Finally, the cook could not stand the silence and commented:

"Ha, ha, ha, next to you Ricardo is an expert... that there were no sweet potatoes on the island where you were born?" The cook said without looking Lucas in the face, concentrating on the fish that he had in front of him.

"On my home island..." Lucas said as if summoning the ghosts of the past "There weren't many vegetables, almost everything was mollusks, crustaceans, fish and sometimes some meat..."

"The truth is I don't remember much, I left a long time ago..."

"Although I remember that my mother always got seaweed of different flavors and some edible corals that tasted very good"

"It seems that you lived on a semi-submerged island like Los Golfos" Ricardo said as he struggled with the peel of the sweet potatoes.

"Mmm... Yes, more or less... there was a lot of water" Lucas said a little nervously.

"Ha, ha, ha and where there isn't, if we always live surrounded by the ocean !!" Said the cook while a gutted fish flew through the air and was sideways in the middle, showing a fine row of bones on one side.

"I wish I had lived on a big island where I don't have to see the ocean on the horizon every day like the ones in the central sea"

To the pity of the cook, neither of the two boys followed the conversation, and once again the awkward silence filled the kitchen.

*The knife goes in, the thorn comes out* ....·The knife goes in, the thorn comes out* ....

Lucas, with his calloused hands, kept trying to find the technique to be able to cut the sweet potatoes in a more comfortable way, but it was obvious that it was difficult for him to handle the knife to get only the skin to come out and not half a sweet potato with it.

"If it gets too complicated for you, just leave them with their shells and cut them into fine pieces, most of the sailors lost their taste buds long ago to produce the difference" Said the cook, noticing that Lucas was taking too long

Something boring continued with the monotonous task of removing the bones from the fish

"Do you think the captain doesn't notice?" Ricardo asked with doubt about the suggestion.

Hearing the question, the cook was secretly glad that these two scarecrows were finally encouraged to pursue a topic of conversation, but a disapproving face formed on the outside, and he commented

"As you can tell, you lack experience, cabin boy..."

"It's more than obvious that I'm going to peel the captain's sweet potatoes personally"

Seeing that the silence threatened to return, the cook continued "Look, boy, there are few people for whom you have to prepare a special dish on a merchant ship, first, of course, for the captain."

"Second, on this ship, to the first officer who always finds excuses to complain about everything looking for some benefit"

"Then there are all those who have a single position: Lookout, cook, helmsman, etc., to all these people you have to give them peeled sweet potatoes"

"And finally, there are the rest of the sailors who don't care what they eat, and we'll give them Lucas's unpeeled sweet potatoes"

Lucas listened intently, jotting down the important posts in his head.