Unhinged [Rafe Cameron]

[midsummers pt.1]

"That did not just happen." Kie, gasps.

"Shit!" Pope screams, grabbing his hat and throwing it down onto the road in anger. He runs his hands over his head, storming away.

"I can't believe he would do that for us." I say in astonishment.

"That amazing dumbass."

...

What do you mean, 'JJ is in jail?' John B asks, pacing his porch.

"JJ is in jail!" I exclaim, standing up. "And I have no idea when we can get him back!"

Kie cups her face in her hands and rubs her eyes. "Guys... stop arguing."

"And why didn't you tell me earlier??" John B asks.

"Because you were gone to whoever the fuck knows where!" I shoot back.

"I have a clue for where the gold is, okay?" John B shouts, taking off his cap and running a hand through his hair.

"And JJ is in jail!" Pope suddenly yells, "..but it's all my fault." His face falls as he realizes the consequences of his actions.

"Pope..." Kie whispers, trying to hug him. He pulls away and turns his head in shame. He stalks off the porch.

"Shit.." I mutter, touching my fingers to my temple.

Kie walks up to John B, glaring at him defiantly. "You." She hisses through her teeth. "Fix this."

She strides away, leaving a very stunned John B in her wake. He turns to me for reassurance but all that I offer him is a scowl.

"I'm going to get to work." I say flatly.

Leaving John B all alone on his porch, I strut away, climb my bike, and head to the post office. The ride to work usually settles my nerves, but my mind is in a totally different realm today. I worry about JJ; whether he's being interrogated, or if someone is bailing him out.

What a stupid move, sticking his neck out like that for Pope. But it is such a JJ thing to do.

I lean my bike against the wall and walk into the post office, pulling on my delivery hat as I open the door.

"Look who it is." My boss says, pushing her glasses up on her nose sternly.

"Um.. it's me?" I say warily, not knowing where she's getting at.

"You know.. Ms. Thornton called just now." Topper's mom?

"And?"

"She wants to know why her package was dropped off a block away from her house, and not on her doorstep."

Shit. I was rushing to get to Pope after hearing about the charges that I forgot all about her package. Now they must be pissed, even more so than me punching him.

"Oh..." I try to conjure up a lie. "I just... missed the address, I guess."

"Well, don't mess up the address for this next order, because it's a hefty one." She says, giving me my order list of the day.

"It's for Rafe Cameron."

I groan internally. I'm already having a shitty enough day as is, and I have to do this??

It feels like the world is pitted against me by the rate that my bad luck is going.

I go into the storage room to see a box labeled: this side up.

Getting closer to it, a suspicious smell wafts into my nose. It's strangely herbal; woodsy almost. I double check the product description, but all it says is supplies. It looks like it's light, but my muscles strain against the weight of the box as I struggle to lift it up.