9. The Necklace
1872 Words
We get off the boat and go shopping.
"You looking for a new style sweetie?" An older lady walks around a corner.
Everyone comes and stands around me.
"It's very hot out on the water. The sun is always on you. The bigger the hat, the more shade on your face and shoulders. The white colors help remove heat from your body. Also, they're baggy, so the ocean breeze can get in there. Long sleeves and pants keep the sun off your skin. The scarves are for keeping sweat off your skin. Everything works together, so you don't end up a lobster-colored sweat bubble."
I smile at Dipak. "Can we all get a hat?"
"Sure, I want some of those clothes too. I am a sweat bubble."
Tye looks at the lady. "I like this hat. But you put a scarf under it somehow?" It's a black triangle-shaped hat.
Tre pulls me away. "What are you looking at?"
"The hat." I point at Tye's hat. Tye glances at me and smirks.
I watch the lady as she wraps a white scarf around Tye's head and then puts the hat on top.
"Woman, stare at Thora while we get hats."
She laughs. "Your eyes are dark."
Tye comes over with his new hat on. "I'm guessing you like it." He winks and puts sunglasses on my face. "Find a hat for you babydoll."
Me and Thora go through hats.
Tre is getting a scarf on his head.
I smile at him. "I got 3."
"What do you need 3 for baby?"
"Me, Thora, and Mary."
"I thought you meant 3 for you. That's fine. I'll pay when I pay for mine. Stand here for a second."
"Are you getting any of the clothes?"
"I don't know. I do like those shirts. They are very light and breezy."
"We should get them all. I'll tell Dipak."
"Ok baby. I'll be over in a minute."
"I like your hat sir."
"Thank you sweetheart. Did you find one?"
"I found 3. Me, Thora, and Mary."
"Alright." He gets in his pocket.
"I think you should get the shirts up there."
"All of them?"
"Yes, for you guys." I lean in close and whisper, "They're pirate shirts."
He chuckles. "I love you woman. Alright, as long as they fit us. I'll buy them all. Follow me with your hats."
I follow him up to the front, and he clears the rack of shirts. Then I throw 2 stacks of scarves on top. Then my 3 hats. Kane won't get a hat, but he does like a big one with feathers on it. I grab that from him. Tre and Tye are staring at me. Thora has a little dress. I get those. "Do we need anything else, Thora?"
She scans the place. "I don't think so."
"THAT'S IT DIPAK."
He gestures to the lady.
Then I see a pirate hat for me. It's black and white. It's smaller than the boy ones, but I need it. I grab one and throw it on Dipaks pile.
He smirks. "That was all the money."
Kane shakes his head. "We still have to restock the food and water."
I jump up and down. "WE GET TO BE REAL..." I grab Tye and whisper, "PIRATES."
"Pirates."
Dipak nods. "See if you can find a farm with smaller pigs. We could kill them as we need them. Meat wouldn't go bad that way. Chickens, yes. That should be good for meat. Maybe some bread. Tonight we can use speed and get stuff from the grocery. It's only 2 days, so I think we'll be fine with that."
I grab Tye. "WE NEED ALCOHOL."
"After we get everything, baby. You would fall asleep in the middle of the market."
"Ok let's go search for farms."
"Let's get this stuff back to the boat first, sweetheart."
Tye scratches his head. "What are you going to do with chickens and pigs? And we need to feed them until we need them."
Tre smirks. "Throw them in the cells. It's perfect."
Kane nods. "You work on that. I'll try to find fresh water."
An hour later, I explore the island with Tre, Tye, and Thora. The island has farmhouses like everyone thought. The boys mark out a couple to get the pigs and chickens from.
We come across little huts with people living there.
The women have black makeup, like eyeliner around their eyes. Then they have streaks of black going down their cheeks. Some have designs on their faces.
I go up to 1 of them. "You're beautiful."
She says something in another language to the others sitting around a fire making something.
The oldest one has long gray hair. She comes over and pulls the messy bun out of my hair. My hair drops everywhere. It has to be a total mess.
They give us some food. Which is nice because it's after dinner. We sit and eat with them.
"I wish we could talk to them."
"Me too. I bet they have amazing stories, being here on this island."
"You have an amazing ability for fitting in with the locals, babydoll. Even when you don't speak the language."
"I'm glad I can see it. They seem amazing."
He smirks. "Food's good too."
Thora watches them. "I wonder how we can thank them."
We shrug our shoulders.
About the time we finish eating, the old lady comes over again. She leads me and Thora into a hut. Thora glances at the boys. "We're either going to be killed and eaten, or we'll be fine."
I wink at them before I go in.
There are 5 women in the hut. It seems they know what to do. Which is good, because I have no idea what we're doing. Thora comes in right behind me and another 5 grab her.
They pull my dress off. That's awkward. Then they put me in another dress. It's that white light fabric the boys' shirts were made of. But it's a dress. The sleeves go down to my wrists and the dress itself goes down below my knees. It's snug on top, and the bottom is fabric hanging. It will be nice with the breeze on the boat. Then they put a tan overcoat over me. I nearly scream once I get it on. It's like a pirate would wear. It's real pirate clothes. They must trade with them.
I am so damn happy. I'm jumping up and down. But I can't even thank them. I'm a real pirate.
1 pushes me down in a seat. They mess with my hair. Another girl paints my face. I feel the black go around my eyes. I feel the brushes drag down my cheeks. They are doing my makeup like theirs. She puts a design of some kind on my forehead. Then on my chin. She also puts some kind of marking right above my eyebrow on one side.
I sit there and shake. I'm trying hard not to cry. I hug her. Then one of them show me something in my hair. It's a little braid. I have a few of them hanging down in spots on my head.
One of them takes my pirate hat and puts it on me. I twirl.
Then one of the girls takes the tan overcoat off me. I'm sad. But it's their stuff. And I still look like a pirate. Then she puts a black overcoat on me. It goes to the ground. She points at my hat. "Oh you wanted it to match. This is amazing. Thank you so much."
Thora has a tan overcoat, but she doesn't have a hat. Her face is painted like mine. "We're amazing."
"I know." She seems like she could cry too.
I point at the face paint. "What is it? Can I make it on my own?"
A lady hands me a whole big jar of it and 2 brushes.
"Thank you."
"It's almost like they understand."
"I think they do princess queen. Give me a sword. I need one for the pirate theme we got going on."
"Let's go see what the boys think."
She walks out and spins around. The boys cheer. I love them. Sounds like Dipak and Kane are out there now too, and it's almost dark.
"Now for the pirate princess." I spin and stare at the old woman. She hands me a box. Dipak comes in. "GET OUT OF MY HUT YOU MANGY THING." She swings something at him, and he runs out.
I open the box. It's a necklace. The charm is a compass like on the boat. It even has a working pointer. "It's beautiful. Thank you."
She gets it out of the box and puts it around my neck. "It will always point you home." Then she fixes my hair. And her fixing seems to be messing it up more. It's a horrible disaster with braids randomly placed.
I leave, with her behind me.
The boys stare at me.
The old lady smiles. "The pirate princess has arrived."
"Thank you for everything."
She goes back to her fire.
"Let's go get pigs, chickens, and water. I have pirating to do now."
Thora pulls at the coat. "I need a hat this color."
"We'll swing by there." I go toward the village.
"Wait." Tre stops. "This is the house with the pigs. They have a bunch of little ones. We can get 2. That would be enough for the 3 days."
Dipak shakes his head. "We'll get as many as we can. You 2 cover us. Kill anyone that comes after us. They're human. It'll be fine. Use speed to get them back to the cells."
The boys take off. Thora and I sit on the path where we can see them. They each make 2 trips and get us a lot of pigs.
They speed back. "Get them some food. You got a lot of them. Did they have feed? What do they eat?"
Dipak brushes himself off. "They eat everything. Get extra of everything. Enough to feed the pigs too."
We get a little further down the path and Tre says, "Stop. This is the chicken house. We have a lot of pigs. I don't know if we need them."
Tye nods. "I like eggs."
"We don't have a coop. I doubt if they'll lay eggs."
"If they do lay eggs, Tye and Thora can fight over them."
Then the boys each grab a couple of chickens. Tye gets a rooster. Kane takes part of the coop. And Dipak gets a bunch of chicken food. Then they come back.
Me and Thora are still standing in the path twirling swords.
Then we go through the market area and we take nearly everything we can. We use speed and take it to the boat. It's fun. We get hats, shoes, clothes, and more food.
Mary comes out of a building. "THIS IS THEIR UNDERWEAR." She's holding baggy long shorts. "FOR THE GIRLS."
Then we lose it.
Tre rubs his eyes. "Can you even imagine her in those?"
Kane shakes his head. "That's longer than her skirts."
Dipak is laughing so hard he can't even stand up.
- Writer
