fade away youth// rafe cameron

26-Tell me that you got nowhere to be

"They're taking it really well," JJ remarks.

Pope nods. "Mm-hmm."

"How'd you get this rig?" I ask Pope. "I know your dad didn't let you have it."

"I undid the intake valves on the carburetor. Made it start pinging," Pope tells me.

"And now you're just gonna take it to your cousin Jeff's house. Just gonna get it fixed," JJ says.

"Crash overnight," JJ and Pope say at the same time.

"I think I'm rubbing off on you, Pope," JJ teases. "Lying to your old man, stealing his truck. Kinda sounds familiar." JJ throws his hands up. "All right, that's a sore subject. My bad."

"I'd say we have about 18 hours before he absolutely loses his shit. So as long as we get it back before then, I think we're good," Pope states.

Kie starts shouting about not wanting to go to some boarding school. JJ gets out of the truck so Kie can get in.

"Look at your life right now! Look at your life!" Mr Carrera shouts.

JJ waves at Kie's parents. "It's good to see y'all, Mr. and Mrs. Carrera."

"Hi, uh, ma'am, sir. I... I promise to have her back at a reasonable hour and safe," Pope tells them.

"What are you doing?" Kie questions.

"Kiara, listen to me. 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!" Mrs Carrera shouts.

"She's bluffin'," JJ insists. Kie gets into the truck. "Y'all have a good day." JJ gets back in the truck.

"This shit would be so much easier without parents," Kie states.

I shrug. "Works for JJ and I."

We start the long drive to Charleston. Up first is taking the ferry to the mainland.

"My parents are so paranoid of me being a Pogue, like it's the worst thing that could ever happen," Kie tells us.

"Hey, I hear they got good weed at boarding school, though," I offer.

"I'm not going to boarding school," Kie insists. "They're gonna have to kidnap me, tie me up, and throw me in a van."

"Well, I say..." JJ takes a hit of a blunt. "...we just crumble

some herb right now."

"Hey, Kie, have you tried to hit John B back on that number yet?" Pope asks.

"Like, twenty million times," Kie tells him.

"That's quite a few times," JJ says with a laugh.

"Some random lady at a hotel keeps answering," Kie explains.

"Well, until we hear from them again, we gotta try and clear his name," Pope says. "Right now, this letter's our best bet."

JJ nods his head. "Right. Stay on task. That's why I love ya, Pope."

Kie holds the blunt out to Pope. "What Pope are you gonna be today?"

"I'm good. I'm gonna try to focus," Pope tells her.

"Good Pope," Kie states as she sits down next to me. "Boring Pope."

"I'll take that," I tell Kie with a laugh.

The drive feels like it's taking forever. As we pass a sign, I can see that we're still 125 miles from Charleston. With any luck we'll barely make it on time.

"Guys, I've read this thing like a thousand times. It makes no sense. I mean, the Limbreys own, like, half of Charleston. What do the Kook kings of Charleston know about a murder on Kildare Island?" Kie asks.