chapter 19.
if it's momentary
blissness.

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Josephine joins the older teens on the roof, still shaking out her hair after the nightmare that was the catacomb. she had showered intensely but could swear she still heard the taunting squeaks of a rat.

"it's a catacomb!" pope is explaining to the others. "it's got a bunch of skulls around it."

"jesus." kiara recoils, secretly glad she had missed out.

"and the weirdest part is that there were other people down there, looking for the same thing we were looking for."

"it wasn't just other people." cleo adds on to pope. "it was the man who killed terrance."

"and there were rats." josephine shudders as sarah enters, also still visibly upset about the rodents. "like, so many rats."

"yeah, and they were crawling through my hair." sarah flips her long blonde hair upside down, running her fingers through it. "ugh, gross."

"i hate that i missed that." kie sarcastically quips.

john b looks to silent jj. "where'd you ghost off to, big guy?"

"oh. i was, uh...just trying to help out the team." jj lies. he avoids the eyes of his girlfriend and sister. "quick cash grab, but the plan fell through cause it was barracuda mike."

"yeah, barracuda mike." john b grumbles. "not surprised that didn't work out." he turns to pope and the shuddering girls. "listen, i'm sorry about the rat shit and everything but we have that bullshit zoning hearing coming up tonight, and we don't have any money for a lawyer."

"obviously." josephine scoffs unhelpfully.

john b chooses to ignore the girl. "all ideas are welcome." there's an awkward pause of silence. "uh, anyone?"

"oh yeah, let me just study up on real estate law in one day, you know—"

john b rolls his eyes, cutting off pope. "that sounds like a lot of sarcasm that we don't really need right now, okay?"

pope shrugs. "sorry, i was just rat swarmed, so."

"how 'bout we call people?" john b suggests. "the whole island is pissed about what they've been doing. we get everybody over there, pack the house, rally the troops. maybe we have a shot at winning this."

"more the merrier." jj agrees; he's always down to stir shit up and piss cops off. "i could get the surf squad out there."

josephine gives him a pointed look. "just make sure you make it back this time."

"i'll stay on mission." jj nods, meeting her eyes. "i promise." jo bites back a comment on how he doesn't have the best track record when it comes to keeping promises.

"maybe we can call some of your family." cleo turns to pope. "maybe uncle roger."

"i can do that."

"speaking of family..." kiara chimes in, looking to sarah. "this is gonna sound insane, but rafe came by."

"what?" the cameron girl pauses, hairbrush still entangled in her scalp. "why?"

"i don't know." kie retrieves a business card from her pocket and holds it out. "he said he wanted to help us."

josephine scoffs, muttering under her breath. "yeah, sounds legit."

"don't shoot the messenger." kiara hands the card to sarah, who takes it reluctantly.

"rafe loves to help, doesn't he?" john b exhales, leaning over his fiancés shoulder as she reads the business card aloud.

"rafe cameron, ceo. ceo of what?" sarah scoffs, hums in thought. "whatever. i'll hit him up; maybe he can help us."

"all right. let's do this shit." john b addresses the group. "let's save poguelandia."

for josephine, this felt much more serious than saving their property; this was her last chance. if the pogues lost their home, there was no way jo would be allowed to stay with her brother. she'd be sent away, back to foster care. and who knows if this time she'd ever return?

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After spending the entirety of that afternoon pacing the cut, pleading to anyone who would listen, the seven teens arrive at the courthouse; lips chewed raw and nails bitten to the quick. the town had settled into two separate groups, seated on opposite side of the courtroom. the pogues go for the pews on the left with other southside teens and their families. the maybank siblings bring up the rear as josephine reaches their row, sitting in between her brother and john b.

the mayor taps his microphone and clears his throat. "before we move on with the rest of our agenda, i'd like 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?"

john b scoffs lowly. "sure we are."

"any disruption will warrant expulsion and potential charges." the mayor continues, gesturing to the officers lining the interior of the courtroom. "understood?" there's a murmur of agreement amongst the pews. "without further ado, we'll go on to the reports of our council members, starting with our council member lawrence."

"thank you, mr mayor." a man seated behind long table adjacent to mayor cusick begins. "agenda eight A, ordinance thirty one, zoning for property located at the end of roger's point road." jo is distracted by a distinct scratching sound coming from beside her. she turns, watching her brother carve the saying 'p4l' into the wood of the pew in front of them.

"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." josephine does not understand what lawrence is saying, but judging by the looks on the other teens faces it is not in their favor.

pope leans forward, whispering down the row from beside sarah. "wait, did he just say they already had a resolution?"

"what does that mean? is that bad?" jo hisses back. john b nods grimly. "it means we're fucked."

"the council is voting to recommend allocating the amount of sixty thousand dollars to begin to transition that said property according to the rezoning request."

"how are they already voting?" kiara whispers worriedly, leaning over pope.

"...and with that, i turn it over to council member chet."

the man beside lawrence speaks into his microphone. "i'd like to say, we are lucky to have mr zeasy who has been active with developing the island and has been a resource for us." the rich side of the courtroom begins clapping for a proud looking man sat in the front row. jo immediately dislikes him.

"i appreciate that, chet. thank you." zeasy nods, sending a smug look toward the pogues.

josephine scowls. she tilts her head toward john b. "betcha wish we had a lawyer now, huh?"

"i wish i had a fish bat, more like." jj mumbles and jo bites back a laugh.

chet continues. "but before we move on, we are scheduled to hear from several members of the community, beginning with a representative from the occupants of the roger's point property, which used to be the maybank property."

"anybody feeling brave?" kiara looks around the group.

"i am. i got this." jj quickly rises to his feet and john b grabs at the back of his jacket, tugging him down into his seat. "woah, woah. sit down."

"not me, then." jj holds up his hands in mock surrender. "all right."

"someone else has to go up."

"who?" josephine hisses. no way in hell would she be that someone else. "pope?"

"no, no way." he shakes his head. "i hate public speaking."

"john b!" kiara hisses. "you got it."

"me?" he looks hesitant. a teenaged boy sitting a few rows back hoots in agreement. "yeah, john b!"

"you're, like, a word wizard." joey compliments. "you got this, jb."

john b stares ahead, nodding as he builds his courage. "yeah. i got this." he rises from the pew and the crowd surrounding the pogues cheer. "all right, go john b!"

mayor cusick introduces the teen as he makes his way up front. "john booker routledge." the crowd continues to cheer and he shushes them. "quiet, please!" john b reaches a small podium facing the mayor and taps the microphone gently. it echos sound; the mayor does not seem amused. "please state your name for the record."

"i'm john booker routledge." john b introduces. he briefly looks over one shoulder to the crowd behind him before turning back to the mayor. "look, i am not a lawyer by any standard...but honestly, this doesn't make any sense." the audience from the cut minutes in agreement. "i mean, we bought the property at auction, and we have a fully functioning business and have had it for some time now."

he picks up speed, speaking passionately with each ounce of confidence gained by cheers of support behind him. "and now you have a motion for rezoning on our property? if it passes, we lose our business." he gestures to his friends in the crowd. "and we lose our home."

"'cause of some bullshit!" jj shouts and josephine elbows him harshly. "dude, shut up!"

a woman towards the back of the courthouse shoots from her seat. "the fix is in!" the crowd agrees, chanting all at once. "he's right! he's right!" "he's got a right!" "there is no law!"

the mayor bangs his grovel on his podium. "there will be order in this room! take your seats!"

when the audience refuses to comply, mike carrera steps in. kiara's father rises from his seat and shouts over the roar of the crowd. "sit down and let him speak and shut the hell up!"

the crowd quiets down and the mayor points to john b. "mr routledge, you can continue."

"as most of you know, myself and sarah both lost our fathers last year." john b solemnly gestures to his fiancé watching from the crowd. "all we are
trying to do is rebuild a home. that's it. sir, with all due respect, we're not looking for a handout." he raises his voice as the crowd agrees with a roar. "we just want to keep our home, all right? we don't want to get it taken from us for some stupid club!" he bangs his palm on the wooden podium in frustration. "i mean, how is that legal? i don't understand."

the man previously referred to as mr zeasy rises from his seat. he clears his throat obnoxiously. "excuse me, mayor. may i speak?"

"absolutely." cusick grants. joey sucks her teeth; what an ass-kisser.

"thank you, mayor." dale zeasy waves. "there seems to be a misunderstanding, and i think i can clarify."

josephine scoffs and mutters under her breath. "i'm sure you can, mister zesty." jj snorts, hand flying up to muffle his laughter.

"mr routledge, you have the floor." the mayor tells john b. "are you willing to let mr zeasy speak?"

john b pulls the microphone to his lips as the man joins him up front. "if you can explain it a little better, dale."

"excuse me, son. you can stand right here." mr zeasy gestures to his current spot. john b reluctantly steps away and the older man takes his place behind the microphone. "what the current occupants of the land don't seem to understand is that there is an injunction to invalidate the most recent sale."

josephine draws her eyebrows together, leaning over sarah. "what does he mean, "invalidate?"

"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." dale explains matter-of-factly. "the bank wasn't legally allowed to go to auction."

"bullshit." jj grumbles. he sets his jaw in a way that worries josephine. she's seen her brother angry before, but never like this. it felt different this time. she knew it had something to do with their new knowledge regarding their true parentage. she was angry too, but felt jj's anger ran a lot deeper than she could understand.

dale removes a folded piece of official-looking paper from his suit pocket. "we have a promissory note right here from the original owner, signed before the auction and finalized by judge holden." there's scattered applause from the kook side of the courtroom and josephine grits her teeth.

pope looks to his friends. "that means our sale was invalid."

"how can they even do that?" kie hisses, astonished.

"where is the original owner?" the mayor counters. "can he validate the authenticity of this document?"

"yes, he can." dale nods. he knows he's already won. "he's right here." he gestures to the back of the courtroom.

jj and josephine turn, jaws going slack at the sight of their father. luke makes eye contact with the two blondes. "i'm sorry, guys." his gaze lingers on jo a bit longer; this is the first time he has seen his daughter in four years. she had grown up off the island, away from him. for better or for worse.

josephine sets her jaw and turns away. "he's a fugitive. are we sure he can do that?" she feels sick.

"isn't it obvious?" pope looks grim. "he signs the promissory note and in exchange, he gets amnesty."

the crowd begins to show in uproar and dale holds up his hands. "now, hang on. unless i'm very mistaken, when this all shakes out you nice young people will be compensated, of course." the left side of court room begins to complain once again. "hold on, hold on; the land will become a club for all."

the south-side audience members rise to their feet in an outcry. kiara joins them. "how can you say that?" she addresses dale first before turning to the kook side. "after they do it to us, they're gonna do it to all of you!" she proudly marches to the front of the courtroom. "this is theft!"

the mayor knocks his gavel against the podium. "there will be order in this meeting room!"

"no!" kiara shouts, turning to gesture to a pathetic looking luke maybank. "and you? i don't know even know how you're doing this! jj and joey loved you. they shouldn't have, but they did." she turns to the kooks. "and you guys should be ashamed! all of you!"

"bailiff, clear this hall!" mayor cusick orders and the officers advance, grabbing hold of kiara.

jo shoots from her seat without a second thought, darting towards the front of the courtroom. she's too distracted to notice her brother sliding from the pew as well. "back off! let go of her!"

"sheriff shoupe!" cusick shouts, nodding towards an advancing josephine.

shoupe grabs hold of jo's arm while his partner goes for kiara, who's parents shout in protest. "no, don't touch her!" mike carrera demands in protest. "that's my daughter!"

"no, get away from me!" kiara shouts, stepping back. "i'm not done talking!" she wrenches her arm away from sheriff shoupe and grasps josephine's wrist, dragging her alongside john b as they race up the middle isle of the courtroom.

josephine grits her teeth and fights against a face palm as they reach the back of the courtroom: jj thrown a chair through a window and managed to begin a brawl with multiple officers. he slams a cop trying to detain him into the ground and a teen jo recognizes from the southside takes over for jj, throwing punches. the officer holding jo steps away, lunging for her brother, and the blonde shouts in warning. "go! get out!" she points and jj almost looks guilty before bolting toward the double doors.

sarah and pope catch up as they exit through courtroom, finding a riot breaking out in the yard. teens from the cut are marching across cop cars, denting the roofs. jo pales as she watches an officer shove jj into the backseat of a cruiser. it reminded her of childhood, of luke being thrown into barred backseats.

josephine joins kiara in banging flat palms against cold windows. "jj!" she presses herself against the glass as though she could melt through it. he had to get out. her legal guardian could not go to jail; this was something mel had stressed the utmost importance of to her brother upon intake. jo could not go back to foster care; a prison for children whose only sin was who they were born to. "pope, do something!" pope mutters a curse word under his breath but complies nonetheless, rushing to the back of the cop car. no pogue left behind.

a teen from their side of the tracks stomps through the back windshield and pope leans his head through the gap left behind. "hey, come on! hurry!"

"back up, back up!" jj leans back in his seat and kicks the rest of the glass out, climbing through the broken window. pope and john b help pull him out, hauling him down from the trunk. the latter places a firm hand on the blondes shoulder, pushing him back with urgency. "go, go!"

jj looks over his friends shoulder. the worry in his sisters eyes makes his heart plummet; jo clears this fog immediately when they make eye contact. she shakes her head and cups both hands around her mouth. she's been biting her bottom lip; there's blood on her tongue when she shouts. "run, j!"

jj takes off, sprinting from the courtroom parking lot. he disappears from view as quick as he'd started the riot and josephine spits blood onto browning grass. she wipes her lips with the back of a hand and pretends to miss the concerned looks of the older teens. josephine's not one to spit or handle bodily fluids or do anything that risks infection or uncleanliness.

but that was josephine maybank. she's a groff now, not a maybank. not anymore, but perhaps she never truly was. jj had always told her she was too good for maybank blood.