The next day, I was as usual on my duty at the gangway.
The 3rd Officer came to me and said, “Did you hear? That first bar on the right, there was a hospital and the police. Some kid was beaten up into a coma by the bouncers.”
I said, “Bosun warned me not to go there, he smelled trouble. In some scenario, that could’ve been me in a coma.”
The 3rd Officer said, “You were lucky. I heard the bar is run by foreign mafia. Silver said that he went there to change large bills, and they gave him new dollar bills. They looked like they were new, sealed from the factory. Who has new dollar bills in this part of the world?”
I said, “I’m definitely staying away from that bar.”
In the evening, I was near the gangway, and Deckhand Eric came to me all energized.
Deckhand Eric said, “Are we going to the same bar again?”
I said, “No, are you crazy? They will suck away all your money drinking juices.”
Deckhand Eric said, “No, they won’t. They like us. We will be careful.”
I said, “They like your money, just forget it.”
Deckhand Eric said, “I’m going.”
I said, “You can’t go alone. Didn’t you hear what happened to that kid?”
Deckhand Eric said, “Well, I’m going. If you don’t want me to go alone, then come with me.”
I just waved my head and said, “OK, wait for me.”
At the gate, the military man smiled and waved his hand as he said, “Rambo, come… give me knife.” All the military personnel stationed in the room smiled as I handed over all my utility tools.
On the way out, I said to Deckhand Eric, “Let’s buy a one-time camera. There are cheap ones in the mall under the city.”
Deckhand Eric said, “Great idea. Sure, let’s go.”
We bought a disposable camera and made our way to the juice bar. The girls were happy to see us. We tried to take photos, but the camera didn’t work. I banged it against the table or my knee, and only then, with each hit, would it take a photo. Due to this revelation, I used a bottle to hit the camera and take a photo. The girls laughed the whole time.
Later, I noticed we had spent enough money on them, and I signaled Deckhand Eric with my head that it was time to leave. As I was signaling him at the door, a group of foreign sailors from another ship came in. These guys usually traveled in packs with their Alpha leader. Noise and trouble followed them.
I leaned to the blonde girl and said, “I know you make money drinking juice, so here, I’ll give you 10 dollars not to go there after we leave. Promise me. I can sense street fighters and troublemakers when I see them. They could hurt you. Later, when they get drunk, they will lose control. Trust me.”
The blonde girl looked at them and said, “Ok, I promise.”
We left the bar, and Deckhand Eric was not pleased, but we couldn’t spend too much money.
The next evening, we were back at the club. I wasn’t that much against it because some part of me wanted to make sure the blonde girl was ok, since yesterday there was a pack of 10 sailors and maybe 4 security guys. We entered the bar, and I noticed two tables missing from the location where those troublemaking sailors were seated. The blonde girl ran to me and hugged me.
The blonde girl said, “Thank you for the advice last night.”
I asked, “What happened?”
The blonde girl said, “They were violent with the girls, and after, there was a big fight. Some of the girls got beat up bad. Police came, big fight, took them away.”
I moved her away with my arms and looked at her to see if she was ok.
The blonde girl said, “I’m ok.”
The old lady came to me and said, “Girl no work after you go on ship. I very angry why no go. She say you saw bad men trouble. You good man, you sit here drink. Next time you tell me if you see trouble.”
I sat down and said, “Ok.”
The blonde girl sat in my lap and held me tight the entire evening. Because of this, I didn’t pay much attention to Deckhand Eric. Eventually, I glanced over and saw he had gotten very drunk. I noticed his black-haired girl was ordering juices by herself and drinking them up, with a stack of empty glasses already on the table. I covered her glass with my hand just as she was about to drink it.
I asked the black-haired girl, “Who is going to pay for this?”
The black-haired girl pointed at Deckhand Eric and said, “He is.”
I said, “Did he order all of this, or did you? Who ordered all of this?” I knew we were short on money, I got irritated in a second. I moved the blonde girl off my lap and stood up.
The blonde girl argued with the black-haired girl, as she had only drunk a few of those juice drinks. From what I could gather from their language, it seemed the black-haired girl stated that they were there to make money off us, not to cuddle. The old lady came to the table, and the girls stopped arguing, lowering their heads.
The old lady said, “All ok.”
I said, “We have to go. My friend here is not feeling good. How much for all of this?”
The old lady looked at Deckhand Eric lying on the table and nodded. She walked away to get the bill. The blonde girl held my hand like a life preserver; she didn’t want me to go.
I looked into her eyes and said to her, “I’ll come back tomorrow.”
We left the bar and went to the ship.
In the morning, I lectured Deckhand Eric in his cabin.
I said, “We almost spent all the money in our pockets. What would happen if I didn’t see it in time? I would have to go back on the ship for more money.”
I let off some steam on him because we had spent a lot of money. My father taught me to carry money in 2-3 different places; this is what seamen do. If you get pickpocketed or something goes wrong, you always have other stashes of money on you so you can return to the ship.
The week passed very quickly. During the day, we worked on the ship, and in the evenings, we visited the juice bar and the girls. Eventually, the ship had to depart the port, and we said our goodbyes to the girls.
It was dinner time. We were all seated in the messroom and ate raw eggs and peeled raw potatoes. Despite all this wonderful feast, there were some cigar ashes on the potato like a spice. We ignored it, just scraped it off, and tried to eat the rest.
Sleazy waiter came in with a list and said, “Here is a list for the barbecue.”
I said, “I’m not signing that.”
Sleazy waiter said, “Everyone will, and you will also.”
I said, “I’m not giving my money voluntarily. You are already stealing too much on food. Is this supposed to be food—raw eggs and raw potatoes?”
Some of the crew behind me said, “I’m not signing.”
“Me neither.”
Sleazy waiter giggled and said, “I’ll just notify the Captain.” The sleazy waiter walked out and came back with Captain Balding.
Captain Balding made his presence known. He postured like a highly decorated admiral. He pointed at the first crewmember near him, Neanderthal AB, and said, “You. Sign this.”
Neanderthal AB got up and signed the barbecue list that was on the wall. After the third crewmember signed the paper, Captain Balding addressed me. “You. Sign this.” he said.
The sleazy waiter giggled behind Captain Balding.
I said, “No.”
Captain Balding looked at me seriously. “Sign this now.” He demanded.
I replied, “I will not.”
Captain Balding pointed his finger at the list and shouted, “You come this instant and sign this.”
I shouted back, “Or what? This is my money, and I have 500 dollars per month. I’m not giving you 50 dollars so that the cook can give me some rotten meat or crap meat with a T-bone label on it.”
Some of the crewmembers behind me also raised their voices, “He is right.”
“I’m not giving you my money.”
“Me neither.”
“Fuck this barbecue shit.”
Captain Balding shouted, “Shut up, all of you. You, what is your name?”
I said, “Jack.”
Captain Balding said with a firm voice, “You can pack and go home this instant.”
I said, “Ohh… I can’t wait to go home and tell everyone about how you treat people, how we have nothing to eat, and you are forcing us to sign off our money. The newspaper is going to have a field day over this.”
The sleazy waiter looked at me seriously; he didn’t giggle anymore.
Someone from the back shouted, “If he is going, I’m going too.”
“We will go to the newspaper together. Even TV.”
“Yeah, on TV.”
Captain Balding grabbed the barbecue list and said angrily, “You kids these days have no respect for the older people.” Then he walked out shouting, “No more barbecue.”
The crew was shocked but happy. We had just won a small victory as the Captain backed down.
I said, “We should all unite and not eat our food here in the messroom. The cook is already making fifteen hundred dollars extra. We deserve food on our plates from the company.”
Marlboro Man said, “He is right. From now on, I want a plate in front of me, and I’ll throw the food overboard so he can’t reuse the meal.”
Behind me, voices said, “Fucking right. Let’s do this.”
I said, “Then we are all in agreement.”
The crew unanimously said, “Yes.”
The next morning, I felt rested. Since leaving the last port, I had slept well and felt a lot better, though I couldn’t figure out why. Perhaps I had gotten accustomed to the ship or seaman’s life.
At lunchtime, everyone was seated in the messroom without their private food. Big Cook came in and counted how many plates he had to serve. When he realized he had to serve all the plates, he became angry and agitated.
Big Cook shouted with fury, “Why you no bring food, motherfuckers!?”
I stood beside him and looked him in the eyes as I said, “Because it is your job to give us food. Got it.”
Big Cook waved his hands and kicked his slippers all over the kitchen. He lumbered inside, growling like a mad dog. I followed him. He had to cut meals in half to serve all the plates. In his fury, he hit a pan with his hand, causing all the meat to fall on the floor. Growling, he squatted to pick up the meat.
I went back to the messroom and said, “Just so you know, the meat is on the floor.”
Some of the crew smiled while others shook their heads. I served the lunch, and each crewmember walked outside and threw the food overboard. Inside, the Big Cook raged and boiled all over the kitchen, mumbling something in his language. We all left for our duties.
After the second coffee time, Chief Officer John approached me.
Chief Officer John said, “Jack, find Eric, and you guys close all the vent hatches for the holds.”
I said, “Yes, Chief.”
I found Deckhand Eric on the other side of the deck as he painted the floor.
I said, “Chief said to close the vents. Maybe we could do it faster if we did one after another. I’ll take the first one, and you take the second one, and so on.”
Deckhand Eric agreed, and we went one after another and closed all the hatches.
In the evening, Chief Officer John knocked on my cabin door. Deckhand Eric opened the door to his cabin.
Chief Officer John said, “I told you to close all the vents.”
I said, “But we did.”
Deckhand Eric said, “Yes. We even double-checked.”
Chief Officer John said, “Then why did Bosun tell me he found a few of the vents open?”
I said, “No way.”
Deckhand Eric said, “He is lying.”
Chief Officer John said, “Lying? Why would he lie? If you messed up, you should come clean.”
I said, “Didn’t you notice him acting funny? Ordering everyone to do nothing or wrong so he could come in and save the day like some superhero bosun? We are not stupid people.”
Chief Officer John massaged his beard and said, “Hmm, it is true he is acting strangely. Ever since that fire. Ok, next time I’ll go after you and check it personally.” Then he left us.
We continued to spend our free time in our cabins. I was listening to some music and eventually went to sleep. In the night, a sledgehammer smashed the iron wall above my head. I jumped from my bed and looked around to see what happened. The sound of the sledgehammer against the wall continued to bang. Then it hit me: ‘This is why I slept so well—there was no sledgehammer knocking at my brain all night.’
In my shorts, I went down to the engine control room, and there was a Huge Motorman.
I asked, “What are you guys doing right now?”
Huge Motorman said, “We started power generator number two.”
I said nervously, “This was banging all the time above my head. Why don’t you use generator number one?”
Huge Motorman smiled, “Oooo I see. Probably some steam pipes or something is passing below your cabin as it is steam-powered.”
I said, “Steam? Don’t you have diesel ones!?”
Huge motorman said, “Emergency generators back there are on diesel, these regular generators we run on steam.”
I said, “Then please switch back to power generator number one.”
Huge motorman said, “I can’t. I’m sorry. The power generator number one is spare.”
I was nervous and said, “It’s number one, how can number one be spare? Why does it matter if number one or two is working? How come number two was started today and not before?”
Huge motorman said, “It’s in the papers, and Second Engineer and Chief Engineer are strictly by the book. I can’t help you, and the power generator number two was repaired just now. We were repairing it all this time. The bastard wouldn’t start.”
I just had enough and waved my hand as I said, “Fine, this stupid ship.”
I walked back to my cabin, and luckily, I managed to fall asleep with my friend the sledgehammer as I cuddled my mind with the scenes from the show Sledge Hammer! The last thing that my brain heard was, ‘Trust me… I know what I’m doing.’
The next day at lunch, the Big Cook looked nervous because he had to give more junk food than usual. He approached me and asked, “Where is sugar and tea?”
I showed him the cupboard.
Big Cook smashed and punched everything inside the cupboard and shouted, “Only this sugar? How much you put inside?”
I said, “Until the flavor is right.”
Big Cook waved his hand in front of my face and shouted, “No! Only four spoons. Four spoons. Arghhhh. Now no have sugar. Your blame.”
I said, “Next time buy more sugar.”
Big cook just waved his hands and walked away as he growled.
After the second coffee time, Chief Officer John followed me and Deckhand Eric as we closed the vents. Chief Officer John wanted to make sure everything was ok.
In the evening, Chief Officer John knocked at our cabins. The doors to our cabins were open, and we stepped out into the hallway.
Chief Officer John said, “It seems you were right, boys. Bosun told me again today how you did a lousy job at closing the vents, and he saved the day.”
I said, “You see, Chief, we didn’t lie.”
Chief Officer John said, “Be careful of that guy,” and then he left us.
I just shook my head while Deckhand Eric smiled. We went back to our cabins.
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