Pirate's Life For Me....

Roll Boys Roll

  Grunting as I picked up the crate full of potatoes, I dropped them onto the wooden counter and pulled out another crate to sit on. Picking up a knife, I grabbed a potato and began to peel, letting the skins fly into a bucket in front of me. The ship swayed with the waves, causing anything loose to roll before the boat tilted the other way. Dropping the peeled potato into a pot after cutting it into quarters, I turned my head as I grabbed another brown tuber. The beads and shells in my hair clacked together in my braids, a familiar sound I had grown accustomed to when I started putting them in my hair years ago.

  Up on deck were about 20 hungry men, sweating and working in the hot sun to keep the sails with the wind to quickly get to our port to deliver our cargo down below. With the way the sun was beating down and how hard they were working, they'd be starving by the time dinner was to be served. So, working as deftly as I could, I began to make supper for 20 men with bottomless pit stomachs.

  Whistling as I worked, the only source of light that came in was from round windows set high in the walls. The tune coming from my lips, however, seemed to carry to the top of the deck due to many of the windows being opened as I was cooking. I only knew it carried because I could hear the men up top humming along. Smirking, I tossed a potato into a pot and rose my voice.

  "~Oh! Sally Brown, she's the gal for me, boys!~"

  "~Roll, boys! Roll boys, roll!~" I heard many voices reply as I picked up another potato and began to peel.

  "~Oh! Sally Brown, she's the gal for me, boys!~" Singing, I honestly found this crew to be my favorite so far. Most of them were fine with me being a woman, and they loved my cooking, so many of them remained on the ship after every cargo delivery, unlike others that left before. Also, they didn't mind when I began a shanty without reason.

  "~Way high, Miss Sally Brown!~"

  "~It's down to Trinidad to see Sally Brown, boys!~" I belted out and heard the crew reply soon after.

  "~Roll, boys! Roll boys, roll!~"

  "~Down to Trinidad to see Sally Brown, boys!~"

  "~Way high, Miss Sally Brown!~"

  "~She's lovely on the foreyard, and she's lovely down below, boys!~" Tossing another potato into the pot, I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand.

  "~Roll, boys! Roll boys, roll!~"

  "~She's lovely cause she loves me, that's all I want to know boys!~"

  "~Way high, Miss Sally Brown!~"

  "~Old Captain Baker, how do you store yer cargo?~"

  "~Roll, boys! Roll boys, roll!~"

  "~Some I stow forward, boys, and some I store after!~"

  "~Way high, Miss Sally Brown!~" Their voices sang in reply as everyone worked. The bucket in front of me was filling up with peels, and I stopped to cut up some carrots and onions on the wooden counter.

  "~Forty fathoms or more below, boys!~"

  "~Roll, boys! Roll boys, roll!~"

  "~There's forty fathoms or more below, boys!~"

  "~Way high, Miss Sally Brown!~"

  "~Oh, way high ya, and up she rises!~"

  "~Roll, boys! Roll boys, roll!~" Chuckling, I knew that shanty was usually sung for when the anchor was being brought in, but it didn't really seem to matter to anyone. Chopping up the vegetables, I tossed them into the pot with the potatoes and continued to work on supper until I was pouring portions into bowls for the crew. The peels in the bucket were tossed overboard for whatever fish happened upon them.