In life, you meet some scary characters and we met one in our travels. A giant of a man, about six foot seven and weighing about twenty one stone and in the photograph of him with the First Mate, he is stood several feet behind the First Mate, and hence the optical illusion. Oh, and by the way, you may have guessed throughout this book that the First Mate himself is a big fella. Obviously just by looking at them you could tell that they are both are or were hard men in their time. The First Mate being a gym guru, body builder and ex-rugby player but what of Nick?. He used to be a cop and now worked doing security work and we hazard a guess that he may have been a bodyguard for an Arab prince at worse, or a minder of an underworld gang boss leader at best.
He no longer visited his local pub but each evening he would walk over the bridge on the Thames and have a few beers in a couple of local pubs. He told us “ I never drink and drive “ which was a good point in his favour and in addition, a lesson to us all thought the Captain, until the Cabin Boy whispered in his ear “Probably too pissed to find his car, never mind trying to drive it”
He intimated that he had been prone to acts of violence in his previous life and that he had now left them behind him. A reformed character, but as a reality check, we must always ask the question “Does a leopard change it’s spots?”
When the Cabin Boy engaged him in conversation about family life, Nick turned bright red, drank his drink very, very quickly, a very, very large glass of red vino, and made a quick exit. Obviously, Billy Boy had touched upon some sore point.
When Nick left , the Cabin Boy said” I don’t know what’s wrong with him, I didn’t say anything to upset him”.”That’s probably true Billy, but some people don’t like to speak about some things and particularly amongst strangers” said the Captain .The First Mate smiled and said “And they don’t get much stranger than you and Jimmy, ” Billy fought back with “Probably just jealous of my good looks and my superior knowledge of almost everything”.”Ha, ha Billy “chipped in the Captain “You forgot to add, your extreme humility and modesty”.” No, didn’t you notice that sort of glazed look he had in his eyes “replied Billy. The First Mate added, “Probably just been on the sauce all day”. “No I don’t think so “said the Captain “Some subjects are totally taboo to some people for example you couldn’t really talk to most people about paedophilia, incest or terrorism could you?”.The First Mate smiled again and said, “You could if you were called Michael Jackson, Fred West or Obama bin Laden”.
The Captain didn’t want to drop the subject and continued “Some things are viewed as forbidden by society’s standards and therefore they are rarely talked about openly. Some are less taboo then they were in the past and some are more then ever taboo. And while most have to do with sex, some taboos have to do with food, and others beliefs, and all of them will bring a conversation to a dead stop if you bring them up because these are all things most people do not what to talk about. In my own case I am uncomfortable talking about death, cancer and Aids. And in the case of Nick, he just has a hang up about family life”
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