Chapter 11: The Polo Pussies

Beautiful gif is the work of WILDFLOWERLUKE !

~SiriusCatBennett

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"Pope, I love you, but I just got done working for seven hours, so can you please calm the hell down? We're fine."

It was July fifth, the day of the annual summer movie screening. The field was in between Figure Eight and the Cut, more so on the Kook's side, but more Pogues usually showed up. Especially the summers like this one when they didn't have any power. None of them were super up for it this year, but Kie reminded them it was tradition and dragged them out of the house. Said teenager was walking back toward the group with her bag slung over her shoulder.

"I'm so glad they're still doing this. Everyone needs a day off."

It was true, half of the people lounging on the grass had been working their asses off to clean up after Agatha. As long as the movie selection was good this year, it would definitely help. Pope, however, was extremely anxious about being away from the safety of The Cut.

"Aren't you guys glad I made you come?"

"Ecstatic."

"My couch was pretty comfy, I'll be honest."

Pope's sarcasm was palpable and CJ knew her brother was irked that he'd been pulled away from his lounge time. Personally, she agreed. She'd been perfectly content swaying from side to side in the hammock, waiting for John B to get home so they could go fish. She'd only been home for half an hour before Kie showed up.

"We're out of the green zone, man." Pope hissed in JJ's direction when Kie wandered to the food stand.

"Dude, tranquilo, okay?"

"We're in the middle of Kooklandia." The boy replied, looking between them tensely. "This is the last place I wanted to be."

"If you two don't shut up, I will go home and leave you here to deal with Kie by yourselves."

CJ knew she would never do that. Kie would be upset the whole night that her best friend took off, the boys would have to deal with the aftermath, and the most important reason: Topper and co. were glaring at them like they were able to burn the Pogues on the spot. But it made the two shut up for the moment.

Taking advantage of the silence, CJ set up the blanket she and JJ used every year they came here. Two more small pullovers were laid on top of it in case it got cold and they needed to cover up. Following almost robotically, Pope adjusted his lawn chair how he liked while JJ plopped a red cooler in between the chair and blankets. All of them sank into their seats, JJ pulling out the Juul to hit lightly.

"Just saw Rafe," Kie started, voice high pitched in condescension, "and he said, and I quote, 'Tell your boy that we know what he did.' What is that?"

Sighing, CJ folded over herself, pressing her head to her shins. She sprang up when her evil twin brother pressed an ice-cold Pepsi to her exposed mid-drift, glaring at him. All she got in return was a cheeky smile and mischievous eyes.

"Umm, so- uh..."

"We'll tell you later." CJ mumbled out, leaning so she could see her friend properly. This was so not the place to talk about it. "Where is he?"

CJ hadn't seen Rafe when Topper and Kelce were glaring at them. "Right there."

Casually twisting her head, Pope was much less subtle as he abruptly twirled around in his chair. Indeed, there were the three stooges, all holding blue paper cups. Eventually, when Pope had been staring too long, JJ grabbed him by the top of his head and turned him back around with a 'don't stare, bro.'

"This is gonna turn into a fight, isn't it?" CJ wondered, taking a deep breath in preparation. It wasn't that she didn't like a good fight, it was just annoying that it was once again the polo princesses.

"Hey, I mean, if they corner me, I'm comin' out swingin'." JJ told his sister, looking over at her as he enunciated with hand motions. "They started this."

CJ rolled her eyes, well aware of who started the feud. The battle between Kook and Pogue ran deep, but the fight between their group and the douchebag brigade began many years ago and it was Rafe who had started it, Topper right behind him like a little lap dog. CJ once wondered what Topper and Kelce would be like without Rafe, but knew, nonetheless, that they both needed someone to look up to and follow and there weren't many other Kooks that would've been any better as influencers. 

"If that doesn't work, I got this right here."

As JJ put his bag down, CJ slapped his arm. "You guys are tripping out, calm down." She was aware that her brother had the gun, and understood why, but there was no need to explain that when both Pogues next to him knew it was there already. Emphasizing her spoken point, Pope started rambling about staying in the group.

"I-I'm sorry, JJ...please tell me...that you did not bring a gun here. JJ, there are kids!"

"Kie." CJ called, her tone dropping slightly. "Leave it alone."

"Leave it alone? What the hell, CJ? I'm not gonna leave it alone."

"Yes, you are gonna leave it alone, because he only brought it as a last resort. Right, JJ?" She questioned, turning toward her brother.

"Right."

"See. We'll tell you everything later, Kie, but right now all you need to understand is that they've put a target on all our heads and they don't play fair."

The girl shut up at that, sinking back into her seat as she stared between her friends. Betrayal and minor distrust were written all over her features and it wasn't at all fair. CJ's nostrils flared slightly before she turned to the screen and pretended to pay attention to the repeating announcements.

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Hours had passed and it was now dark. The twins had been passing the Juul and soda between themselves the whole time and at some point had pulled sandwich fixin's out of the cooler. At the moment, CJ's head was resting on her brother's shoulder as she kept a casual eye on the polo pussies. She was surprised John B still wasn't here. Maybe he decided to go straight home after work.

Paying attention to the movie and the Kooks, CJ just barely registered the boys' hushed conversation about going to the bathroom. When JJ stood up and the boys left, she watched where they went, making sure she knew where they would be. She didn't like the thought of them leaving.

Turning back to the film, she kept looking between the screen and where the boys went, waiting for them to reappear. Anxious as all hell, CJ turned to continue keeping an eye on the Kooks when she realized they were gone.

Head darting to the side, she caught sight of Rafe's salmon-colored t-shirt and shot up from the ground, weaving through the crowd of wandering people. Once able, she took off at a sprint. From where she was, she could see the older teenager getting up in her brothers' faces. Pushing herself to run faster, she skidded around the corner, hearing her twin threaten to rip Rafe's prepubescent face off.

"Okay, Pope. Do you feel good about yourself, stealin' shit? I mean, i-is your mom proud of you? I-is your dad proud of you-"

Topper's words were abruptly cut off as Pope headbutted the shit out of him. The poor boy didn't realize that really hurts and pressed his hand to the pounding in his brain as JJ explained to do it with his fist before Kelce dove at him.

All hell broke loose as Kelce and JJ went at it and Pope went after Topper. Rafe was about to grab JJ and pull him away from Kelce when CJ appeared out of nowhere in front of him, popping him in the mouth. As surprise coated his features, CJ jumped up slightly before kicking him straight in the teeth.

"Son of a bitch. You're gonna pay for that."

Going after CJ, Rafe swung his fist out but CJ was quick to duck. Punching the asshole in his gut, Rafe made a grunting noise before picking the small blonde up and body-slamming her to the ground. While the air was still knocked out of her, Rafe smacked her head into the floor. Quickly, before he could do anything else, CJ masterfully freed one of her legs, wrapped it around his knee, and flipped herself on top of him. Throwing a fist into his face, she only got the one hit in before she was grabbed under the knees and flipped back over.

To each side behind her, JJ and Pope were fighting their own battles. JJ was grunting, Kelce having punched one of the fading bruises on his torso and Pope had just gotten an elbow rammed into his back. It wasn't too clear who was winning, but they were all getting their asses kicked as JJ punched Kelce in the mouth, CJ took a blocked hit to the torso, and Pope got kneed in the ribs. It wasn't exactly a fair fight, seeing as every one of the Pogues was already battered and bruised.

"Let go of him, Topper! Fascist asshole!" CJ heard from the ground, Kie running up and hitting the Kook with her bag. It didn't do much but distract him as Topper turned, grabbed the annoyance, and threw it to the side. Kie's response was to jump on his back.

"Hey, listen, Pope... All you gotta do is accept a little personal responsibility!"

"Screw you, Kook!"

CJ couldn't see what was happening as she fought off Rafe, but she heard Topper cry out and smirked with pride. Sadly, that distracted her and she took a punch to the cheek, spitting out blood next to her as Rafe grabbed her by the hair. Pulling her arm out from under his leg, she reached out, slamming the side of her hand into the pressure point in the boy's neck. As he cringed and squeezed his eyes shut momentarily, CJ did what she did not want to do, steeling herself as she threw her head up and into Rafe's.

Groaning, CJ rolled onto her front as Rafe fell off of her. She was pushing herself up when Rafe grabbed her by the ankle, twisting her around. Throwing out her other foot, she caught him in the chest and was released for a moment. Quickly scrambling to her feet, she dove at Rafe's legs, knocking the taller person to the ground.

Kie's scream caught her attention and she glanced over momentarily to see the girl get thrown off of Topper's back.

"Stay out of this, Kiara!"

"Kie! You okay?!"

Almost leaving her post to help her friends, CJ was pulled back to reality as Rafe moved to grab her by the hip harshly. His fingernails dug in, making CJ hiss as she glanced back over. The boy was seething as the Maybank threw her fist into his face once again, this time hitting him directly in the left eye. He growled, yelling as his other hand grabbed onto her left hip and she was thrown over his head. Luckily, CJ was able to tuck and roll or she would have slammed her head and neck into the grassy floor.

"Come on, just admit it!" CJ heard from Topper, looking over to see Pope in a chokehold. "Just admit it, bitch!"

"Let him go!" She screamed, crouched low to the ground. The end of her sentence was cut off with a harsh exhale, a foot having slammed into her stomach. Hunched over, she tried to pull in air but was failing.

"Don't you know girls can't fight men's battles?" Rafe sneered, spitting near her as he turned to go assist his friends. Inhaling deeply, she fought against the pain as she ran at Rafe and managed to jump on his back. Arms wrapped around his neck, she pulled backward, trying to pull him towards the ground. It didn't quite work, but it still kept him away from the boys.

"You don't mess with me, Pogue! You hear me?!"

CJ could hear the sounds of Pope choking and tears filled her eyes as she tightened her hold on Rafe. Her goal now was to choke him out, hopefully getting him to pass out so she could help her friend. Pure adrenaline pumped through her veins and as much as Rafe struggled, she just held on tighter.

"I'm gonna give you one chance." CJ could hear her brother being socked in the face now, pulling tighter as a desperate cry left her lips. Rafe was thrashing, pulling at her wildly, scratching harshly into her bare sides and arms. "One chance, Pope!"

JJ got punched again and the noises Pope was making just kept getting worse.

"Once chance. Come on! One! Got anything you wanna say, bro?"

Rafe was gasping for air and, finally getting a firm grip on the girl behind him, he managed to pull her legs off of him, throwing her over his head. He didn't, however, anticipate that the girl was not letting go and was taken with, his face slamming into the dirt just as her back did.

While CJ groaned in pain, unable to get up for a moment, Kie raced toward the screen with JJ's trusty zippo. It was either that or the gun, and it was much easier to repair a movie screen.

"Come on! Got somethin' you wanna say?!"

JJ and Pope were both in chokeholds at this point while CJ tried and failed to get air into her lungs. She'd hit her back painfully and was slightly curled up on her side, trying to alleviate the pressure.

"Pope?"

"JJ." She gasped out, crying out as she rolled over onto her other side. She only got to see the troubled boy's face for a second before she was pushed back over, another cry of pain falling from her lips.

There was Rafe, all kinds of pissed off as he spat dirt from his lips and straddled her waist. Wrapping his hands around her throat, he started squeezing. Her airways cut off and she gasped for air, not only because she wasn't getting any but because it reminded her far too much of a week ago and she was in a panic.

"Let her go!" JJ growled, wriggling in the tight hold Kelce had him in. "I swear to god, I'll kill you!"

Before anyone had the chance to do anything else, exclamations from the crowd were heard. Kie had succeeded in lighting the screen on fire. With a mighty yell, mirroring JJ's, Kie threw herself at Rafe, pulling him off of her best friend. While the blonde coughed on her side, aware that the ground wasn't wood, even if that's all she saw in her mind, Kie yelled at Kelce to let JJ go. While Kie made sure a coughing Pope was all right, JJ ran to his baby sister, pulling her into his arms. In that moment, if his gun was closer, he would've shot every one of them.

CJ was still struggling for air, but at this point, it was more the panic than anything else. She couldn't stop flashing back to that day and all she could feel were his hands around her throat and all she could see was JJ getting kicked and she was panicking and she didn't know what to do and... "I can't breath."

Flipping onto her front, CJ curled in on herself, trying to force herself to get a single breath in. She couldn't and the panic from that made the panic attack worse, but it wasn't really a panic attack, per se, noted by the fact that it was brought on by a specific trigger. A trigger that manifested from deep, recent trauma.

"Hey, hey, hey, you gotta breath." She heard JJ say, the boy pulling her hair back delicately to hold in his hand so he could look at her. His other hand was busy rubbing her back. "C'mon, you're Indiana Joans, you got this. You gotta focus on other stuff, remember? Like- like, listen to the sound of my voice."

CJ did, focusing on all the little parts of his voice when he spoke. It was futile though, as it eventually was pushed back by the ever-present picture in her mind.

"Hey, come on." He slapped her face lightly, getting her attention. Her head raised and she looked up at her brother, panic filling his own eyes. "You're Claire Joans Maybank, damnit. What's our motto?"

"Don't..." She inhaled sharply, looking at him as he nodded for her to continue. "Don't let...the jackoffs win."

"That's right!" He cheered, a big smile pulling onto his face that was obviously just there to try and calm her down. "That's right." Thinking of something, it seemed like a lightbulb went off over JJ's head as he continued to stare at his sister. "Hey, come on. Let's get out of here. I bet John B's home."

"John B?"

"Yeah." JJ nodded adamantly, noticing he was gaining more and more of her attention. "Yeah and we're gonna go fishing and Kie is gonna play the bongos and you're gonna teach me how to play that stupid song you love so much."

CJ scoffed slightly through the gasps, a tiny smirk popping up on her flushed face. "You suck...with instruments."

"Hey, I take offense to that! I am amazing with the triangle." The boy boasted, grinning as a smile momentarily spread on CJ cheeks. "So we're gonna go home and fish and we're gonna talk about that time Pope was totally in love with you because it's hilarious."

"Hey! Uncalled for!"

"What? You're the one that used to like her." JJ called, barely glancing at the Pogue as he kept his attention on his refocusing sister.

Pope groaned, his head rolling around before gazing between the siblings. "Oh my God, can we not talk about that?"

"What, man? That was before the 'no Pogue on Pogue' rule, you totally could've hit that."

"JJ, I was twelve!" CJ exclaimed in between breaths, lightly slapping him with her hand where it was gripping his thigh.

"Whatever man, that was a long time ago." Pope replied, shivering in disgust as he rubbed his sore throat. "Can you stop bringing it up? It's weird, she's like my sister."

"But it's so much fun to tease you." JJ boasted, continuing to rub his sister's back. He could tell she was almost alright again. "Isn't it, CJ?"

"Y-yeah." She stuttered out, breathing out slowly before inhaling deeply. She was on the edge, the slightest thing could push her off, but she was trying not to let that happen.

"See? It's funny."

"Whatever you say, man. Whatever you say."

While the two collected everyone's belongings and kept an eye on their friends, JJ rubbed the rest of the panic out of his twin (or, as much as he currently could), followed by the girl plopping herself against him. JJ gladly pulled her against him, rubbing her shoulder carefully as he handed over the dab Juul. She needed it.

"You know, you were totally kicking his ass. I would bet on you."

CJ laughed lightly, the sound cracking a little from a mixture of sore throat and the aftereffects of a panic attack. The two didn't say anything else and when CJ was good to go, the Pogues went home. 

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So, I apologize for how dry this chapter is. I don't really feel I did it justice, but idk. Maybe it'll be better after final editing when the book's done. 

Also, for the love of everything, please absolutely no comments about how someone like CJ can't have PTSD or that if she did, it would last longer or be different. PTSD has multiple effects and can last different durations. For someone like CJ, recent traumatic events warrant heightened panic and create triggers that can cause attacks and minor flashbacks. While this may get better over time, cooling off as she's away from the source of her trauma, it's always there and both twins have nightmares and panic/anxiety attacks. Neither of them like being around men they don't know. Neither of them really like men, period, unless it's someone they trust. Obviously, they're incredibly co-dependent and have severe separation anxiety. They both have anger issues, they lash out, and they dissociate all the time. They push people away when they're overwhelmed. They drown themselves in drink and distractions when it gets bad. They're selfless af because they believe that everyone other than themselves deserves more than them. Scratch that, that everyone else has a higher chance of having a better life. 

They have issues. 

I know I write, or try, to write this book in a positive light while also touching on the bad. Because that's the whole point of the Pogues, illustrated by the quote in the epigraph: "Life is pretty shit, so we focus on the positives. And when that doesn't work? Well, we've all got our vices." But I just want to make it apparent, I guess, that the teenagers of OBX have lots of issues. While I want this to be a positive story and it will have a happy ending, I don't want to brush over these problems. I want them to be acknowledged because they're very real. 

The twins have a plethora of issues

John B sees the best in everyone other than himself and his entire world, his father, is missing, leaving him mad with worry, denial, and a sense of total lostness. This amplifies and worsens when his father's office is raided and mass confusion is added in when the raiders end up dead. He was also raised without a mother, just like many of the people around him. 

Kie has a bit of a superiority complex and is also dealing with her hounding mother. Although her mother really just wants what she believes is best for her, it's not helping her daughter and it's not what's right for her. Her parents are always saying things about her friends, and although the words could be worse, she is constantly put in a place between her family and her family of friends. She is stressed. She also seems like the type that would throw herself into her studies too and she has no friends, only enemies, at her school. We know she almost killed herself and was very depressed in the past. 

Pope definitely throws himself into his schoolwork. That boy is constantly anxious and his mind is everywhere. His chronic anxiety always makes him feel like he's lesser than those around him, even his friends. This means he gets pushed around a lot, by pretty much everyone. He's basically a ticking time bomb because he always bottles everything up and when he blows, dangerous shit happens. 

Sarah was raised being morphed into a person that she didn't want to be. She was raised with the older brother of Rafe, who we know isn't exactly a role model, and a younger sister that spills hers secrets more than she keeps them. Her dad, unbeknownst to her, is a killer (and as a daddy's girl this breaks her up when she finds out). Her mom is dead (which is really fucking hard) and her step-mom is a crazy, stuck up bitch. Possibly due to the loss of her mother, or simply the utter disconnect within her whole family, she has commitment issues and messes up all her relationships with fear.

Topper and Kelce both need someone to follow. They need someone to show them the ropes cus their parents sure as hell don't. Neither of them have great home situations; neglectful and spiteful. Both of them have major anger issues. They're also very susceptible to other people's energy and Rafe is extremely violent and chaotic. 

Rafe is...complicated. He's a very angry and sensitive person. The coke does not help that at all. He's used to everything being handed to him and thinks his dad will fix everything for him. He feels like Sarah is the favorite child. He's very obsessive. He wants his father to be proud of him, but never does enough, and then takes it out on those around him. And himself. 

All of these characters, in one way or another, are kind of super depressed and trying to work their way through it the only ways they know how. Some are doing better than others. Or at least seem like it. 

These characters all show the wide spectrum of different mental illnesses and most of them are quite admirable, actually, getting through their everyday lives with the attitudes they do. I feel like this should be noted, especially to those struggling. You can do this. Focus on the good, all that you can. The smallest things. Do breathing exercises. Do things that make you happy or calm, even if it's just taking a moment to yourself or looking at the stars. Breath. Remember people got your back, even if you don't realize it. Remember that you're not alone and that these things get better, even if it's just learning how to deal with or accept them. 

{I forgot to add this, but I feel like it should also be added that while the Pogues are always trying to look on the good side, the Kook's aren't. You see the difference in how they act? Even the most fucked up and traumatized of the Pogues that have the worst anger issues - the twins - and the one that represses shit until he blows up - Pope - aren't angry at the world and they don't take their problems out on everyone around them. They're not miserable, even if their lives are shit because they focus on the good things. Keep that in mind.}

But yeah, thanks for coming to my TED Talk

Byye

~SiriusCatBennett