The Waiting Room
~ Chapter Twenty-Three
With a Cage & Banana, One Can Capture Anything
The
next day was back to normal, as normal as The Room could be.
Jung’s
near-death experience was but a memory. Even Alexandrea was not aware
that it was she they had wanted to call for emergency
help…she was
too busy being one of Depp’s girls.
Meanwhile Sparrow was
still trying to devise a plan to catch the wayward monkey. He had
glimpsed it briefly that morning as it jumped from the rafters to the
bookcase. He needed something to lure it to him. He needed something
to keep the bloody primate in once he caught it.
So he began
to search the room. He checked under tables, behind books, tried the
bathroom closet. No luck.
He went into the bedroom and
checked under the bed but found nothing to help him catch the monkey.
He stepped back into the room and remembered the cabinets
behind the bar. He eased his way behind it and opened one of the
cabinet doors.
Eureka!
A cage! Why had he not thought
of this before? Because, Sparrow, he told himself, you’ve
been too
busy keeping Roux off your back. He glanced up to the bookcase
remembering the ladies names carved forever in the wood. It made him
smile as he remembered each lovely
lass…Megan…Sammy…Carrie.
Yes, m’girls…you all will be remembered forever!
He
brought his attention back to the cage. It was ornate, with a large
enough door to squeeze a monkey in. He turned it over to see who had
created it. There was her name…Kait. He flashed a
gold-filled
smile. Ah, yes…Kait, the cage maker…fine
craftswoman she is…the
best in Port Royal…no, he corrected himself…the
world! This fine
cage, now Sparrow’s cage, would be perfect to make a prisoner
of
the primate.
But now he needed something to bait the monkey.
What would attract a monkey? What could he use as bait? He answered
his own question as he headed for the kitchen.
Standing at
the stove Sam was trying to create a new dish for lunch. He nodded to
the pirate as he entered, and watched as Sparrow walked slowly about
the kitchen as if looking for something.
“Can I help you,
Captain?” Sam asked quietly.
Jack narrowed his eyes at the
young man. He was always polite, and always remembered to call him
Captain. I always liked you, Jack thought of Sam.
“Yes, my
fine boy. You seem to be knowledgeable of this fine establishment.
Tell me,” Jack sidled up to Sam so he could whisper his
question.
“Tell me, lad, would there be any bananas here in the
kitchen. I would just be needing one for…for …for
an experiment,
so to speak.”
Sam nodded and pointed to a cabinet. “Oh
yes. Just this morning lot 691963 came in. One of the best yet. They
come from a company called Hannah’s Bananas. I
don’t think you
can find any better if you tried. You can have one, go
ahead.” Sam
waved his wooden spoon in the direction of the cabinet.
“I
thank ye,” Sparrow bowed, his hands up in the prayer
position.
“More than ye can ever know, I am in your debt. Should ye be
needing a favor, young Sam, be sure to call on ol’ Captain
Jack
Sparrow.”
With that said, Sparrow turned on his heel and
walked to the cabinet, whisking the door open. There they sat.
Yellow-brown golden treasures, waiting for Sparrow to pluck one for
his own. He reached over and took hold of one of the precious fruit,
then withdrew his fingers just as quick.
“A bit overripe
aren’t they whelp?” Sparrow asked, not sure he
wanted to touch
the soft, mushy banana again. It just felt too weird, bananas were
supposed to be firm to the touch.
“Oh, but Captain, that is
what makes them best for Elaina’s mashed potatoes. Oops! I
let the
secret ingredient out. Promise you won’t tell anyone. Elaina
would
be so mad if I let people know what her secret to The Two Towers
recipes was.”
Jack wiggled his fingers as he prepared to
take one of Hannah’s bananas. “Don’t be
worried lad, Elaina’
secret is safe with Captain Sparrow”
Carefully, with two
fingers, Jack picked up the lesser of the evil bananas and carried it
from the kitchen, making sure to thank Sam again for his help.
Back
out in The Room he found where he had hidden the cage and
strategically placed the bait inside.
“Now Miss Hannah…we
will see how well your banana works on catching Shelley’s
monkey.”
Sparrow took a moment to admire the workmanship again of the cage.
“And you Miss Kait…tis one of the best cages I
have laid
eyes on. Ye outdid yer-self with this cage, ye did.”
Somewhere,
miles away, Kait sat at her table, creating another beautiful piece
of cage art, when she heard her name. She spun around to check the
room but saw no one there.
Slowly she turned back to her work..
“Damn it” she thought, “those voices are
back again.”