Bennie and the jets - Elton John
"hey kid, shake it loose
together. The spotlights hitting
something that's been known to change
the weather."
POPE LET OUT A SHARP SHREIK, alerting the teens anxiously waiting around him for a response rolling onto the rusty wooden floor laid beside the cushions they had put together to break Pope's fall.
Red found herself pushed up against one of the dilapidated walls of the church beside JJ in John B, who continued trying to catch their breaths.
"Pope, are you okay?" Kie asked, snapping the rest of the pogues back into reality. Red followed as John B and JJ kneeled beside Pope, who still lay in the fetal position panting like a dog.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Just give me like, one second to like, catch my breath." Pope nodded, keeping his position on the floor.
Red stood up from her kneeling position next to the boy, walking straight up to the cross and running her finger over it with a chuckle. She turned back to Pope, a grateful smile plastered on her tanned face, "You did it, Pope."
John B and JJ soon followed Red as they approached the cross, touching their hands on the cold gold of the top of the artifact.
"Wow..."
"Pope... She's... she's beautiful." JJ smiled, his breath slightly delayed by the fact that he was still catching his breath while staring at the cross.
"I've never seen anything like this before." Bennie awed, running her fingers over the expensive stones of the cross. "Do we pray to it?"
"It's not an idol, Jet." John B chuckled, his eyes landing on the keyhole placed in the center of the cross. "Well, here's why Limbrey wanted the key so bad."
"Woah, good find. How much do you think she's worth?" JJ turned to John B, yet another pointless plan popping into his head. "Like, if we melted her old bones down, dude, I'm taking like high billions."
"No! No, JJ, this belongs in a museum."
"What? So no one sees her?"
"In a museum, where everyone sees it."
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Hey!" Pope yelled, getting the attention of the arguing boys. "It's my ancestor's cross."
"Right, okay. Alright, alright, well-"
"This is bigger than money." Pope acquired. "And the world's gotta know the truth."
"Yes, and if we don't get this shit out of here before Limbrey gets here, nobody's gonna know." John B reasoned, earning a head tilt in understanding from Red who stood beside him. "So saddle up."
Pope breathed in with his teeth, his eyes fixated on his hand where he was presumably stung. He made his way over to the rest of the group, who struggled to pick the cross up through grunts and groans.
"John B, your gonna pull. Alright, pull down."
"Alright, I'm gonna pull down, you guys pull up. Ready?"
The teens barely managed to get the heavy cross off of the ground until the orders they had been shouting came to a close and the cross fell to the floor with a metallic sound.
"Damnit, yo! You almost dropped it on my foot!" JJ groaned, turning over to Sarah while Pope faltered onto one of the pews.
"Cause I'm the only one lifting it!"
"Oh, you sure-"
"Hey, calm down." Red cut in, holding her arms out between the two. "So clearly we can't pick it up. Oh well, we'll have to find another way."
"We'll make like a sling. Like a little-" John B reasoned, snapping his fingers at the idea.
"Yeah, then we'll put on the tail hitch!"
John B and JJ's banter came to an end when Pope's voice echoed over to where they were standing. He was still hunched back on the pew and it was clear that something wasn't right. "Guys, guys, I'm not okay. I'm not okay."
"Your eye is all puffy..." Kie quired, following the rest of the teens surrounding Pope.
"I can't-" Pope took in a gasp for air, proving to them it was getting hard for him to breathe.
"He's having an allergic reaction," Bennie mumbled, now understanding how urgent the situation was. "Puffy eyes, getting hard to breath... uh- The wasp nest!"
"How many times did you get stung?"
Pope was on the verge of passing out while he desperately gasped for air in between Kie and John B who held him by his arms, trying to carry him out.
JJ rushed over to the cross, helping Red poorly cover it up with the cushions. Bennie stepped in front of them, holding her arms in front of the cross. "I'll stay here, I'll make sure nobody gets to it."
"Are you insane?!"
"Limbrey's gonna find you!"
"Don't worry about it! It won't happen." Bennie assured, taking one glance back at the cross. "I'll be fine. You have my location."
"JJ, Bennie, Red!" Kie called from outside, gaining both of their attention. "Come on!"
"Wait, here." JJ handed Bennie a small pocket knife from the back pocket of his cackie shorts. "Don't die, alright?" With that, JJ and Red rushed back out to the car, leaving the girl in the church with no company but the cross.
Bennie kneeled beside the cross, attempting to cover it up better with the cushions JJ had laid out, but it was still clear that there was a multi-billion dollar gold artifact underneath them.
Bennie whipped her head around at the sound of a small whistle coming from outside the church. Bennie's breath hitched. She knew she heard the truck leave. She knew she heard the shouting from her friends fade just a few minutes ago.
That's when it hit Bennie Thornton that somebody was outside and it wasn't the pogues. It was likely someone who wanted the cross and she couldn't let that happen.
But what could she do with a tiny pocket knife against Carla Limbrey?
It all seemed too real when the red doors of the church cracked open, revealing a face she wasn't particularly thrilled to see. It was Renfield, and once the huge man saw her, it was too late for Rafe to even process the fact that she was there or to yell when Renfield let go of the string of the arrow, piercing the girl's shoulder as she let out a shriek of pain.
Rafe immediately rushed to her side, holding onto her so she could softly land on the wooden floor. He let out a sigh of relief that the arrow hadn't hit her in a more fatal spot, but seeing the arrow fly past him made his heart rate spike.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! You shot a kid!" Rafe shouted, his grip on the girl remaining tight.
Renfield looked back up, setting the arrow down. He didn't even acknowledge Rafe's words, his eyes fixated on the cross and only the cross.
He kneeled beside it, uncovering it completely.
Bennie sat up, tugging away from Rafe, trying to charge at Renfield with the knife before being grabbed by Rafe. "No! No! You can't let him take it! Do something you can't let him have it!"
"Bennie- Bennie listen to me." Bennie continued yelling until Rafe raised his voice into a yell. "Listen to me!" He shouted, finally getting Bennie to shut up as she shot his wide eyes.
"This isn't his! This isn't yours!" Bennie faltered, almost pleading for Rafe to do something about it, but Rafe wouldn't budge. "Please!" Bennie let out her final plea, glancing down at her shoulder once more.
Rafe took a breath, not giving her an answer, but instead whistling over in Renfield's direction, "I'm sorry. You do not understand, I have to do this."
"No, you don't!"
Rafe shook his head, leaning down to Bennie's shoulder and sliding down the sleeve of her jacket. Luckily, the arrow had barely pierced the top of her shoulder, but it was still enough to draw some blood from where it had left its mark.
Rafe stood back up, annoyed that Bennie had made such a big deal out of something that could have been much worse. Bennie looked up at him, "What? What, Rafe?! Not enough blood for you?"
"You got a baby gash."
"Oh, oh my bad I wasn't super focused on how big it was. I was a little busy processing that an arrow almost hit me in my head!" Bennie exhilarated, holding one arm in Renfield's direction.
"Listen, just get in the truck," Rafe demanded, already fed up with his younger friend.
Bennie scoffed loudly, leaning just enough to see outside the crack of the door. "Are you crazy?! I'm not going anywhere."
If there was anything anyone could learn from Rafe Cameron, it was how to never take no for an answer. It's not a compliment, but coming from Bennie, it just might have been to Rafe. "I'm not asking. We'll talk about this later, Ben, I promise."
Rafe blocked out Bennie's objections as he led her outside and into the large semi-truck parked outside of the old church.
There wasn't anything she could have done to escape, but she hoped that once Rafe got his head straight, he'd let her go. She knew he was just trying to prove himself to his dad. He always had. That's why instead of finding a way to bust out of the truck, she sat patiently, hoping she'd be able to set him straight before he got the cross to Limbrey.
She watched as the sun went down in front of her eyes, waiting for Rafe and Renfield. She hoped that eventually she'd see the teens creep around, get her and the cross, and leave, but she never did. Bennie didn't even know what had happened to Pope, and being alone in the truck gave her time to dwell on the possibilities.
Eventually, both doors on the sides of the truck swung open, and Rafe and Renfield squeezed in on both sides of Bennie.
Bennie let out an exhausted sigh, clicking her tongue annoyingly. She looked to both sides of her, leaning forward to turn the radio on.
Rafe swatted her hand away from the buttons, shutting it off once again. "Would you not touch anything for two seconds?"
"I was just looking!" Bennie defended, holding both her hands up in defense.
Rafe soon put the truck into action, beginning to drive it out of the area. It was only when the semi had already been so far down the road that Bennie felt Renfield push her head down and hear the pogues outside the truck.
The pogues crowded the street behind the moving truck, feeling all hope they had of getting the cross slowly exiting their mindset.
"We gotta get back to the church!" Pope shouted, starting down the road in front of all the other pogues, who continued sprinting to the church.
A creak of the rusty church door opening sounded all too familiar for Red as they arrived at the church, and stepped inside the old building with only JJ's flashlight to guide them throughout.
Red followed behind Pope, who held the same expression on his face as the rest of them. It was easily recognized as a disappointment.
"Damn it!" JJ exclaimed, kicking the side of one of the pews. "I knew I didn't hide it well enough!"
"They must've taken Bennie too." Red pointed out, looking over towards John B, who was beginning to let the stress get to him.
"We need a plan. We need a plan. What's the plan?" JJ ranted. "Alright here's what we'll do, We'll grab some kerosene tanks from the Chat. Then we... we go to my dad's shop and grab some dynamite and then we drive down to Charleston and show this Limbrey lady who she's messing with! Because this is some bullshit, y'all! Now they got the cross, now they got Bennie!"
"That's not gonna help."
"Then what is, Sarah?!"
"I'm thinking, okay." John B assured, trying to keep his voice light. "You can't just go blow shit up, JJ."
"Pope, I'm sorry." JJ turned to Pope, who still had no expression on his face, which wasn't a good sign.
"Denmark would've stood right here..." Pope stood over at the front of the church, while the rest of the pogues gathered around the hallway. "Preaching to everyone he set free. A sole survivor of the Royal Merchant, he got the gold and the cross and he brought them both to shore and used it to free every person who walked through these doors." Pope paused for a moment, walking around the podium. "He made a church, a family, a congregation... A home. And the Limbrey's took everything from him. They sicced dogs on his wife and his kids, and when he tried to go get her remains, they hung him! Well, I'm done. I'm tired of that shit. That is not how this is gonna end. We need a freaking win, guys. And we're not gonna let them take that from us. I'm going to get my family's cross, and we're going to get Bennie." Pope sighed, creaking the door back open before turning to his friends again. "You guys coming?"
"Well, if you put it that way."
"Maybe we should think about out, y'know..."
"Pros and cons?"
"Pros and cons list!" John B swung his arm around JJ's shoulder, strutting out of the church alongside him. "Hell yeah, we're coming, Pope!"
Red wrapped her arms around Kie and Sarah, walking out with them. "What are it and motivational speeches today?"
"Right?"
It wasn't long until the pogues were on their way back out of the church once again, but once full of hope, soon not to be, because just as they were about to get on the main road, cops swarmed the area of the crashed patrol car from less than an hour before.
"Oh shit, they found the truck!" Kie quired, tapping rapidly on Red's shoulder as she leaned forward in her chair.
"Chill, chill, chill, chill."
"Relax, just relax!"
"Well, lookee here." Shoupe's voice echoed through Red's mind as her father came into her eye line.
"Good evening, officer." John B greeted, keeping his head low as Shoupe approached him with the flashlight.
"Sheriff."
"Sheriff, yeah that's right." John B breathed. "Speed kills, huh?"
"You think I don't know my patrol car?" Shoupe scoffed, pointing the flashlight at Kie and Red. "Hey, Kie, did you drop your weed pen back there? Yeah, we've been lookin' for you too."
"Sir, I just want to say, this is all my fault." Pope voiced. "Red had nothing to do with this, I took 100% responsibility.
"Nothing to do with it? Uh-huh. You wanna try that again?" Shoupe scoffed. "I'm takin' both of you girls home. I believe me and you gotta have a little chat, Reding."
"Do we?" Red hummed, sliding the door open and slipping outside of the Twinkie alongside Kie, who was escorted off the scene in a different car.
"Thank you, Plumb. Yeah- I appreciate it." Shoupe thanked Plumb one last time before sliding into the driver's seat of the patrol car, taking a minute to glare at Red before turning the keys. "Y'know, I got a call from the school yesterday about you cutting class... And I brushed it off 'cause I know you're a rebelling teen, but this- this isn't normal Red. I don't know what's gotten into you."
"So what now, you gonna ground me?"
"No, I have a better plan." Shoupe handed Red an open house flyer. The big, luscious house was listed in Charleston.
Red looked up at her father with big eyes, soon filling with tears. "We're moving?"
"Hopefully sometime in the next month, but I'm flying you out tomorrow morning."
"What? You can't do that! You can't tear me away from here! This is my home! This is so not fair!" Red cried, looking back down at the paper and tearing it in half.
"You can do whatever you want with the flyer, burn it for all I care. It's not changing anything." Shoupe declared. "What's not fair is you totaling my patrol car and throwing your life away for some... boys."
"Look, Dad, I'm sorry about the truck! I really, really am. But you can't do this!"
"I don't have a choice, Reding!" The Sheriff countered. "I need you to be packed up and ready to go by tomorrow at 8:45, you hear?" Red shook her head, tears spilling down her face. "Do you hear me?!"
"Yes!"
Just as soon as the car parked in the garage, Red nearly sprinted to her bedroom, trying her hardest not to cry. Meanwhile, Shoupe guarded the front door, knowing Red well enough that she would try to escape.
Red did the only thing she could do. Text JJ.
Red set the phone down, hoping and praying that JJ and John B would arrive before the 15-minute mark, but she didn't know what they were doing.
But no buzz of her phone alerted her of the boy's arrival. Instead, Red jumped at the sound of fingers tapping rapidly on the glass of the small window in her room.
Red's head flipped back, she could see a familiar blonde head peeking through the white curtains. She rushed over towards the window, looking upwards through the higher window.
JJ mouthed inaudible words to her, not wanting to make enough noise for Shoupe to hear, but Red didn't understand a thing he was saying.
JJ dug into his back pocket, reaching for his phone, which soon slipped out of his fingers, sliding down the slanted roof and banging on the gutter with a loud ding.
Red cringed at the sound, hoping that maybe her dad didn't hear the noise. She faced her attention back to the bottom of the window, struggling to pull the heavy glass open enough to slide through.
Finally, with a grunt, Red managed to get the window opened all the way. Just as she was about to climb out, JJ slid inside, immediately wrapping both arms around the smaller girl and pulling her into a tight embrace.
"JJ..." Red spoke, her voice muffled by his shoulder. "You came..."
"Of course." JJ sniffled, pulling away from Red and pressing his lips to hers quickly before facing his attention into her room. JJ slid away from her, creeping over to her radio, where he turned on music and locked her door. "Come on, we gotta roll."
Red nodded, sliding her hand into his and crawling outside of the window and climbing down the roof, needing to fumble around a tree on the side of the house to get down, but eventually, climbing into the Twinkie, which was driven by John B.
"Asset Secured." JJ voiced, climbing into the passenger seat of the Twinkie. He flipped back towards Red, "Do you have Sarah's location?"
"Um..." Red pulled out her phone from her pocket, opened Life360, and searched for the new contact she had down as Sarah. "Yeah, I do." Red handed the phone to JJ, who set it up in front of John B. "Just follow the gray icon. And hurry, they close the bridge down at 3:00 for maintenance, they open it back at 4:00 and it's only a matter of time before my dad realizes I'm gone."
"Shit, I forgot about that." John B groaned, picking up speed almost immediately. "Hold on to something, we're going on a bumpy ride."
"Yeah, yeah. Step on it!"
ofc we used Bennie and The Jets
by the absolute king of the 70's
aka my love, Elton ❤️
I or actually "Big John" named
Bennie after that song lmao