“In case of death,
that’s what I want,
that’s what I want.”
IT WOULD BE A RATHER LONG NIGHT for the remaining pogues on the yacht after leaving behind both John B and Bennie in a place that they knew would be dangerous. A mutual feeling of guilt clogged up any room for high spirits.
They’d only gotten a single call from John B, and the pogues hesitantly left him and Bennie behind with the hope of meeting the pair back in the Outer Banks.
Red had been catching up with Sarah and Cleo when she noticed Pope acting strange. He was weirdly quiet, and when he did speak, all Red got from him was short answers, and he didn’t even laugh at her corning jokes. It was like he was hiding something.
While Sarah, Cleo, and Kie got themselves involved in their separate conversation, Pope stepped aside and wandered to the other side of the boat, which Red followed in the hope of finding out why he had been acting so strange.
“Hey, Buddy,” Red called, making her presence known to Pope, who turned his head in her direction and leaned back into his chair. Red sat beside him, nudging him lightly with her elbow. “Pope, what’s going on?”
“Nothing-”
“No, don’t say nothing.” Red interrupted, not about to take bullshit from the boy. “What’s going on? Your awkwardly quiet.” Pope looked at her as if thinking about saying something or not. Red tilted her head sympathetically, resting her hand on his knee and shaking it gently. “Hey, you can talk to me about anything, you know that.”
Pope took a breath, finally ready to let whatever he had to say out of him. “Red, I saw something and I don’t want you to overreact, but it’s eating me up.”
“Please, I’m not gonna overreact.”
“Well… I saw JJ and Kie on the deck earlier.” Pope started. Red already knew where this was going, her breath hitched. “They didn’t do anything… but I guess it looked like they were about to? I don’t know, It just seemed… weird.”
Red nodded in understanding, standing by her word that she wouldn’t overreact. Not to Pope, at least. “Ok… thanks for telling me, man. I really appreciate it.” Red thanked, trying to cover up the confusion and hurt. She felt Pope pull her into his side for a hug, to which she lay her head on his shoulder. “I mean, I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason for it, right? We probably just saw it wrong.”
Although Pope knew that he didn’t see anything wrong, he didn’t want Red to worry any more than she already was. “Yeah.” He responded, cutting the topic off there.
After a few long hours of negotiating and catching up amongst the pogues, they eventually decided that they were hungry. Had they been in the OBX, a perfectly fine Mcdonald's would do the trick, but they were still in Barbados, and sending Cleo and Pope out to steal from a corner store would have to keep them satisfied until they got back home.
While Pope and Cleo were gone, Red almost brought up what Pope told her to JJ, but he just seemed so happy and content. He was happy to have her back, and everything was perfect. She didn’t want to ruin that. So she just sucked it up, put on her big girl pants, and told herself Pope saw it wrong, and she was the one JJ loved. That was all she knew.
Once the two were back with fruits, mangos, and other goods they’d stolen, the pogues seemed to split into groups. Sarah offered to take Red on a little night walk, to which she hesitantly agreed. She didn’t want to leave JJ and Kie on the boat by themselves after what Pope had told her, but Red had to trust that JJ wouldn’t pull anything. It just wasn’t who he was.
“Ok, ok, so let me get this straight. Singh kidnapped you and trapped you in a room… with my brother.” Sarah asked, half chuckling at everything Red had told her.
“That’s not even the worst part.” Red thought she owed Sarah the knowledge that Rafe had kissed her, but she definitely wasn’t ready to tell JJ. “But, you can’t tell JJ, he’d totally flip.”
“When do we ever tell JJ anything?”
Red leaned in a little closer to Sarah’s ear as they continued walking. “Rafe- he was having a little ‘episode’ and I was trying to help him and… he kissed me.” Sarah immediately looked at Red, shocked by his behavior. Red exchanged the same confused look as her, though Red seemed more concerned. “Can you imagine? Me? With him? Never. It’s just like- ‘Red Cameron. Reding Lucille Cameron’ doesn’t even have a ring to it.”
“Yeah, the only benefit we’d get out of that is that you’d finally be my legal sister,” Sarah replied, sipping on the bottled water Pope had gotten. “Wait- you didn’t kiss back, did you?”
She couldn’t let her know. Red had felt so stupid after she kissed back, and it was eating her alive. She tried not to blame herself, but she wasn’t in a good spot mentally and didn’t process. She scoffed up a lie, “Are you crazy? Of course not.”
“Good,” Sarah spoke, relieved. She nudged Red playfully. “Because between you and me, I like Red Maybank a lot better. Reding Lucille Maybank.”
Red rolled her eyes, playfully giggling at Sarah. “Shut up, Sarah Elizabeth Routledge.” She was then immediately reminded of something she’d forgotten but still mattered and was equally concerning. The name Singh had called her. “But… Singh actually did call me something.”
“What?”
“He called me, ‘Miss Welles’.”
“Welles?”
“Yeah, it’s a bit far off, right?”
“Do you know anyone with the last name Welles?”
It was then that it finally clicked in Red’s mind. Why didn’t she connect the dots before? Red stopped in her tracks, facepalming as she put two and two together. “Yes. Of course, I do.” She laughed off her stupidity, beginning to walk again. “My grandpa, Martian Welles. He lives out in Charleston. I haven’t seen him in years. He’s supposed to be like… My mom’s uncle or something.”
“Hm… I wonder why Singh called you that.” Sarah questioned, slowing down as they approached the yacht.
“I don’t know. Papa’s pretty wealthy, maybe he’s just the best Singh could do.” Red shrugged it off. Maybe she’d find out more about it when she got back home, but for now, it was back to the boat.
Soon after Red and Sarah got back, and so did Pope and Cleo. Then, they put Cleo on driving duty and the rest of them headed to bed and hoped to wake up home in the OBX.
It felt so good to be back with JJ again. Red always felt so safe and secure when she was with him. Especially on hot nights at the Chateau, it felt like they were the only people that mattered.
Red woke up as soon as the sun did, and she offered to trade positions with Cleo, letting her get some sleep.
It was only a few hours until she saw the bright town she’d called her home come into sight, the sunrise backing it up. Red planned to stop by the nearest dock where she could get off, then she’d meet back up with the pogues later in the day.
By the time they reached the dock, everyone else was already awake. “Off I go,” Red spoke nervously, preparing to get off the boat and walk down to the police station where she assumed her father would be. “Wish me luck.” She hugged Cleo tightly before turning around to kiss Pope on the cheek, give Kie and Sarah their hugs, and finally land on JJ, hugging and kissing him for a few moments.
With a few waves goodbye, Red was walking her way down the dock. It was good to be back in the OBX, and nobody was around or awake yet. The town was quiet.
Red would soon land in front of the police station, taking a deep breath before walking up the stairs and through the door. Immediately, she was met by Officer Robbins, the lady at the front desk. She was on the phone and looked at Red quickly before giving her a double take.
“Hold on, ma'am, I’ll get back to you.” Robbins set the phone down, now just staring at Red in complete shock.
Red held her finger up to her lips, signaling her to be quiet. “It’s nice to see you, Terry. I promise I’ll explain everything, is my dad in?”
Terry simply nodded, opening the door that led into where her dad’s office was. She went the way that no one else would see her instead of being greeted by all officers in the area.
Red shook her hands out as she stood in front of the door. The blinds were shut, but she knew her dad was in there. She knocked on the door lightly, but when there was no response, she gently opened the door.
Immediately at the sound of the creaking door, Shoupe shook awake. He looked like he had fallen asleep while working on a case. He was a mess, to be honest. Shoupe looked like he hadn’t shaved in weeks, and he looked overworked and stressed.
The deputy stared at her, waiting for his vision to clear up. He didn’t know if he was hallucinating or not.
After a few seconds of them just staring at each other in silence, Red finally spoke in a quiet, cracky voice as her eyes were already starting to fill with tears. “Hi, Dad.”
At the realization that she was real, Shoupe slowly got out of his chair, hot tears threatening to run down his cheeks at the sight of his little girl whom he had presumed dead for a month.
Red held out her arms slowly, waiting for the deputy to run over to her and cradle her in his hug. Red hugged him tightly, beyond overjoyed to see him. She couldn’t regret their last conversation more and wanted to go back and fix everything.
It was nearly a minute later that Shoupe finally pulled away from his daughter laying his hands on both sides of her now red with tears face.
“Dad, I’m so sorry-” Red sobbed, fighting to even get the words out of her mouth.
“It’s okay, baby.” Shoupe pulled her head into his shoulder again, allowing her to cry for a few moments until she eventually pulled away. “Just, tell me what’s happened.”
Red took a breath, sitting down with her father and spilling just about everything that she was allowed to spill. She left out some things that he absolutely couldn’t know about but summed up where she had been and why she’d done it.
Obviously, she was grounded. But surprisingly, Shoupe still allowed her to go check up on John B and her other friends, which was a shock to Red because had it been before she jumped off the boat, Shoupe would rather be caught dead than let Red hang out with the pogues.
Regardless, Red was driven home by her father where she could then change out of the pajamas she had been wearing and into something more suitable for the summer.
Then, Red was on her way to the Chateau. On her way there, she was greeted by many familiar faces, kooks, and pogues. She’d also gotten several dirty looks from kooks she used to call her friends. Red didn’t care. As long as it wasn’t Rafe. She hoped Rafe stayed in Guadeloupe forever so she wouldn’t have to deal with him again. Or be reminded that she’d kissed him. No, he kissed her.
Red approached the Chateau, noticing the Twinkie visible in the front yard. John B and Bennie had to be here. She leaped up the stairs in the front and pulled the screen door the rest of the way open.
“Hello?” Red called, noticing the absence of anyone on the porch. “I saw the Twinkie, anyone home?”
“RL!” John B replied, immediately running towards her from the other side of the house and wrapping his arms around her in a hug. “Red, you’re not going to believe this.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Red leaned to the side at the sound of a familiar voice. Standing in the narrow hallway of the Chateau, very much alive, was Big John Routledge. He didn’t look great, but he was alive.
Red’s jaw immediately dropped, trying to get words to come out of her mouth as she pointed between John B and Big John. John B smiled knowingly, staring back at his father.
Bennie then entered the room, immediately pointing to John B and Big John, and them pointing at eachother to create a Spiderman reference that she must have thought was hilarious. Red’d give it to her, it was pretty funny. “Freaky, right?”
“Yeah- yeah.” Red finally spoke. “How did you- You’re Big John.”
“In the flesh. And you’re the prominent Red Shoupe that my kids have been gawking on about.” Big John replied, approaching Red and hugging her. Red was just happy to see Bennie and John B happy with their dad again.
“This is insane! I mean, I totally thought you were dead. Like, completely donezo.” Red stammered. “Bennie- Bennie went into a tomb to find out you were her dad and now- you’re alive!”
“I know she did.” Big John flaunted, wrapping his unoccupied arm around his daughter, who looked back up at him happily. “You’ve sacrificed a lot too, Red. John B was telling me you ran away from home- what? Three times?”
“Something like that, yeah.” Red chuckled, slightly embarrassed. “It’s crazy what you’d do for a friend.”
“I wish you saw the look on his face when we told him that JJ somehow pulled you.” Bennie laughed, already reminiscing on the time they had on the way here. “Straight-up shock.”
“I didn’t see it coming, I’ll tell you that.” Big John chuckled along. “I’m sure you two make a great pairing.”
Red chuckled, her attention now facing down at her worn-out converses. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” She then flipped the subject back to John B. “Oh! Have you met your son’s lovely wife yet?”
“I have! Sarah seems like a very sweet girl.”
“Yeah.” Red scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably. “Well, y’know, I’d love to stay but I gotta run. Speaking of boyfriend, right?” Red bid the Routledge goodbye before biking the rest of the way down the cut to where JJ lived. She wondered how he was doing since she’d left him on the yacht hours ago.
Red approached the trashed front yard of what used to be JJ’s, but her attention was quickly dragged from the overgrown weeds to the bright ‘Eviction Notice’ sign hung up in the window.
Why hadn’t he told her? She figured that the locks of the house would have been changed, so instead of walking in, she made her way around the side yard.
JJ was there, except he wasn’t alone. Kie was there too.
Red’s heart sank deep into her chest. Standing only a few yards away from her, obscured by a bush she found herself hiding behind, were JJ and Kie, only a few inches away from eachother.
She immediately stopped dead in her tracks, backing up against the bush and crossing her arms, shocked by what she just saw. Pope was right. She was right, there had been something going on between JJ and Kie. And she was pissed.
Instead of confronting them immediately, Red walked away and into one of JJ’s neighbor's front yards and waited for JJ to storm out alone a few minutes later.
Of course, there was no way Red’s bike could be a match for the speed of JJ’s dirtbike, so instead of trying to follow him then, she got a good idea of where he was going, then went home and got her car, that way it wouldn’t look like she’d been following him. She had every right to, though.
It took a few minutes of searching in the general direction in which JJ had gone, but eventually, Red’s eyes landed on the red motorbike propped up against the side of a far dock in the distance, JJ in his green shirt not far from it.
He looked stressed out as he leaned up against the wood, deep in thought about something. Red hesitantly got out of her car, quietly walking down the dock to him.
JJ didn’t seem to hear her coming, because if she had, he would have tried to cover up the quiet but painful cries he let out.
“Hey…” She spoke, making her presence known to the blonde who whipped his head in her direction, immediately putting on the ‘I’m okay’ mask before she’d even asked.
“What’s up?” He replied, flipping his hat back on his head.
She couldn’t do it. She knew she couldn’t confront him. Not in the condition, JJ was in now. Red looked down at the water, examining the things in it that had been likely kicked off by JJ in a fit of rage.
Red took one last glance at the items before looking back at JJ, pity in her eyes. JJ knew she knew that he wasn’t okay. What he didn’t know is that she also knew why he wasn’t okay.
She didn’t need him to explain a single thing for her to approach him slowly, getting him to look at her, and wrap her arms around him.
JJ, like usual, melted into Red’s hug. The type of hug that you could literally feel the weight being lifted off your shoulders. Red’s hugs were like a painkiller, they made things seem like they were okay even when they weren’t.
JJ let a few tears fall and hit the t-shirt Red had been wearing, and even sniffled a few times throughout the hug before she eventually pulled away.
Red laid her hands on the sides of his face, wiping the hot tears from them. “You wanna talk, or do you just want to sit here in silence? I’ll stay with you either way.”
“Could you just- stay here for a bit?” JJ asked, leaping up to the top of the fence, using it as a seat.
“Of course.” Red smiled comfortingly, following him up. So Red did sit there with him in almost complete silence for about an hour. Occasionally, either one of them would say something about how the weather was, or what was going on around them, but other than that, it was a comfortable silence.
Eventually, JJ told Red that he wanted to be alone just to think, kissed her goodbye, and that he would see her tomorrow. Red allowed him his well-needed alone time.
Although Red was still upset with him, she was more angry at Kie. She trusted her not to try anything and yet she was the one reeling JJ in. Red took a breath, preparing herself to tuck one more thing down in her deep pit of resentment and bitterness instead of confronting it right away.
Red was then on her way home, hoping to spend the rest of the daylight amongst her dad. The two of them had agreed to head out to the country club later that evening and sit down for dinner, something the two of them hadn’t done since Hazel died.
Hazel Shoupe was always the best hostess. Preparing everything perfectly and flawlessly. She had this special sense whenever her guests needed anything, and she had to be the most generous person Red had ever met.
Red remembered one specific time when she was about 9 when she was hosting a Christmas party for everyone who lived in figure eight at their house.
That night, there were so many people at home. But Red had been too busy playing with her new Tomodachi her mother had gifted her as an early Christmas present and refused to leave her room.
Earlier that day, Red and Sarah argued about which of their dolls would be the queen and which one would be the princess. Red wanted to be the queen, always believing that the queen was old and wore boxed dresses, while the princess was young and elegant. Sarah had the same view as the queen because the two whined and whined about which of them would have been the queen until Sarah stormed out of the room in tears.
Of course, the Camerons were invited to the party, and Red refused to talk to Sarah because of the given circumstances. Red held that grudge and as soon as she got home from The Cameron’s Estate, her face was wet with tears, and she thought Sarah would never be her friend again. Hazel, being the generous mother she was, searched the OBX high and low to find one of her favorite toys when she was a little girl, a Tomodachi
It stopped Red from crying, but it also kept her in her room on that thing for hours. Eventually, the sound of her mother’s footsteps coming down the hall over the loud Christmas music playing alerted the young girl that her mom was going to nag her to come out.
Hazel opened the door, stopping in the doorway and giving Red a frown. “C’mon, Red. Why don’t you come downstairs and play with the other kids?” Hazel asked, kneeling before where Red sat on her bed.
“I don’t wanna,” Red replied shortly, barely looking at her mother but instead keeping her eyes fixated on the Tomodachi.
“Well… that’s a real shame.” Hazel sighed dramatically, stopping at the door with her hand on the handle. “Because there’s red velvet cake with white frosting downstairs and I was gonna ask you to cut it.”
Red immediately set the Tomohatchi down and sprung up from her bed, running towards her mother. “Can I? Can I please?”
Hazel chuckled, nodding reassuringly and grabbing Red’s hand, leading her downstairs to cut the cake.
“Well, look who finally decided to come out.” Ward beamed, ruffling Red’s hair to which she giggled happily. “The kids are out playing hide and seek in the back if you want to go join them. Sarah’s seeking.”
Red smiled widely, immediately nodding her head and running outside into the back. Sarah had been walking around, looking for the boys when she heard Red coming.
“Hi, Sarah.” Red greeted, still not forgetting about their Barbie squabble, but being nice anyway. “Sorry about your doll. We can both be princesses next time, and I’ll let you wear the purple dress.”
“You mean it?” Sarah asked excitedly, to which Red nodded her head. “Thanks, Red! Wanna help me seek?”
Red told her yes and began seeking all over the yard, until Topper eventually stormed out of a bush, Bennie not far from his side in tears.
“Found you!” Red shouted.
Topper held up a T with his hands, signaling he was on time. “I’m on pause! Bennie stuck her head in poison ivy!”
Red chuckled lightly, reminiscing at the memory as she waited for her father to arrive at the dinner, him storming in not long later.
Shoupe adjusted his watch, his grey mustache curling up with his lips into a friendly smile at the sight of his daughter, waiting patiently at the cloth-lined table for him.
As if on cue, once Shoupe had sat down, a fancily dressed waitress the Shoupe family had known for years as Sophia approached the table, pulling out two menus for the pair.
“Hey, Red. It’s good to see you back home!” Sophia smiled brightly. She and Red had never been that close, Sophia was close to Red’s age and had started working at the club when she was 14 and always took good care of the Shoupes.
“Sophie! Hi, how’s Brandon?” Red replied cheerfully. Brandon had been Sophia’s boyfriend the last time Red had seen her. When Sophia served Red, she would always ask about him.
“Oh, we actually broke up about a week after you left,” Sophia informed, her smile slightly dropping at the question.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Red apologized, slightly embarrassed by her own ability to bring back painful memories for Sophia. “You know what, there are plenty of fish in the sea right? If it’s meant to be, it would be. Don’t even worry about it.”
“Thanks, Red.” Sophia gave her a reassuring smile, snapping back to work and pulling out her pen and paper. “Um… Can I get you guys started with anything to drink?”
“Uh, Corona Light, please,” Shoupe ordered. That had always been the classic request of Victor Shoupe. He didn’t drink any other beer. “Filet mignon, medium rare, with green beans and pasta.”
“Shirley Temple, extra cherries.” Of course, Red’s order never changed. And neither did her taste buds. Despite having many food options, she always ordered Chicken Tenders from the kid’s menu. The Club never minded, it was just Red. “Chicken Tenders, side of fries.”
“Yep, it’s you alright.” Sophia chuckled, walking away with a smile.
“So, don’t make plans for tomorrow,” Shoupe informed, laying his elbows partly on the table. “I planned a coming home party and I invited just about everyone on the island. It’s at 6:00 on our court, but you need to be there at 3:00 to help set up, got it?”
“Oh, Dad, you didn’t have to.” Red chuckled, slightly embarrassed by her father’s over-the-top welcome-home gift. “But I’ll be there. I promise.”
Red and Victor spent a couple of hours catching up over dinner, but eventually, They headed home and rested for the night.
Tomorrow would be quite a trip.
omg I am sooo sorry for
the wait. I've been so busy
with finals and school in
general.
I hope it was worth it! I loved
writing the flashback scene <33