Chapter Eighteen

JJ, Pope, Kie and I all stand by a shed, waiting for something anything—I'm hoping to wait for John B and Sarah.

"Shit." I watched the aeroplane that was on the runway passes us over above.

"There goes the gold." Pope had sighed.

"Shit!" JJ had smashed a chair with his foot.

"Fuck!" Pope throws something that was in the shed across the room. Kie and I glanced at each other nervously.

"Pope!" Kie exclaimed.

"God damn it!" Pope grabbed a baseball bat and started to smash things in the shed. "Shit! Fuck!"

I flinched as glasses begin to smash. Kie, JJ, and I shoot each other a concerned look. We've never seen Pope had a mental breakdown before.

"Pope!" Kie had called again. Pope throws down the bat and picks up a trash can, throwing it as far as he could. "Pope!" Pope drops onto a bench, hyperventilating. "Pope..."

"Yeah, dude." JJ had said. JJ approaches Pope. "I was wondering when this was gonna happen." JJ holds out a vape towards Pope and I raised an eyebrow. "Here you go, chief. A little weed never hurt no one."

"JJ." I warned.

"Relax, Hollywood," JJ responded, shooting me a look.

"You know he doesn't smoke." Kie pointed out.

Pope takes the vape. "Well, maybe not until today," JJ said. JJ sits down next to Pope on the bench.

"Pope," Kie speaks in a warning tone. "Yeah, what is that gonna help?"

Pope stares up at Kie with tears in his eyes. "I lost my scholarship. Walked out in the middle of the interview. Every—it's gone. It's not gonna happen."

"You did that for us?" Kie asked softly.

"No, not for us." Pope had responded. He stands up and glares at Kie. "For nothing."

JJ stood up and placed his hands on Pope's shoulders. "I'm here for you, Pope. Welcome to my world, okay?"

"JJ—"

"What, Kie?" JJ snapped at her. "He's right. It doesn't matter anymore."

Kie shoots a look at JJ. Pope now leans against a support beam and puffs on the vape. "You don't have to do that." Kie quickly said.

He exhales a cloud of vape and scowls at Kie. "What do you care?"

"John B!" I had quickly said as John B approaches us. JJ and Kie turned around. I run towards him.

"Dude, dude, are you good?" JJ quickly ran towards him as well as Kie and Pope. I eyed his bloody hands. "Is this yours?"

"Whose blood is that?" Kie questioned.

"Hey, you okay, man?" JJ asked gently as John B looked like he was lost in a trance.

"John B, are you okay?" I noticed Sarah wasn't with him. "Where's Sarah, John B? Where's my sister?"

"Shit." There were cop car sirens and we all hid in the shed as a police car passes.

✫✫✫

I gulped nervously as Kie, John B, Pope, JJ and I pulled up at the Sheriff's Station at night. John B had told us that Rafe had shot Peterkin's. I'm ready to believe that one. I knew my brother was crazy. He also might be a psychopath.

He did kill my bunny when I was eight years old, I guess that was the first sign.

"John B, what are we doing at the police station?" I asked as I drive. I was driving in my pink Jeep Wrangler that we had picked up from John B's.

"Somebody's gotta tell them what happened." John B had said. Pope holds a joint and coughs.

"Easy there, chief," JJ speaks, turning around in the passenger seat, looking at Pope. JJ looked at John B. "All right. I'm just gonna be real with you right now. You might end up in the lion's den, but you don't go there on purpose. It's fundamental. Just like my old man always told me, you should never trust the cops, no matter what the circumstances are."

"Your old man is an abusive liar." Kie had snapped.

"I agree with JJ," Pope told JJ. "Fuck the police." I frowned, not liking this new Pope.

"You goin' to the dark side now?" Kie narrowed her eyes at Pope.

"When's the last time the police helped us?" Pope had snapped.

"Peterkin looked out for me, all right?" John B shoots Pope a look. "Tried to, at least. They need to know."

Kie nods and I nodded to, agreeing. John B gets out of the car and enters the station.

I lean back, running a hand through my hair and looked out the window. It was silent the entire time.

Then, "Stormy! Start the car!" I had turned my head to see John B running towards us and opened up the door. "Start the car, Storm!"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"John B?" Kie questioned and I started to car. "John B, what did you do?"

"Go, Storm! Go!" John B had told me and I stepped on the peddle, driving down the street.

I looked beside me to see a cop pulling on the door handle and I let out a whimper. "It's okay, Stormy, just keep going," JJ told me. "You've got this, baby!"

"Open it." Pope had suggested. John B opens the door before slamming it shut again, getting rid of the cop. I speed down the road, my heart beating nervously.

✫✫✫

We had hunkered down in my car under a wooden structure trying to hide from the cops. John B lying down in the back with JJ, Kie and Pope were lying in the back with their seat escalated down, the radio playing in the background. I'm the one sitting in the front, trying to keep my head down.

"Good news for residents of the Outer Banks. Dominion Power says their underwater transmission line, which will restore power 90% of the area should be—"

I sit up straighter, my hands gripping on the wheel as I hear cops sirens go by. Fuck, being a fugitive suck.

"And still, no arrest in the shooting death of Sheriff Susan Peterkin." The radioman continued. "The state police have issued a statement regarding a local person of interest, a juvenile from—"

I switched off the radio instantly.

"Let's game this out." JJ had said. "Maybe you guys can help, being the smart one and all, but... Who are the cops going to believe? Ward Cameron or us? So, the accuser is a bigshot developer, kind of lord of the island, got the governor on speed dial kind of person, and the accused... Is John B, who is... Pretty much a homeless 16-year-old boy at the moment."

"Thanks." John B responded.

"Shit," Pope mumbled.

"Okay, man," JJ continued. "Yucatan, all right? I'm saying that's the only option. What other option do you have?"

"Enough with the Mexico bullshit." John B turned his head towards JJ. "Sarah's gonna be able to bail me out."

"She did witness the whole thing." I pointed out. My sister got sent home with Rafe. She's God knows where now.

"Thank you." John B told me.

"And she's gonna snitch on her brother?" Pope questioned.

"I'd snitch on that thing," I replied. "I'll convince her to do it. Trust me, I'm a great convincer when it comes to my sister. One time, I convinced her too—" The others all shot me a look. "Not the time, got it, sorry,"

"We've gotta get you off this island," JJ speaks.

"The ferry, it's the only way," Pope had pointed out.

"Yeah, exit stage left while you still can." JJ was sitting up slightly. "Before the entire island is on lockdown."

"Guys, get down," I told them as I heard the sirens approach nearby. I slide further into my seat.

"Sarah's not a Pogue, John B." Pope said.

"Yeah. You can't stay here, man." JJ had told Pope.

✫✫✫

I had driven to the ferry and parked in the parking lot. Pope went to check what was happening with the ferry. "Okay." Pope approached the car. "Okay. All right, no."

"Pope, can you act normal?" I questioned him as he walked to the window where JJ was sitting. John B had reclined the entire seat down so he was lying down.

"So, um... Okay, so bad news." Pope confessed. "The ferry's closed, and there's this." Pope hands the wanted poster with John B's picture on to Kie and he climbs into the back.

Kie's sitting next to me and I looked at it, my eyes widen. 25,000 dollars for John B.

"What is that? What is that?" John B questioned quietly as Kie hands the poster to John B and JJ in the back.

"Well, John B, uh..." JJ stares down at the flyer. "This is a good framer of you." JJ shows John B the poster.

"Okay, so, the whole island's lookin' for John B now." Pope had said.

"That's a lot of money." I had said. "Maybe I should hand you in myself."

"Stormy!" Kie had glared at me.

"I'm kidding!"

"Congratulations, John B, you're famous." JJ had smirked.

"Okay, guys, we've got to get the HMS. We need small, no running lights—"

"It's at the Chateau, Kie." John B had pointed out.

"And I wonder if the cops got the entire place stalked out." JJ had spoken. "Let me think. Oh, yeah. No. They definitely have the place locked down."

"Yeah, copy that." Kie replied sarcastically.

"Let me think. Just give me a second." Pope had told us. "JJ." Wow, that was quick.

"What?"

"Does your Dad still have that boat?" Pope questioned. "The cigarette boat, the Phantom. The one he used to race."

"Maybe," JJ responded.

"You could ride it up the coast, no problem." Pope had explained.

"Okay, look—"

"It won't be easy, Pope," JJ had told Pope.

"Look," Kie continued. "The Surf's running from a three to four."

"I don't even know where the keys are." JJ had told us.

"Stormy, start the car," Pope insisted. "Well, find them."

"I'm thinking." JJ had told him.

"Why is nobody moving forward?" Pope had pointed to the traffic in front of us. "Let's go."

"Can you relax?" I asked Pope. "JJ, how much weed did you give him?"

"Guys." John B whispered. "Your car's on the poster."

"What?" I yelled as Pope leant forward and pressed the honker. I quickly slapped Pope's hand away. "Pope, that'll draw more attention to us—"

"It's that guy," a kid had pointed over to us. "A guy right there."

"Shit," I exclaimed.

"We got a snitch." JJ had told us. "Stormy, turn the car on."

"We get 25,000 dollars if we find him!" The kid had exclaimed and soon other people came out of their cars to see what's happening and I began to get nervous.

"JJ, I don't know if I can do this—"

"Baby, look, you're gonna have to," JJ leant forward and placed his hands on my shoulders, rubbing them.

A man knocked on the window. "He's right there!"

There was an argument that broke outside, people banging on the window as I tried to turn the car on. "Stormy, turn the car on!" Kie had yelled.

"I'm trying!" I had cried out, panicking. The car finally turns on and I stepped down on the peddle, accidentally smashing into the back of someone's car. "Shit!"

"Dude, back up!" Kie had told me and I reversed the car then put it in drive and drove away. "What are you doing?" I drove over some little park thing and onto the road.

"I'm sorry if my driving stresses you out, but next time Kie, you're driving!" I had told her, my hands getting sweaty. I stepped on the break once we were on the road. "John B, get out."

"She's right." JJ had said. "We'll draw the cops, you run. Right? I'll get the rig, and I'll meet you in the dump tomorrow, okay?" JJ questioned. John B had gotten out of the car. "Three o'clock, okay? Three o'clock tomorrow at the dump!"

John B slams the door shut and runs off into the forest. "Go, go, go!"

I sped off, not looking back.

A/N

I love Stormy with all my heart