The Least Favorite Cameron

Chapter 11

                                                                                          Act Two

               Growing up, I always felt as though my dad was this superman, always kind to others, always offering someone a helping hand. Someone people could look up to. Someone people could admire. I admired him, and Rafe always has and he still does. Growing up, you hold these expectations of who your parents are and my expectations were that my dad was someone who grew up as a Pogue and worked hard to create the life he has today. He became king of the Kooks but still knew the struggles of a Pogue. I thought he was this laid back realtor who liked to have a drink and read his books at the end of the day. I thought he was this guy who loved fishing and history. These things still remain, but they aren't real. They are the persona he put on when he wasn't trying to steal a fortune and committing murder. The man I knew, I no longer recognized. The man who taught me to ride a bike and played catch with me was gone and the man who murdered John B's dad and framed him for the murder of a police officer is who remained. He is the one who told an agent I was bipolar when all I wanted was to clear John B's name. He is the one who made Rafe so desperate for his approval it drove him to murder.

"Gracie just come home" He said to me with hot angry tears holding the gun that he just shot Peterkin with.

"Rafe stop!" I screamed at him but I couldn't run. My feet felt like cinder blocks and I was stuck there watching Peterkin gasp for air and stare up at me with fear and desperation in her eyes.

"Run," She stutters out but I can't. I just watch as the tarmac is covered in her blood and Rafe holds the gun pointed at me.

"Rafe, just chill bro," John B says as he stands in front of me and then the popping sound is heard again and John B. falls to the ground next to Peterkin.

"No!" I screamed and crouched down, holding my hands over John B's chest where the blood was pooling from. It just kept coming and I couldn't stop the blood.

"Gracie," He says my name just above a whisper and looks at me. His dark brown eyes that resembled a chocolate fountain were filled with tears as he stared at me. I hear laughing from somewhere and when I pull my eyes away from John B's I see my father standing there on the stairs of the plane, laughing and looking down at the horror that had occurred on the tarmac. It was a deep maniacal laugh that resembled that of a hyena.

"Gracie," John B. kept saying over and over again and I felt like I was going crazy. My name being repeated what felt like a million times as John B. bled out in front of me to the soundtrack of my father's menacing laugh.

"Gracie"

"Grace!"

"Gracie!"

I wake up still hearing the remnants of my dad's laughter from my dream and suddenly the events of the past twelve hours are flooding back to me. As we hang onto the ropes on the capsized Phantom, John B. was shaking me to get me to wake up.

"Oh my god, you scared me," He said and made an attempt at holding me as we both tread water in our life vests.

"What do we do?" I say as the waves splash at my face and suddenly feel so cold and begin shaking.

"Look there's a boat!" He yells and points north at the large cargo ship in the distance. We begin splashing and screaming, trying desperately to get the ship to notice us. The boat makes no sign of having seen us and I see John B. deflate.

"I'm so so sorry, Gracie," He says and goes to hug me again but I don't hug back. Instead. I dig through the backpack that I had held onto in my unconscious state and grab the heavy and deformed chunk of gold that remained in our possession. I held the chunk high above my head and let the morning sun bounce off of it. I twisted it in my hand to make it look as if the light was flashing back at the boat. We hear a loud honk from the boat and relief courses through me and I see John B's face light up.

"We're gonna be okay," I say and grab his hand.

"Yeah we're okay," He says and pulls me into him to hug me again.

***

The sound of a blow torch can be heard as JJ turns a black piece of metal white hot and presses it into the tree that stood in the backyard of the chateau. On the tree were John B's and Gracie's names and birthdays and at the bottom of the tree, the day they died. Pope stood next to JJ, fighting back tears that brimmed the edges of his eyes, as did JJ. Between them stood Kiara who let the tears fall willingly and drop onto the memory box she had put together. In it she collected momentos of both the fallen Pogues. She knelt down onto the soft grass, JJ and Pope, did the same, and she placed the box into a small hole they had dug in front of the tree. They each grabbed handfuls of dirt and let it cover the small wooden box until the hole was filled.

JJ pulled his flask out of his pocket and held it up high. "For John B and Gracie," He said and took a swig of the liquid and then passed it to the other two remaining Pogues.

The Cameron's had a real funeral for Grace, Kiara attended with her family and JJ and Pope stood in the distance at the cemetery so Ward wouldn't see them. Kiara swears she saw Rafe cry that day. The only time he had shown any emotion besides anger since the day he shot Peterkin. Sarah and Wheezie held each other up that day and Ward and Rose looked stone faced as the priest had blessed the empty casket that was buried in the ground. Sarah knew the truth of what had happened that day on the tarmac. She also knew that her dad had killed John B's dad. Not knowing what to do though because of course she has to live in that house and she also wanted to help the Pogues find a way to clear John B's name. They know it wouldn't bring him or Gracie back, but he still deserved for the world to know the truth.

While the Pogues and everyone else mourned their loss, John B. and Gracie were crashing on a cargo ship in a small bunker having been rescued by a man named Terrance and his crew.

***

"Hey Gracie?" John B. says to me as we laid on a small bed in a damp and musty room in the bottom of the ship.

"Yes?" I replied in my sleepy voice as we had just woken up.

"Do you wanna get married?" He says and I feel my heart flutter in my chest as I turn to look at him expecting to see him giggling but he's not. He looks right at me with a soft smile.

"Are you serious?" I ask him.

"Of course I am. We have no reason not to. It's just you and I on this adventure and I love you" He says and moves a piece of my hair behind my ear.

The dream I had of him bleeding out in front of me flashes in my mind and I suddenly feel like I need to cling to him and protect him, desperate to not lose him.

"If I say yes, you're not allowed to die," I say to him as I move closer to him.

"You're also not allowed to leave me, okay? We stick together no matter what," I add.

"I'm not going anywhere, Gracie Cameron." He says and kisses me gently.

"You're not allowed to either you know?" He says to me.

"Oh please, you can't get rid of me."