches the doorway.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Vincent says.
We both know better than to linger once we have permission to leave, so we head quickly for the exit. “We won’t be late,” I reassure our fathers.
“Let’s hit up Pudgy’s,” I say to Vincent. “We can grab a few drinks before the meeting.”
Vincent doesn’t respond, he’s just walking down the hall beside me in silence. I don’t even know if he heard me. “Hey,” I say, elbowing him. “What’s up?”
“Ah, my head is a mess. This whole thing with Harlow today really annoyed me. But, yeah, let’s just go to Pudgy’s. We should make sure we’re back in time for the meetings, though. So, girls after, I guess.”
“What are you so upset about? Harlow or the tattoos? Was the sex bad or something?”
He stops walking and looks at me like I just asked him something totally out of line. His mouth opens for a moment, but he only pauses for a second or two before continuing down the hallway.
“Well? Was it?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Just leave it. The tattoo is stupid, right? Or am I being stupid?”
“I see your point, but I think there could be a time you’d need to be reminded you were captain, not because you’d forget, but just as a reminder if you’re ever conflicted or looking for the right answer, maybe?
I don’t know. I want a tattoo that says captain, if for nothing else, just the lost and found thing—I could get lost and who would know I was captain if I don’t have the tattoo? ”
Vincent laughs. “Yeah, who would help you? Then again, if a girl finds you, who knows what could happen? She’d see the captain tattoo and just go wild on you.”
“Oooh, is the girl that finds me passed out hot? Because if she is…” I air grind my hips and smack an invisible ass, drawing a laugh from Vincent.
“No, maybe it’s Ersin, or Jenny that finds you!” he teases.
“Oh God, why would you say either of their names? I was grinding, man. Ersin is like a sister to me. Disgusting.”