The Waiting Room
~ Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sparrow Goes Mexican
The
men looked up to the rafters, the fate of Alice unknown as the monkey
disappeared further into the rafters, out of sight. Eventually the
men lost interest with the exception of two.
Barrie was still
mourning the loss of the tiny creature and wondering where Tinkerbell
was now. He could have sworn that had been Tink. They must be twins,
he told himself.
The second man who still kept vigil on the
fairy snatching was a certain pirate.
He stood below the spot
where the primate had disappeared and moved only his eyes upward to
see if he could locate the nasty little bugger. He turned slowly in a
circle, eyes still up, as if to fool the monkey into thinking he was
not searching for him.
But Sparrow’s shoulders drooped when
he realized the monkey had found a secret hiding place. Movement near
Sparrow’s cage caught his eye. There, at the cage, stood
Wade, a
peeled banana in his hand, his mouth chewing.
“You bloody
well didn’t steal m’banana!” Sparrow
screamed, bounding across
the room, pulling his pistol. By the time he got to Wade, the pistol
was cocked and aimed but already, half the banana was gone.
Wade
tried to choke down a bite of the yellow fruit as he stared down the
barrel of the loaded weapon.
“This shot is not meant for ye
boy, but ye took somethin’ that was not yours, and this
ol’
pirate is not pleased.” Wade saw the anger blazing in
Sparrow’s
eyes. He had never in his life seen him so angry.
“But it’s
just a banana, Captain.” Wade said when he finally swallowed.
“I
was hungry and it was right here. I really didn’t mean
anything by
it. I can get you another one. Honest. Sam said a new batch of
Hannah’s Bananas came in. They’re in a box marked
63. I can show
you. Please, Captain, please don’t shoot me.” A
tear began to
fall from the young man’s eye.
Sparrow gritted his teeth as
he watched the tear fall. Come on, Sparrow, he told himself,
he’s
just a boy…a boy who gets moved to tears…always
telling the story
about that girl…what was her name? Oh yeah, Trisha. The one
who
broke his heart. That was why he was crying all the time someone
said. Sparrow could relate. He too had his heart broken on several
occasions.
For a brief moment he allowed himself to remember
two of them. There was Carrie, his little angel…who taught
him to
play piano and sing. He recalled how she had a voice that made the
heavens cry…that was why she was his pirate angel. He had
loved
her, loved to listen to her sing. He had heard she was somewhere,
performing on stage. Life on the sea was no place for a lady like
Carrie. He would have to try to find her when he got
out….right
after he took care of that wench, Shelley.
Then there was his
other ‘gurl’, Jessi…the one who had
cooked for him on The Pearl
when they sailed the Mexican waters. She could whip up some dishes
that brought tears to his eyes. But one day she just disappeared. No
goodbye, no note, nothing…just gone. He would never forget
her…or
her cooking.
Sparrow began to shake his head realizing he had
over-reacted. He lowered his gun and motioned for Wade to move away
from the cage.
“Piss off, now, before I change m’mind and
decide to put a bloody hole in ye sorry arse!”
“Thank you
Captain Sparrow. Thank you.” Wade showed his appreciation and
moved
quickly away.
Sparrow looked at the empty cage. He would need
to go get another banana. He winced at the thought of touching the
mushy fruit again. How could Wade eat them? Sparrow stuck out his
tongue in disgust not wanting to imagine the soft fruit even in his
mouth.
He regain himself and turned to head to the kitchen.
As he passed Sands, the agent tipped his head in the pirate’s
direction.
“Say, Sparrow. Going to the kitchen friend? Be a
sport and tell Sam I need some more of this pork dish he made today.
It’s a real killer. I’d go balance things out, but
he claims it
wasn’t his recipe.” Sands laughed at his own
private joke.
The
pirate rolled his eyes as he pushed through the kitchen door.
Sparrow blinked against the light. He had forgotten how
bright the kitchen was. He shielded his eyes to get his bearing then
headed towards the cabinet where Sam stored the bananas.
“Hello,
Captain Sparrow.” Sam greeted him. Sparrow turned to see Sam
stirring a large pot. He remembered Sands request but failed to
mention it. He wasn’t Sheldon Sands messenger boy.
“I
just need another one of these fine bananas, Sam, if I may?”
He
already had one in his hand but asked anyway.
“Help
yourself, sir. Hannah sends a shipment everyday. She’s very
efficient. I think I would like to meet her someday. How about you
Captain?”
Sparrow jerked his head at Sam’s question.
“What? Are ye asking if I want to meet yer precious banana
queen?”
“No, no,” Sam gave a small laugh.
“Anyone. Is there
anyone you’d want to meet someday?”
“Bloody ‘ell no
boy. Got too many people in me life as it is. Don’t need to
be
cluttering it up with more.” Sparrow sniffed the air. A
lovely,
familiar, enticing aroma filled the kitchen.
“Damn boy.
What’s that in yer pot yer cookin’? It seems quite
good.” He
wobbled over to Sam’s side as the young man pulled a spoonful
out
and held it up.
“A new recipe I found on the computer.”
Sam made a face. “Oops…don’t tell Mort I
was on his computer.
He doesn’t care for people to touch his things on his desk
you
know. But I just needed something new.”
Sam offered the
spoonful to the pirate. “Here Captain, have a bite. Agent
Sands was
the first to try it but you can be the second.”
Sparrow
hesitated, leaning his head back, narrowing his eyes to slits, then
decided to accept Sam’s offer and opened his mouth. Sam
pushed the
spoon gently to the pirate’s lips and let him suck the spoon
clean.
The taste of the dish engulfed Sparrow’s mouth. He savored
the explosion of flavors and spices on his tongue. He closed his eyes
as if having an epiphany He felt as if he had died and gone to
heaven. It was as if…uh?
Sparrow’s eyes flew open as a
memory came flooding back.
“Where’d ye say ye got this from?”
“A website I found. On the internet. I just wanted a new
recipe for a pork dish. I was afraid Sands was getting tired of the
other one, I was going…” Sam stopped talking when
Sparrow raised
his hand, stopping his words.
“What was the name of
said…website?” The last word felt strange to the
Captain. He knew
nothing about computers. He never thought he’d be talking
about
them.
He watched as Sam thought, trying to recall the name of
the computer site.
“Oh yeah…here.” Sam wrote something
on paper and handed to the pirate.
“That’s the name of the
site. Great recipes.”
Sparrow stared down at the jumble of
letters Sam had written. It didn’t mean much to him, not
being
computer savvy, but he was sure he could find someone to help him.
But he still could not help but smile as he read one name in what Sam
had scribbled down. He had been right, it was her.
He glanced
at the paper again and read the site address.
Jessi_Mexacali_Dishes.Com.
Yes, Sparrow thought slyly
to himself. Yes, I finally be finding ye my little culinary genius. I
finally find ye. Now he needed to find a way to get on that website.