The bonfire, an Outer Banks tradition. It was the same weekend every year. Everyone went. And I mean everyone. After finding a fortune and losing it and thinking that John B and Sarah were dead it feels good to return to some normalcy.
Within a minute of getting to the bonfire I've got a beer in hand. Kie and Pope have wandered off leaving me with Rafe, JJ, and John B. John B is talking about his breakup with Sarah.
"She's like, 'That's it.'" John B says.
"I know. But, dude, her father blew up right in front of her. Just give her a minute, all right?" JJ tells him. "In the meantime, shotgun right now." JJ grabs a can of beer. "Like old days..."
"Hey, derelicts!" Yvonne shouts as she tosses a beer can at us.
"Hey, there she is. That's you." JJ wraps his arms around Rafe and I. "We're out of here. Goodnight."
I shrug his arm off me. "Nah. You're on your own."
"Where you two going?" JJ asks.
Rafe grabs my hand. "To take my mind off of things."
Rafe and I start to drink, maybe a little too much. But I know Rafe is hurting. He can have one night of fun. I smile as I wrap my arms around Rafe's neck. He places his hand on my hips.
"I'm glad you came," I tell him.
"You're taking my mind off of everything and I'm grateful," Rafe tells me.
"I know it's been hard," I tell him. "I'll take care of you."
"I told you I would take care of you," Rafe reminds me.
"And I'm grateful for that," Rafe tells me.
I pull him towards me into a kiss. After a moment I pull away. "I'm going to find Kie."
Rafe makes a face. "You really just gonna walk off on me?"
I smile as I start to walk away. "I'll find you later."
Rafe grabs my arm and pulls me back towards him. "Did I tell you how good you look tonight?"
I laugh lightly. "Yeah?"
Rafe nods. "Yeah."
Rafe leans forward and kisses me. He puts his hands on my hips and pulls us closer together. Rafe sucks in a breath as I start to kiss along his jaw down his neck.
Rafe pulls away slightly out of breath. "Let's dip."
"No. I wanna stay. Bonfire only happens once a year," I tell him.
Rafe puts his hand on my check. "Come on. We can have way more fun away from all these people."
I push him away from me slightly. "I need another drink."
Rafe grabs me by the waist. "Come on Addie."
I shake my head. "Nope. You gotta be patient."
I walk off and find Kie.
"Where have you been?" Kie asks.
"With Rafe," I tell her.
Kie points behind me. "Is that why he's looking at you like wants to yell at you but also make out with you all at the same time?"
I smile. "That would be why."
The next thing I know John B, Sarah, Topper, and Yvonne are fighting.
"You wanna start shit right now?" Topper asks John B.
"Do I wanna start some shit?" John B asks.
Everyone circles around them knowing shit is going to pop off.
"Come on, John B. Kick his ass!"
"They all know what happened last time," Topper taunts.
Sarah shoves John B. "Just get out! Just go!"
"I'll beat your ass," Topper threatens.
"Get out of here, Topper," John B tells him. "He started it, Sarah."
"Don't even think about it," Sarah tells Topper.
Kelce steps in between Sarah and John B. "Hey, she don't want you anymore, bro."
"Shut the hell up!" John B tells him. He turns to walk away.
"What you gonna do, John B, kill me like you killed Sheriff Peterkin? Do something!" Kelce taunts.
The crowd cheers as John B punches Kelce in the face. Topper grabs a hold of John B and throws John B to the ground.
"Get him!"
"Stop! Stop!" Sarah shouts.
"Do they ever not cause problems?"
Kelce tries to push past a guy and when he spills the guys drink, they start to go at it.
"Suck on this! Piece of shit!"
Kie and I try to push our way through the crowd. "Move! Move!"
Sarah screams as Yvonne shoves her and she falls to the ground.
"Sarah!" John B shouts.
I shove Yvonne out of the way. "Move, bitch! What's your problem?"
"Hey, what the hell?" Yvonne shouts.
"You all right?" Kie asks Sarah.
"Whose side are you on?" Yvonne asks.
"She's our friend," Kie tells her.
"You belong with us!" Yvonne shouts.
"Remember what happened on the beach? Do you wanna go through that again?" Topper taunts.
"Hey!" Pope shouts as he finally gets to John B. "JJ!"
Kelce grabs Pope and starts to punch him.
"Stop doing this!" I shout.
Rafe pulls Topper off of John B. "Get off of him!"
"It's not worth it," Kie states. Pope punches Kelce in the face. "We gotta get out of here! Come on!"
Finally, JJ, Pope, Rafe and John B stop fighting.
"You good? You good? All right," JJ says.
"I'm good," John B tells him.
"Get out of here, Pogue!"
JJ grabs my hand. "Let's go!"
"Kie, let's go!" Pope shouts.
"Go back to the Cut."
We head back to the van.
"Well, that was a little unexpected," JJ states.
"Was it?" Kie counters.
"We couldn't just have one night without some shit going on," I state.
"Hey, maybe she'll come around," JJ tells John B.
"It's like everything that happened to us didn't matter," John B says.
We pull ourselves together and head back to John B's. The boys get a fire going and we start making smores.
"I've had more black eyes in the last month than I've ever had," Pope states.
"That was building up for years. Rumble in the jungle," JJ says.
"Hey, did you two really stick up for Sarah?" John B asks Kie and I.
"Of course we did," Kie tells him.
"She's not a real Kook," I add.
"Right," John B says.
"Yeah, tell that to Topper," Pope remarks.
"I just want one bite. That... Mmm," John B says as he grabs Kie's s'more.
"What are you doing? No, stop!" Kie shouts.
"You're not having any of mine," JJ insists.
"I thought you were gonna share," John B says.
"I spent the last of my money on that," Kie reminds him.
"Sixteen years in most federal prisons," John B says.
"I'm stealing your marshmallow," Kie tells him.
"I believe that's a... not even a fair trade," Pope says.
"It's not at all. Not even close," Kie insists.
"Key. Hey." John B shushes us. "Somebody's here."
"You don't think that Topper would..." I trail off.
"I wouldn't put it past him," JJ insists.
"Do you have your gun?" I ask him.
"Oh, now she wants the gun," JJ remarks.
"Oh, now you don't have the gun?" I ask.
"No," JJ tells me.
"Isn't that your 'secret' weapon?" I taunt.
"Shut up," John B tells us.
"Goddamn, now she wants the gun," JJ says.
We start to creep away from the fire.
"Hey, who's out there?" John B asks.
"You Kooks better not try anything," Kie says.
"Who's there?" JJ asks.
Renfield walks out from the dark, his hands in the air. "How y'all doing?"
Rafe pulls me closer to him.
"It's this piece of shit," Pope remarks.
"You gotta be kidding me," JJ says.
"Lovely evening we're having," Renfield says. "Look, I, uh... I don't hold a grudge with any of y'all, all right?" He puts his hands down. "But this can go hard, or this can go easy." He opens his jacket and spins showing us he doesn't have any weapons. "You know what I'm here for. Let me give you a little demonstration. You see that swing? I got the best bow hunters in the Army Rangers with me. Hidden." He whistles and an arrow goes whizzing by us and imbedded itself into the tree. "Now, they're out there. They'll stick you just as soon as I say so." JJ goes to hit Renfield with a metal bar and Renfield whistles again. An arrow lands centimeters from JJ's foot. "Uh, uh, uh. We clear? Now, I'm not gonna give you a countdown or any bullshit like that. I'm just gonna whistle."
Pope reaches into his pocket and pulls out the key. He goes to hand it to Renfield but pulls it away. "No."
"Oh." Renfield looks pissed.
"This key belongs to my family," Pope tells him.
Renfield laughs. "I'm losing my patience with you, Pope." Pope thinks for a moment before handing the key over. "Did the right thing, kid. Knowing when you don't have a choice is an underappreciated talent. You be safe." He turns to leave. "Easy there. Y'all have a good night." He whistles again before leaving.
"I'm so sick of this shit," Pope says before walking off.
Rafe and I sit on the porch. I shake my head.
"I thought tonight was going to be stress free," I confess.
Rafe laughs lightly. "You should have known nothing is stress free when Kooks and Pogues are involved."
I sigh. "I gotta ask. Do you know what's going on with Sarah and Topper?"
"I'm not exactly the first person Sarah talks to about boys," Rafe tells me. "I don't know. Maybe her and John B are really done."
"I think she'll come around," I confess.
"Really?" Rafe asks.
I nod my head. "They're John B and Sarah, they'll work it out no matter how complicated it is." I look at Rafe for a moment. "What if we just dipped?"
Rafe looks at me confused. "What?"
"I'm really sick of all this, Rafe. We couldn't even make s'mores without someone threatening to kill us. We find this cross. We take the money, and we finally get out of here."
"That's your big plan?" Rafe asks.
"Yeah," I tell him. "We can travel the world with all the money we'll have."
"What about my sisters?" Rafe asks.
"Wheezie has Rose. That's her mom she would never let anything happen to Wheezie," I tell him. "And Sarah... Sarah has the crew and when she comes back around, she'll have John B."
Rafe nods slightly. "Where are we gonna go?"
"Spain, Thailand, Brazil," I tell him.
"And after?" Rafe asks.
"Wherever we want to go," I tell him.
"Sounds like a dream," Rafe states.
"Yeah," I agree. "But sometimes it's nice to play pretend."
Rafe wraps his arms around me. "One day I'm gonna take you wherever you wanna go."