— ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ —
WARD CAMERON AND ARTHUR CLIFTON have always been two peas in a pod. And it all goes back to the year 1971, when the two met by act of their parents. They were just kids, and they grew up on different sides of the Outer Banks, but they had a Pogue-Kook bond no one in the island had seen. When Arthur's parents sent him all the way to Poland for college, Ward had thought it would be the last time he saw his best friend.
But as a strange coincidence, he came back and married his sister.
Beatrice Cameron.
Ward and Arthur became twice as inseparable, united by their psychopathy and their odd obsession with money and success. They'd even tried to line up the pregnancies of their children in hopes of making them grow together and thrive in life as they'd done.
But because of that toxic love for power and recognition, the two men share something that makes the lives of their black sheep children a living hell. Ambition. Ambition so strong they don't care who steps in their way— be them their child, their partner, a whole city— they'll push. And they'll shove hard.
A year ago, when Ward had gotten into the whole Merchant mystery of the gold, Arthur had tried to negotiate with him a fair split if he offered to be their own personal attorney if anything were to go down between John Routledge or any of the kids. They were powerful, rich men, and that many times could mean getting into business they'd later regret.
Ward agreed. And the adventure began.
He hadn't been able to join the adventure out on the high seas. He had four children, one barely seven years old, and one that constantly gave him a hard time. Plus, the three men wanted anything but having eyes on their backs and drawing too much attention. So, Arthur simply waited patiently for them to come back with his gold.
But they never did.
And he was furious. He'd made deals, gotten himself into expensive cases, promised and sworn, spent and booked— all for it to be a futile and miserable journey.
And ever since that day, he made a promise to himself that he'd be the only person to have that gold. But silently.
And it's not until Ward Cameron informs him of his possession of a very peculiar compass and the truth behind the whereabouts of both their daughters alongside the filthy Pogues, Arthur is so downright infuriated, the rational sympathy a father has for his daughter dissipates into the air and all he can think about is getting that information out of his daughter.
No matter what it takes.
The two men stand inside Ward's office, discussing something about Arthur's job opportunity all the way back in Lublin, Poland, while the Clifton children and their cousins hang somewhere around the large Cameron household.
"It's a tough decision, and you might wanna think it through, Arthur," Ward speaks as he pours them both a glass of raw Bailey's, "Save for the twins, the kids have lived here their whole lives, taking them away would just be. . . brutal on them," he hands him the glass.
Arthur takes it and sighs.
"It'll be good for Oakley,"
"There's nothing wrong with Oakley. She just needs to learn who's good for her and who isn't," Ward nods, "Look at Sarah. She's been way too close with the Routledge boy and I'm about to use that to our advantage,"
Arthur lets a smirk curve his pink lips, identical to his daughter's.
"Yeah," he says.
Suddenly, interrupting their discussion comes the distant voices of two familiar teenagers. The men's eyes snap up to look at each other as soon as a word registers clearly in their ears.
"I think it was like, five hundred—"
"Five hundred?"
"Six hundred," the male voice replies, but it comes out more like a question.
"Six hundred bars of gold,"
Ward immediately stands up and walks to the window, spotting John B between the trees right outside, talking to his daughter.
"I don't know. Could be a thousand. It was all muddy, but it was everywhere,"
Arthur chuckles bitterly, his hand swirling the glass as he pushes against the inside of his cheek angrily.
"They're talking about the gold aren't they?" he mutters and Ward shushes him as he slowly pries the window open.
"Covering the walls, stacks of it. Four hundred million dollars,"
He nods, undeniably sure of what they're talking about.
"It's all there,"
"Hey, that's crazy!"
Ward puts a hand against his mouth and watches with growing shock.
"We did it. Now we just have to get it out of there,"
"Right. So how will we do that?"
"Okay, so, Pope has a plan. . ."
The blonde man's head shakes as his breathing quickens in distress. His hand grips the cup so tightly that his knuckles turn white and his nostrils flare. He tries to keep himself calm as his tongue nearly pokes out of his cheek but his anger is way too dominant over his body as he suddenly jumps up.
"Dammit!"
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
"Kie! This better work,"
JJ and Oakley walk towards the Twinkie, where the two girls sit with a sketch in hand. The two paramores had crashed at the now empty Château after their little intimate movie, and the whole morning Oakley had been shyly trying to avoid talking about it as they merely exchanged ten words the whole day.
It wasn't awkward, though. Nor was it uncomfortable. It was just. . . natural.
He drops the three gold bars on the floor of the van and Kie looks down at them.
"We can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it," Oakley points at the gold.
Kie lifts the flame spray and looks at the girl.
"It's gonna work,"
And it does. In a small red pot, the curly-haired girl places the bars inside and puts on her safety glasses, directing the flame at the ingots as they slowly but surely melt into a beautiful glowing liquid gold.
JJ and Oakley watch from slightly afar, smiling brightly as they laugh at every other comment John B and Kie throw into the conversations. Joking and teasing each other is how the Pogues live, and Oakley feels so alive right now.
JJ keeps a hand wrapped around her waist and she holds his hand as she rubs small circles on his knuckles, resting her head on his chest. Their relationship is still strange, balancing between a shy longing for each other and a shameless seeking that leaves no space for coyness or mental obstacles. Sometimes, he feels ready to take on the world, others, he feels like a girl like her would never even look at a guy like him.
She feels like he'll stop liking her if she gets too close to him. Because as John B said, there are two types of love, and they're just beginning to experience the second type.
But right now, they have one thing in mind. And when that one thing is over, they'll have their much-needed moment.
Once the gold is melted into one, the Pogues drive to the pawnshop. They'd all settled on JJ to be the one to pawn the gold, given the fact that the second best story-teller— Oakley— was already high after the blunts she'd managed to smoke between JJ and her the fifteen-minute ride.
"Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein,"
The Pogues pile out of the Twinkie with the gold in hand. Oakley misses the step down and trips, nearly falling flat on her face before Sarah grabs her by the arm and pulls her back up.
"This one should stay," Sarah tells John B, watching the girl giggle with a strange look.
"Yeah. Oak?" John B grabs her face.
Her eyes are tiny and her pupils take over most of the beautiful turquoise in her orbs.
"Yeah?" She asks.
"You keep guard, alright?" he snaps his fingers, "Alert,"
The girl smiles and nods as she climbs back onto the truck, settling across the backseats comfortably. JJ watches her tenderly before blowing her a kiss and disappearing into the shop as Pope pushes him in.
Oakley stays with the sight of his face on her mind as she drifts off immediately after they leave her sight. Speaking up to her name of being the worst Pogue to stay on guard. Give the girl space and a quiet place and she'll crash wherever.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
Her slumber is brief as merely 20 minutes later, the crew bursts into the van again. Being awoken by JJ's lips pressing a quick peck on her head, the girl had groaned her way into consciousness and taken JJ's legs as a seat once the car had started. Sleeping off the Marijuana was something Oakley usually did, and sometimes it'd work, others wouldn't, and others would work but leave a dull headache as an aftertaste.
This time, it's the headache.
She rests her cheek on JJ's capped head with her eyes tiredly closed, listening to the gentle reggae music that flows through the radio.
"So, did we get the cash?" She asks.
"It was so much she didn't even have the cash within reach," JJ replied and the girl chuckles, lifting her head and opening her tired eyes.
"And what are we gonna do?" She asks again.
"We're going to a warehouse. . ." Sarah replies in a questioning tone.
"So, they keep the money out there?" Pope adds, looking out the window in confusion.
All Oakley can see is a wall of trees and an endless road that goes beyond their eyes can see.
"That's what she said," JJ replies.
Oakley looks down at him mischievously and they meet eyes— full of sneaky idiocy as they chuckle.
"That's what she sa-" they start simultaneously before Pope saves everyone from the joke.
"Stop,"
The two purse their lips in embarrassment and look away.
"I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive," Sarah says from the passenger's seat.
"'Cause you're rich," JJ replies.
Oakley rolls her eyes.
"You've never heard of it either," she shuts him down and Sarah points at her.
"Thank you,"
Oakley turns back to the boy with a soft apologetic smile, grabbing his hand and placing a tiny kiss on his knuckles, making him melt sweetly into her touch with a cheeky grin that makes her pout tenderly.
"There's nothing but weeds back here," Kie comments as she looks out the window.
Oakley's head looks up and notices the random location where they find themselves.
"Alright, just 'cause it's just weeds, doesn't mean it's, like. . ." JJ attempts to make a point but fails miserably.
Oakley's face scrunches though she isn't surprised by his strange personality as she just pats his back comfortingly.
"You'll get through this, buddy," she mumbles.
The sound of police sirens is the last thing Oakley expected to hear out here in the middle of nowhere, but strangely, the abrupt whooping of the police cuts through the still surrounding.
"Cops? Out here?" Kie voices her confusion.
"God! Are you kidding me?!" JJ complains and Oakley tries to calm him down by quickly rubbing his back.
"What did we do?" Sarah complains.
Meanwhile, Oakley tries to help a very high JJ wrap the gold up with its blue cloth and throw it inside the backpack. She drops to the floor of the van and shakily tries to close the backpack, only finding it hard to achieve as the plastic bags of weed get in the way of the zipper and she can't fully close it.
"How much weed do you have on you?" Kie asks.
Pope tries to help, but Oakley tries to shove him away.
"Don't, don't!" She slaps his hands away when they do nothing to help the issue.
But as the bag finally closes, she quickly shoves it into the compartment under the seat and goes to ease herself back onto JJ's lap.
That is until a gun clicks and the air dies into a painful stillness.
"Why don't I just go ahead and see them hands up in the air right now?"
The shock holds the teens back from moving as they look at each other. Oakley slowly slides down to the ground and presses her back against the door.
"All y'all's hands up in the air!" The guy screams and everyone flinches.
Oakley's hands shakily rise above her head her chest heaves with uneasy breaths and her eyes stay wide in fear.
"You outta the car. Let's go," the man speaks to John B.
Slowly, the boy follows the given orders and steps out of the truck.
"Out of the car! Let's go! Hurry!" John B keeps his hands up, "Let them out!"
He stands still in front of the masked man, but he's not satisfied with just him.
"What are you waitin' on? What are you waitin' on? Let them out!" He screams.
Oakley's mind hazes in dread as she feels the door slide open and JJ's hand help her down. She quickly places her hands up again as JJ walks in front of her, pushing her behind him as the man keeps yelling orders and comments about her physique.
"We're broke, bro-" JJ talks.
"Shut the hell up!"
"Alright! Alright!" The blonde raises his voice higher, wanting to demonstrate authority.
Oakley squeezes his arm for him to stop.
"Shut the hell up! Shut up!" The man screams loudly, shoving his gun closer and closer.
"Just relax!"
"JJ!" Oakley pulls him back.
"Shut up! Or I'll blow your damn head off,"
Her breathing turns into small, quiet gasps for air as she watches Barry point the massive gun at her blue-eyed blonde. The thought of a bullet accidentally bursting from the eye of the gun and striking him makes her mind restless.
"Lay down in the ditch! Lay down in the ditch! On your goddamn hands and knees! Down!" Barry orders harshly.
And they obey.
He shoves the gun at JJ's face, "Put your face on the ground,"
Everyone follows his orders, but when Oakley turns to look at JJ and notices that his breathing becomes louder and his face reddens in irritation, she drowns out Barry's oblivious screaming and very carefully reaches a trembling hand to rub his arm.
As soon as the tenderness of her touch reaches his senses, he breaks entirely, gripping his hat tightly as his nostrils flare with every hard breath.
"Breathe, Bubba. It's okay," she whispers, voice as pained and fearful as his feelings.
Luke Maybank is all that comes to JJ's mind in this situation. The trauma, the PTSD that haunts him as he lays on the muddy ground— completely vulnerable and with no control over what he wants to do— it's so familiar to the blonde boy that it makes his blood boil and his heart tighten. It's a mix of dread and pure rage that flows in his body. The dread of feeling that pain he endures from his father, and the rage of being so vulnerable and pathetic.
Oakley knows him way too well.
"It's a setup, guys," Kie speaks.
"That old bat shanked us," JJ replies, "Fuck! Goddamn it!" he slams his hand harshly onto the ground, making dirt fly.
Oakley rubs his arm vigorously, placing a soft kiss on his shoulder and resting her nose on him.
"Calm down. Come on, calm down,"
But it only gets harder to calm down when John B stands up and runs away into Barry's car, the guy finding the gold as he turns the backpack over and it falls to the ground. Oakley's breathing picks up again and JJ's growing temper makes it hard for her to balance her attention between John B and keeping JJ at ease before he jumps and ends up dead.
"Alright, y'all just stay just like that! Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads, okay?" He points at all of them before slowly pedaling away.
He runs off and gets into his car, gun in one hand and gold in the other.
The next thing Oakley hears is grunting and fists colliding with skin, making her gasp as she looks up at the scene. But her attention diverts when the boy next to her jumps to his feet and runs to join the fight.
"JJ!" She screams and runs after him.
The boy punches Barry across the face before he shoves him away, making Oakley furious as she pushes him and raises her leg to kick him where it hurts the most. However, she doesn't get far as he grabs her leg and pushes her away, making her fall on the ground with a thud.
The fall damages not one hair on her as she's quickly standing up again, joining her friends on the beat-the-shithead party they all host. Barry lays on the ground face-down as Sarah continuously slams the car door against the side of his face. Oakley even breaks a smirk as she watches her Kook-y cousin be so restless and merciless like this.
Finally, the guy slumps against the car, panting as he barely has the strength to open his eyes.
"You son of a bitch!" Kie yells at him.
Oakley's lips scrunch in fury as she throws one last kick at his stomach before Pope pulls her away— not before the girl manages to slide the scarf off his face.
"I know this piece of shit!" JJ says bitterly, looking down at him in disgust, "He's a basehead,"
"Probably knows my brother," Sarah ponders.
"He does. Rafe used to give me some of all the shit he bought from this asshole,"
"He sells coke to my dad," JJ adds.
"'Ight, listen, I couldn't hurt any single one of y'all-"
Before he can finish, JJ slams the but of the gun into his face and he crumples in pain. Oakley immediately pulls him back.
"JJ!"
"Dude, chill, man, come on,"
JJ reaches down into the drug dealer's pocket and takes out a green cloth case, digging his fingers inside and slowly taking a card out of it. He reads through it before tossing the green casing back on the coughing man's face and shoving John B away from his side.
"We got one last stop,"
He pushes past everyone and Oakley takes a step forward.
"Hey!" John B calls out.
"Let's go see where this son of a bitch lives,"
After a second of hesitation, they all follow after the boy as Barry helplessly screams behind them. He claims how he'll remember this, or saying that they can't hide from him. But Oakley knows all too well that a guy like Barry could never and would never mess with a Clifton family member. Be it the weakest of them all or the girls of the family. The power they transmit is far too over him, and only a man stupid enough would dare touch Oakley Clifton.
Or those she loves.
And so, they go teach him a lesson.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
There's not much to expect from a drug addict that's also a drug dealer's home and much less when it's situated in the cut. And that's why Oakley's expectations are simply nonexistent as they pull up to a dismembering house with badly painted walls and pieces of furniture scattered on the yard.
"Welcome to Crackhead Wasteland," Sarah says and Oakley can hear her widen her eyes just by her tone.
"I don't know about this, man," Pope speaks worriedly, his purity holding him back from doing any sort of crime.
JJ ignores him as he stops the truck and steals one last glance at his girl in the passenger seat.
"JJ, why are we at Barry's?" She says, eyebrows knitting in a pleading manner.
But the boy has no ears for anyone, just himself.
"This'll only take a second," he says as he opens the door and trudges towards the house, if you can even call it that.
"Where are you going?" Pope asks.
"Yo soy justicia!" JJ exclaims before skipping up the stairs and disappearing into the house.
"Did you gleam anything for that?" Pope asks Kie as they all peek out the window.
Oakley's hand rests on her forehead and her eyes stay gently shut as she feels in her skin all the bad outcomes of the act.
"You know somebody should probably-"
The girl nods vigorously as she snaps back to life, opening the door without a second thought.
"Yeah, I got it," she says and jumps out.
She walks towards the house at a quick pace, opening the door to find JJ searching the house like a police search for illegal weapons. He tosses things around, pacing around the small home with a furious step.
"Yeah, so what's your plan, J?"
"Well, as thou hath stealeth from us," he lifts some pillows, finding nothing and moving to the next possible hiding spot, "we shall stealeth from ye," he states simply as he glances back at her and continues his search.
Oakley lets out an irritated sigh and rubs the bridge of her nose as she takes a step forward.
"Just drop it, JJ. You know this'll only have bad, bad outcomes,"
JJ takes her words lightly, "An eye for an eye, Cherry,"
She almost lets herself weaken with the way her nickname flows out of his lips so naturally, but as she watches him stomp so furiously around the house, she knows something she must do and so she jumps in front of him.
"Yeah, yeah, J. But what happens after you rob a drug dealer, huh?" She bears her gaze into his.
His bottom lip curls into his mouth as his dimples show.
"He knows who we are!"
He feels himself nearly let up to her soft eyes and honest voice, but then the clouds of rage in his mind cover the sun of rationality and he softly pushes past her.
"I'm not scared of this guy,"
He goes to enter a room and Oakley steps forward.
"JJ don't-"
But off he goes.
She leans her hands on the kitchen table and drops her head between her arms, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath that futilely relaxes her stiff body.
"There we go," JJ's distant voice comes from the other room and she groans.
"JJ what are you doing?"
"Getting even!" The boy replies and she huffs, "Alright, took care of business,"
The blonde appears into the room again and walks towards her. He moves to give her a kiss before the girl stops him by cupping his face and bringing it close to her. She doesn't realize how desperate she's grown until JJ's face morphs into seriousness when he notices her wide eyes and tense grip.
"JJ, listen to me. You can't- you can't do these things-" he looks away, "Hey! You can't- you can't do these things, J, please—"
"JJ," John B appears through the door and JJ's blue eyes move up to him.
The brunette notices the bag in his hand and his face falls in realization. Immediately after catching the drill, he moves forward and pushes JJ's shoulder back hard enough to make him react but not strong enough to start a fight.
"Hey, look at me. If you keep going down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad, do-"
JJ's hands suddenly grip the collar of John B's shirt as Oakley quickly tries to pull him back with a gentle hand on his arm.
"JJ. . ." she tries, but the boys remain in a quiet duel with their eyes locked.
"You watch your mouth, man," JJ spits, "Aren't you tired of being messed with?"
"That's not the point, JJ,"
"'Cause I am,"
The boy leaves and the other two Pogues stay behind with lingering looks of concern. Oakley's head slowly turns to John B's before she trails after the blonde.
"Alright, so we're looking at four point sixteen grands each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit,"
Oakley appears behind the boy, the Pogues' attention diverting to her in confusion.
"Sorry about that, y'all," she says tiredly.
"So that's what we're doing now? We're robbing drug dealers?" Kie asks, disappointment lacing her tone.
"This Barry guy's gonna find out," Sarah adds, "And he's gonna come after us,"
Oakley widens her eyes as she crosses her arms, "Try telling him that," she means JJ.
"Yes, he will, okay? This is not the time to start wilin' out," Pope scolds the blonde.
"How'd you guys like havin' a gun pulled on you?" JJ asks the crew, his tone growing infuriated with every comment against him.
"Relax," John B says as he pushes the boy back with his body.
"He had it right here on you, bro," the blonde points at the brunette's face.
"Look. We've gotta go get the gold, okay? Just give me that shit,"
John B snatches the bag from JJ's hand but the boy pulls it away and harshly slams the boy against the van with a loud thud, making Oakley run towards him.
"You feel like a tough guy? Huh?" John B angers him further.
"John B—" Oakley breathes.
"What are you gonna do when he comes for us?"
"We punch him. . . in the throat,"
"Yeah, good fuckin' idea, JJ,"
The two share a glare before JJ shakes his head.
"I'm not putting it back," he says and gets into the van.
Oakley closes her eyes and grips the roots of her hair, turning away as she feels the tension begin to make it hard to breathe.
When JJ notices nobody is piling inside after him, he looks up.
"You guys getting in or what?"
The golden-haired girl turns again and looks at him. Sorrow paints her features and a frown rests on her lips as she watches with tired blue eyes. JJ's head feels the pressure of her gaze and his head moves up again, the realization of the betrayal settling in his ocean eyes as a layer of unshed tears glosses his corneas. His breathing picks up and his jaw clenches as he stomps out of the truck.
"What?"
"We're sick of your shit," John B says coldly.
"Oh, my shit," JJ chuckles dryly.
"Yeah. Yeah, your shit,"
"Yes," Kie agrees, "Your pulling guns on people shit,"
"And stealing, J," Oakley adds, but her tone is softer.
"You acting like a maniac-"
"Okay, Pope, I took the fall for you, man!" JJ interrupts, his voice trembling as his lips tighten, "You know how much money I owe because of you?"
"I'm gonna pay you back, and I didn't even ask you to do that!"
"I just did!—" JJ screams and Oakley flinches, blinking back tears of her own, "—Pay it back,"
Pope looks at the boy in surprise.
"Right here, right now, by myself,"
"J, come on—"
His fierce gaze turns to her and she feels weak under the frigidity with which they look at her.
"No. Just- you don't get to talk now, Oak. You don't know what it's like to have everything you do judged and punished. Everybody in this goddamn island likes you!"
She gulps.
"Huh? How does that feel like? To not have brawl with a single fucking soul? Am I not enough for your standards? You want me to go off by myself? Is that it?—"
Oakley immediately shakes her head as she takes a step forward, but he takes one back.
"No, JJ-"
"You know what? That's exactly what I'm gonna do,"
The boy grabs the bag of cash from the van and moves away from the Pogues.
"Go off by myself,"