ch 15. prayers.

Maxine is having a serious case of deja vu. the pogues had just kidnapped her from class for the second time this school year, and it was only the third day of classes. it was beginning to feel like a game of some sort. "what, is this some weird game of tag?" she asks, jogging to keep up with her older friends.

"i don't know," jj answers unhelpfully as they hurry into the schools library after pope. "am i gonna have to beat you with your protractor? what's going on right now?" the librarian holds a finger to her lips, shushing the blonde.

"seriously, pope," kiara whispers, "you are driving me insane."

pope finally stops walking by the computers, starting from the beginning in order to fill in max. "okay, so a guy from the scholarship committee just pulled me out of class to give me this envelope." he passes the mail to jj, "read it."

jj unfolds the paper and stares at it silently. "out loud." kie prompts.

"i can't read cursive." the blonde admits in a whisper.

kiara gives him a look and takes the envelope, reading the letter inside. "dear mr. heyward, i am reaching out because i have material evidence that can exonerate john b routledge. it is of vital importance that you come and meet with me in person at my offices at twenty seven king street charleston at eight o'clock pm sharp tonight. please come alone. regards, C limbrey."

maxine's breath stalls. not only would they be going to her home city, but she knew C limbrey; carla limbrey had been around the pierce residence an awful lot in the weeks leading up to her mothers disappearance. but she couldn't let her friends in on her secret, so her expression remained neutral.

"charleston?" jj exclaims.

pope begins to pace, "i know. it's like an eight hour drive, plus the ferry. how would we get there tonight?"

"yeah, we'd have to leave right now." max chimes in.

"i have a free period." kiara shrugs, as if that would give them enough time.

"material evidence?" jj whispers to himself, "what does that even mean, material evidence?"

"it means she can—"maxine begins to clarify before being interrupted by pope.

"how do you know it's a she?"

max stills, "uh, i don't. just a hunch i guess." she turns back to jj to continue her explanation, "it means they can clear john b."

"oh shit, then we're going to charleston." jj declares. the librarian shushes him yet again.

kie sighs. "i gotta tell my mom. look, if we get it this time, we are not giving it to shoupe."

"yeah, no duh."

pope leans over the girls sat at the computer and begins looking up potential candidates for who limbrey may be. maxine didn't dare disclose that she knew exactly who they were dealing with. pope exhales. kie looks over his arm at the screen, "what?"

"i'm not sure, but i think whoever this limbrey person is might be related to the captain of the royal merchant."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"Well, they're takin' it nicely." maxine waits in popes truck with the boys as they watch kiara argue with her parents on their front porch regarding the teens impromptu trip to charleston.

"how'd you get this rig? cause i know your old man didn't let you have it." jj asks the other boy.

"i undid the intake valves on the carburetor." pope admits, "made it start pinging."

"and now you're just gonna take it to your cousin jeff's house, just gonna get it fixed...crash overnight." jj finishes.

"think we're rubbin' off on you, pope." max pipes up.

jj nods. "lying to your old man, stealing his truck. kinda sounds familiar." he glances at pope, "all
right, that's a sore subject. my bad."

"i'd say we have about eighteen hours before he absolutely loses his shit." pope estimates. "so, as long as we get it back before then i think we're good."

noticing kiara starting down the steps, maxine and jj hop out of the truck to allow her to slide inside. the blonde waves a hand, "it's good to see y'all, mr and mrs carrera."

pope leans out of the drivers side window. "hi, uh, ma'am, sir. i promise to have her back at a reasonable hour and safe."

kie shoots him a look. "what are you doing?"

"kiara, listen to me." mrs. carrera shouts, "you wanna go, then you can go. but if you don't come back at the proper time, then don't come back at all!"

"she's bluffin'." maxine murmurs as kiara slides into the small truck beside pope, max following.

"y'all have a good day." jj waves at the parents one last time before getting into the vehicle as well and shutting the passenger door.

kiara huffs. "this shit would be so much easier without parents."

"true. that it is." maxine smirks.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

The teens sit in the bed of heywards truck on their ferry ride into charleston, kiara ranting about her argument with her parents, "they are so paranoid of me being a pogue, like it's the worst thing that could ever happen."

maxine shrugs. "i bet they got good weed at boarding school though."

"i'm not going to boarding school." kie says defiantly. "they're gonna have to kidnap me. tie me up and throw me in a van."

"well..." jj hops down from the roof of heywards truck. "i say we just crumble some herb right now." he inhales, handing his joint over to kie.

"ooh, me next!" max squeals.

the older three teens immediately shake their heads, simultaneously responding "no." max slumps to the metal floor of the bed, defeated.

"hey, kie. have you tried to hit john b back on that number yet?" pope asks.

kiara nods. "like, twenty million times. some random lady at a hotel keeps answering."

"well, until we hear from them again we gotta try and clear his name." pope continues, holding up the letter from C. limbrey, "right now, this letters our best bet."

maxine tries not to let her anxiety over the letter show, "right. stay on task."

"that's why i love ya, pope." jj nods.

kiara rises and holds out the joint, "what pope are you gonna be today?"

he pauses, hesitating before shaking his head. "i'm good. i'm gonna try to focus."

"good pope." kie sighs, sitting down next to jj.

"boring pope." maxine adds, taking a seat beside kiara. "well, i'm not. i never focus." she takes the joint, quickly inhaling a drag before kie takes it back.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"Guys, i've read this thing like a thousand times and it makes no sense." kiara tries deciphering popes letter during their eight hour drive into charleston.

maxine nods, chiming in from beside the older girl, "yeah, i mean, the limbreys own like half of charleston."

"what do the kook kings of charleston know about a murder on kildare island?" kiara adds.

"and why you specifically?" jj asks pope, "that's the other creepy thing, you know?"

"please come alone." max reads over kies shoulder, "that's hella sus."

"i was thinking the same thing. i think it's because—" pope begins, only to be cut off by the sound of steam hissing. "oh, come on."

"what is that?" kiara asks, "pull over."

"that's a shit ton of smoke." max quips, "even for your dads truck."

"pope!" jj coughs. "i got sensitive lungs, man!"

"i'm pulling over!" the driver insists.

"pope, just slow down! what are you doing, dude?" jj exclaims as pope pulls off of the road. "okay, sure. yeah, right now works."

"shit!" maxine curses as the group rushes to exit the truck.

"it's gonna blow up, it's gonna blow up!" kiara chants.

"no, it's not gonna blow up. you probably unhooked the radiator, pope." jj shakes his head. "i haven't seen this before. you knocked the entire hubcap off!"

"impressive!" max slow claps, holding up a piece of metal that had fallen off onto the grass. "you might wanna reschedule that meeting, pope."

"uh...plan b? we could, um....public transportation. we could hitchhike," kiara lists off suggestions, "we could rent bikes."

jj lifts the hood of the truck. "yeah, it's the radiator."

"my dads gonna kill me."

"yeah, he might." max turns to pope, "he might."