𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 • 𝐣𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐛 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞

𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝

"we're gonna meet wheezie on the pier tonight. she's gonna talk to us and we're gonna get her to tell the truth about mary not being at tannyhill the day she shot peterkin." sarah explained to dove.

dove swallowed. "are you sure this is gonna work, sa?"

sarah shook her head. "i don't know, dovie, but we have to try, right? you wanna save john b still, yeah?"

"yeah, of course i do. and so do tatum and little john." dove replied, smiling to herself.

"what?" sarah furrowed her eyebrows.

"oh, uh, nothing. just something john b and i were talking about when i went to see him, but that's not what i'm focused on right now. wheezie is our main focus."

sarah nodded. "i agree."

"okay. well, i guess this is our best option." dove sighed.

"yeah. best option." sarah repeated.

although, neither were truly sure of that.

🕊️

dove and sarah arrived to the pier that night and waited for a few minutes for wheezie.

"are you sure that wheezie's coming, sarah?" dove asked, shivering.

it wasn't cold out, but dove was freezing. chills went up her spine and goose bumps formed on her upper arms.

"she'll be here. wheezie would never flake on me. she's my sister." sarah replied.

"okay. alright. as long as you—sarah!"

a figure came up and grabbed sarah from behind, putting her in a chokehold.

"sarah!" dove exclaimed.

it was rafe.

he spun her around and knocked her out.

"sarah! no!" dove screamed.

then, mary came up behind dove and put her hands over her mouth.

"stop screaming and it won't get worse for you and her." mary whispered in dove's ear.

"fuck you." dove said, but it was muffled.

"what was that?" mary raised her eyebrows.

"mmm!" dove exclaimed.

"are ya gonna stop screamin', dove? i can't let go if ya don't stop screamin'." mary said.

dove clenched her jaw and dug her finger-nails into her palms, leaving moon-shaped marks.

she wanted to hum, but she had to be silent in order for mary to release her.

"good girl. i'm gonna remove my hands. if you scream, rafe will do to you what he just did to your little friend." mary warned.

"i'm not afraid." rafe added.

mary slowly removed her hands and turned dove around.

"where is wheezie?" dove asked.

"not here." rafe replied. "we came to talk to you because what you do affects us."

"you shot me, rafe!" dove exclaimed as she turned and looked at him.

rafe scoffed and threw his hands in the air. "oh and that's my fault, how? you—you were in the way of the real target. even your mom agrees with me. how are you going to blame me or your mom for that?"

"are you kidding me right now? you're really making excuses for shooting and almost killing me? that is absolutely ridiculous! you are ridiculous!" dove exclaimed.

"enough arguing, pickle. we have a problem and i'm gonna solve that problem tonight. rafe, you can go." mary nodded.

rafe nodded back and winked before stepping over sarah's limp body and leaving the pier.

dove turned back to her mother and folded her arms.

"listen dove, you know the pigs are gonna talk to ya. i need to make sure you have your story straight and—."

"oh, trust me, mary. my story is straight. you killed sheriff peterkin." dove nodded.

"don't call me mary, i'm your mother!" mary shouted.

"you're not my mother anymore." dove shook her head.

"you really ain't gonna try to protect your own mother?" mary raised her eyebrows.

"no. not anymore. i can't." dove shook her head.

"that's right. 'cause you're protecting john b." mary replied.

"yeah, i am! and john b might get the death penalty because of you!" dove screamed.

"good! that dirty boy deserves it!" mary shouted back.

"i hate you." dove said and spat at mary's feet.

"oh you chose the wrong night to mess with
me, little girl." mary grumbled.

she then lunged for dove who began running away.

"no!" dove screamed.

so she continued running away, mary hot on her trail.

she caught up with her daughter and grabbed her from behind them held her over a bucket of water.

"mom, come on, mom. please, i'm your daughter. your pickle. that's me. i'm pickle." dove panted.

"not anymore. i'm not your mother anymore, then you're not my daughter."

"no!"

mary then dunked dove into the water and held her down there.

dove fought with all of her night to get out of it, but she couldn't get out.

she could slowly feel herself stop breathing. she was fading away.

and the only thing she could think about was john b.

that was until a pressure was lifted from her body.

she was still underwater because she was too weak to pick herself up, but nothing external was holding her down anymore.

someone grabbed ahold of her and took her out of the water.

she inhaled, gasping for air, then began coughing and coughing, over and over.

she looked up and saw that sarah had been holding her and that mary was on the ground with joey standing over her.

"get the hell out of her before i have to hit a woman!" joey explained.

mary got up and pointed to her daughter.

"this ain't over."

then, she was gone in the night.

"are you okay?" sarah asked dove as she pulled away from the hug.

"the question is, are you okay? your brother knocked you out." dove recalled.

sarah's nose was bloody.

"that doesn't matter. you almost died." sarah replied.

"both of you, let's get you somewhere safe. come on."

they both nodded and followed joey away from the pier and to his boat in which he used to take them to his house.

AUTHORS NOTE
long time, no see. i've missed this story.

this is unedited because i wanted to get it out, so there might be some spelling/grammar mistakes. please ignore those if you see them, thank you!

muah,
lea <3