S. Welles - To Ocean's End

Feeling quite hungry, she headed for the galley. No amazing smells wafted down the hall but the lingering smell of eggs and bacon filled the galley. Mido was chopping vegetables at the counter. Cancer and Sam were at the table hunched over ledger books. The entire table was covered in papers and receipts.

Cancer looked over the rim of his glasses. “Why look who’s up at last.”

Sam turned and smiled. “Why good morning, Jessie. How do you feel after your twenty four-hour nap?”

“Twenty four-hour?” she exclaimed.

Cancer turned back to his ledger. “Give or take an hour. You were out cold. Your vitals were fine so I left you in peace.”

Sam said, “Word has it you had an emotional moment shortly after breakfast yesterday.”

Mido wiped his hands on his apron. He wore a pained expression. “I couldn’t not tell the doc what happened, and everyone was looking in when he gave you a checkup. Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not,” she said and meant it. “I’m just embarrassed I did all that.”

“Don’t be,” Sam said. “Yeh’ve been through a lot.”

“How do you feel?” Cancer asked.

Jessie took a deep breath and looked inward. “Fine. This is the best I’ve felt in so long. I feel lighter, too.”

“Good. Whether you believe it or not, vomiting helped get rid of bad energy weighing you down. What about your fear and anxiety levels?”

“They’re trying to creep back up but I’m trying to enjoy feeling more relaxed. I didn’t have any nightmares during my long nap, though.”

“I have some medication I can give you to curb your anxiety. It’s not a magical cure but it’ll help you stay calmer so you can better retrain yourself.”

Not sure what to say or do, Jessie looked to Mido and Sam. Cancer’s kind, businesslike manner was such a one-eighty. If she hadn’t overheard the conversation from the other night, she’d have thought this was his nice twin talking to her.

Sam said, “Listen to the good doctor. He knows his stuff.” Mido nodded.

Jessie turned back to Cancer, who watched her studiously. “I don’t mean to be rude but why are you being kind to me all of the sudden?”

Cancer set down his pen, pushed up his glasses, then folded his hands on the ledger. “I owe you an apology. We got off on the wrong foot.”

“You sure did!” Sam teased.

Cancer ignored him. “I still don’t agree with having any women aboard. It’s nothing personal, Jessie. I have a wife of thirty years whom I see only a few months out of the year. It’s too dangerous to have her on the Pertinacious . On top of that, we men often act too slovenly for a woman’s taste. You’ve seen our table manners.”

Jessie tried to picture Cancer’s wife. It was hard imagining anyone not being too intimidated to marry him in the first place but, sure enough, he wore a gold band around his left ring finger. His wife had to be as big and intimidating as him. And as headstrong. Any wife who saw her husband that infrequently had to be strong and devoted.

“Anyway, I apologize for treating you poorly. You didn’t deserve it.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say. He sounded sincere, but was it only out of fear of this other Amphitrite? She highly doubted he would’ve changed his behavior if she was only Jessie. Hadn’t considered apologizing until he’d learned her real name. So now what?

Sam said, “Have a seat, Jessie. You must be hungry.” He scooted over, taking his ledger and papers with him. “Move yer stuff, yeh coot.” Cancer grabbed a bunch of papers and began reorganizing them so there was a free spot to put a plate.

Mido said, “Would you like some coffee, too?”

“Yes, please. And my coffee-making lesson.” Anything to put off sitting at the same table as Cancer. Sam wasn’t so bad but the doctor intimidated her.

“By the way,” Cancer said, “did you want the anxiety medicine?”

She nodded. “Anything to not go back to how I felt yesterday.”

He got up and stretched his spine, making his modest gut stick out. Jessie shuffled towards Mido. Cancer was a good eight inches taller than her five-five frame. “I’ll be handing out each dose to you. I make all the medicines, so I don’t let anyone into my supplies. Not even Dyne. It helps me keep track of what I have, along with better monitor everyone’s health. No exceptions for you. Understand?”

“Yes.” Fair enough.

“I’ll be right back.” He marched off.

Sam said, “So what’s this I hear about a lesson in coffee-making?”

Jessie stood before the coffee maker, a typical drip-style one.

“Jessie’s already figured out I’m one of the best cooks on the planet, so she wants some cooking lessons.” Mido poured the leftovers into the sink, then rinsed and filled the pot with fresh water to the four-cup line.

“She’s picked a good teacher.”

Mido set the pot aside and cleared out the coffee grounds and filter from their chamber. He set a fresh filter and a can of whole beans on the counter, then backed up. “Okay, your turn to take over.”

Jessie stepped up and reached for the paper filter.

“Start with the water. That way you’ll never forget it. You don’t want to come back ten minutes later, dying for a cup, just to realize you never poured in any water.”

“Fine.” It seemed trivial; however, she decided to be a good student and listen. Once the water was poured and the pot set to catch fresh-brewed goodness, she tucked the filter in the coffee maker and gave the frilly edges a few pats so it sat evenly.

“I gave you four cups of water, so that’s four scoops of beans. Make sure each scoop is nice and even so you always get the same flavor from pot to pot.”

Jessie leveled out four scoops nice and flat before adding them to the machine.

“Now go ahead and close the lid and hit the ‘four’ button.”

She did as told. There were eight buttons vertically lined up on the side. She took a step back and folded her arms. The machine hummed as the beans were ground up. “Gee, that was so hard.”

“Lesson’s not over,” Mido said. “That’s only half of it. Now what would you like for breakfast?”

“What time is it?”

Sam looked at his wristwatch. “About ten.”

Jessie turned back to her teacher. “And what are you making right now?”

“Slow-cooked chili for dinner.”

“Oo, my favorite!” Sam said.

“I’ll just have some toast. You look busy enough.”

“Don’t worry about it. I love cooking.”

“Toast is still just fine.”

Mido fired up the griddle, then buttered up two pieces of multigrain bread and added two round slices of Canadian bacon from the fridge. He shuffled to an overhead cupboard and set four tin mugs on the counter, near the coffee maker.

Cancer’s heavy footsteps returned to the galley, an amber bottle in hand. He tipped one pill into the plastic cap and held it out for her to take. Jessie hesitated, then forced herself to push through her fear and take the pill. On top of her usual fears, she worried he might be trying to drug her but, with two witnesses, there couldn’t be a chance of that.

“Bite it in half,” Cancer said. “I want to give you a few days before I let you have a whole pill.”

Jessie carefully bit down and handed half the pill back. Cancer tucked it inside a tissue baggie and capped the bottle. Mido turned on the faucet. Jessie went over and washed down the bitter-tasting powder with a lot of water, then Cancer returned to his paperwork as Mido set some cream and nutmeg next to the awaiting mugs.

“Now for the second half of the lesson.” Mido set a metal spatula on the edge of the griddle. “Pour cream in two of the mugs. Sam likes his black. Pour just a little more than enough to cover the bottom of the cup.” He shook the carton, then showed her with one.