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Estrella walked beside JJ toward the building. Her eyes bounced around at the amount of people surrounding them. Pope and Cleo had walked off to talk with the Heywards and Kie walked off to say hi to her parents.

They entered the building and Estrella took a seat between JJ and John B. The mayor steps up, "Before we move on with the rest of our agenda, I want to remind everyone to maintain civility and decorum throughout the rest of these proceedings. We're one island. Why don't we all try to act like it?"

"Sure we are." John B mutters

"Any disruption will warrant expulsion and potential charges. Understood?" He says, "Without further ado, we'll go on to the reports of our Council Members, starting with our Council Member Lawrence."

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Agenda 8A, ordinance 31, zoning for property located at the end of Roger's Point Road. Uh, Mr. Mayor, we have a resolution from the town of Pelican expressing support for the rezoning of multi-use land on the east side of the island, including the aforementioned Roger's Point Road property."

Pope leans forward, "Wait. Did he just say they already had a resolution?"

"The council is voting to recommend allocating the amount of $60,000 to begin to transition that said property..."

"How are they already voting?" Charlotte asks

"...and rezoning request, and with that I turn it over to Council Member Chet."

"I'd like to say, uh, we are lucky to have the help of Mr. Zeasy, who has been active with developing the island and has been a resource for us. Thank you."

"I appreciate that, Chet. Thank you." Mr. Zeasy nods from the crowd

"I bet you wish we had a lawyer now." Pope mutters

"No. I wish I had a fish bat, more like." JJ says

"Before we move on, we are scheduled to hear from some members of the community, beginning with a representative from the occupants of the Roger's Point property, which used to be the Maybank property." The mayor says

"Anybody feeling brave?" Kie asks

"I am. I got this." JJ says

Estrella's hand immediately shoots out to stop him, "Absolutely not."

"Whoa." John B says

"Hey, no, no." Pope says, "Sit down, okay?"

"Not me, then. All right." JJ nods

"Somebody else has to go up."

"Then who?" Sarah says

"Pope." Kie and Charlotte say

"No, no way. I hate public speaking." Pope says

"John B." Estrella says

"Yeah, John B!"

"You got it." Pope nods

"Me?" John B says before Sarah nods to him, "I got this."

"Yeah." Sarah says

John B raises his hand and a few people in the crowd cheer. The mayor nods, "John Booker Routledge."

"You've got this, John B."

"All right! Go, John B!"

John B steps up, "Please state your name for the record."

"I am John Booker Routledge."

"Damn right." JJ says

"That's it. That's right!"

"Look, I'm... I'm... I'm not a lawyer, by any standard, but honestly, this doesn't make any sense." John B shrugs. The crowd agrees, "I mean, we bought the property at an auction, and we have a fully functioning business and have had it for some time. And... and now you have a motion for rezoning on our property? And if it passes, we lose our business. And we lose our home."

"Because of some bullshit!" JJ yells

"The fix is in!"

"He's right. He's right."

"That's no law!"

"He's got a right!"

"There will be order in this room." The mayor says, "Take your seats."

"Sit down, let him speak, and shut the hell up!"

"Mr. Routledge, you can continue."

"As most of you know, myself and Sarah, we both lost our fathers last year. All we are trying to do is rebuild a home. That's it." John B says, "Sir, with all due respect, we're not looking for a handout. We just want to keep our home, all right? And we don't want to get it taken from us for some stupid club. I mean, how- how is that legal?"

"Excuse me." Mr. Zeasy says

"How is that legal?"

"Excuse me. Mayor? Mayor?"

"I don't understand."

"Excuse me. Excuse me. May I speak?"

"Absolutely." The mayor nods

"Thank you, Mayor. There seems to be a misunderstanding. Okay? And I think I can clarify."

"Oh my God." Estrella groans

"Mr. Routledge, you have the floor. Are you willing to let Mr. Zeasy speak?" The mayor asks

"If you can explain it a little better, Dale." John B says

"Excuse me, son. You can stand right here."

"Thank you, sir."

"So, what the, uh, current occupants of the land don't seem to understand is that there is an injunction to invalidate the most recent sale." He says making the crowd exclaim

"What does he mean, "invalidate"?" Estrella asks

"There was a pre-existing promissory note from the original owner that was in the process of being finalized when the land auction took place." He says, "The bank wasn't legally allowed to go to auction."

"Bullshit." JJ says

"We have a promissory note right here from the original owner, signed before the auction, and finalized by Judge Holden."

"That means our sale was invalid." Pope mutters

"How can they even do that?" Charlotte asks

"Where is the original owner?" The mayor asks, "And can he validate the authenticity of this document?"

"Yes, he can. He's right here."

Estrella turns in her seat as Luke rises from the back bench, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"JJ's dad!"

"Why even show yourself?"

"That is crazy!"

"I'm sorry, J." He says. JJ simply looks down.

"Can he do that?" Kie asks, "Is he not a fugitive?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Pope says, "He signs the promissory note, and in exchange, he gets amnesty."

"This can't be legal!"

"Now, hang on, unless I'm very mistaken, when this all shakes out, you nice young people will be compensated, of course." Dale says, "And... and... hold on. And the land will be a club for all."

Estrella rubs JJ's shoulder comfortingly as the crowd exclaims. Some Kooks cheering and the Pogues complaining. She looks over at JJ whose eyes seemed to be glued to the floor and feels anger course through her.

"It's not right, I tell you!"

"They stole it 'cause they wanted it!"

"They just wanna kick us out!"

"Order in this room." The mayor yells

"How can you say that?" Estrella says standing

"Estrella." Pope calls out

She makes her way up to the front of the room with John B, "After they do it to us, they're gonna do it to all of you. This is theft! You know it, I know it."

"There will be order in this room." The mayor says

"No." Estrella says before turning to Luke, "And you?"

"Sit back down."

"I don't even know how you're doing this."

"Sheriff Shoupe."

"Because JJ loved you. He shouldn't have, but he did. And you guys should be ashamed. All of you."

"Bailiff, clear this hall."

Estrella pushes the deputies hands away, "No, get away from me. Get away from me. I'm not done talking."

"That's not necessary. That is not." Heyward yells out

"Get off of me!" Estrella yells as John B steps in front of the deputies. Estrella turns as she hears glass shattering. She looks around as the crowd's attention diverts to the back of the room, "JJ!" She pushes through the crowd. Charlotte and Kie approach her, "Where's JJ?"

"I don't know." Charlotte says looking around

She then continues walking through. She stumbles forward as JJ stands up from beside a cop. He turns to her as she pushes his arm, "Go! Get out! Go!"

JJ tries to run out, but is tackled by a cop through the door. A few others rush out to grab him. Estrella is held back by a cop as they slam JJ onto the front of the car.

"Get your hands off me! Get off me!" He yells as they toss him into the backseat

"Hey!" Estrella yells as she taps on the window. Another person jumps onto the car and stomps on the back window shattering it.

"Come on! We got you!" Cleo says as she and Pope look through the window

"Back up! Back up!" JJ yells before kicking the rest of the window out. John B and Pope help drag JJ out of the window.

As JJ stands, John B and Pope push him back, "Go. Run! Go."

"JJ, go!" Estrella yells. JJ looks over at her before turning and running, "Go!"

"Go, go."

"Run!"

"Run!" Cleo yells

Chaos continues on around them as the deputies fail to get the others under control.

John B looks around, "Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Come on! He's headed downtown. Come on, let's go."

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