Zeynep Hatun

Three men smiled at me today, and not one of them named a repayment date. I watch the smiling ones longer.

• KeremOne of them was me, I take it.
  Zeynep HatunYou didn't even smile, Captain. That was worse.
• Idris HocaHah, Hatun. Are you pricing even my ink with those eyes?
  Zeynep HatunYour account is already settled, Hoca. Down to the last page.

One thumbprint binds a man to a ship. I've found the thinner the paper, the tighter the knot.

• Joan...Is my paper among those?
  Zeynep HatunIt is. Third line. The ink had smudged. Your hand must have been shaking.
• KeremI still don't like that a man's worth gets set by one thin sheet of paper.
  Zeynep HatunI'm not the one who set the price. The one who pressed his thumb down did that.