June 10, Morning Watch: Unlikely Guest

Charlie had been sitting at the foot of the galley door as he watched Kock the Cook move about in the kitchen. “The other day I was thinking about life and all that and I came to a point where I wondered… Well, I started to wonder, is it some divine chance that your parents named you Willy Kock?” From the sound of Charlie’s voice, any listener would have realised that he was serious about his inquiry and after asking it, he turned his head to look at Kock, his one eye gazed ahead blankly at the cook and his horse-like teeth were sticking out in a rather peculiar smile.

Kock was working and he did not feel the least bit comfortable with Charlie sitting there and watching him. He was sweating like a horse, not only from moving around or from the heat of the stove but from the fact that there was another man in the room – the Cook’s Mate was away, doing something that Kock had asked him to and when he was coming back, Kock knew not. For the present time, he was quite literally stuck with the insect-like Charlie Smith. Good and kind man, though hideous to look at and thick as a bucket.

He sighed once Charlie asked him the most silliest of questions, he had heard that one many a time, “I don’t think they even thought of that, Charlie.”

Kock’s voice had sounded very tired, anyone would notice Kock’s deadpan response – perhaps not Charlie for his brain was not the brightest. He was very sure that Charlie was serious – he always was. And it seemed that the more stupid the question, the more honest, true, and stern he was about it.

“And what, pray tell, Charlie, else about life were you thinking about?”

… If he could think at all!

Kock was correct in thinking that Charlie would likely have missed the fact that the cook lacked the same enthusiasm that he did; in fact, he had not realised that he was not welcome at all. “I was thinking about…” Charlie began, pausing briefly as if the time that it took the other man to respond to him had vanquished all his memory, “I was thinking about… men and women. You know, I don’t understand. Do you know why God made women pregnant? Would it ever be possible that a man could do it, too? I was thinking about that. It’s sometimes important to think about these things at night.”