More To Jensen Then We Know It

"Jerelly, we can't keep being stealing!" Jensen scolded his brother. "We will be caught, and I'm so scare to be caught. Stealing is a sin!"

"Not when you're stealing to feed the hungry." Jensen replied sharply.

"Oh!" Jensen nodded, followed by a confused question, "...and WHO are you trying to feed?".

"YOU, dummy. Now, you need to steal to feed me too. That way, neither of us is sinning." Jerell chuckled.

"Oh alrighty, alrighty, alrighty. Feeding the hungry is not sinning." Jensen said in agreement.

Jerell has always known that his younger brother was a little slower in the head, compared to most people. He knew Jensen was so gullible that he would fall for the simplest lie, so it was his duty as an older brother to look out for Jensen.

The market was busier today than most, since it was a Wednesday morning and the farmers always sold fresh produce mid-week. Jerell knew that if they both stayed hidden in a big crowd, they would be able to take food more easily without being seen. Plus, food and jewelry that had fallen, were most likely going to be fresh with little to no dirt dusted on top.

Occasionally, they will hear whistles blowing from nearby watchmen that spotted thieves. Hell, every scum from the hell of London knew what they did to thieves, including Jerell.

They send little thieving children to labor the factories and adults are sent to the new found place, far far away from London where prisoners are surrounded by unknown beasts, never before seen; the Australias.

Jerell and Jensen were mere boys younger than 11, but Jensen was a big kid. He was old enough to be mistaken as an adult at times because he's so tall and heavy.

Jerell snatches an apple as they both move along swiftly with the crowd. He snuck his little paws out, hidden in between people and snatched a loaf of bread and later a raw slab of pork that were on display.

That night Jerell and Jensen ate to their fill. Jerell cooked the pork over a small fire until it was almost burnt black.

"Jerelly, why you burn it? I don't like burn. It becomes bitter." Jensen complained.

"Jensen, you know this meat has been out on display for god knows how long. We cook it properly or we can get very ill… or maybe even die. You know, so many people touch it with their bare hands and flies lay invisible eggs on top, so we have to wash and fry them all up… that way we don't get sick. A little bitter is better than dying. Am I right?"

"Haha, better than dying, yes." Jensen laughed.

The following week had an even busier market. It was great for the two brothers because it meant not going to sleep hungry. However, Jerell did notice that with the influx of shoppers comes the influx of thieves. Therefore, with the increase of thieving activities, comes the increase of watchmen.

By the fourth week of their thieving endeavors, there were practically a watchmen at every corner. Every so often, Jerell would hear their whistles blown followed by screaming women, a small stampede of the crowd shifting one direction and finally an arrest.

Eventually, paranoia starts to overcome the brothers. This torture of emotions happens every year, around the same time, ever since influenza took the lives of both their parents. Jerell knew in his gut that they would one day get caught stealing if they continued living like they were, but his fear for his brother's safety was always more.

"Jensen?" Jerell said one night over the fire, "You know I love you right?"

Jensen was staring at the stars as he answered, "Yes, Jerelly, and I love you!"

"You know I would do anything in this world to protect you right?" Jerell continued to ask. Jensen changed his gaze from the stars to his brother and nodded his head up and down repeatedly.

"Well, there was a man that saw me stealing…" Jensen stops nodding and stares at Jerell. "He said I was very skillful and wanted to hire me to work for him. I think it's a great opportunity for me to make a little money, you know, to help us."

"Me too? I can help, too?" Jensen asked.

"That's the thing… I don't know if you want to go with me, because we will have to live on a ship for the time being, so the watchmen won't find us… and know you, you HATE ships. They make you sick to your tummy and… and you hate rats and cockroaches."

"Oh, hate hate. Roach die!" Jensen stomp the ground like he was really squishing bugs with his foot.

"I can't leave you behind… So what I'm asking is that… would you go on the ship with me, Jensen? Just so we can make a little money on the side to survive this brutal world? We have to find and chase our own happiness." a silence pursued his question as Jensen hesitated to answer.

"Jerelly?"

"Yes, Jensen?"

"If we go on ship, I am so scare the roach will lay eggs in my brains. I'm so scared."

"Jensen. I will plug your ears at night with cotton balls so that they can't enter."

"But if not ears, what if they go into my nose… I need my nose to breathe…"

"I will be sure to crush all the bugs, so they don't go into your nose."

"...and the rats, I hate hate hate! They bite me and eat holes my clothes."

"I will be sure to set traps to kill all the mice." Jerell smiles at Jensen and he returns a great big smile.

"ALRIGHTY, alrighty, alrighty. I will go with Jerelly on ship!"

Jerell jumped up and celebrated, "Yes! Thank you Jensen! THANK YOU!"

As the night stills and the only sounds that could be heard were the crickets and Jensen's voice as he continued to observe the starry night.

"Jerelly? I see the dragon star. You see it too?" Jensen points to a star in the sky.

"A star is just a star. There's no such thing as dragons." Jerell said.

"No, Jerelly… when it rains and the rainbows comes out, you can see the dragon world. It is a mirror to their world. I see it myself, no lies."

"Sure, sure. I believe ya, Jensen. Now go to bed, we have an early morning."

It wasn't long before Jerell heard Jensen singing and giggling to himself,

"Jerelly will go on ship. Jensen will go on ship. Roaches we will smash and rats we will trap! Oh, the ship we all will go. YAY!"

*

"Jensen, wake up. We have to go meet the guy at the dock now." Jerell shakes Jensen awake, still tired, Jensen roughly rubbed his eyes.

"I'm tired." Jensen whined as he took in a big yawn.

"I know. Me too, but we have to go now. Here…" Jerell handed Jensen a wet rag, "Clean your face, so we don't look too dirty. People don't like to hire dirty people, alright."

"No, I don't wannit. I'm tired." Jensen whined again.

Jerell quickly wipes all the smudged dirt, dried-on boogers, and crusted saliva off Jensen's face.

"Ah, I don't like it. It's cold." Jensen starts to cry.

"Shh…remember what I said last night? The ship? Remember? We have to find and chase our happiness. Remember?"

Jensen quickly stops crying. "Happiness. Roaches we will smash and rats we will trap…"

"Yes, yes. Remember now?" Jerell asked. Jensen nodded his head excessively. "Alright, now let's hurry and go before the sun shines its beam on us for the watchmen to catch."

Jerell grabs Jensen's wrist and they stealthily sprint from one area to another, hiding and ducking from view. When they finally reached the docks, out of nowhere, a man reached out and grabbed a hold of Jerell's shirt, lifting him up a few feet off the ground by the collar.

"Ahh…" Jerell yelled as Jensen's wrist slipped from his hold. Jerell swung his body towards the man and kicked him slightly, so he could turn to look at his brother. "Jensen RUN!" He sees Jensen run off as his body slowly turns back around to face his opponent, a stubby brute too old to still be a thug running around.

Jerell brought his two arms up and reached them behind his head to grip the hand of the old man, holding him.

"LET GO OF MY BLOODY SHIRT!" he yelled, but the man was a giant in comparison to Jerell's tiny boyish body.

"So you're the little runt that Boix House hired to replace my whole crew." The man said with a low raspy voice. "Well, I can fix my employment real quick here. Hahaha, it's as easy as snapping your neck."

*Clunk

The man releases Jerell's shirt and Jerell lands smoothly onto his feet. The guy stumbles a bit and then Jerell hears another clunk, clunk, clunk right before the man drops face first onto the wooden floorboards.

"Bad man! Jerelly, he's a bad man! Baaaaad MAN!" Jensen yelled.

"Bloody hell, Jensen! I hope you didn't kill the man." Jerell said. He bent down next to the guy and tapped the guy's face. The man grunted and Jerelly involuntarily backed off.

"Well, he ain't dead that's for sure. Jensen, that was a mad hit you did. Knocked his head out." Jerell chuckled, but then quickly realized they were being surrounded by more men.

"We don't want any trouble. We're just kids minding our own business. We're gonna run along now and leave youse adults to do your adult thing."Jerell's voice shook a little as he tried to brave up for his brother.

The men were closing in on them when suddenly a horn went off, halting them in place.

"I am inquiring about this boy and his giant brother for possible employment. He will be joining me on my ship to negotiate terms of employment. Anyone trying to intervene in this transaction will have to go through me and my men first."

The ugly man had a large pipe in his mouth, sucking and puffing at the same time. About 30 men stood behind him with crossbows and swords. He was a big ole brute well into his 50's, but mighty fit.

"WELL?" The ugly man yelled. "MOVE A LONG OR DIE!" His voice echoed loudly in the dead silence of the early morning.

"AHHH!" A man charged from behind Jerell and Jensen, attacking first with a club.

*Ffffewtttt

An arrow lodged into his throat right before he reached the two brothers dropping dead on the floor and bleeding profusely from out of his mouth.

"ANYONE ELSE CARE TO JOIN THEM HIS HOLY DEATH-TROMONIES! HAHAHA!" the ugly man laughed.

All the men backed away and the ugly man waved for Jerell and Jensen to join him on his ship.

"I am Master Boix. From what we all just witnessed, it looks like you will be working for me now. Don't want to mix up with THOSE people there, they are barbarians thugs. Just mercifulness."

"Hey, we are boys too… and Master is a boy too. We are all boys! MASTER BOYS, MASTER BOYS!"

Master Boix glares at Jensen and then says, "What's wrong with him? Is he a moron or something?"

"Master Boix, my brother is NOT a moron. He's just a little slower in the mind, but give him any work and I will guarantee he will be the hardest worker."

"Very well then. Come along little lads. Welcome aboard my ship "Magnanimous", a trustworthy pirate trading ship." Master Boix takes a big puff of his pipe and blows it into Jensen's face.

Jensen blinks rapidly, bewildered by the stench of the smoke mixed in with his alcohol fumed breath.

"Jerelly, the Master of Boys have stinky breath… Look? It's so stinky you can see it come out of his mouth like smoke… see?"

"Shh. We mustn't say things like that, Jensen. Let's go."

Jensen nods excessively, clicking his jaws together while saying, "Alrighty, alrighty, alrighty." But before stepping onto the ship Jerell catches Jensen whispering to himself and giggling.

"Hey, Jensen, who are you talking to?"

"Why I'm talking to the dragon that owns the dragon star we saw last night, Lady Seer. She is lost now, but it won't be long until we get to meet her