The Strays ⎈John B Routledge⎈

Missed Opportunities

Walking around to the other side of the porch, CJ checked to make sure all the windows were intact and that the other patio doors hadn't been ripped off. Pleased that it made it through, the teenagers went to check the shed. Other than a few things that had blown under the tarps, either out or in, everything was fine. Although, the shack did look a bit more broken down than before. They might need to build new supports.

Rounding the building, John B went directly for the HMS Pogue. He gave a small 'oh, man' but other than a few branches, she looked fine.

"Agatha did some work, huh?" A voice appeared, the two turning to see JJ standing on the porch steps. The boy was shirtless, drinking a beer. CJ, realizing it was the last one left, flipped him off. He gladly returned the favor.

"Yeah, she did."

Focus returning to John B, CJ reached over to pull some branches out of the boat. Climbing up, she straddled the side to grab more, soon being joined by JB.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" JJ asked, abandoning the porch to walk over. He'd already downed his Pabst.

"I'm thinkin' that storm surge pushed all the crabs out on the marsh maze." John B responded, climbing into the boat to pull out foliage. "All those drum are gonna chase the crab."

"Oh, yeah. Get us some big fish." JJ nodded, rounding the HMS Pogue to help pull branches from the other side.

"I'll drink to that." CJ said happily before her smile dropped and she turned to her brother. "Of course, if someone hadn't drank the last of the beer."

"Oh, get your panties out of a twist. It was one beer. One. And you don't even like canned beer.

"No, I prefer bottled. I'm not some god damn savage that won't accept a fuckin' Coors 'cause it's in a can." She clarified, throwing a branch at JJ.

"Don't fuckin' throw shit."

"Make me, fuckface."

JJ took up the challenge immediately, going to hop into the boat. He was, however, stopped by John B who pushed him off the side. "Not in the boat."

"Come on, then. Get outa the boat, Indiana." He enticed, wringing his arms out at his sides before proceeding into a fighting stance, bouncing on his feet. "Let's tussle."

"Jesus Christ, you two, quit it. We've got better things to do today. I mean, think about it. It's God tellin' us to fish."

"Pussy."

"Bitch."

With those final words, CJ hopped out of the boat and ran over to pull the van over. She knew John B left a spare keyhidden inside just in case they needed a quick getaway. JJ moved branches out of her way, making sure none of the mini trees would fuck up the vehicle. Once she got the van over, the kids finished cleaning out the boat and attached the trailer to the hitch. It wasn't long before the boat was back in its proper place; the water.

After that, the three sped off to one of their usual places; Heyward's Seafood. They all figured Pope would be on clean up duty and it was the first stop before they rounded to Figure Eight to pick up Kie. On the way, they greeted a few people and commented on how much damage the hurricane did. There was trash everywhere and they made sure to drive around the docks carefully as the water was littered with objects.

Shaking her head at JJ's comment about Ms. Amy looking at him, CJ looked out for anything that could damage the boat.

"Kie is gonna have a coronary."

"Yeah, we're gonna be cleanin' this all summer."

"That is my nightmare." John B replied, pulling up to the Heywards' dock. "Well, look who we have here."