It isn't long before we're pulling up to the dock at John B's.
"There she is," John B says.
"Bet it is good to see her old bones right," JJ remarks.
"Welcome home, guys," I tell John B and Sarah.
We start up to the dock.
"You know, I gotta be honest. Not exactly looking forward to a check-in at home," Kie confesses. "My parents probably already arranged my funeral."
"I predict unpleasantries at the Heyward household after I left the truck in Charleston," Pope states.
"No one knows we're here, right?" I ask. "And you two aren't gonna get into any more trouble for showing up 12 hours later." I smile. "Am I right, or am I right?"
"You're not wrong," Pope tells me.
JJ smiles widely. "So that means we have 12 hours to do whatever we want. Huh? A little Pogue fellowship. How does that sound?"
John B smiles. "Let the shit hit the fan tomorrow. Come on."
JJ laughs. "Yeah!"
"The cops could be looking for us. It could be really stupid," Sarah offers.
"Sarah Cameron, you've heard of my philosophy, right?" JJ asks.
Sarah shakes her head. "No."
"Stupid things have good outcomes all the time," JJ tells her.
"Who's with me?" I ask.
"Let's get some beer!" JJ shouts.
With a quick stop in town, we now have enough beer to get us through our little pogue reunion fest. I'm happy we didn't make JJ get rid of the hot tub. The beer is flowing and the blunts are rolled. It feels like the good old days. Like the beginning of summer when everything was easier.
I laugh as Pope starts to rap. "I never made good grades in school. When I get out, I act like a fool. They say I come in the party and cause a commotion. I'm smooth. Yeah, call me lotion."
"Do it, Pope!" JJ tells him. "Just like the good Lord intended."
"That was way too genuine," Sarah teases.
"Come on. Give me... give me that shit!" JJ shouts. Everyone laughs. "Give me it."
Pope and JJ are playing a game, hitting each other in the shoulder trying to knock each other over.
"Get it, Pope!" Sarah shouts.
Pope almost falls backwards but stops himself. "Yes! Yeah!"
"Okay!" JJ and Pope start to wrestle. "Ah! Good, good, good, good, good! Get on the leg! Oh!"
Pope manages to knock JJ down.
"Pope with the single-leg sweep. You've got a new technique now," John B says.
Pope stands up triumphantly.
"Oh no! No!" I shout.
"When did you start wrestling?" John B teases.
"I dunno," Pope tells him. He starts to walk away. "I'm done. I'm out of here."
"Did you have too many beers?" JJ teases in a funny accent. "You want a round two?"
"Yeah, I think I'll take my losses," Pope tells him.
Kie gets up and follows after him.
"Really?" I laugh.
"Way to be discreet!" JJ teases.
"I leave, and this is what happens," John B remarks.
"Are you blaming me?" JJ asks.
"Just a little bit. Uh-oh," John B tells him. John B stands up. "Your boy's out. Beer time."
"You guys are the one that died, okay?" JJ says. "That was..."
"Literally one job, JJ," Sarah teases. "No Pogue-on-Pogue macking!"
"One job?" JJ asks.
"One job," Sarah repeats.
"Who got you the Phantom? Huh? You ever think about that?" JJ taunts.
"Only one, ya know..." Sarah teases.
"You weren't there. I looked up..." JJ starts.
Sarah cuts him off, "No. No excuses. You're a Pogue. You should know this."
"Wait. Yo, hold that thought," JJ tells her.
JJ gets up to stand by John B. They're looking at the little memorial we made for him.
Rafe turns to his sister. "God I can't believe you're actually here."
"I'm sure you didn't even have time to miss me since you moved in with Addie and all," Sarah teases.
Rafe shakes his head. "I still thought you were dead."
"He was crying like a baby," I assure.
Sarah smiles widely. "I'm flattered." Her face gets serious. "I saw Dad and Hunter in the Bahamas. Hunter shot me."
"Are you kidding me?" I ask.
Sarah shakes her head. "I almost died."
"Holy shit," Rafe remarks. "You can't go back home."
"I don't plan on it," Sarah assures him.
We see Kie and Pope on the Pogue pulling away from the dock.
"Oh! All right," JJ teases.
Sarah wolf whistles at them.
"Have a good time!" I tease.
"There he goes. He jacked your boat, dude," JJ tells John B.
"Pope's poking on the Pogue," John B jokes.
JJ turns to John B. "You should probably..."
John B cuts him off, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait."
"What?" Sarah asks.
"What was that?" John B asks.
"Your chicken?" JJ questions.
"I heard a car door," John B states.
JJ starts to cluck like a chicken, and I hit him. We put the fire out before climbing into the tree. Without the Pogue we have nowhere else to go. Hunter walks into the yard as Barry heads into the house. I look at Rafe worried. Barry starts to break shit in the house before coming back out into the yard.
"Yo!" Hunter shouts. "Anything?"
"No, ain't shit in there, bro," Barry tells him.
"No? Nothing?" Hunter asks.
"No, nothing, Hunter," Barry tells him.
"They were obviously just here based off the smoke, man," Hunter reasons.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great observation, Boy Scout," Barry taunts.
"They're not far, you know?" Hunter insists.
"Smokey the Bear! Look at you, bro!" Barry taunts.
"They gotta be around here somewhere," Hunter says.
Barry looks at the JB memorial. "P4L." He laughs.
"Well, shit." Hunter laughs.
"So, your cousin's a Pogue for life, huh, Hunter? Now who would've thought?" Barry remarks.
"Shit!" Hunter yells.
I jump slightly grabbing the branch to keep myself from falling.
"All right, chill," Barry tells him. Hunter pulls out a gun and shoots at the tree. "Hey! Whoa! Hey, chill, bro! Hunter!" He keeps shooting as Barry tries to take the gun from him. I cover my mouth as JJ almost gets hit by a bullet. "Chill your shit! Chill out! You're gonna get our asses busted, dawg! Let's bounce. Let's bounce. Let's go!"
Rafe and I are sitting on the dock, our feet in the water. None of us are going to be able to sleep after what happened with Hunter and Barry.
"Your cousin scares the shit out of me," I state.
Rafe nods slightly. "Even when we were kids he would do some scary shit. But now... he's unhinged."
"He's losing his mind." I shake my head. "He shot Sarah. He almost killed her. And if I had to guess, he had no remorse."
"I don't think there's anything I can say to make you feel better," Rafe admits. "Other than telling you that I'm not gonna let him lay a finger on you. I'll even sleep in the same bed as you if it makes you feel better."
I make a face. "Thank you for that sacrifice."
"Anything for you," Rafe teases.
"I'm still happy to have John B and Sarah back though," I confess. "Did you know they got married?"
"Who?" Rafe asks.
"John B and Sarah," I tell him.
Rafe looks at me in disbelief. He shakes his head. "No way my sister married John B."
I laugh. "We'll they seem to think they got married."
Rafe shakes his head. "Nope. Not allowing it."
"You're not allowing it?" I ask.
Rafe shakes his head again. "Nope."
"I mean it already happened, so I guess you're a little late," I tease.
"Sarah's sixteen she can't get married," Rafe reasons.
"I think it's more the promise that they'll really get married when they're eighteen," I tell him.
"I still don't get it," Rafe confesses.
I laugh. "They're in love."
"So are we," Rafe states.
"And you've never thought about what our future would look like?" I ask.
"Our future," Rafe repeats.
I nod my head. "Yeah, our future. When you think about what's gonna happen in a year or two, am I there?"
Rafe looks at me a little surprised. "Of course you are."
I smile slightly. "Sarah and John B are sure of the same thing that's why they got married."
"So you think we should get married?" Rafe asks.
I shake my head. "Hell no." Rafe laughs lightly. "At least not right now. I have no idea what the next week holds for us let alone a year or two." I smile as I grab his hand. "But I do know I want to spend it with you."
Rafe smiles widely as he slips his ring off his finger and holds it up. "I'm gonna hold you to that." I laugh happily as he slips the ring onto my own finger. "Come here." Rafe pulls me towards him and kisses me.
In the morning we spot Pope and Kie coming back on the pogue. We meet them at the dock.
"Finally. Hey!" I shout.
"Guys, don't tie up. Stop it!" JJ tells them.
"What?" Kie asks.
"We're dipping," JJ tells them.
"Wait, why?" Pope asks.
"What? What are you talking about?" Kie asks.
"Where'd you guys go? What happened last night?" John B asks.
"We slept on the break," Pope tells him. "What's up?"
"Slept, right. Yeah," JJ teases.
"We were up all night," Rafe tells them.
"We gotta get the hell out of here," John B states.
"Rafe knows we're here, so we have to leave, like, now," Sarah explains.
"Okay," Kie says.
"Come on," Pope says.
We take the boat to a little clearing on the marsh. You wouldn't know we were here unless you really tried to find us.
"Look, if Hunter and Barry know, it's only a matter of time," Kie says.
"Before everyone knows," Pope adds.
JJ scoffs. "I told you. We should've gone south, man."
"Just stop it," John B tells him.
"Why does no one ever listen?" JJ remarks.
"I get it. I get it. I understand," John B tells him.
"I have an idea," Sarah tells us. "With me back, my dad's going to have to choose between me and Hunter."
"Sarah, Sarah..." John B starts.
"He's gonna choose me," Sarah insists.
"Just please listen. Ward keeps lying to you, Sarah," John B tells her.
"Sarah, he's not gonna agree after all that's happened," Kie says.
"No. I... I know it sounds crazy," Sarah says.
I nod my head. "Yeah, it does."
"I know!" Sarah says. "But he's my dad. And I know him, and I know he loves me. I'm just asking for two hours."
She starts to walk away and John B calls after her, "Sarah."
Kie and I head off to find some firewood. Who knows how long we're going to be staying on the break?
"So you and Pope?" I ask as I wiggle my eyebrows. "Did you two?"
Kie nods her head. "Yeah."
"Don't sound so excited," I tease.
"It was good... It's just... I don't know. It's weird now," Kie tells me. "This is why we have the rule. No pogue-on-pogue mackin'."
"What's the real issue here, Kie? Do you not like Pope in that way?" I ask.
"I don't know," Kie confesses. "I like Pope, but I don't want things to be weird."
"They're only gonna be weird if you make them weird," I tell her.
As Kie and I are coming back with the firewood I can see Sarah coming back on the boat.
"Hey, there she is," John B says.
"Sarah!" Kie shouts.
"You made it," Pope says.
"What happened?" John B asks.
As Sarah makes it back to the shore she looks a little upset.
"So, how'd it go?" John B asks her.
"You guys were right. It didn't work." Sarah sniffles. "Sorry."
Rafe wraps his arm around her. I didn't ask but I already know he didn't go with her because he won't be able to face his father without doing something he'll regret.
"Welp, then that settles it, guys," JJ says. "Now, y'all need to load up in the paddy wagon and get the heck out of Dodge right now."
"Right, you guys are gonna need supplies, and you'll have to split as soon as possible," Pope tells them.
I can see police boats coming towards us. "Guys, I think it's too late."
John B looks at Sarah. "They followed you here? Must've been your father."
"We're gonna have to find another way out of here," Rafe states.
"Stay on the beach with your hands in the air!"
"Go now! Go!" Pope shouts.
We take off running towards the other side of the break.
"We've got to outrun them!" JJ shouts.
"Go!" I shout.
We run into the woods hoping it'll give us some cover.
"Go! Go!" John B shouts.
"Sarah, you good?" Kie asks.
"Yeah. You okay?" John B asks.
"Yeah," Sarah assures.
"Go! Go! Go!" John B tells us.
"Come on!" Rafe shouts.
We wind up at another part of the marsh. Rafe keeps his hand on my lower back as we cross through the water. We swim across to the woods on the other side.
"Go!" Pope shouts.
"Come on! Let's go," JJ tells us.
The cops come out of the woods the same place we did. "Freeze! Stop!"
"Come on!" John B shouts.
"Stay where you are!"
I run out of the water and into the woods as fast as I can.
"Go! Get up! Get up!" Pope shouts.
"Go! Go! Go!" JJ tells us.
"Behind the tree!" John B tells us.
We all stop and crouch down behind a large tree. I hear sirens wailing and see the Sheriff's department coming in from the other direction.
"We're trapped. They surrounded us," Pope says.
"Freeze!"
"What do we do?" I ask.
"No getting out of it. We gotta make a stand," JJ states.
I watch as JJ pulls the gun out from his pocket. I look at him with pleading eyes.
"It's over now! Don't move!"
John B grabs JJ before he can do anything stupid. He takes the gun from JJ and drops it on the ground.
"Get those hands up now!"
"It's gonna be all right," John B tells JJ. "Here we go."
JJ kicks dirt over the gun to hide it.
Shoupe gets out of the car and points his gun at John B. "John B! Step out into the clearing! Get down. Do not move!"
We all put our hands up.
"I'm surrendering," John B tells him.
"Don't move!" Deputy Plumb shouts.
"Hands up, John B!" Deputy Thomas shouts.
"Stay right where you are. Keep your hands where we can see them," Shoupe instructs.
"Don't move!" Plumb shouts.
"Hey, listen, Shoupe, I wanna testify," John B tells Shoupe.
"It's about time. Get down. Do not move a muscle," Shoppe instructs. John B gets on his knees. "Everybody else, don't move."
"Don't move. Keep your hands where I can see them," Plumb tells us.
Deputy Thomas pats down John B before grabbing him roughly and pulling him to his feet.
"Are you serious? Come on!" JJ shouts.
"Hey, Thomas!" Shoupe scolds.
Thomas throws John B to the ground.
"No!" Sarah shouts.
"Stop! Let him go!" Kie shouts.
Thomas starts to kick John B.
"Sheriff, what is that? You're gonna let that happen?" JJ shouts.
"Don't move!" Plumb tells him.
"Let him go!" Rafe shouts.
"Stop!" Pope shouts.
"Stop! Let him go!" I yell.
Thomas pulls John B up again and Shoupe tries to stop him. "Thomas!" Thomas pushes him away. "Stand down!"
"This is for Peterkin," Thomas says before punching John B in the face and knocking him out.
"No!" I scream out.