birds of a feather, obx

020. different lives

JJ gets done carving the tree. They stand back, staring at the tree. Cora has her arms wrapped around JJ, turning away from the tree and digging her face into his shirt, not wanting to see any reminder of her friends.

"To John B." JJ says, holding his flask up.

"And to Sarah." Kie adds.

They put the box full of some of John B's things in the small hole they dug, putting some flowers on it. They bury it. After they're done, they get up, staying silent since none of them have much to talk about.

Cora looks up at JJ, watching him gulp down whatever's in the flask. She frowns, her mind flashing to every time she's seen Luke do it. She's noticed JJ drinking a lot more beer than usual and he always has his flask on hand. It's starting to worry her.

~ ~ ~

It's later that day, the sun starting to set. Cora is sitting on the ground while Pope and Kie share the hammock and JJ is sitting on the tree and whittling.

Getting bored of playing with the grass, Cora gets up and goes to JJ. She taps his leg and when he looks down at her, she lifts her arms up.

JJ puts his stuff down and picks her up, sitting her down in front of him. She rests back against his chest, JJ reaching around her to grab the piece of wood and the knife again. His chin rests on her head while he resumes his task, making sure to be a bit more careful with Cora right there. The girl knows not to do anything that could make him drop the knife, JJ always strict about her safety when around weapons.

"Could you make me a bear or something?" Cora quietly asks.

"Probably not." JJ mutters. Cora pouts at the answer and JJ glances down at her. "I can try. Might look pretty fucked up, though." He says.

"That's okay." Cora shrugs. "I'll know what it is." 

+++

Rosie sits on the couch, her back straight and the glum look that permanently rests on her face. After fighting against the Camerons for weeks which only results in bruised cheeks, a few black eyes, and always being in locked in her room, she's learned to just act like the good little kid who is happy in her foster home.

Since they're still investigating both Big John and Peterkin's deaths, DPS often makes visits to see if Rosie is doing okay in the home. Usually they're scheduled, but sometimes they'll drop in for a surprise visit.

The DPS visits are the only times Rosie is even let out of her room, always locked in there with nothing to do and Rose will bring her three meals a day, two if she's being a brat. She's heard Wheezie question Ward and Rose about their "foster parenting technique" and is unable to understand why they're treating the little girl as if she's a prisoner.

So, in order to get her off their backs, they let Wheezie go in the room sometimes. She's taught Rosie countless board games by now, it being Rosie's favorite hour of the day whenever Wheezie comes in. Sometimes she'll even sneak in brownies or some other sort of sweet treat. Somehow, Wheezie has become Rosie's favorite person. She's not sure if it's because she's actually pretty okay or if it's because she's the only person she sees that doesn't look at her with disgust and hatred.

Rosie spends most of her time sitting at her window that Ward made unable for her to unlock. She guesses he locked it from the outside or something somehow. She stares out at the water, wishing, praying, willing for her brother to show up and rescue her, or even Sarah.

While part of her knows that isn't likely, she thought she would at least see the pogues by now. She thought JJ would come up with an elaborate plan to get her out and Pope and Kie would help him despite how stupid it could be. But maybe they're not okay. Maybe they got into trouble too and are in jail or something. She doesn't know. Or maybe they just don't care about her.