XXII. WRONG SIDE OF THE BED
"where is he?" pope groaned. "i got my scholarship interview tomorrow."
"this is fun!" holly yelled from where kie and her tested the winch strength.
"speak of the devil," jj laughed as john b walked into the yard. "hey!"
"hey," briar walked up to him. "how was fishing? good catch?"
he brushed by her, sending her stumbling into the swing.
"woah," the girl gasped. "what the fuck is up with you?"
"somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed," holly snapped.
"dude, i set up the entire winch to pull up the gold and everything," jj bragged.
"no, he did not," pope yelled. "i did that."
"hey," kie tried to stop the routledge boy.
"okay, that's it?" jj asked, obviously confused.
"uh. . . what's that all about?" pope asked.
briar rolled her eyes and shrugged. "his pregnancy hormones are getting to him."
"i was gonna ask you the same question," jj looked at pope.
the pogues followed john b inside to see him rattling through drawers in a panic.
"you all right, man? what's up?" pope asked.
"what are you looking for?" kie said curiously.
"bro, what's going on?" jj snapped.
"what is up with you?" briar half-yelled. and then her boyfriend pulled the gun from under the couch cushions.
"john b," jj gasped. "what do you need the gun for?"
"think this through," holly said quickly.
"talk to us!" jj insisted. john b threw jj down onto the pullout sofa.
"john b, chill!" kie yelled. "what are you doing?"
"what, are you jj now?" pope screamed in his face. john b threw pope into a table.
"john b," briar yelled, following him. "what the fuck?"
"what the hell are you doing?" kie followed briar quickly. the girls shared a look, both clearly confused by the situation at hand.
"what the hell?" holly trailed them as john b got on jj's bike.
"ward knows about the gold," the distraught boy yelled, his voice hoarse. "he killed my dad."
the teen tore off in the dirt. briar looked to her sister, baffled. their uncle? a killer? when they thought hard it made a good bit of sense, but at first? no way.
"what the fuck?" pope gasped as john b drove further and further away.
🃏
"what now?" jj raised his voice. "we just go up to the front door and ask, 'hey, have you seen john b'?"
"look, he lives at tannyhill now," kie defended. "it's plausible."
"there's no way he'd come back here after what he said earlier," briar shook her head. "if he thinks ward killed big john, he's out looking for revenge."
"look, we can just play dumb," kie said.
"play dumb?" jj asked.
"it's pretty late," pope sighed, lips tight. "i bet pear's tired."
"look, i've never seen john b like that," kie said quietly. "we should honestly be going to the cops."
"bright fucking idea, kiara," briar yelled. "let's get the father of my baby arrested while we're at it."
"princess is right," jj scoffed. "the cops? and say what, kie? we're worried about our friend because he's on a rampage because ward cameron killed big john? like, they're not gonna believe us!"
"hey," pope interrupted. "i see ward."
"let me see," kie snatched the binoculars.
"doesn't look dead to me," pope observed. "let's go home."
"what?" kie whipped around.
"uh. okay," pope sighed. "obviously, mr. cameron is fine, and even if john b was here, he isn't now, okay? plus, i have the biggest, most important moment of my life in six hours."
"yeah, well, our friend is in trouble," kie snapped.
"so is pope's goddamn education!" briar yelled. "we can't all turn into dropouts! if the man wants to go home, for god's sake, fucking let him!"
"guys, i haven't been home in three days," pope explained. "my dad's probably put all my shit on the street by now."
"okay, so that's it?" kie asked as she tested up. "in a time of need, you're just gonna bail? you're just gonna walk away?"
"hey, yo, guys," jj begged. "can we not do this right now?"
"hey," pope snapped. "i have a scholarship interview in the morning."
"okay, well, what about john b?" kie screamed.
"why is it always about john b?" pope screamed.
"it's not always about john b!" kie yelled. "you're so stupid. it would be any of you in this situation."
"oh, bullshit!" pope hollered.
"this is about friendship!" kie defended.
"bring it down," jj pleaded. briar sighed into holly's side. the valentine sisters watched the argument comfortably from their seat next to jj.
"this is about pogues for life!" kie cried.
"what about forensic pathology, huh?" pope yelled.
"forensic pathology?" kie was hyperventilating at this point.
"it's my life," pope yelled. "everything i've worked for. stop the moral high ground bullshit?"
"pope, come on!" jj yelled.
"no, no," pope snapped. "she has no room to talk. where were you when big john went missing? you weren't there. you weren't there for john b. you weren't there for any of us. remember your kook year?"
"watch it, pope," holly warned, standing up.
"yeah, you forgot about us," pope spit. "now you feel guilty."
"give me a break," kie shoved pope. "that what you need? you need a break? move!"
"stop it!" holly tried to push herself between her sort-of girlfriend and pope.
"cut it out, all right?" jj shoved himself between the two. "if i'm the one mediating, we've hit rock bottom. bow, now. pope, i'll drop you off."
kiara and pope sat on opposite ends of the boat. where did they all go from here?
SADIE SPEAKS!
word count: 940
shortie but shit is
about to get REAL