"now that she's back
from her soul vacation,
tracing her way through
the constellation. "
IT HAD BEEN A LONG DAY FOR ALL OF THEM. Especially the new-found Routledge siblings, after the tape left the two with many questions.
John B was glad to hear he did have someone left, and that he wasn't at all related to Topper, but they shared a sister.
Kie played her ukulele softly as all of them sat in silence on the peer, The Routledge siblings sitting next to each other, as John B drank a beer, almost taking the fact that they were siblings well, although it was a lot.
"How much was it again?" JJ broke the near silence.
"Four hundred mil." Pope responded.
JJ sighed, "Alright, let's talk about the split." He turned to them. "Now, before we say 'evenly' I'd like to remind you that I'm the only one that can properly protect us from those groupers who were after us." He held up the gun in his hand, "Protection... not cheap, okay?"
"You haven't trained." Pope reminded him. "You've done zero training."
"Youtube, bro!" JJ defended. "That's at least a five percent bump right there."
"You haven't-"
"Any Objections?" Asked JJ, looking around. "Didn't think so."
"Yeah I do."
"I don't hear any... so."
"What are you gonna do with your $666,000, Pope?" Kie asked, stopping the two from bickering.
Pope thought for a moment. "Pay for college in advance. And also textbooks... those are expensive."
"What about you, Kie?" JJ asked.
"Yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?" Asked Pope, his voice filled with sarcasm, making Kie chuckle.
"I just... wanna make a double album." She told them. "Abut OBX... the Pogues, and Red. You know, the way Catch A Fire is about Kingston. Record it at Marley studio, Peter Posh producing..."
"Peter Tosh is dead-"
"Peter Tosh is dead, I know." Kie assured Pope. "Spirit of Peter Tosh, will never die."
"I think you'd be really, really good at that, Kie." Red smiled, taking a sip of her sparkling water.
"Thanks Red." Kie nodded her head at her. "What about you?"
Red sighed, thinking about Kie's question, "I wanna be a speaker."
"What kind?" Pope asked.
"You know... the kind that talks about what's wrong in the world like Sex Trafficing or World Hunger." Red told them. "The type of person that... tries to find ways to fix things like that."
"I think you'd be a really convincing speaker, Red." JJ complimented.
"Thank you, JJ." She looked down and smiled. "What about you? What are you gonna do?"
"I know what I'll do." JJ responded. "I'm gonna get a big ass house on figure eight, and go full kook."
"You're gonna go full kook?" Pope chuckled.
"Yup. I'm gonna get a marble statue of myself and then I'm gonna get a koi pond." JJ chuckled. "Put a bunch of those fish."
"I'm never visiting." Kie joked.
"What are you gonna do, Bennie?" Asked Pope.
Bennie looked at him. "Topper." She started. "Topper wants to move like to... Texas or something."
"Topper in Texas?" JJ chuckled.
"I know." Bennie shook her head with a smile. "He's not 18 yet... but once he is he's gonna get the both of us emancipated from mom... then I guess we'll just... hit the road."
"I can't imagine Topper taking care of a child." Red laughed. "John B?"
John B looked over at his friends, then over at his sister, who shot him a smile. "To going full kook."
"To going full kook!" They all cheers they're cans.
"And already being a kook." Red corrected.
It was the next day, and both Red and Bennie were tied up picking up trash on the island thanks to the hurricane. Red walked alongside Bennie, avoiding Topper because he was with Sarah, listening to Bennie vent about her.
"And You should have been there, Red. She totally trashed John B!" She complained. "She got him fired! And on our way here, Topper picked her up and thankfully Rafe wasn't high enough yesterday to not be able to drive me here today."
"That's... quite a story, Ben. But you're brother's over there, lets go catch up to him." Red told her, walking over to where Topper and other teens were standing, carrying something in a jar that looked like pee, but was just some kind of vodka thing.
Bennie scrunched her face up when she saw Topper drink it and stood next to him, "Gross. What even is that?"
"You don't wanna know." Sarah told her, causing Bennie to fake laugh, clearly annoyed by Sarah treating her again, like a child.
"It's a lemonde vodka concoction." Red whispered in her ear.
"At least you have human decency." Bennie muttered, making Red chuckle.
Sarah took the beverage from Topper and took a sip. "Mm." She looked grossed out by it when she put it in her mouth.
Wheezie then grabbed it out of her sister's hands, taking a sip out of it.
"Woah, Woah, woah! Since when did you start drinking?" Asked Sarah, looking at her sister, who had only been a year older than Bennie.
"Since Today!" Wheezie chimed as Bennie chuckled.
"Wow, great going Kelce." Sarah handed it back to him.
Later that day, Red and Bennie were both aware that the Pogues would be sneaking into the country club to get internet access because neither of them had it, but didn't tag along for that bit, but they would later that day when they would sneak into the junkyard.
But for now, Red relaxed at her house along with Kevin when she knew her dad would be home and not suspect anything of her leaving since she had already been there most of the day.
Red walked over to when her father was sitting on the front porch, ready some articles and drinking lemonade.
She sat down in the chair across from him and poured herself some.
"Hey there Reding. How was the clean up?" He asked, not looking up from his article.
"Boring." Red reported. "Nothing new. What about you, how's your boat searching coming?"
Victor shrugged, "Not so well actually. Still no sign of it."
Red nodded, "Right."
"Also, now that you're here, can I talk to you about something?" He asked, finally putting down his paper.
"Yeah, anything." Red's heart secretly dropped, what if he found out? What if he already knew?
"So, I've heard there was a little... kegger on Friday night, and I heard that you were there." He told her, his stance turning serious.
"Yeah." Red nodded. "If you're asking if I drank, I didn't. I hate the taste of alcohol."
"I know you didn't drink, you're a good girl." He half-smiled. "But I'm aware there was a fight, and a gun was involved."
"Yeah... it was JJ, I think his name is-"
"You don't have to pretend you don't know what the boy's name is." He told her, sternly. "I'm simply asking for you to stay out of trouble."
"Of course." Red said. "Anything else?"
"Yeah... And you're not gonna like it."
Red snickered. "Try me." She took a sip of her lemonade.
"Lucas is in town."
Red spit out some of her water, "I'm sorry, come again?"
"Lucas is back in town." He looked over to his side. "He's just visiting though."
"Oh... Okay."
"Maybe you should drop by. Say hello." He recommended it. "He's a nice boy, right?"
"Yeah, he's plenty nice. But he left me for 2 months and never texted me back." Red looked down, her heart almost breaking all over again.
"Well I know he'd love to talk to you because he asked me to say hello to you for him."
"That doesn't mean he wants to see me." Red rolled her eyes at her father's uncultured words. "And if he really wants to say something to me, tell him he can do it himself. He's a big boy."
With that, Red sat back in her seat. "Fine, I'll be sure to carry that message."
"I'm gonna go, I have plans with Topper and Sarah." She lied.
"Okay, have fun." He told her as she bent down letting him kiss her head.
She stomped up the stairs to put something suitable on, as she would be distracting the guards from the boys later today.
As she began walking down the streets, she waved to some people cleaning up their front yards.
She entered the city area over by the wreck where people casually walked around because it was the historical part of town until a far too familiar blonde head filled her eyesight.
As he spotted her, he tilted his head ever so slightly to see how she'd react, but Red just turned her head from her ex-boyfriend and kept walking, but slightly faster.
But Lucas wasn't about to give up that easy, he pushed through some people to walk beside her.
"Hey... Red." He muttered, also uncomfortable.
The girl didn't care to look at him or respond to his hello.
"Red." He stopped walking for a second so he could be slightly behind her. "Look. Please just let me talk to you."
Red did a 180 to face the blonde, "Who the hell Do you think you are?"
"Someone you're pissed at?" He spoke the words straight out of her brain.
"What are you doing here, Lucas?" She asked, finally looking at him.
"We... bought a vacation home here. Since we can't live here... anymore." He explained.
"That's really good for you, Luke." She began walking again.
"We won't be here long, I'll just stay outta your hair then." He stopped behind her, causing her to stop and turn back to face him.
"That would be much appreciated." She had a saddened look on her face as the words slipped out of her mouth.
Lucas sighed and put his earphones back in, shaking his head. "Then I guess I won't see you around." He sounded disappointed too.
"Wait." Red stopped him from walking away. "Look, I'm sorry. Just... you coming back caught me off guard, alright?"
"Yeah... I'm really sorry about that. I would've texted you but..."
"You don't remember my number." Red finished. "Yeah, that explains why you ghosted me."
"I didn't ghost you, Red. I would never do that." Lucas explained. "I had to change my number because some... guy removed all my data from my old phone, I couldn't find your number now that that information was gone."
Red took a breath at all the information she wished she had known before she started holding a grudge against the person she thought was too much of a wimp to break up from her. "Wow."
Lucas walked close to her, this time about a foot away. "Look. I'm not asking you to believe me. But just don't hate me. Before we started dating... we were best friends. And I miss being your friend in general."
Red smiled. "Yeah. I miss being your friend too."
"So, do you not hate me then?" He asked.
Red chuckled, "We'll see how it goes."
"That's all I needed." Said Lucas, walking away. "Bye."
"Adios."
As if on cue, JJ appeared in front of her, she smiled at the sight of him, but still wasn't expecting to see him there, "JJ! Hi."
"Hey." He muttered, he almost looked upset. "Who was that?"
"Just an... old friend I guess you could say." Red explained.
At the girl's words, JJ couldn't help but feel hurt as he recalled his past conversation with Bennie.
...
JJ approached the girl quickly, making sure not to seem too straightforward.
"Bennie." He cut in front of her, making her squeal. "Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you."
Bennie took a breath of relief, "Oh, it's just you. What's up?"
"I have a question."
"Look JJ, Coffee smells better than it tastes and chocolate tastes better than it smells, we are not having this conversation again." Bennie laughed.
"It's not about that!" JJ assured her. "And coffee does not smell better than it tastes, who likes the smell of coffee? No one."
"Whatever helps you believe." Bennie teased. "But actually, what do you want?"
"Well, I was kinda wondering if you knew if Red is... y'know, dating anybody?" He asked, stammering his words.
"No, why?" Bennie realized what he meant and let out a squeal. "YOU LIKE RED! And I'm the first to know?"
"Let's not- jump to conclusions, Bentley." JJ shushed her. "But yes, you're the first I've told, BUT it's pretty clear to everyone. Except Red of course."
"Doesn't matter." Bennie shook her head, still grinning ear to ear. "Wait, before you go for the gold, I should probably fill you in."
JJ nodded, "Go ahead."
"So about two months ago Red did have a boyfriend, they dated for like two years, solid, his name was-"
"Lucas?" Asked JJ, earning a nod. "Figured, go on."
"So her and Lucas... well I'm not sure about all the details cause Red really hates to talk about it, but Lucas moved away on a basketball scholarship and completely ghosted her."
"What a d***." JJ cursed, mad that anyone would ever, ever ghost a girl like the one he couldn't get off of his mind.
"I know." Bennie crossed her arms. "She's barely talked about him ever since. Apparently he's the only boy she'd ever brought into her house and her dad approved of."
"By the way." JJ scooted closer to Bennie as if about to whisper something. "Do you know if Red ever..."
"Dude!" Bennie elbowed him. "But... no. I think she's still... you know- not uh- you know what I mean. She wants it to be special. I think."
"Thanks for your help." JJ smiled.
...
"Was that Lucas?" Asked JJ. "Like- the Lucas?"
Red took a sigh, "yeah... it was."
"So are you two like- back together or something?" He almost looked hurt by the matter.
Red looked over her shoulder to Lucas, who was now far behind. "I doubt it."
JJ nodded slowly, "Well, let's get to the junkyard.
With that, Red nodded and walked the rest of the way to John B's house, then drove to the junkyard with everyone.
"You know what your problem is?" JJ asked Pope, once again fighting him in the twinkie as Kie got out with Bennie.
"Your's?"
"No! It's that you need to relax man, you're always so tense." JJ told him.
"And you don't 'get creative' Pope." Bennie quoted JJ from the days before when he had been arguing with Pope.
"Exactly, I mean-" JJ then realized Bennie was mocking him. "Okay, that hurt. That was so rude, Bennie."
"Really?"
The three began to have it out. Pope and Bennie against JJ in the back seats.
John B stuck his head out the window, "Hey, don't worry. You girls got this." He assured the two.
"It's not us that I'm worried about." Kie pointed to the backseat where they continued arguing.
Red and Kie began walking over to the guard shack, yelling for them.
"Excuse me." Kie waved her hand in the air.
The guard came out of his shack, "May I help you ladies?"
"Hi! We actually have a flat tire, Could you help us out?" Red smiled sweetly.
The guard thought for a moment. "Yeah."
"That was too easy." Kie smiled, fistbumping the girl beside her.
Once the guard was finished grabbing a spare tire and the tools to help her out, Kie led him to the car, where the flat tire lay.
"It's just this back one, right here." She directed him. "I mean it must've been a slow leak or something." Kie leaned up against a boat.
"Probably just been sitting in the yard too long." The guard explained as Red waved the boys that it was clear.
"Yeah." Kie agreed.
"That would make sense, wouldn't it?" Red followed along.
He looked at them for a moment, "Yeah- I got this."
The two took turns either looking at him, eachother, or making sure the boys were in.
"Need any help, or do you got it?" Red offered, though not knowing how to change a tire in the slightest.
"No, I got it."
Just then, a dog started barking, gaining the attention of the guard. "Do you hear that?" He asked the girls.
"Hear what?"
"I don't hear anything."
The man stood up, facing into the junkyard. "Tebow's got something."
"It's probably just a racoon, maybe. You know?" Kie suggested.
"Yeah, it's probably nothing to be concerned about." Red added.
"Yeah." The man agreed, turning to the tire again.
Kie hurried over to the other tire to poke it flat with her clip, as Red started small talk with the guard, still fixated on the tire.
Unfortunately, Kie's tire deflating was just a little to loud not to notice, and the guard began running to the junkyard when he noticed what she was doing.
As Kie got in the truck, Red was hesitant to get in.
"What?" Kie asked, in a hurried tone.
"Hold on, I gotta do something." Red sprinted into the junkyard hiding behind a boat, squatting on the ground at the sound of JJ's voice.
"Don't shoot!" He yelled, putting his hands up so the guard could see. "It's me... JJ. Luke's kid."
"What are you doin'?" Asked the guard.
"I swear, okay. I didn't want to!" JJ told him. "My dad made me..."
"Don't you lie!"
"He told me that Captain Leo kept his cutting torch... you know, after. You know, he got fired." Red realized that JJ was crying, and she couldn't tell if it was real or not, but either way she wanted nothing more than to comfort him. "He said if I didn't get it for him... he was gonna hit me again."
The guard scoffed in pity, "Son of a bitch."
"I'm sorry..."
"Come on down." The guard instructed, as JJ did so. "I almost killed you."
"I know." The blonde sniffled. "I'll just come up with something... Tell him I couldn't find it."
"Alright."
"Sorry."
As JJ began walking, Red knew what she had to do to guarantee her dad would never find out about this. Both didn't have great outcomes.
Option 1 was to have her dad find out, and probably never see her friends again. Or she could do something different, but there was no guarantee her dad wouldn't see it coming.
"Wait!" Red shouted, acting like she had just run into the junkyard. "Oh there you are Bobby."
"Oh, and you, I'll be sure your father hears about this." He put his hands on his hips.
"No... It's not like that." Red told him. "JJ, would you come here a second?"
JJ nodded and stood beside her. "Yeah."
"Babe, don't cry. We can explain this to him." JJ seemed stunned by her calling him 'babe' but played along as she wiped his fake tear.
"I know... I just don't want you to get in trouble."
"I won't. We can explain this to him." Red looked back at Bobby, her hands on JJ's arm. "You see... JJ needed me and Kie to be a distraction for him... he really didn't want anyone to see because he thought maybe Luke would get in trouble. So we agreed."
"And why would you agree to that? Why would you do that for him, you were raised better than that." Bobby asked.
Red looked up at JJ and gave him a sincere look. "I'd do anything for him. He's my rock." She looked back at the guard, "I was gonna wait till later to tell my dad about... us. But I guess now it's about to be out in the open."
"No." Bobby sighed. "I know what it's like to be in love. It makes you stupid sometimes. I won't tell your dad, but I think the longer you wait to tell him, the more painful it'll be."
"I know." Said Red. "I just don't want him to be upset. Thank you, Bobby. I really do appreciate it."
Bobby nodded, "Good luck out there."
Red nodded as she walked away with JJ, hands still on his arm. They walked together more until a strong force pulled Red to the side behind a storage container.
"What are you doing?" Red asked, looking at the boy who had just pulled her to the side.
"Did you mean it?" JJ asked.
"Mean what?"
"What you said... Back there." JJ asked, eyes fixated on the floor.
"I mean... I thought we were roleplaying, wasn't that the entire point?" Red reminded him, confused.
"Yeah it was but it felt so... sincere. It felt real." JJ expressed, pronouncing every syllable of his speech.
"Well... I don't know."
"Why not!?" JJ asked. "Why don't you know? You're confusing me."
"It's not rocket science, JJ." Red rolled her eyes. "What are you confused about?"
"It's just, one minute we are full-on flirting, and the next you're hanging out with an 'old friend'. That's what confuses me." Red crossed her arms, still flabbergasted. "We almost kissed, Red. Hell, we slept in the same bed."
"I do not know what you're talking about, JJ."
"I just need you to give me some type of sign. A sign that'll tell me that maybe I'm not the only one feeling everything." JJ began rushing his speech and pacing. "Red, I haven't taken you off of my mind since the hurricane. I always saw you, but the day I saw you floating on your board was the day that I actually looked at you. And I don't mean looking at you in a sensual way. I mean looking at you as in someone that I was drawn to, someone I know I can't have but it doesn't help."
"JJ-"
"Red, for the first time ever, I don't care what you can give me when it comes to sex. I care about you and who you are and I haven't even seen you in that way."
"JJ!"
"When it's two in the morning , I can't sleep because all I see is visions of what we could be if you feel the same. Because the truth is, I would love you no matter what the weather is. Because when I look at you, I don't want to change you, I don't want to fix you, I just want to be there with you through all of it."
"JJ!" Finally, he looked at the girl with tears in her eyes.
Red stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him in a tight hug as JJ's arms wrapped around her waist.
"I know."
For JJ, that was all she needed to say. Those words were the only three he was waiting for before he planted a genuine kiss on her lips, as if he'd been longing for it, because he had been.
JJ would be riding high that night.
well its about damn time
that they kissed.