CHAPTER ONE
the fellowship of the pogues
From the very beginning, it was always Kooks and Pogues. That's how it's always been. Some people made the best of it, and some people fought against it.
I've been taught to fight it. My father lost everything he had fighting being a Pogue. Fuck, he lost his life. The Merchant gold was part of that fight. He used to say that it was our way out. I wasn't much of a believer. John B, on the other hand... Well, he did like playing explorers with our pops.
My father used to say that gold was our way to even the scales - how the Pogues win. Lately I've been thinking that maybe he was wrong all this time along. The gold wasn't an escape. It has always been a trap.
It's been a month since we fled from Ward's ship. An entire month, stranded on a deserted island. A month.
My perception of time has started to shift. Days have become much longer than they used to be. I try to keep my mind occupied all the time, because if I don't, my depressing thoughts will consume me.
Don't get me wrong, it's not all that bad. I love Poguelandia - that's how JJ named our island. Turns out he got an artist in him. He drew our flag - it's a beautiful chicken with a bra, smoking a joint. I helped him hang it from a palm tree, cheering him on and laughing our asses off.
I've been spending a lot of time with the girls, too. Cleo, Sarah, Kiara and I have been creating and crafting all we could to make this island feel like a home. We're pretty satisfied with our work. We are truly the best of friends.
Kiara and I worked out our problems, turns out all we needed was a night alone crying on each other's shoulders. We've been inseparable ever since. Sarah says she's glad we're fine now, she told me she couldn't stand when we were being bitches to each other. She had a point, to be fair.
And as for Cleo... I just adore her. She fits just right in our group. She has the same wild personality as JJ, and she joins us most of the time in our pranks and shitty ideas around the beach. I also think she's becoming sweet on Pope, but he's not aware of that just yet.
I'm not sure if I want to go back to Kildare. I miss my home, sure, but everything is so much easier here. We don't have to worry about people shooting at us, losing our house, debts and being orphans. Poguelandia freed us from everything.
That's what JJ and I have been talking about for a while now. He's focused, showing me how to make a shitty spear to help us catch some fish for dinner. I asked if he'd ever wanted to be rescued.
"Rescued?" He chuckles, glancing briefly at my hands with a smirk. "From what? From..." He gestures around us, "from paradise?"
"So you're not going back?" I ask, smiling sweetly at him.
"No, I'm not going back." He shakes his head. "Ever. I mean, look around. We got everything we need," He stops and looks me in the eyes, "Right here."
"Aw, J..." I wave my hand playfully. "I love you, too but," JJ raises both of his eyebrows with a curious smile, "I have to be honest, I'd kill for a shower and shampoo right now."
"What?" He says in a high-pitched voice. "Your hair looks fine."
I let out a loud cackle that makes him laugh, too. "You're such a liar!"
My hair has been in a ponytail for the last six days, I think. Cleo, Kie and me are having a bit of a rough time. Curly hair does not like being on a deserted island. Blondie luckily survives, but try washing Cleo's hair in salt water. We would not recommend it.
"All right, all right..." Laughter dies down, and JJ puts up his spear. "How's yours looking?"
"It'll have to do, I guess."
"Okay, you ready to provide for the family?"
"I guess." I shrug. "Are you sure you don't want Cleo doing this instead of me?" I ask, scrunching up my nose.
"Cleo stabbed her own toe. She's out of the game." JJ says, standing up.
"Yeah, well, I'm not sure I'm gonna be any better but okay."
"That's my girl, always radiating positivity." JJ jokes. "Come on, let's go kill something."
"Jeez, you don't have to say it like that." I stand up and follow his lead to the shore.
"But that's exactly what we're gonna do!"
"It sounds awful, J."
"Well, that's the circle of life, Bee. Unless you want to eat coconuts forever."
"Fuck coconuts. If I see one ever again I'm throwing myself off that cliff."
JJ takes his shirt off, and throws it to the side. It lands on the sand, and we forget about it, stepping into the Caribbean waters. I'm trying to focus real hard on the instructions JJ and my brother have given me. I've never been one to go fishing.
"Okay, you ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"All right, remember, watch your shadow. They see that, they're gone."
"Okay, got it." I say, gripping the spear with both of my hands.
"And your toes, watch your toes. We don't have the tools to perform amputations here." He smirks.
"Bold of you to joke like that when I could kill you with this right now."
"All right, sorry." He laughs. "You can do it. Just like we practiced yesterday, okay?"
I nod and focus on the water. I see small fishes moving around, but nothing out of the extraordinary that would feed seven people. JJ, on the other hand, starts calling my name and pointing at what seems to be a skate. We move an inch closer, and it draws its attention.
"He sees me! He's coming over by you!"
"Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!"
"He's coming towards you!"
"I know, I see it!"
"This is it! This is the time!"
"J, I can't do it!" I've watched Finding Nemo too many times to be hunting for fish like this.
JJ splutters, and throws himself to the skate. Unfortunately for me, he misses it, and it leaves us with no other choice but me - because I've seen where it's gone. JJ is searching frantically for it and it takes everything in me to not cry and throw myself over to the poor creature.
I feel my spear piercing through its body, and when the water tints red I know I didn't miss. JJ looks at me proudly when I raise my spear, the skate bleeding and still moving on the pointy end.
"Oh, my God. I did it!" I squeal.
"You did it! We're having skate tonight!"
I throw myself to JJ, not minding the spear, and I almost stab him with it. He takes a step back, almost tripping and widening his eyes.
"Whoa! Careful with that!" His voice takes a high-pitched turn.
"Sorry!" I try not to laugh, moving the spear away from him, so he can finally wrap me in his arms.
He laughs, kissing the top of my head, and takes the spear out of my hands. He gives me his to hold it while he checks the skate, and we make our way back to our little campsite.
Our friends are all there. They've finished their tasks of the day and are sitting comfortably in a circle, laughing and joking. I throw the spear next to the place where we light up our fire, and leave JJ behind knowing he would take care of the skate.
I run happily to my friends, and take a seat between John B and Cleo, who are sitting in a fallen log. My twin smiles and throws his arm over my shoulders giving me a squeeze. He then lets go, keeps up with the conversation. JJ joins us soon after, and he chooses to lay down on the sand, next to Blondie, with whom he's developed a sort of a brotherly bond.
"John B." Sarah calls, "Your turn. Truth or dare?"
"All right, all right. Truth." He says, standing up to take the hat we had braided with leaves. He puts it on, signaling his turn to play.
Sarah hesitates, thinking of a good question, but then she smiles and asks, "If you could do it all again... what would you do different?"
"Uh, get the gold before Ward did." JJ answers instead.
"Maybe hide the cross a little bit better." Pope joins.
"Not yell "murderer" at Ward, maybe." Kie says.
"I think I'd try to dodge a bullet better." I say, caressing my arm, where the scar from the bullet that Rafe shot would permanently mark me.
"That's a good one." Cleo says, high fiving me.
"Uh, steal a couple of bottles of rum before we jumped off the boat?" John B jokes.
"Yeah, why didn't you do that, actually?" JJ turns to look at him.
"Maybe 'cause I was in a fight to the death?"
"You're so dramatic, JB." I roll my eyes playfully.
"I would look both ways before crossing the street." Cleo says, and looks directly at John B.
"Yeah, my bad. My bad."
"He ran me over once, too. It's nothing personal." I shrug, making Cleo laugh.
"I had just gotten my license!"
"So what? You forgot you're not supposed to hit your sister with your car?"
"All right, your turn, chief." Cleo cuts us off.
John B puts the hat on my head, making me laugh and I look at him expectantly waiting for his question.
"Brizo, my dearest sister, truth or dare?" John B asks, with his hand on his heart making us laugh.
"Uhm, truth." I say, because the last time I chose a dare, I ended up hanging from the top of a palm tree until Pope and Cleo came to help me get down again.
"Pff," John B scoffs playfully. "You're no fun." I push him, and he chuckles. "All right, what do you miss the most about the OBX?"
"My tampons and pads, probably." I shrug. The girls scream and clap for my answer, the three of them agreeing completely after the horrible and unspeakable torments we've had to face here in the last weeks.
"Hey, we bowed not to talk about that after the incident." Pope says, raising his eyebrows and pointing his index finger at me.
"I'm just being honest!" I laugh. "But you're right. Let's forget about the incident." I take the hat off, and stand up. I place it on Kie's head, and she makes a face. "Truth or dare, Kie?" I ask laughing.
"Truth." She says, while Sarah giggles in the background.
"All right... Um...," I think of something to ask.
"I got it." John B says, covering my face with his hand, pushing me to the side. "If you could go home, to your parent's house on Figure Eight this instant, would you do it?"
Kiara hesitates. We share a knowing look, both of us knowing what her answer was going to be. None of us wants to go back. That's one of the reasons why Kiara and I have become even closer than we were before. We put our problems aside, talked about what had been going on, and decided that our friendship was stronger than that.
Besides JJ, we're the only ones who haven't thought about the idea of a rescue team. Why would we? This is everything we've ever dreamed of. Full Pogue.
"No chance." Kiara finally says.
"Second it!" Blondie joins, although all of us know she's not as fully into this idea as we are.
"The shower's tempting, tho." Kie says, making me laugh.
"Oh, I could use a fat shower right now." John B sighs.
"Yeah, you smell like horse shit." I scrunch up my nose.
"Did you have to be so specific? Did it have to be horse shit?" JB squints his eyes at me.
"Yeah, it's the worst smelling shit." I nod my head vigorously.
"Fuck off, Bee." John B laughs and pushes me slightly. Still, I lose balance and fall backwards to the sand, making everyone laugh.
"All right, who's turn is now?" Cleo laughs, giving me a hand to help me stand up again.
"JJ's!" I point at him, and Kiara throws the hat at him. "Truth or dare?" I ask, wiggling my eyebrows.
He picks up the hat and puts it on, turning and looking at all of us with a sly smile. "I mean, do you even need to ask?"
I chuckle, and look around trying to come up with something that would actually be a dare for JJ. He's actually ruthless playing Truth or Dare. There's nothing he wouldn't do.
I feel a tap on my arm, and I frown looking at my brother. He points at Kie, who's looking at me knowingly. She points shyly with her knife to the cliff behind me, and my brain understands what she's trying to say. I let out a laugh and nod my head.
JJ seems to catch up, and looks behind me at the cliff. He then turns again to glance between Kiara and me with a big side smile.
"Big jump?" I dare. "You'd be the first."
He didn't even hesitate. JJ jumped to his feet and ran to the cliff before I could even finish speaking. The rest of us get up with laughter and walk closer to the rocks so we could have a better view of what was about to happen.
It didn't take long before we saw his silhouette on top of the precipice. I jump and put my hands around my mouth, cheering and yelling for him. Pope, who's next to me, joins me and also Sarah raises his hands in the air and gives excited little jumps.
"He's not gonna do it." Cleo says, with a smirk on her face.
"Oh, please! You don't know my boy, he's doing it." I assure her, making her laugh.
"He's not gonna do it!" She says louder, making JJ hear her.
He gestures to the edge and screams, "Oh, I won't, huh?"
"Bee is right. He is doing it." Pope smiles. "It's highly dangerous, uh, zero reward? Yeah, he's doing it."
"Well, that's the JJ we love, all right!" I laugh, wrapping my arm around Pope's shoulders, giving him a side hug.
Pope laughs, and wraps his arm around my waist. I bring Sarah in on the hug with my free arm, and she quickly joins, wrapping her arms around me, the three of us cheering for JJ.
We watch JJ take a running start, and not a second after he's flying on the air to the water, until he hits the surface with a loud splash. We go hysterical with laughter and cheers. Blondie and I jump around hugging each other.
"That's my boyfriend!" I scream, pointing at JJ's head breaking the surface gasping for air.
JJ comes out of the water screaming with happiness, and we run to his encounter. The boys make it first, pushing each other to the water again. We share hugs and cheers. I throw myself to JJ, giving him a loud peck on his lips, before he hoists me up making me squeal. He throws me on his shoulder while he keeps his arm around my legs, carrying me with him out of the water with our friends.
"I actually thought I was gonna die." He jokes, making everybody laugh.
"You looked like you were gonna die!" Pope says between laughs. "I thought you were gonna die!"
And that's another day that goes by in Poguelandia. Night comes in fast, and soon we're sitting around the fire, me with my head on JJ's shoulder while he and Cleo take care of cooking the skate.
It's always quiet at night. The only sounds are the wind howling and the crackling of the fire. Most of us are ready to go to sleep and call it a day, but Kiara, Sarah and I like to stay back sometimes. We wander to the shore, and we sit to talk. Cleo joins us most nights. Not today. She's worn out from walking around looking for berries with Pope.
"I thought I saw a boat today." Sarah breaks the silence in a whisper. She's sitting in the middle, with her chin resting on her knees.
"It wasn't a boat?" I ask confused.
"John B says it wasn't. For a moment I..." She takes a deep breath. "I thought my dad..."
"He's not looking for us, Blondie. We're safe." I try to comfort her, giving her arm a sweet squeeze.
"Yeah." She smiles sadly. "I guess you're right."
"I hope they never find us." Kiara mutters under her breath, looking at the dark horizon in front of us.
I agree with her, but seeing Sarah so sad, I didn't want to say it out loud. So instead, I give Kie a knowing look and she nods her head smiling at me. She understands we're on the same page here.
We shift closer to Sarah, and both Kie and I wrap our arms around her, squeezing her in a sandwich-hug. It seems to work, because Blondie giggles and holds on tight to our arms around her. We stay like that for a while, until our eyelids begin to fail us. Then we go to sleep.
------------------------------------------------------
welcome to season 3, my dear pogues
(and kooks, if there's any of you here too)
we're in for a wild ride. it's going to take some time to properly write the chapters and develop the story, with all the wild stuff that's happened in season 3 so, yeah. bear with me, please.
i've read your comments and messages, i know you've missed brizo. your fav girl is back <3 and she's meaner, braver and even more sarcastic than she was before. you can blame it all on the trauma.
hope you enjoy this wild ride!
i'll see you on the next chapter. x
-circe