ch 18. my druthers.

Maxine sits beside kie under the shed behind the château as she softly strums her ukulele. "that's a lot of wax on your board, man." pope tells jj. "put too much wax, it's gonna be slippery."

the blonde looks up. "are you telling me how to wax my board, pope?"

"no, i'm just saying that's a lot of wax." kiara and maxine look at each other, rolling their eyes at the boys.

"no, no. you're telling me how to wax my board. are you kidding me?" jj continues to argue.

pope shrugs. "i'm just saying that's a colossal waste of wax."

"jj doesn't know what colossal means, pope." maxine pipes up, "you gotta dumb it down."

jj narrows his eyes and advances towards the girl, "alright, you know what? you—"

"guys, really?" kie reprimands just as they are interrupted by a car honking.

"do you hear that?" jj asks.

max sits up, "what the hell...?"

they heard an engine spluttering and turn to see none other than john b pull into the yard in the twinkie, astonishing his four friends. "no way. are you serious?" "hold on, am i dreaming?" "no!"

john b hops out of the van. "guess who's out the clink, boy!"

"no fuckin' way, man!" max exclaims. the friends quickly rush to john b, embracing in a long awaited group hug.

"my boys out of the can!" jj laughs.

"we missed you!" kiara says from inside the hug.

john b pulls away, "missed you guys too."

"how'd you do it?" max asks, "you bust out?"

"they dropped the charges." john b explains simply.

"oh." the ginger haired girl deflates, "that's boring."

"dude, that's phenomenal cause we were running out of ideas." kie admits.

"so you're tellin' me i did all that work for nothin?"

max gives jj a look. "oh, the most elaborate escape plan of all time?"

"oh, 'foolproof'." kiara uses her fingers as quotation marks.

john b notices the group is down a member. "wait, where's sarah?"

"she went to go meet wheezie last night." kiara admits, "she didn't come back."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"So sarah just dips and doesn't call?" john b worriedly asks after his girlfriend, leaning over the railing down at his dock.

"yeah, man." max pipes up from inside the boat. "she left her bag and didn't tell anybody."

"i really think ward got to her." john b paces anxiously. "i mean, the dude tried to have me killed in jail."

this gets the groups attention. they swivel their heads around to their friend, "what?"

"damn." max exhales, "that's some hardcore dedication right there."

"tell me about it. he sent somebody to the prison who yoked me up and almost killed me." john b makes choking gestures with his hands.

"did you see who it was?" pope asks.

john b shakes his head. "no, i have no idea." he hops off of the dock and into the hms pogue. "dude, i swear to god one day i'm gonna kill that son of a bitch."

"relax, it's okay." maxine reassures, spotting the blonde approaching.

"no, max, it's not okay. we gotta find sarah."

"no, literally, it's okay." kiara defends the younger girl, pointing away from the dock to none other than topper thornton driving sarah on his malibu.

"john b?" the blonde rises from her seat on the expensive boat at the sight of her boyfriend. "john b!"

"uh, what the hell is she doin' with topper?" maxine asks what everyone is wondering.

"oh my god, he's out." sarah rushes to hop out of the boat as soon as it's close enough to the dock, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend.

john b exhales in relief. "oh my god. i'm so glad you're okay."

"i didn't know if i'd see you again." sarah pulls back, "what happened?"

"uh, they dropped all the charges." john b explains, "i'm a free man."

sarah breaks out into a grin, embracing him once again. "that's amazing!"

"yeah, i know. it's great, but.." this time, john b is the one to pull back. "but listen, sarah. they're coming after rafe."

"good. he's completely unhinged." the blonde girl takes a breath before admitting, "he jumped me last night. that's why i didn't come back."

"yeah, man. rafe has lost his mind." topper pitches in from his fancy boat, "literally almost drowned his own sister. thankfully i got there just in time."

"well, i guess i owe you one, topper." john b looks away briefly before turning to the rich kid, "don't i?"

topper scoffs. "it's all good. i mean, somebody had to rescue your girlfriend, right?"

"that's funny, because she's not actually my girlfriend, right?" he turns to sarah.

topper chuckles. "well, what is she then?"

"tell him." john b gestures to the blonde girl.

sarah looks between the two boys uneasily, "i'm-i'm with him."

topper laughs. "gotcha. you're with him. okay, yeah. needed a little clarity there." he turns to the other three pogues awkwardly watching the exchange. "you guys clear on that?"

maxine pretends to be rubbing her eye with her middle finger, "i think it's clear you should go now."

"yeah, i think i'll head out." topper agrees. "it's about that time."

"it's been that time for a while." max smiles falsely.

"topper," sarah calls out, stepping forward to give her ex a hug. "thank you."

"yeah, of course." topper makes sure to make eye contact with john b over the sarah's shoulder. "i'm just glad you're okay."

"pope! pope!" jj suddenly sprints over, out of breath. "just got a call from guffy. something happened to your pops."

"what?" pope rushes off, following jj.

kie and max hurry close behind, the latter girl shouting, "john b, sarah! come on!"

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

After finding heyward at his shop, sarah tends to his head laceration. "let me know if i'm hurting you, okay?"

"you're doing just fine." heyward assures, wincing as the blonde gently presses a bandage against his forehead. "thank you, darlin'."

"pop, what happened?" pope asks his father.

"oh, i should've known better. he came in just as i was about to lock up, caught me by surprise." heyward tells, "once he had me down, he put his knee in my chest and asked me about that key from that drawing you showed me. and in case you're wonderin', i ain't tell him nothin'. now, did you track it down?"

pope hesitates briefly before pulling the key out from his back pocket. "i found it in mee-maws old apartment above the pharmacy just like you said it was."

"shit, boy." heyward curses, "you should've gave this to me. i wouldn't have had to take a beating. what's the big deal? it ain't worth anything. why they want it so bad?"

"i don't know." pope shakes his head. "first i get this letter telling me that i need to go to charleston, and then i meet this rich lady who wants me to give her a key that i didn't even know was in my family."

"none of it makes any sense." kiara chimes in quietly.

"well, don't y'all just sit here whining about it. figure it out!"

"no. i'm just gonna give the key to that lady. it's not worth—"

heyward interrupts his son, "no, no, no. did i raise you to back down from a fight, boy?"

"no sir."

"well all right. now, i didn't think about it before. i admit that. but now..." heyward points to his wounded forehead, "now? i'm interested. well, did they say why they want it?"

"something about an old cross." pope answers, "i think it might be some kind of lost treasure."

"you know who you should talk to?" heyward holds out the key, "your great grandmother, mee-maw."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Maxine rides in the backseat of the twinkie alongside kie, sarah, and pope while jj sits up front beside john b. "guys, that thing that limbrey said, i don't think she meant to let that slip." pope guesses, "she said the key leads to the cross of santo domingo."

"wait, can i see that?" jj reaches back to grab the key.

max furrows her eyebrows, "are we supposed to know what that is?"

"i'm guessing it's some sort of historical artifact of great importance." pope estimates.

"well, according to the interwebs..." kiara researches, "it was gift from new spain to the spanish king."

"new spain?" jj chimes in, "is there an old spain?"

"shit, talk about over giftin'." maxine quips, peering over kiara's shoulder. "look at that thing."

kie flips her phone around to show the rest of the group, "looks like there's a person standing next to it."

"so it's a giant ass cross." jj remarks.

"it was widely considered at the time to be the most extravagant tribute ever from the provinces." kie turns her phone back around and continues reading, "it was lost off the coast of bermuda in eighteen twenty nine."

jj turns his head, "did you just say bermuda?"

"oh, no. not the triangle." john b rolls his eyes.

"it always leads back to the triangle, dude!" the blonde continues, "like every single time something's weird, it's bermuda."

"okay, well, what does a key found above your mee-maws pharmacy have to do with any of this?" kie asks, "where do we come in?"

"i don't know." pope looks down in thought. "that's a good question."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Maxine follows after the other two girls to get slushies while the boys stay in the van, waiting for pope to finish speaking with his great-grandmother. "of course i thanked topper. he saved my life, and i've put him through so much already, and you'd think that that is the crime of the century." sarah rants as they head back to the twinkie.

"and we're the dramatic ones." maxine rolls her eyes, and the older two girls giggle. they climb back into the van just as pope emerges from the nursing home. he gets back in the vehicle as well and harshly shuts the door, exhaling deeply.

"so....how'd it go?" john b is the first to speak.

"shit just got way more personal." pope tells the group, his tone ever serious.

The group gathers back at the château, shocked at their newest revelation, "i still can't believe that you're related to denmark tanny." john b gapes.

maxine gasps dramatically. "are we in the presence of a king?"

"we shall crown him." jj goes along with her tease, speaking in a british accent as he mines placing a crown atop popes head. "all hail the lord of tannyhill!" the group all bow to pope, "we're not worthy!"

"okay, everybody relax." pope is unamused. "can we relax, please?"

"relocate the cats ass, question mark?" sarah pipes up.

"i'm with that." jj raises a hand. "cause i don't have a place to stay."

"me either." kie relates.

"me three." max raises a hand next, "bunk beds?"

"bunk beds." both jj and kiara agree simultaneously. "cheers to that."

"wait, max." kie turns to the younger girl, remembering their previous conversation that had been put on hold, "what happened to your grandma?"

this catches maxine off guard. she stutters, scratching her head. "uh, well...her alzheimer's is gettin' pretty bad, and she thinks someone's breakin' in every time i come in the house." the lie easily flys off her tongue as they always tend to do. "so, she had all the locks changed."

"shit." jj curses, raising his beer can. "welcome to the club of homeless teens!" maxine clinks her soda can against the beers in jj and kiara's hands.

"i just keep thinking about the letter, the one that limbrey sent." pope speaks up. "it has the wheat symbol on it. that must mean it had something to do with the royal merchant."

"yeah, somethin' seems fishy." jj agrees.

"but if we find that cross, we can split it like we were gonna split the gold!" pope excitedly suggests.

"and live happily ever after." carla limbrey steps out of the shadows, followed by her attack dog renfield.

pope advances, snarling, "you assaulted my father."

"i didn't assault anyone." limbrey claims.

maxine speaks up from her spot beside sarah. "he can identify a psycho from a mile away." this is immediately regretted when both limbrey and renfield zero in on her.

"well, who do we have here?" limbrey sing-songs. "maxine pierce. didn't think i'd ever see you again."

max plays dumb. "i'm sorry, do i know you from somewhere?"

carla rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to pope. as she does so, kie nudges max. "you know this lunatic and didn't warn us?"

"i didn't know it was her." maxine lies, "limbreys a common name. she's friends with my mother, but that's all i know and i didn't even know she was that limbrey till just now. honest to god."

kie shrugs. the girls story did check out, and it did seem pretty plausible.

"why would my employee assault your father? that's absurd." limbrey gaslights. "listen. we can keep on negotiating, but the fact is that i want the key and i won't stop until i have it." she tells pope, "i don't have a choice, which means you don't either."

"it's limbrey, right?" john b holds up a key, "is that right?"

"yes."

he waves the key, "is this what you're looking for?"

"yes, it is." limbrey breathes out.

"looking at the ride right now, i'd say it's about twenty feet deep out there," john h guesses, "so if i just threw it in the chanel, the probability of you finding it again is slim to none."

max cuts her eyes toward pope as he slowly pulls out the real key. she turns back to john b as he holds up a fake, genuinely astonished at his critical thinking skills.

"you wanna give it a shot? let's see what happens." john b advances toward the railing, making like he's going to throw the key overboard.

"no! hey!" limbrey shouts, gasping when the teen lowers his arm, key still in his grasp. she sighs, "please don't do that."

john b points at renfield, "get him to back the hell up."

"of course." limbrey turns to her half brother, "back up." once he does so, she approaches pope once again. "as i have told you from the beginning, i am willing to be reasonable."

pope hesitates briefly before agreeing. "okay. i'll give you the key, but i want the tape."

"of course. of course." limbrey smiles.

john b plays into it, "pope. hey, hey. you don't have to do this, okay?"

"no, it's okay. it's fine." pope acts out.

"dude, this is your family's."

"it's okay. it's about your dad. that's way more important." pope holds out his hand and john b passes over the fake key.

"you're a good friend." limbrey compliments.

pope looks up, "the tape?"

"yes, give him the tape." carla orders. renfield removes the recording from his pocket and hands it to pope at the exact same moment the teen gives limbrey the key. she sighs in relief. "you know, i wish that you'd come to this decision earlier. we could have avoided all this unpleasantness." she promptly turns on her heels and walks off.

renfield opens up an umbrella as he follows, turning to max. "see you around, maxine."

kiara responds for the girl, "just go."

as soon as their company is gone, jj asks, "how long do you think we have until she realizes she has your fathers old key?"

john b exhales. "ten minutes."

"who's idea was the fake key?" pope asks in bewilderment.

maxine sheepishly raises a hand. "look, i swear to you i didn't know limbrey was the limbrey my mother was friends with. i just put two and two together like an hour ago. but when i realized, i remembered that limbrey tends to put emotion first, so i guessed she wouldn't check the key before takin' it."

jj laughs, "hey, maybe the kid is good for something!"

"we gotta take this to shoupe." john b waves the tape around.

"yes sir." jj whoops, "ward cameron, we're coming for you big boy."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"Do you regret it?" max sits beside sarah in the châteaus porch while kie and the boys celebrate the demise of ward cameron from inside the house.

sarah immediately shakes her head. "no. he deserves all of it, and i know that."

"he's your dad. trust me, i get it." max shifts her position on the couch, revealing secretively, "my mom...she got into trouble a lot. so, i get it."

after the sudden passing of mark and eleanor, maxine's mother became intertwined with the wrong groups of people, evading charges for as long as possible much like ward cameron (not like she hadn't already been doing that though—let's be real.) veronica was well liked, and had many powerful friends. maxine had often been forced to decide between bailing her mother out of jail and making veronica's enemies her own, or leaving her behind bars to save herself.

but max wasn't about to delve into her past trauma. "it sucks bein' in the middle of it all."

sarah gives the younger girl a sympathetic glance, making as though she was about to respond before her phone began ringing. the blonde excuses herself to the other side of the porch, accepting the call.

maxine listens in to sarah's side of the conversation, "hello?"  she watches at the older girl exhales deeply, letting out a soft "thanks" before hanging up. as soon as she's off the phone, the group rushes to the van to head toward the cameron residence.

"holy shit." max curses as at least half a dozen cop cars speed past the twinkie.

"oh my god." sarah exclaims from the passenger seat, "can you please hurry? i need to be there for wheezie."

john b doesn't even take his eyes off of the road, "you think i wanna miss this?"

"wow, jb. way to be sympathetic." max scoffs just as the van comes to an abrupt halt outside tannyhill.

the six friends scramble out of the vehicle, peering over the concrete wall separating them from the cameron's front yard.

"pope, move!" maxine orders the older boy, "can't see over your big ass head!" she grabs his shoulder harshly and maneuvers herself in front, huffing when she still can't see over the large wall. 

"won't make a difference." jj snorts, "you're still like two feet."

"screw it. i'm going over." john b decides, pulling himself up and jumping the wall.

jj bends down, folding his hands on top of his knees and boosting maxine, kiara, and finally
sarah over the obstacle as well. as soon as they land on the other side, the teens race over to the house.

wheezie cameron exits the home, looking around in confusion. "what's going on? why are the police here?"

"wheeze." sarah jogs over to her little sister, "wheezie."

"what's going on?" wheezie hugs the older girl, continuing to ask, "why are the police here again?"

sarah inhales shakily. "go inside. don't come out." she pulls away and watches as wheezie returns to the house. as soon as the youngest cameron is safely inside, the pogues rush down to the dock.

"dad!" sarah calls out as they jog toward the scene.

a few officers guard the dock, initially denying the teens access. john b holds his hands up, "hey, you gotta let us through. shoupe, shoupe—"

deputy shoupe calls out to the officers, "that's sarah cameron. let her through!"

"what are you doing here, sarah?" ward shouts from his spot on top the druthers.

"dad, what are you doing?" the blonde cries out.

ward doesn't respond to his daughter, instead shouting down to shoupe, "vic, you gotta get her out of here! she can't be here right now!"

"just come on in and you can talk to her!" the officer compromises.

ward begins pulling up the anchor, "sarah, i'm so sorry baby. i can't!"

"what are you doing? dad, no!"

"ward, this ain't gonna end the way you want it to!" shoupe promises, "you don't need her seeing this!"

ward climbs down from the top of the boat and heads into the main part of the vessel.

noticing this, sarah begs frantically "dad, don't leave! where are you going?"

"i love you!" ward shouts one last time before disappearing inside the druthers.

"damn it, ward! turn it around and come back here!"

"dad! no! please don't leave!" but with three loud bursts, the druthers explodes into flames.

max and the pogues freeze in complete shock, their jaws dropped open while sarah becomes distraught. hearing her friends cries, max turns to sarah only to see topper embracing her on the floor of the dock.