Midnight Boat to Freedom

I wasn’t kicked off the boat that day, and in fact it was the start of my career so to speak. I was given a decision to make that day. And I met men who would shape what I was to become. I didn’t know all that at the time, but thinking back, I wouldn’t have wished it to happen any other way.

I was fascinated by the man in front of me. He scared the wits out of me. Tall and lithe he was, adorned with the stigma of a pirate and eyes that screamed insanity or something along the lines of that passion. He appraised me with those eyes, looking at every aspect of me and I knew before he started asking questions that he was aware that I was hiding something. But rather than call me on my bluff, he skirted around it.

I met Captain Jack Sparrow properly during that meeting. He was nothing like the man that horror stories were made of as I was told in the orphanage. He was eloquent and vibrant. He explained that he would suffer no underage children aboard his ship, and I was explained the basics of the Pirates Code. I was of the proper age to claim my own fate and I told him as much. Sparrow, I believe at the time, took me to be a lad of proper age, simply waiting for maturity to crack my voice properly. I laugh when I think of it now.

I was given the night to think about the weight of the decision I was to make. I was to stay aboard the ship and keep out of the way. Being given the pirate’s brand was a large decision, as I would have it for the rest of my life to come. He was half inclined to take me back to port and let me wait for a few more years before I decided. I shook me head and argued. I said I would think on it. But I assured him that once my word was given; my mind would be made up.

I stayed on the deck of the ship and watched as the pirates went about their business. There was naught for me to do but watch. I had never been aboard a ship before, had in fact never been aboard a dock before then and all of this was new to me at that point. I was startled by the fact that the quartermaster was indeed a woman. The Code that Sparrow had just recited to me stated that no women or children could sail a pirate ship. I had pondered about this for a while and watched as she handled herself with all the ocean grace as the rest of the men. Before long Sparrow was standing beside me and noted what I was looking at.
“They’re more of just guidelines really we learned.” Jack gave an elusive smile and was off before I could ask on it further.

I watched as the sun faded from amber to crimson and finally a deep indigo. The work of the day had been completed and now here and there men gathered around bottles. One by one all the candles were extinguished. No one looking over the mists above the water would see the ship for miles around. I felt sleep creep up to me and I realized with a start that it had been close to two full days since I had closed my eyes. I fought it, knowing that I didn’t want to sleep on the deck of the ship. I got up and started walking. Good cheer surrounded me, clanking bottles and the smell of rich tobacco.

“Are ye tired?” A voice beside me asked.

“Aye.” I looked and saw that the quartermaster had fallen in stride with me.

She led me to a small room with a cot. “Not the standards on an inn, but it’ll do.” She shook dust off a quilt and threw it over the cot. The moon stole into the window illuminating the room faintly. “I be Anamarie.”

I struggled to think of a proper name to give her, surely Victoria would have given me away, and finally managed to choke out the name Tom. Where it had come from, I’ll never guess myself, but she repeated it and nodded her acquaintance. She reminded me the importance of darkness and left me to my thoughts. “Welcome to the Black Pearl.” She said and made her exit.

I slept better than I ever thought I would that night. I had escaped the life that had been planned for me at port. For that I was relieved, but a decision loomed over me that night and I knew that by making it, I was changing the fate of my life as it was for all to come. Was this the right way to go? I had no idea. When making my escape, I had simply thought to board a merchant vessel and travel to another port, and find a better fortune there if one was to be had. But thinking on it, the state that I was in, with no name of any importance, was any better fortune really to be had anywhere else? Social classes were set in stone, and one was rarely able to change the fate that they were born into, especially a woman. But here aboard this ship, Anamarie was treated with the respect of the crew and the captain. What made these pirates different, that a woman could rise in their ranks as she had?
I realized at that point that if Anamarie could be a quartermaster with such camaraderie with the crew, what could stop her from becoming a captain? She addressed the crew with commands as though she were when Sparrow wasn’t around; she could make a fine captain. Later I learned that Anamarie stayed with the Pearl because of her love for the ship, she more than had the ability to strike out on her own, and later she would. It was then that my thinking was complete. I would accept Sparrow’s terms and choose my fate.

Morning came early for me. I awoke before the sun and walked the decks as the rest of the crew sauntered around. I watched as they adjusted sails and went about their business. Sparrow was already at the helm, glancing at his compass and adjusting the wheel with such reverence I had to stare in wonder. He looked at me and his eyes became somber. I nodded at his questioning look and waited for him to address me. As I waited, I again mopped. My arms felt good under this labor and as the sun gained his position in the sky, I knew that the time had come to tell Sparrow of my decision. He motioned for me to follow him.

I was asked whether I had the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death. I answered Aye and he nodded. Sparrow asked if I understood the code that he had explained to me the previous day, again I answered positive. He then asked me why on earth one so young as myself would feel being a pirate was such the right way to go.

“Because Captain Sparrow, there are certain things that are certain anywhere one is to run to. I’ll be no better of in Royal or any other port I choose to run to. I realized last night that only the free seas could harbor a free person.” It was the longest speech I had given thus far and he mulled over my words for a moment.

“I couldn’t ‘ave said it better me self.” With that he pointed to a metal post on the table and the lantern beside it. “I’ll not brand a man like a beast, a pirate ye name yerself, and a pirate ye make yerself. Savvy?” He reached out his hand to shake my own and on his arm right about where the cuff of his shirt fell was a small, scarred "P". I knew what it was I had to do and I nodded and shook his hand.

He left the room and I heated the iron. I’ll not go into the pain that I inflicted on myself at that point, but not a bit of it do I regret now. I learned later that it was indeed a captain this usually had the job of this, but I preferred that I did it myself. I owed it to no one but myself and was in no way forced into doing it. I could have faked it and Sparrow never would have known. But I knew that this was the answer for me, and did it with only a small moment of hesitation. No regrets.

I became a pirate that day. And for the first time in my life and for all the days to come I belonged somewhere of my own right.