Her reluctant companion
1086 Words
*Mirabella*
“Morning Ben”. I say as I walk into the dining room of the in.
He groans, a sound I guess is a greeting.
“You look tired, didn’t you sleep well ?” I sit down across from him. “My bed was surprisingly pleasant”.
“My bed was fine”. He sends me a crooked smile. “The bed was not my reason for not sleeping”.
I look curiously at him. “Then why then..”.
A young dark haired woman, with rather voluptuous breasts shows up, and lean down to kiss Ben. “Look me up next time you are in town”.
“Sure darling”. He says, pinching her behind as she turns to leave.
She giggles and smiles at me. “Watch out for this one little girl, he is a real scoundrel”.
“Oh I am sure uncle Ben is just that”. I say, looking at her.
“Uncle Ben”. She starts giggling and looks at Ben. “Uncle Ben… good one”.
When she leaves, Ben looks at me and shrugs. “She isn’t really famous for being smart”.
“That I believe”. I tell him, shaking my head. “I hope you made sure there won’t be more kids calling your daddy the next time you return”.
He groans and lets his head fall down on the table.
“Ben ! I do hope that doesn’t mean what I fear it means”. I say sternly.
“No !” He lifts his head slightly. “I have become smarter with age. The groan was because I can’t face the meeting I know you have planned…. Couldn’t we..”.
I shake my head. “No !”
“Just til tomorrow…”. He pleads.
“No !” He is not getting out of this.
He groans. “This evening maybe…”.
“No !” I cross my arms on my chest.
“Just till I feel a bit better”. He makes the most impossible puppy dog face.
I shake my head again. “No Ben, as soon as I have had some breakfast we are getting this over and done with”.
“Have I ever told you how much you remind me of your mother ?” He mumbles. “When you are not very much like your father that is”.
“I think you have mentioned it a couple of times just on this trip”. I can’t help smiling.
He sighs. “And like them you are right, I should get this over with”.
“Smart man”. I tell him, and start digging into my food. “You already talked me into waiting till today, no more postponing”.
I can’t help hearing him mumble. “So damn much like her mother”.
About an hour later, we are walking through town and Ben is grumbling to himself about how this is a waste of time, and most likely means nothing, and that there is no way of really knowing.
We make our way to the harbour area, and I look at Ben. “So, they live here ?”
“They work here, in the big storage hall”. He says, pointing to a large wooden building.
“And you know this… how ?” I can’t help being curious.
He gives me a tight smile. “I asked around, old friends. Apparently I am the standing daddy joke around here”.
“Aww, don’t take it badly”. I pat his arm. “See it as a chance”.
We walk inside and I look around in wonder. This is where all the things coming off ships are stocked before being shipped off to other destinations. There are spices and fabrics, weird items and live animals… basically everything you can imagine.
“So now we just need to find them”. I say looking around.
“They might be home… sick”. Ben says. “Yeah they are probably not even here… let's leave”.
I grab his arm, pulling him along towards a man who looks like he is in charge. “Okay, come on your scaredy cat”.
“Hey, don’t drag me young lady”. He complains.
“Hello good sir”. I say to the man. “We are wanting a talk with Benji and Benja, would you happen to know where we can find them ?”
He gives Ben a once over and grins. “They are down by the critter cages, feeding them, it’s that way”. He makes a motion with his head.
“Thanks”. I say with a small bob of my head, getting ready to drag Ben along with me.
“So it is true then”. The man says, scratching his filthy looking beard.
Ben looks at him. “What is true ?”
“That them boys has the same father”. The man says, then he spits on the ground.
“Why would you think that ?” Ben apparently can’t help asking.
The man shrugs and snots on the ground, making me feel queasy. “Rumours say it, the Bens look like twins and one look at you… yeah make sense”.
“Great”. Ben mumbles.
I grab his arm. “Come on, let's go meet your boys”.
We make our way through rows of crates, and to Ben’s praise, he only tries to turn around two times. And he isn’t that hard to stop.
Then I spot two tall young men with their backs to us. They have the same build and same sandy brown wavy hair. They are even dressed the same, but it could be due to their job.
“Benji… Benja ?” I ask.
They both turn and I must admit that a small gasp escapes me. They do look like twins, except one has green eyes the other blue… and the green eyed one has more freckles.
“Yeah !” Both say, then they spot my reluctant companion, and continue in unison. “Hi, you must be Ben, the infamous pirate… mom told a lot about you”.
- Writer
