[center][h3][b] The Whole World is Black[/b][/h3]

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg]Paint It Black![/url][/center]

[i]"Did you have anything to do with this?"[/i]

Joe was feeling terrible. Everything was turning dark. He felt bad about killing the guy he fought with last night. He felt worse about what happened to Miss Abby. Now he was letting everyone down. Not just one person this time, but everyone. The entire crew. The easy solution would be to just run away and bury himself in a bottle. It was his Modus Operandi. Take off, get drunk, sleep it off, rinse and repeat. That’s what he did on Persephone.

[i]"Did you have anything to do with this?"[/i]

It was humiliating. It meant he would never amount to anything in life. He would be a drunken bum living off the land, handouts, and scraps until the day he died. He was a worthless piece of crap and doc’s words only highlighted that [i]affect.[/i]

[i]"Did you have anything to do with this?"[/i]

His behavior had been nothing short of shameful. No good upstanding person in this ‘verse should be permitted to get away with this. [i]‘You are of no use to me here, Joseph Hooker! Get off my ship NOW!’[/i] Captain Parker’s words rang in his ears. That may have been two or three months ago. But the words remained in effect. Nothing he would ever forget anytime soon.

[i]"Did you have anything to do with this?"[/i]

He couldn’t answer the question Doc asked. She knew he had everything to do with this. It was his fault. He couldn’t say anything. His actions were indefensible. He knew it and needed to fix it. It was imperative that Joseph Hooker get Abigail Travis back from those [i]other[/i] animals. [i]‘Ah will set this raht! Ah will get her back! Ah will do whatever the captain tells me to do to get Miss Abby back to her family.’[/i] Joe’s thoughts clouded distractions for an instant.

[i]“Hook, you’re with me. We got cargo in five ticks.”[/i]

Work. [i]Make work your favorite.[/i] Somehow that odd little expression made sense to him. He nodded in affirmation to the captain. When the meeting broke up, he spoke to no one. He looked into no eyes. 

Shame. 

Humiliation. 

Remorse. 

He needed to set his own self right first. Then he remembered the bottle of bourbon he kept in dry storage. He walked into the room, pulled the bottle off the shelf, then departed the galley.

When he caught up to the captain, he handed him the bottle. “Ah won’ be needin’ this any longer, Cap’n.” Then he began working to lash down the cargo that had been delivered earlier. Miss Abby obviously didn’t have time to take care of it. It was all up to him now. He’d have to do everyone’s laundry too.

Focus on the work.