Charlie and Morty sat cross-legged on the floor of the brig. The door was open, but provided little air movement. Charlie pushed the food on her plate around with her fork. The meal was a salted meat and potato hash. Every potato cube seemed to have an eye or a bad spot and the meat was nothing but fat and gristle. She set the plate aside. Apparently, Melvin was angry with her as well.
Charlie waited until Benjy returned with the bucket and had gone to the galley before she spoke. “Thank you for what you said to Benjy.”
“Twas pretty rough today?”
“Aye.” There was no point in telling him she was going to be bruised from all the accidental bumps and elbows. “My father wants me to ask you; what gave it away?”
Morty shoveled his last bite of food into his mouth. “I don’t know. I mean I didn’t really know until I helped you up. I suppose I really started thinking about it after a dream I had,” Morty said. “It was the last night of the fair back home. There were dancing bears and puppet shows and a big dance. So I go to this dance, and there’s this girl in a red silk dress. The dress is really low cut and she’s got these big….” He holds his hands in front of his chest and casts a chagrined smile at her. “They’re playing that Oh, Dem Golden Slippers song. So we’re all jumping around and I’m just lookin’ down her dress 'cause she was nearly popping out and all. Then the music stops and I look up at her face and it’s your face on her body.” Morty met Charlie’s eyes. “Woke up in a cold sweat, I did.”
If he had told her that story two weeks earlier she would have chortled and teased him unmercifully in an attempt to cover up the truth. But now she only nodded.
Suddenly, Morty tried to kiss her again, but she pushed him away.
“Stop that.”
“But I love you, Charlie.”
“Stop saying that. You don’t love me. You don’t even know me. I don’t even know me.”
“How can you say I don’t know you? I’ve known you for nearly a decade.”
“And until recently you had no idea I was female,” she said dropping her voice to a near whisper when she said female. “Just how well do you know me, Morty? Do you know I hate cigars? And I certainly have never slept with any of those women I paid for. My only scar is the one on my arm and I’m not the least bit sensitive about it. And sometimes I pretend to pee over the railing because I know no one will notice that I’m not and I think that’s funny. And I don’t like puppies or apple butter.”
“I knew about the apple butter,” he said confidently. “I hadn’t really thought about the women, but it makes sense. But no, I didn’t know those things.”
“If you knew me, you’d know those things.”
“I know one of your secrets,” he said. “I know you can’t swim.”
“Are you sure about that?”
When he began to speak, she cut him off. “A moment ago, you called me girl. You were wrong. My body may be female, but my brain is not. I don’t have the slightest idea how a woman acts, talks, walks, eats or even laughs. You probably know more about what a woman wears beneath her skirts than I do. There are seamen on this ship with better table manners than me. Young maidenly girls aren’t supposed to know what a man looks like unclothed. I’ve seen scores over the last sixteen years including you.”
“And…? What’d you think?” he teased.
“I’m afraid I haven’t been around enough genteel women to know how to fend off a remark like that.”
“Ah, but you knew not to answer,” he pointed out. “You don’t need to learn to act like a girl. I like you just the way you are.”
“It’s late,” she said getting to her feet and gathering the dishes. Morty reached outside the cell and retrieved the bucket before she locked him in.
6
Charlie turned in at midnight when the mate’s watch took over the running of the ship. As she lay in bed, Charlie felt miserable over locking up Morty. He had been in the brig for several days and if she could take his place she would have. Taking her meals with him was nearly unbearable. He pushed so hard, trying to make her feel something she just didn’t feel, she couldn’t enjoy being with him.
The mild pitching of the waves slowly rocked her asleep. The storm she expected had mostly been confined to lightning strikes in the distance, a strong wind and a choppier than usual sea.
At 4:00 AM, Charlie turned out for her watch fully dressed as she would for any daytime shift. Rarely did she have to be roused. Her sleep patterns had adjusted to the ship’s schedule with years of repetition.