Theme Fridays: scalliwag

THEME FRIDAYS

Writers’ Corner

Annie of The Home Planet came up with this week’s theme and it was a doozy! Like it was freaking difficult to come up with something. It was a good challenge and i hope that i don’t disappoint. We’d decided from the start on that the definition we were to go with was pirate.  Writing about a ho would’ve been easier and i don’t know how i feel about that.  Kinda sad i guess…

Beware J’s sharp and shiny hook!
Click on the X to find Annie’s treasure!

scalliwag
my embellishment of Mary Read

    The day me eyes fell upon Anne Bonny I knew we was fated to be mates.  She was a scalliwag just like me.  She donned men’s garb like me, cussed like me and loved the sea like me.  Anne, her man Calico Jack and me was mates from the beginning.

    I grew up a boy, even though underneath I was a girl.  But me mum had to dress me up like a boy so she could beg money off my dead dad’s mum.  Dad’s mum wasn’t exactly loving toward her own sex and wouldn’t give a pence to us if she knew I was a girl.  Even after she died, I kept living like a boy, then a man.  I served in the military- Foot and Horse Guard and made honors in both regiments.  I found me a man and when I showed him me tits, we got married and opened an inn.  Those was good times filled with ale and fortune.  I was a lady then, but he died when we was still young, and I knew life as a widowed woman would be no life atall, so I went back to me manning.

    I served again, on a ship this time.  I loved the sea even though sea faring was a wretched life, I loved the excitement and the hard working.  The adventure.  How many women had adventure? None I knew, til I met Anne.

    When I was serving on that Navy ship, it was overtaken by Calico Jack- pirate and scoundrel.  I joined up with him and his crew.  I didn’t know Anne was a lady at first, she was ugly, such a tough cuss- worse’n some of the men!  But one day we got to chewing and we just knew.  I remember hugging and carrying on so Jack had to tell us to man it.  But after that, we was inseparable.  Don’t make no mistake though, we fought and drank and plundered right with the rest of the crew.  We put a lot of those men to shame.  We didn’t really care, that wasn’t the point.  We was just being what we was- devils!  Stealing, killing, sailing.

    The navigator of Calico Jack’s sloop took a liking to me.  Then he loved me once he saw me tits.  We was thick in his quarters.  I knew that on land, as a woman, I’d never have such freedom.  See women don’t own their bodies the same as men.  But my dearie got himself in a jam and I had to save him.  After that he was different toward me.  He said I was too big for me knickers.  I didn’t let him be the man, he said.  He was supposed to duel but I stepped in, showed my tits and when my enemy stopped to stare… Slice! Slice! I cut his throat.  It earned me respect with the crew, but me man wasn’t me man no more.

    Anne and Jack took care of me.  Anne washed me body and kissed up me tears and Jack touched me loneliness away.  Anne shared her man with me because she loved me like that.  Then there was the sea and sometimes good food off other ships we took.  A few jewels Anne and me hid in our nethers without telling Jack…  There was one ship- woo wee! we looted and got us some serious booty.  Got me the best cutlass I ever laid me eyes upon!  We hit land shortly after, Jamaica, with delicious fruits and meat none of us had for months and months that came from goats and beautiful people with shining black and brown skins.  We was having a real celebration when the Brits caught us.

    Me and Anne was left by those bastard men.  They thought the Brits would go easy on us because we was ladies. “Come up you cowards and fight like MEN!” me and Anne was shouting but they was just like those land-locked women back home- cowering, hiding.  Twas Anne and me fought those Brits until they overtook us at the last then caught those sniveling beasts below decks.

    We was all to hang, but it turns out me and Anne had us heavy bellies, filled up with wee ones.  We gave birth within a few days of each other and was able to tip-toe out of prison.  We had to leave our little ones behind.  Can’t sneak with wailing and sucking babes on your back.  We escaped to the country and built us an inn.  Turned out Anne was rich!  Her dad sent her money and we lived a decent life together, though both of us missed our babes. Even Jack we missed!  Still we had each other and loved each other better than any man did.  We would sit up on the roof and watch the moon silver up the grass hills and talk about the sea and our adventures and our men, remembering that in our hearts we always was, always would be, pirates…

Source A
Source B

 

(copyright 2008 ) c A Hughes
08.04.08