“Definitely,” I said. “Get me some supper. I prefer to eat alone.”
His face twisted. “I’m not a servant.”
“Of course you are. Why do they give you shoes for their errands but not clothing for your freedom?”
He hunched down again. “Well, I’m not your servant.”
“None of my usual servants are here. You’ll have to do.”
“You might run away.”
“I’m starving,” I protested. “If I’m going to run, it’ll be after supper. Now go on.”
He wasn’t happy about it, but he obeyed and returned a few minutes later with a bowl of stew for each of us.
“Did you spit in mine?” I asked.
He looked offended. “No.”
“It’s what I would’ve done if you had spoken that way to me.”
He smiled sheepishly. “Well, maybe I did a little.”
I hid my own smile as I traded our bowls.
Fink was quiet for a moment as we ate, then said, “Do you think the men around here only consider me a servant boy?”
“Yes.”
“What if I came with you and Erick tomorrow?”
I shook my head. “If you can’t make it with the thieves, you’d never make it as a pirate.”
Fink straightened his back. “I’d be a fine pirate. I have talents these thieves don’t even know about.”
“Yeah? What?”
“I can fake tears. Watch.”
By the time I looked up, Fink already had tears streaming down his face. “It’s just not fair,” Fink cried. Literally, he did. “Maybe I’m young, but I deserve a chance.”
“You’re pathetic,” I said, chuckling.
Instantly, Fink was smiling again. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand, leaving streak marks on his dirty face. “I once got a whole meat pie from a woman by using that trick.”
“Try that with the pirates and they’ll hang you up until you stop acting like a baby.”
am members ran toward Fink to celebrate and Erick even put him on his shoulders. Fink’s smile was so wide it practically stretched off his face. At one point, Fink looked down at me. He still had both the Queen and the ball in his hands. He saluted me with the Queen but kept the ball close to his chest.
I smiled up at him, though I felt a tinge of sadness. This place was all he knew, and yet for all his potential, Fink already seemed locked into this world where he had absolutely no chance of a future.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent with Fink recounting to me every detail of his win against our opponents. It didn’t matter that I was there and had seen every moment unfold, or that the strategy had been my idea to begin with.
“Did you see their faces when I got the Queen?” he said. “Now they’re sorry.”
“They’re not sorry enough to ignore you now.” I tilted my head at a few of the men who were walking by. “And if you don’t hush up, they’ll come over and show you how not sorry they are.”
Fink laughed, but he did quiet down, at least until everyone passed us by.