The Family Business

10

     "Jefferson!" I yelled, running forward and wrapping my hands around the bars. He lifted his head slowly and squinted at me.
     "Lana?" He asked, confused. He looked tired and hopeless. The spark that was usually in his eyes was gone. I had seen it for a brief moment when he recognized me, but it was as if he was too weary to keep it there. I turned to Blake.
     "What did you do to him?" I asked, my voice cold and low. I took a step toward him. He stood his ground.
     "I didn't do anything to him," he answered, looking slightly confused.
     "Then why does he look like he hasn't slept or eaten in days?" I yelled, growing angry. "Why does he look like he has lost everything?" Hot tears of anger tore paths of rage down my face. I didn't want to see my brother like this: helpless and suffering. I pushed Blake as hard as I could. I hit him with every ounce of my strength. But he didn't fight back. He just wrapped his arms around me and held me.
     "Calm down, love," he said softly. "I didn't do this." And with those words, I realized he was telling the truth. I stopped trying to hit him, surrendering and burying my face in his chest, tears still rolling down my face. "I put someone in charge of him. Rest assured that man will be punished." He sounded almost as angry as I was, which surprised me since he had seemed to hate my brother earlier.
     He let go of me and looked toward the cell. "I need you to go in there with him," he said.
     "Okay..." I replied, confused. So far, he had been relatively kind to me. Why was he now locking me up? But I didn't protest as he took a key ring off the wall, unlocked the cell, and gently guided me inside, shutting the door behind me. I turned and looked him in the eyes. He looked sad.
     "I do hope you will reconsider, and help me." He turned and started to walk toward the stairs.
     "How much is Nicholas paying you for this?" I asked, wrapping my hands around the bars and looking at his back. He stopped walking. After a moment's hesitation, he turned and walked back over. He covered my hands with his. I tried to pull back, not wanting him to touch me, but he held on.
     "When Nicholas tells you to do something," he began, "you can't say no." He gave me a sad smile, then retreated up the stairs, leaving me to wonder what he meant.

     After no more than five seconds of pondering Blake's words, I turned and rushed over to my brother, cupping his face in my hands.
     "Jefferson," I said, "are you alright?" I freed him from the chair and helped him up, grabbing him in a big hug.
     "Aye. I'm fine," he replied in a fatigued voice. I let go of him, and he swayed a little.
     "You should sit back down," I said, "you don't look so good." He gave the wooden chair a repulsive look.
     "I've been sitting in that chair for two days," he said, "I don't even want to look at it." He looked so tired.
     "When was the last time you slept?" I asked him.
     "A hard, wooden chair isn't the softest bed," he answered vaguely. I took his arm and led him over to the back wall, where I sat him down.
     "You need to sleep," I told him.
     "Lana?" said a voice somewhere to my right. I looked up and saw, in the next cell over, Will and Sam. I ran over to the bars separating our cell from theirs.
     "Are you guys okay?" I asked.
     "We're fine," said Will. "You?"
     "Yeah, I'm fine," I said.
     "How's the Captain?"
     "He'll be okay," I said. "He just needs some rest, and maybe something to eat." Just then, I heard footsteps on the stairs. I looked up and saw two men I didn't recognize entering the room. They were both carrying trays with two plates on them. The first one passed our cell and stopped at Will and Sam's. The second one came to a halt outside our door. He unlocked it and set the tray on the floor.
     "The Cap'n told me to apologize fer the way yer brother was treated," he said, addressing me with a sneer. He didn't look the slightest bit apologetic.
     "Thank you," I said. He and the other pirate then left the room, once again leaving us alone. I walked over and picked up the tray. On it were two plates of chicken and green beans, and two large cups of water. I carried it over to my brother and sat down next to him.
     "Here," I said, handing him a cup. "Drink." He gave me a grateful look and began to chug the water. "Not so fast," I said, grabbing the cup to slow him down. "You'll make yourself sick." He took a few more slow sips and set the cup on the ground.
"Better?" I asked. He nodded. "Good. Now eat this." I set one of the plates in his lap and pulled the other into mine. Jefferson picked up the chicken and began to eat it. Slowly, I could see the spark igniting once more in his eyes. It wasn't very bright, but it was there. We continued to eat our meals in silence, the only sound was the grunt of satisfaction Jefferson made after almost every bite. If I wasn't so worried about him, I might have found it funny.

A few minutes later, our plates were completely clean. We placed them back on the tray and I took the whole thing over and set it on the ground next to the door. Jefferson had also finished his water, but I had saved most of mine, unsure when we would get more. I looked over into the next cell and saw that Will and Sam were taking longer to eat. I rejoined Jefferson at the back of our cell. He still looked very tired. He laid down, putting his head in my lap, and closed his eyes.
     "Thank you," he said.
     "For what?" I asked.
     "For coming back." I stroked his hair while he fell asleep in this dark, musty cell, wondering just what I had gotten myself into.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just a reminder: I love to hear people's opinions! Please vote/comment so I know if you liked it or if you wish I had done something differently. Thanks! 💕