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“I know.”

“It’s… it’s—look, I don’t care but I’m gonna stick with calling you Jessie so I don’t accidentally slip—but your given name is linked to a stupid sailor superstition, so you’re better off doing as the captain says, okay?”

“Okay. I’ve caused enough trouble just by being here.”

Mido took a step closer and put his hands on his knees. “Don’t listen to Jacobi or Cancer. Jacobi’s just a douche bag with some issues of his own, and Cancer is crazy superstitious. Even Dyne makes fun of him for some of the things he does to avoid bad luck.”

Ted said, “Yeah, hun. Listen to Mido. He’s one of the smart ones.”

“And handsome ones,” Ed said. “Mm-mm! You got some nice arms there.”

Mido straightened up, his expression caught between shock and a frown.

Ted waved a hand. “Oh relax. We’re harmless.”

The cook thought a moment, and then realization dawned on him. “Oh, that’s what you meant by ‘partner!’”

“Mhm.”

He started cracking up. “This is gonna be so much fun. Sauna’s gonna have a blast working with you two.”

“Why? He’s straight.”

“Right. And you guys aren’t. He—” Mido backed up and check the hallway again. His grin widened. “The crew and I would be indebted to both of you if you could find a way to make him pick more secluded places to entertain himself. Sorry, Jessie.”

“That’s so gross!” she said, wrinkling her nose.

Mido shrugged. “We’re guys. We spend most of our lives at sea.”

“Oo!” Ted said. “Maybe we should play matchmaker!”

“We should,” Ed said. “Jessie, what do you think of Mido? He’s a handsome gentleman. Needs a new tank but it’s hard to find a pair of arms like his.”

Mido studied Jessie like he was considering the match. He popped a nervous smile and ran a hand through his black hair.

Ted said, “Aw, we made him blush. There you go, Jessie. Give him a whirl!”

Jessie retreated lower in Ed’s arms and stiffened up. She didn’t want to contemplate getting in bed with another man for a long time.

Hurt played across Mido’s face but it was replaced with empathy when he saw her cringe. “Guys, she’s been through a lot lately. I don’t think matchmaking is a good idea.”

Ted said, “I’m sorry. I forgot. Sauna mentioned something but he didn’t stick around to give us details.” He turned to Jessie. “May we asked what happened?”

Jessie’s stomach churned. She didn’t want to talk about it but she didn’t see the point in not explaining things. Even though none of them were a threat to her, it was still hard to talk about what happened. She felt like soiled and damaged goods, less of a woman, dirty, a reject, refuse. She’d been taken and abused in ways no woman should ever experience. What decent guy would want to bother with her now? She took a deep breath and summarized her last two years with Tethys, doing her best to not use the “r-word” to describe events.

Everyone fell silent. Ed squeezed her reassuringly.

Ted said, “Hun, you need to get up so I can hug you.”

Ed released her and gave her an encouraging nudge. She’d been so comfy and cozy, however she wouldn’t deny her new friend a hug. She slipped off the bunk. Ted picked her up in a hug and lifted her feet off the ground. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. She felt a fresh wave tears wanting out, but she held them down. This treatment was overwriting her expectation that no one would want to touch her ever again. Ted set her down.

Mido looked at her with sympathy wrinkling his brow. He held out his arms. “You don’t have to if it’d make you too uncomfortable, but I’d love to give you a hug as well.”

Jessie hesitated. She took in his broad chest and strong arms, his gentle eyes and handsome face. All of it reminded her of all the crap she’d been through. Still, this was a different ship with a different captain and a totally different atmosphere. She tentatively reached for him and took a step forward, then another. A third brought them terrifyingly close. Mido tried to reach his arms around but stopped when she whimpered. Her eyes welled with tears.

Mido said, “Need me to stop?” No anger or frustration was in his expression or voice. Instead he radiated empathy.

“Please.”

Jessie backed into Ted and he wrapped her in his arms. He said, “I still see their potential. We’ll give it time.”

Dyne appeared in the doorway. “Is everyone more or less alright?”

“Yeah, we got this, Captain.”

“Alright then. Carry on.” He turned around and left.

Mido cleared his throat, then spoke to everyone. “I gotta go. I was only stopping by to drop off your stuff. We’ve got two crew members to cremate before the storm rolls in. Jessie, remember: nickname only. And don’t let stupid get to you. We’ve got your back.” He smirked. “Especially if you’re busy being our bodyguard.”

“Bodyguard?” Ed said.

Mido pointed to the bruise on his cheek. “This is from her,” he said with a guilty grin.

Ted said, “How many of you did she beat up?”

“Just me, Dyne, and Scully, and she sucker-punched Sauna.” Ed and Ted laughed. “All in one day.” The two laughed harder.

“What a hoot!” Ed said, getting up.

Mido bid them farewell as he headed off.

“How did you land that job?” Ted asked.

“I haven’t actually accepted it yet.”

Ed said, “You should! You’d be great. We’d love to have you as our bodyguard.”

“Not everyone feels that way.”

“Oh don’t worry about them. Captain Dyne looks like he’s got good control of his crew. You’ll do great.”

Even with her new friends and their encouragement, she still wasn’t sure. It’d be nice to feel useful for more reasons than having a vagina, but body-guarding a strange group of men? She  guessed she could survive doing the job long enough to pay off her boots and clothes. “I’ll think about it. Let me get used to the idea.”

* * *

I headed to the galley for a pretzel snack. I needed something crunchy to work off my stress. Seeing Mido and Jessie had been great but it didn’t change the fact that chewing out the head dockworker had been a waste of time. Lawsuits and such weren’t worth the effort for skippers like me. I’d make less money trying to win a case than if I’d stick to my delivery schedule. I was better off never touching this dock again.

Mido caught up with me as I was perusing the pantry full of slow-to-expire snacks. “Captain,” he called out, then lowered his voice. “Is there anyone else around?”

“No. Everyone’s on the docks collecting pellets or helping Cancer.”

Mido joined me in the pantry. “I just wanted to warn you that Jessie told Ed and Ted her real name.”

“Did they—?”

“No. No one knows about your curse but those of us who’ve been with you a while. So that makes everyone but those three. I warned her to use her nickname. I lied to her, though. Said her name gave rise to superstition.”

“You only partially lied.”

Mido took a deep breath and exhaled. “Right. I’ve got your back no matter what. I want you to be free of your curse as much as you do.”

“I appreciate it. I’m taking her to Cyprus; however, we need to find a way to convince her to stay. I can’t in good conscience hold her hostage like Tethys.”

“I understand. How long do you think you’ll wait until you tell Jessie and the others?”

I knew he meant telling them about my curse. “I’d rather wait until the last minute, but I think we have a better chance of Hell nuking itself to pieces. I’m pretty sure questions will be flying after my next lockdown.”

* * *

Jersey and Mike were cremated and returned to us in jars by dinnertime. Mido and I did the honors of carrying our fallen comrades back to the ship. We didn’t speak the entire trip back.