CAPTAIN DIRK

“Don’t you think it’s time we return to the ship and regroup?” The Quartermaster asked, cautiously. “We’ve been out here for seventy nights now, and we haven’t made any significant progress in our search, Captain. The crew and I think it may be better to return to the ship, regroup, debrief, and then improve our strategy and continue where we left off.” 

They were the first explorers of any sort to spend that much time on the strange and dangerous island. They were in search of a treasure whose existence no one could guarantee. Many had spoken of it, many had dreamt of the power it could bestow, many had spent long days in drawn-out conversations about the riches its use and ownership would attract, but no one knew for sure if it really existed or if it was just the stuff of legend. None of this mattered to Captain Dirk, as far as he was concerned, finding the treasure was a matter of life and death, and he had every intention to live.

***

Captain Dirk took charge of his father’s business fifteen years prior to the conversation on the island with his quartermaster, Levi. He’d taken over a shipping business on the brink of bankruptcy and had swiftly turned the fortunes of the business around. He inherited nine ships from his father – who died of a heart-attack while poring through the ledgers of the business – but had had to let go of eight of them to keep the business afloat. He restricted himself to legitimate dealings initially, but he quickly realized that there would be no future for the business if he continued with business as usual. The tide had turned, the Asians had taken over the shipping business with their lower costs and faster ships. There was no way anyone else could outcompete them. While Dirk struggled to keep his business afloat, numerous indigenous shipping companies went under, and their offices at the port were quickly taken over by the Asians. When he arrived at his office complex one day and found the halls reverberating with voices communicating in Mandarin, Dirk knew it was time for deep reflection.

He spent days locked up in his office, planning and scheming, before he finally devised the perfect plan. He would remain in the shipping business – it was the only thing he was skilled at – but he would take a different approach to it. He would make his living off of the same Asians that were responsible for the economic hardship that was killing his business.

It didn’t take long for him to build a crew. Dirk had dabbled in the ‘dark world’ over the years, it was the only way he could maintain his high standard of living. There was only so much that the meagre salary from his father could do for him, so from time-to-time he turned to high-stakes gambling, trafficking, and pimping to keep his pockets fat enough to sustain the level of comfort he desired. It was due to the connections and relationships he’d developed in that time that he was able to quickly build a crew and take to the ocean. 

In a matter of weeks, he and his crew got a string of lucky breaks that drastically enriched them and established them as the crew to be feared. Their names were on the lips of everyone in the shipping business, from the Americas all the way to Asia. 

Their largesse and fame enable the rapid growth of a network of informants that enabled them focus their energies only on the ships that carried the most valuable goods. They also ramped up their armory by establishing a lab that specialized in the design and manufacture of weapons and armor, this kept them safe from the increasing number of weapons that adorned the Asian ships, and it enabled them cut down the amount of time and ammunition spent during attacks.

***

Life had been fabulous for the crew till that fateful morning. Before the fateful morning, they spent their days and nights in taverns established and maintained by Dirk and Levi, drinking themselves to stupor and sharing the revolving door of whores housed in the rooms at the upper levels of the tavern. That was the pattern of daily activity adopted by the crew whenever they weren’t at work on the sea, drinking, whoring, more drinking, more whoring, and then they’d make a little time for food before they returned to the drinking again. They had dedicated a whole month to that pattern before the fateful morning came along. 

Levi knew something was wrong the instant he laid eyes on Dirk. His sour mood was evident even in the way he positioned his shoulders. Upon closer inspection, his suspicion was confirmed by the distant look in his eyes, the constant hissing, and the teeth biting the little finger on the hand upon which Dirk rested his cheek. There was something on his mind, and Levi was determined to find out what it was and proffer a solution to the problem so that his dear friend and boss could return to his usual state of merriness. But the conversation didn’t go the way Levi predicted.

Dirk hadn’t requested for his presence to get advice, he demanded his presence so he could give him orders. He told him to inform the crew that they would be leaving for Toto Island in three days, and he told him to procure the maximum amount of resources the ship could carry because they would be on the island for a while. 

Three days later, they set off for Toto Island with only a rough idea of what they were going in search of. It was only after they arrived on the island that Dirk made their objective clear. Initially, they were worried because rumor had it that there were all sorts of dangers lurking on the island, but the lure of finding the mythical ointment they had heard so many stories about was too strong for them to resist. The wealth that would derive from discovering such a coveted treasure would be so enormous that they would never have to attack another ship for the rest of their lives.

***

“Captain, we arrived on this island with sixty-five men,” Levi continued, braving the pain from the sores on his lips. “Right now, we’re down to twenty-one. The other forty-four men have either died of mysterious illnesses or disappeared without a trace. The rest of us that remain aren’t any better off. Most of us are already ill, without any means to treat ourselves, while the rest are dispirited. I don’t know how much more the men can take before they turn against you.” The itches he had been feeling all over his body had become very severe. It was almost impossible for him to stay still or hold himself back from scratching different parts of his body.

Captain Dirk waved it off with a flick of his wrist. He hissed. “We have come too far to give up, Levi.” He said as he stood up from the large rock that served as his chair and paced around the thatch hut that housed his belongings and doubled as his office. “I have a strong feeling that we are so close – that the treasure is within reach. We just have to stay the course for one or two more days and we will achieve our goal. That is the only way to honor the memory of the men we have lost.”

Levi sighed. “Captain that is the exact same thing you said a fortnight ago. I don’t think the crew will accept this narrative again. There is no true guarantee that this treasure even exists, it may be that there is nothing more to it than the stories we have all heard. It may be nothing more than a myth!”

Dirk became visibly agitated. He began to pace faster than before. “It is not a myth, Levi! It is real! It is real! I know it is real! Why won’t you just believe me and abandon this foolishness? I’ve told you this numerous times since we got here, I have information that proves it is real. I have led this crew for many years now, do you think I would bring the crew all this way and make all these sacrifices for a wild goose chase?”

Levi sighed and lowered his gaze. Since the Captain wouldn’t listen to his pleas, he decided to share the information he received that morning. “The crew informed me early this morning that they intended to leave the camp. They have charted a course on the map that will see them arrive at the ship before sunset. They set out just before I came here to discuss with you. They gave me a copy of the map with the route mapped out in case we want to join them.”

A look of betrayal spread across his face as Dirk thundered, “Let them leave! They are fools! They do not realize the immense wealth they are leaving behind!” he started breathing heavily. Dirk was confused, he lowered his head as he began to consider his next steps. The crew had the skills he needed to continue the search, without them it would become incredibly hard to keep searching. He exhaled, raised his gaze and locked eyes with Levi, and then said, “How good are you at reading maps, Levi? You can read the maps while I beat the trail. We can continue this search on our own and keep the wealth to ourselves. Those fools will take their own lives when they see the riches we will amass, I promise!”

Levi shook his head. “I don’t think I can continue with you, Captain.” He scratched his itchy hands. “I need good medical care or something terrible might happen to me. I will make do with the riches that I have already amassed.” He said, resolutely. “We will leave one of the boats behind for you.”

He watched in horror as Levi exited his hut and packed up his things. It took everything within him to hold himself back from following Levi. Dirk was just as frustrated as Levi and the crew members were, but he held back his emotions so as not to rattle the crew. It had hurt him much worse than the others to see his men die one after the other because he felt a sense of responsibility for their deaths. The strange disappearance of the others caused him even more pain, but he stayed strong for the rest of the team. He had hoped that they would make rapid progress, discover the ointment, and leave the island before it could kill the rest of them, but that was not to be. Rather than make quick time, they’d just roamed around the island for weeks on end, seeking clues that remained elusive.

As Levi walked away from the camp, Dirk cast his thoughts back to that fateful morning. It was during the course of the preceding night that he heard the words that would cost him forty-four valiant men. Those words put everything he thought and believed about himself to question – his entire self-image was distorted by it. Those words were so powerful that they sent him scurrying into the bush because everything paled in comparison to seeking the only conceivable solution to the problem that attracted those words. Those words were so powerful that from the moment he exited the bedroom that fateful morning till the time Levi abandoned him in the camp, he could think of nothing other than putting Rhonda the Whore to shame. She had uttered the words no man should hear, and he was determined to make her pay for it.

He didn’t care to have all of the ointment to himself. He didn’t care for the riches that could come from monetizing such a treasure, he only harped on that to motivate the crew. All he wanted was one serving of it. According to the legend, once he massaged it in, he would see an instant transformation. He would feel the prompt return of his manliness. That was all he wanted, to show Rhonda the Whore that she was wrong about him. Once he found the ointment, he would make her eat her words. He would make her plead for mercy as he exacted his revenge. He would render her body useless from the waist, down. 

All he wanted to do was to prove her wrong.

He looked down, reached for his crotch, and massaged it lightly. He still couldn’t feel a thing.

“This is all your fault.” He said.