The Cool Kids - JJ Maybank

Boats and Babes

“He’s definitely out of air,” Pope states, trying to keep his voice level.

And then, the drama queen that is John B pops up out of the water. Relief sags through all of us as he gasps. 

“Don’t scare us like that,” Pope demands.

“How’d it go down there?” JJ asks. John B mutters something, making his way over. JJ meets him by the ladder. “Did you find anything?”

I step back, letting them have their moment, as John B chuckles, throwing his stuff on the boat. “Did I find anything?”

Taylor grins. “That’s my boy!”

“Yeah!” JJ cheers. “There we go!”

While JJ drags the stuff on board, Kiara asks, “Are you okay?”

John B laughs a little. “Yeah. I ran out of air.”

“You scared the shit out of me.”

“Yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh, we took care of them,” Pope says.

Taylor adds, “And Gwen’s boat is probably the reason they didn’t see you.”

“Gwen?” John B asks as he climbs on.

JJ nods. “Yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother.”

“Wait, like Gwen Turner?” John B asks again, still on that.

“Yes,” I reply, “like Gwen Turner.” He looks at me, then at JJ, then back toward me as if he’s surprised I’m still there.

Before John B can question more, Kiara calls out, “Hey, guys? Bogey, two o’clock.”

“What?” JJ asks, looking over his shoulder.

We all follow Kiara’s gaze.

“Do you recognize that boat?” Pope asks.

“I’ve never seen it,” Kiara says. “What are they doing here? The marsh is closed.”

I make myself focus on the boat, then size up with two men, and realize that I know why they’re here. “We need to go,” I tell them. I climb over to my boat, unhooking myself from theirs. “They’re here for the same reason we are. And they don’t seem friendly.” JJ instantly starts unhooking the boat to the floor. “We need to go!”

John B follows me as I lead the way through the marsh. The boat follows them and I gun it, causing John B to do the same. When the gunshot rings through the air, my hands start to shake.

“Holy shit!” Kiara exclaims.

“Gwen!” JJ yells, “get down!”

“I can’t!” I yell back, clutching the wheel.

My knuckles are turning white as I try to crouch and see where I’m going. If I crash into the bank, the fact that I’m down here won’t matter. Another shot rings out. Then another. The fourth one hits my windshield, a little too close for comfort. Another one seems to almost hit Kiara by Taylor’s yelling and Kiara’s exclamation. Something hits my elbow, pain rocketing through me by such a small area. I clench my jaw, trying to force myself to think of something else other than Jake and the pain spreading. Another shot is fired and suddenly, I hear someone’s boat dying.

I glance back, breathing out when I realize it’s not the Pogues’ boat. They make a final shot toward us but don’t even come close to hitting us. I cheer from the front of the line while Taylor thanks God for Kiara.

. the cool kids .

My boat is in front of theirs and I help them get their things off of it. “I can help with the oxygen,” I offer when I remember how they used the rest of the already empty tanks. “Dean goes diving all of the time. I can easily blame it on him.”

John B looks at me. “You would do that?”

Everyone’s asking me that. “No, I just offered for the hell of it. Yes, John B, I would do that.”

“And we’ll totally take that offer,” Taylor answers, “but can we focus on the prize we almost got shot for?” I nod, glad that my flannel happens to be red.

“What do you guys think it is?” Kiara asks.

I keep my distance from them, understanding that this find isn’t at all something that involves me for any reason other than the fact that I helped them not get caught.

“Gotta be money or something, right?” John B asks.

“That or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to mid-mils!” JJ adds.

“Can we please just open the bag?” Pope demands.

We all look at him.

“Wow, Pope,” John B says, “that’s a rare outburst of emotion.” Everyone seems to agree and that makes me chuckle.

“You guys are literally killing me with anticipation,” Pope defends himself. “Just open the bag. We almost died over this.”

John B quickly does as he’s told. I lean forward, agreeing silently with Pope. When John B opens the metal container, I can see the realization of seeing what they risked their lives for.

“Oh wow,” Pope says sarcastically. “Yep. That’s about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass.”

But John B’s staring at it with wide eyes.

JJ frowns at him. “Dude, what? It’s not worth anything.”

“This was my father’s,” John B replies.