Perry Scrimshaw's Rite of Passage (8 page)

Joel gave him a toothy
grin.

‘
According to
you, the tavern’s the safer location, how come I need a knife and
you don’t?’

‘
It’s a
question of experience Perry, not location. You never know when you
might need it. Best to have it just in case.’

‘
Ever had to
use it?’

‘
Not
really.’

‘
How do you
mean, “not really” Joel? You’ve either had to use it or you
haven’t. What is it you’re so scared of that you’d need a
knife?’

Joel looked
offended, ‘I’m
not
scared.’

‘
Then you take
the knife and do the tavern.’

Joel chewed his lip for a
moment. ‘Fine, I’ll tell you. It was a couple of months back. I was
in there for Ma, talking to these three sailors, big lads, think
they was from Scandinavia. But they said they weren’t interested in
no women, so I asked what they was interested in. Now thinking back
I should’ve kept my trap shut, cos they start grabbing at me, just
playful stuff at first-’

‘
-then
what?’

‘
Well I gets
the bad feeling and I ran out of there. Thing was, they came out
too! I then started running and they started running after me,
laughing like goons they was. I go as far as Alexandra docks, look
back and they’re still bloody chasing after me, lumbering like
bloody giants, whooping and yelling. Problem is, I was reckoning on
them getting tired of it, but they were fast and strong and there I
am running in the wrong bloody direction, straight to the end of
the dock- which is a dead end.’

‘
So what did
you do?’

‘
Well it’s but
thirty seconds and I’m at the end of the dock. I yell but there
ain’t no-one else about. It was late see. And they’re coming for me
fast as three cannonballs. And behind me is just the sea, black and
oily as a fish eye, and I just know I’ll freeze if I jump in but I
don’t see what option I have. Then I remember the knife in my
pocket and I pull it out. They’re nearly on to me and I yell at em,
“Back away or I’ll rip you to shreds!” and I pull the knife and it
somehow catches the moonlight and looks meaner than ever. And I
lunge it forward, swishing the air, cutting the night to pieces
like some wild beast,’ Joel mimicked the movement, ‘and then their
feet stops pounding on the dock and they’re right in front of me.
Them Scandinavian chests is heaving, gulping air and sizing me up,
seeing if I’m serious. So I yell at ‘em “I’m serious!” and I give
‘em a few more air strokes of the knife for good
measure.’

‘
So they just
let you go?’

Joel sunk into himself and
stuffed his hands in his pockets, ‘No,’ he said meekly, all his
bravado and performance dissolving. ‘One of ‘em brings out a knife
twice as big as mine and they start laughing like dogs.’

‘
And then
what?’

Joel shrugged, ‘I put the blade
away and dived into the sea.’

‘
What? Bleedin’
heck Joel!’ Perry laughed, ‘so the knife didn’t help you at
all?’

‘
Brought me
some breathing time before my swim!’ he said defensively, ‘and you
shouldn’t laugh, I got so ill from the cold I was sick for
weeks!’

Perry let his laugh slip to a
smile, ‘Joely, pal, it sounds like a close escape to me and a brave
one at that.’

Joel crossed his arms, ‘Aye, it
was. So you hold on to that for now. I never seen those fellers
around since, but just in case.’

‘
And you? What
will you have to protect you?’

‘
Tsk,’ Joel
dismissed him with a hand, ‘I got my smarts and my bravery. It’s
your first time at this. Take the blade.’

It was true; he hadn’t done
anything quite like this before. Had never wanted to and still
didn’t. Perry nodded to his friend and slipped the knife into his
pocket.

When Joel left him to try the
crewmen by the docks, nerves flooded Perry once more. He took a
deep breath and met them the only way he knew how. He pulled up his
collar, mussed up his hair and hoped it made him appear a bit
dangerous.

Inside, a set of stairs to his
right led up into darkness but the main bar was full to the brim, a
jumble of conversations and laughter ringing under a fug of smoke.
He looked around uneasily, not sure exactly where to try. Six
stocky men sat around a bench by the window, a woman with fire-red
hair sat on one of their laps, giggling. Not there. Perhaps he
should buy a drink first, try and fit in, but people were packed in
so tight he doubted he’d make it to the bar without elbowing his
way through. Then, in a nook under the stairs, he spied three men
around a circular table gripping tankards with no woman in their
company. Sailors, he guessed by their thick jackets. Lonely,
perhaps, from time at sea with no woman warming their beds. Sailors
were his best bet.

He strolled over as confidently
as he could, ducked into the nook and cleared his throat.

‘
Scuse me
misters…’

They stopped their conversation
and his confidence drained at the sight of them. Close up, the one
on Perry’s left was bald as a fly-rink with a nasty scar on his
cheek. The next sailor was smaller, bearded, with ginger hair
sprouting from under his cap. Small black eyes and a hooter nose
poked through the undergrowth. Between them was a wide man, with a
mop of greasy black hair and a jaw that looked like it could crack
walnuts.

‘
What is it
boy?’ said Jaw, his accent strange.

‘
Sorry, right.
Yes,’ Perry regained his composure, he was here now, he’d best try.
‘Well, I was wondering if I might interest you gents in the company
of one of Southampton’s finest…er…d-dames?’

The three sailors exchanged
confused glances.

‘
Dames?’
Fly-rink said.

Perry felt hot
and tugged at his collar, ‘Er- women. Well,
a
woman.’

Jaw smiled, ‘Tell me, this
“dame” of yours, can we see what she looks like?’

Perry scratched his head, he
hadn’t counted on being asked such a thing, ‘Well it’s a bit of a
walk see. I’ll take you there myself.’

Ginger-beard let out an odd
high-pitched titter and shook his head. Fly-rink narrowed his eyes,
‘What sort of fleabag must she be eh? Sending a boy like this.’

‘
A boy like
what?’ Perry said, ‘and she’s no fleabag. She’s lovely,’ he lied,
‘and cheap.’

‘
Cheap?’ Jaw
slammed a fist down on the table. ‘She sounds like a mud rat. Clear
off.’

‘
Cheap wasn’t
the right thing to say… what I mean is that she is so pretty, that
what you’re really getting is proper value for-’

Jaw snatched his collar. Perry
winced at the smell of stale beer on his breath. ‘You want me to
throw you out on your face boy?’

Perry thought about the knife.
Should he make a grab for it? Something told him it would only get
him in more trouble. He held up his palms, ‘I’ll leave you to it,
sorry to bother you fellers.’

Shaken, he retreated outside,
hoping Joel had better luck. He would get there eventually, surely
it was just like selling wood or agreeing a good price for your
catch - he just wasn’t used to hawking women, or more accurately,
hawking Ma.

Joel turned up ten minutes
later and to Perry’s relief had a scrawny wretch of a man in tow, a
sheepish grin on his face.

Joel cocked an
eyebrow,
any luck?

Perry shook his
head
no.

Joel clapped his hands
together, ‘Right then, looks like you’re our best price Pietersen,
you deckhands are a clever lot, always getting bargains.’

Pietersen smiled, revealing
long crooked teeth.

Perry followed, listening to
Joel’s patter. He was a good talker and when he thought about what
Joel must have done to set up his note delivery racket in the
prison, it was pretty impressive. They could make a good team, two
freebooters scratching together a crust.

They stopped outside St.
Michael’s, the windows orange with candlelight. A nun walked out of
the church and lit a candle either side of the entrance. Angelic
singing soared from inside.

‘
See that,’ he
heard Joel say to the deckhand, ‘them nuns are holding a vigil
every night until The Sick disappears.’

‘
What’s The
Sick?’ asked Pietersen.

‘
You ain’t
heard?’ Joel continued on, but Perry stood transfixed. The nun who,
only a moment earlier had been lighting the candles, was shooing a
beggar down the path away from the church.

‘
Away with
you!’

The beggar scuttled over the
road towards him. He couldn’t believe it.

‘
Aren’t you
people of God supposed to help the poor and needy?’ he
yelled.

‘
Pah!’ the nun
turned on her heel and headed back inside.

The beggar approached, face
shadowed by a tightly wrapped shawl over head and shoulders.

‘
Nice to know
someone still understands charity in this filthy place. I only
wanted some food, or money for food.’

There was
something odd about this beggar, the high voice perhaps, but no
matter how a beggar conversation starts there is always the
inevitable question of what
you
are willing to give. His fishing spoils were a
long way short of replenishing his lost tin money- he’d be damned
if he was giving away the little he had. He started to walk away,
to catch up with Joel and the deckhand.

‘
Wait,’ the
beggar approached.

Here we
go.
He prepared the excuse on his
lips.

The beggar unwrapped the shawl,
revealing a stream of long gold-yellow hair that curled at the
bottom. Perry stood transfixed, it was a girl, and beautiful at
that, with perfect almond-shaped eyes and skin that looked so soft
he wanted to reach out and touch it.

‘
I doubt you
do, but…’ she looked down at her feet.

And he remembered the mutton
pie he had been saving in his pocket, ‘Actually yes, I bought this
earlier, swapped it for some fish I caught,’ he unfolded the
napkin, ‘go on, take it. I ate earlier.’

The yellow haired girl took the
pie from his hand and sunk her teeth in, smiling with bliss as she
chewed, eyes glancing up to the heavens.

‘
Is it
good?’

‘
Amazing,’ she
muffled, ‘I’m Eva, by the way,’ she offered him a hand.

He took it, ‘Perry.’

‘
Pleased to
meet you,’ she lifted up the remainder of the pie, ‘very pleased
indeed. You know what? You should try a bit.’

Eva broke off a bit and posted
it straight into his mouth. The pastry was soft and buttery, the
mutton chewy and heavily salted.

‘
Perry! Hurry
up will you?’ Joel had come back, an irritated look on his
face.

‘
Sorry,’ he
said to Eva, ‘I best go, but here take this,’ he took a few coins
from his fishing spoils, ‘don’t know if you have somewhere to stay
but that should get you a night in a lodging house or something.’
he scratched the back of his head. ‘Will I likely see you round
these parts again Eva?’ he heard too much hope in his own voice and
blushed.

She placed her hand over her
mouth as she chewed, but nodded and then swallowed, ‘I hope so
Perry. Thank you, again,’ she tapped the side of her dress where
she’d put the money, ‘you don’t know how awful these last days have
been, you’re a true saviour.’

She smiled and it was
dreamlike. Glad to have done her a good turn, he dragged his
reluctant feet after Joel and Pietersen, repeating the name Eva in
his head.

7

Late April showers smothered
Saturday in a cloak of rain. Perry wondered if Eva had found
somewhere to shelter from the deluge but resisted the urge to go
and look for her. Bored and restless, he played a lethargic game of
Beggar-My-Neighbour with Joel and drank enough tea to induce a
headache.

By evening, the rain still
hadn’t stopped, but Perry’s lethargy had grown as heavy as an
anchor round his neck and he couldn’t face the prospect of having
to go out working again with Joel. He lay on his nest of a bed and
wrapped the pillow round his head.

‘
It won’t take
long, we’ll be back before you know it,’ Joel said.

‘
I…’ Perry
sighed.

‘
Are you
alright?’

‘
Tired.’

‘
You ain’t got
The Sick have ya?’ Joel laughed uneasily.

If he were going to get The
Sick he surely would have already gotten it by now. He’d troop
through the evening if he had to. He reached for his coat, ‘Just a
headache is all. I’ll come.’ He threaded his arm through, his
muscles aching as he stretched through the cuff. He sensed Joel’s
eyes on him.

‘
Listen, you
stay here, I’ll go on my own tonight.’

Perry paused, and it was
hesitation enough.

‘
You weren’t
much good yesterday anyway,’ Joel said with a cheeky grin, as if
sensing Perry’s dilemma.

‘
I’m
learning.’

‘
Don’t worry,
I’ll tell Ma we both done it.’

‘
It’s not-’
Perry felt flushed, ‘I don’t mind coming, honest.’

‘
You can cover
me sometime.’

‘
I promise I
will. But you should take the knife if I’m not going.’