Shipwrecked Hearts

1

Kabanata 1

“Welcome to the crew.” Maximo whispered to my ears after I gave my final answer, the warmth of his breath caressed my skin gently, giving me a tingling sensation that seem to evaporate my sanity.

“Boss, you can’t be serious about bringing a girl into the family.” May isang lalaking humarap. Tahimik lang naman ang ibang mga tauhan, tumingin lang si Maximo sa kanya na tila naghihintay ng kasunod sa sasabihin, “she probably knows nothing about ships, that makes her a liability, a hindrance.”

Kumunot naman ang noo ko, “excuse me, stop talking like I’m not here! FYI, as in for your information, Isa akong kapitana ng barko! I know everything a man should know about a goddamn ship! So tell me, am I still a hindrance? A liability?” I challenged.

I don’t know why I’m defending myself and I seem persistent to join this pirate crew, for all I know I should be in a panic and thinking of ways to escape, right? But why am I not? Bakit tila gustong-gusto ko pang maging pirata? Aren’t pirates bad?

Binaling ni Maximo ang tingin niya sa akin, his face seemed amused and amazed at my burst of emotions, “have anything else to say, Marco?” Maximo asked the guy.

Hindi umimik si Marco kaya naman nginisihan ko lang siya.

Boy, don’t you dare underestimate a girl because she has t**s and no balls. I gave him that kind of look.

“Back to the mission.” Ani Maximo, tumingin siya sa kanyang orasan, “we only have thirty minutes left until the sleeping gas stops working. We need to wrap this place up. Now.”

Saktong iyon ay muling bumalik sa pagnanakaw ang mga pirata, tumingin ako sa paligid at saka lang napagtanto na kaya pala ang tahimik ng barko dahil lahat ay tulog, siguro ang narinig kong pagsabog kanina ay pagsabog ng sleeping gas, hindi siguro ako naapektuhan dahil nakatulog agad ako bago pa man pinasok ang kwarto ko ng usok.

“As for you, starfish...” lumapit si Maximo sa akin, “pack your things. You have ten minutes.”

I nodded obediently, tila nakalimutan ko na ang gutom na aking nadarama rin. “Okay.” Aalis na sana ako nang hawakan ni Maximo ang braso ko, stopping me on my tracks. His grip was strong, the texture of his palm was rough but it was warm. Mahaba ang kanyang mga daliri rin sapagkat sinakop nito pabilog ang aking buong braso.

“And don’t even try to think of escaping. I won’t give you an escort since I trust you as a new recruit of my crew. You don’t wanna break that trust, starfish.” He added, I looked at his right green eye—since the other one was patched for who knows why, maybe to have a poor pirate-ish vibe? “Go now. I’ll be waiting here.” I felt my heart skip beats when he grinned.

“S-Sige, Maximo.” Lumunok ako at tumingin sa kanyang kamay na nakahawak pa rin sa akin.

“Oh, right.” Aniya na tila naalala na hawak-hawak pa niya ako, nang ibaba niya ang kanyang kamay ay tila nadismaya ako. I wanted him to put his grip back! I wanted him to touch me!

Oh, return to your senses, b***h! This guy is dangerous! Gorgeous, yes, but dangerous! I mentally said to myself. Sighing, bumalik ako sa aking stateroom. It’s a good thing I don’t unpack my things, it’s a bad habit of mine whenever I go out of town or travel. Why? Aalis ka rin naman, bakit mo pa kailangang mag-unpack ng mga gamit?

Kinuha ko ang dalawang maleta ko, tumingin ako sa bar, I saw the poor alcohols waiting to be drank. Poor them, they deserve better than being displayed there! Kaya naman binuksan ko ang isang maleta ko at nagtanggal ng mga damit, pagkatapos ay pinagkasya ko lahat ng alak doon.

Nang tapos na ako ay lumabas na ako sa stateroom, both my hands were pulling two bags, bumalik ako sa food court kung saan sinabi ni Maximo na hihintayin niya ako, I don’t know why but I was smiling and looking forward to it, he didn’t need to tell me not to think of escaping, because I surely won’t!

True to his words, I saw Maximo there, he was listening to reports from his crewmates. “We’ve already cleared all the decks, Maximo. The loots are getting transferred to Treasure Trove.”

“Good.” Aniya habang nakatingin sa aking gawi. “Let’s go.”

Naglakad na silang lahat papunta sa pinakatuktok ng barko, the sundeck. Sumunod lang naman ako sa kanila, as I expected—it was raining already, tumingin ako sa katabing barko, it was a black pirate ship with a black flag of a skull with eyepatch, like of Maximo.

Abala ang mga tauhan sa pagdiskarga ng mga ninakaw nilang items sa cruise ship papunta sa kabilang barko, ako naman ay nanatiling nakatayo lang habang nanonood. “That ship is called Treasure Trove, that’s what we use for raiding ships like this.” Pagsulpot ni Maximo sa aking gilid. “The built of Treasure Trove can take on thousands of cargos and still not lose speed. It’s good for escaping, especially when the wind and tide is on your odds.”

“How many ships do you exactly have?” Malakas ang tono ko sapagkat umaalingawngaw ang patak ng ulan.

“Estimated, a thousand.” Aniya, Maximo was already drenched too because of the rain, humapit ang kanyang polo sa kanyang malapad na dibdib at sa kanyang abs. Distractions! Everywhere!

I gasped, amazed—not at his muscles of course, but at his riches. Okay, maybe I’m also gaping at his built. Well, let’s say it’s not a surprise anymore. Nakaw naman ang yaman niya, that’s expected. Of course, pirates. Pirates are damn rich. But I’m still surprised, I did not expect him to have that many ships. I’m also surprised these pirates are damn lowkey considering how rich they are, hindi ba dapat sobrang sikat sila dahil sa kanilang kayamanan? Sabihin man nating nakaw.

“Starfish, let’s go on board my ship.” Maximo said, naglakad na siya patungo sa rehas kung saan may tulay na kahoy na nagkokonekta sa dalawang barko, I was amazed how his crew easily crossed that bridge given it was only wood, with nothing to hold unto. So if you fall, you fall to the sea. You fall to the ruthless water, ready to devour you.

Lumunok ako, tila tinakasan ako ng dugo nang nakita kong tumalon si Maximo patungo sa plank. “Walk the plank, that’s the only way to board my ship from here, unless you want to use the rope.” Aniya sabay turo sa gilid kung saan may mga ibang pirata na gamit iyon, he demonstrated to me as if it was that easy.

He seemed to be expert of it, oh right, he’s used to it of course. He always do it, and it’ll probably be the same to me from now on, so I better get used to this myself.

“Get my baggage.” Saad ko.

“Well, well, that would be a pleasure of mine, starfish.”

“Akira.” Pagtatama ko.

“I call you what I want.” He argued, nanginig ang mga kamay kong inabot sa kanya ang unang maleta ko, he easily took it, crossed the plank and put it on the other side—other ship, Treasure Trove. Binalikan niya muli ako para kunin muli ang panghuli.

“C’mon, cross the plank. We need not delay.” He shouted from the other side.

Lumunok ako, I wanted to walk back all of a sudden. But my feet were nailed to where I was standing, tumingin ako sa ibaba at nakita ang dagat na tila handa nang lumamon. Tila tinakasan ako ng dugo. That’s where I will fall if I am outbalanced while I cross. Plus, it was raining, the heavy rain was not helping at all. Mas lalo lang nitong pinapabigat ang aking katawan. Mas lalo akong mahihirapan balansehin ang sarili.

“The trick to walking the plank is to not look down but look forward. Just focus your attention to me, starfish!” Sigaw ni Maximo mula sa kabilang barko, pinapalakas niya ang loob ko. And it somewhat helped me. Okay, it gave me courage.

Umakyat ako patungo sa tulay, pumikit ako nang ilang sandali nang nakatayo na ako roon. I can feel both ship moving because of the waves, I struggled to keep my balance.

“Come on, starfish. Just walk. Don’t look down. You know how to walk, right?”

Hinugot ko ang lahat ng lakas ng loob ko, my knees were starting to feel like jellies, but I held them strong. I took my first step, second step, aksidente akong napatingin sa ibaba at nakita ang dagat, tila nag-iba ang tingin ko’t tinakasan ako ng dugo, dahil sa pagkagulat ay nawalan ako ng balanse.

The next thing I know, I was already falling off the plank, down to the ocean.

Time seemed to slow down and I saw Maximo grabbing a rope in a flash of light, I feel myself light as I was going down and down, I still raised my hand hoping somebody—Maximo would grab me, matapos ang ilang sandali ay tumalon din siya upang isalba ako, and he did grab my hand. I held his hand like my life depended on it, “well, starfish, knowing how to run a ship is useless if you’re not on a ship. So I better teach you how to stay on board a ship.”

Tila magaan lang ako na tinaas niya ako, “hug me.” He ordered.

“What?!” Ramdam ko ang pag-iinit ng aking pisngi.

“Hug me, I can’t climb the rope with one hand.”

“Oh, okay.” I struggled to snake my body around his built, gaya ng sinabi niya, niyakap ko siya nang mahigpit. I can hear his heavy breaths and the beat of his heart, it was surprisingly fast. Sinandal ko ang ulo ko sa kanyang matigas na dibdib at saka ko pinikit ang aking mga mata, he then climbed the Jacob’s ladder.

“Thank you for saving me.” I whispered while he mounted. “I owe you for this.”

“Good, you owing me makes you more worthy.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re now indebted to me.”