"It could've been a faulty electrical wire."
"Place was all wood. A tinderbox."
"Thing just went up. Boom."
Lifting her head from where it rested on JJ's shoulder, Coral sighed as she stared at what was once her home. The fire the night before had spread quickly. She'd barely had enough time to throw a shirt back on and grab her bag before having to climb out a window with her friends to escape the blaze.
She had stood with the others watching as The Chateau burned. Her home had been reduced to nothing but smoking beams and ash.
"I can't be here," she announced, standing up and walking off down towards where the Pogue was tied up at the dock.
"Babygirl!"
"Coralina!"
"I'm fine," she called over her shoulder as the others got up and followed her, "I just needed to get away from the smoldering ashes of my life." Reaching the end of the dock she leaned against the rail looking out over the marsh waiting for the others to join her.
"Hey, we'll find Dad, find the treasure, and rebuild."
Turning around she looked at her brother, "That easy, huh?"
"Yeah," he replied, nodding, "Sarah, when did you say the pilot was getting in?"
"Probably like an hour. I mean once he's here my dad said we can leave whenever we want," she responded.
"Okay, well, as much as I would love to ghost my parents again, I can't," Pope told them.
"Pope, we're talking El Dorado here. Can you just slip out the back maybe?" JJ suggested.
"Great advice," Kie muttered.
"It always worked for me. How to avoid unpleasant circumstances 101. If there's a problem you don't want to face you turn that face and keister around and walk the other way," JJ responded, swirling his finger in the air before mimicking walking away with his fingers.
"I'm not doing that, okay," Pope said, shaking his head.
"I just want you to be there, Dog."
"I'm gonna be there," Pope assured him, "I'll meet you at the airstrip in an hour."
"One hour, Pope. Not a second later."
"Think you should let me talk, Pope," Cleo told him, "Think your mom kinda likes me," she said following after Pope.
"I don't think it's gonna be pleasant for either of us," Pope responded over his shoulder as they walked off together.
"So, what do you have in your little bag of tricks?" JJ asked, looking at Coral jutting his chin towards the bag she'd dropped on the pier.
"I think I have two outfits and one of yours," she responded.
"Well, that's more than I have," John B grumbled.
"So, I'll head over to the shack and get some things," JJ said, "Should probably say adios to it anyway. Me and Coral will meet you guys at the airstrip."
"Uh, actually I was gonna head home and pack some stuff," Kie spoke up, "I was hoping Coral could maybe come along?" she questioned looking at Coral hopefully, "Help me break the news to my parents?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, there's usually less yelling when you're there," Kie responded, shrugging.
Scrunching her nose in confusion Coral snorted, "Mike definitely yelled when I was there last time."
"Yes," Kie agreed, "I didn't say there was no yelling. I said there was less of it."
"I mean, I'm practically an adult."
"Very true," Coral agreed with Kie's statement as the girls stood in Kie's driveway deciding what to say to Mike and Anna.
"I'll never ask for anything again."
"No, you can't promise that," Coral shook her head.
"Yeah, you're right," Kie agreed, tapping her finger against her lip, "I'm gonna write an essay about my experiences with the Indigenous tribes in South America."
"Good, good," Coral nodded, "And then you'll use that to apply for college."
"Yeah, that could work."
"And if it doesn't, I could probably jimmy the lock on your window," Coral said with a shrug.
"Well, I'm hoping it doesn't come to that," Kie responded, turning at the sound of a car door slamming, "Uh, Coral," she whispered, grabbing Coral's arm. Looking over her shoulder Coral sucked in a breath at the jeep that had pulled up advertising Kitty Hawk Adventure Therapy.
"Hey Kiara," the driver greeted coming around the front of the jeep.
"I think we should not be here," Coral whispered, shoving Kie towards the house.
"Hey, come back," the man called, "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to talk to you."
"Uh, no thanks," Kie called back as the girls hurried up the steps to the porch, "Stranger danger, you know."
Reaching the door, Kie tried turning the knob to find it locked, "Why is it locked? Where's your key?" Coral questioned, looking over her shoulder at the man coming up the steps.
"Uh, I don't know," Kie replied before knocking on the door, "Hey! Dad! Mom!" she called.
Watching the man behind them Coral sighed in relief when she heard the door open until she heard Kie's terrified question, "Who are you?" Spinning around Coral stared wide eyed at the man standing in the doorway.
"Look. This can go one of two ways," he told them.
"Kie, what is happening?" Coral questioned grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the door as the man behind them grabbed Kie's other arm yanking her towards him.
"No, let me go!"
"Let her go!" Coral exclaimed, pulling on her friend.
"I'm sorry, honey," Anna apologized coming out of the house, "We're sending you away for a while. They say Kitty Hawk is the best. Coral let her go."
"All due respect Mrs. Carrera, but that's gonna be a no," Coral responded, gripping Kie's arm tighter as the girl attempted to get out of the man's grasp.
"Coralina, this is none of your business."
"Like hell it isn't," Coral snapped at Mike as he followed Anna out of the house, "Let her go!"
"Mom, mom, mom. You can't do this," Kie pleaded.
"This needs to happen. We need to help you, and this is how we keep you safe."
"No, no, no. You can't send me to wilderness cuckoo's nest!"
"Miss, let go," the second man said, taking hold of Coral's hand and prying her fingers off of Kie's arm.
"No!" the girls screamed as they were dragged apart. Struggling in the man's hold, Coral attempted to get away from him as she watched the first man drag Kie down the porch steps out towards the waiting jeep.
"You can't do this!" she cried, looking at Anna and Mike, "She's your daughter!"
"Which is why we can do this," Mike responded, "We've let you kids be a bad influence on her for too long."
"Bad influence? And let me guess you think the Kooks are a good influence? I could tell you stories about those fuckers that would make your head spin," Coral spat out, "Now let me go!" she screamed, raking her nails down the guard's arm and stomping on his foot at the same time.
Groaning in pain he loosened his grip on her enough for her to slip out of his hold and take off running down the porch steps, "Coralina!"
Ignoring Mike, she raced towards the Kitty Hawk jeep where Kie was inside banging on the window. Trying the door handle Coral cursed when it wouldn't budge.
"This isn't our first day," the guard who'd held her on the porch said, coming up behind her holding his bloody arm, "You're lucky we don't throw you in there with her," he threatened, pushing her to the side.
Stumbling, she would've fallen if not for Mike grabbing her arms, "Let me go!" she cried as the guard opened the jeep door and climbed inside. Yanking out of Mike's arms, Coral banged on Kie's window, "I'll find you. I swear Kiara. We'll find you," she told the girl before the jeep pulled away carrying one of her best friends.
"You're lucky that man doesn't press charges of assault on you, Coralina."
Narrowing her eyes, Coral spun around glaring at Kie's parents, "You're lucky I don't call the sheriff and report her kidnapped. She clearly did not want to go and you forced her to go with those total strangers."
"We sent her someplace where she can try and rebuild what you and your friends destroyed," Anna responded.
"What did we destroy?" Coral questioned, throwing her hands in the air, "Kiara is a compassionate, smart, and kind person. She's the exact same person she is now that she was when I first met her. We didn't destroy anything. But you," she said, waving her finger at them, "You just destroyed your daughter by sending her away. Best of luck ever having a relationship with her again."
"There are rules, Coralina. You may not have to live by them, but our daughter will not become a delinquent."
Scoffing, Coral shook her head, "You know I always respected you two. You built something here with this house and the restaurant. You worked your asses off and I respected that. Truth be told I was always kind of jealous of Kie; to have two parents who clearly loved her. After today though, I have no respect for you, and I'll take my absentee father any time of the day because at least I know he loves me no matter what I do or who my friends are. And he doesn't try and suppress who I am," she said, turning around and walking away.
Breathing heavily, she swallowed down the bile as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.
Trying both JJ and John B, Coral swore, "Shit probably melted in the fire," she mumbled before searching up Sarah's number.
She was just about to hit the call button when the sound of a dirt bike pulling up next to her made her pause. Glancing over she sighed as Rafe cut the engine and pulled his helmet off his head.
"This day just gets better and better," she muttered.
"Coralina, you're far from home."
"I was visiting Kie," she responded, "I actually have to get going so if you don't mind, Rafe."
"Actually, I'm, um, struggling with something and you've always been like my conscience so can I ask you a question?"
Pursing her lips, she nodded.
"Do you ever feel like every move is the wrong one or something? Like no matter what option I choose it's going to be wrong?" he questioned, "I don't know if that makes sense."
Taking a breath, she nodded again, "It makes sense, Rafe, and yes it's natural to question decisions."
"It's just, um, I'm in a position right now where, uh, if I do what's good for me..like, the smart thing, then I gotta be really hard on...someone else."
"You're usually one to look out for yourself and no one else so I'm not sure what you want from me, Rafe."
"That's not true. I looked out for you," he responded, "And I need to know what you'd do cuz helping me is gonna hurt someone that I care about, like a lot."
Swallowing, she nodded, "You did look out for me," she conceded, "So thank you for that," she sighed, "Look, the way I see it is, when you've got a really tough choice to make, the trick is to do the thing that you'll regret the least. I didn't want to throw you off your own boat, but I also knew I'd regret not helping my friends."
Nodding, he held out his helmet to her.
"What are you doing?" she questioned.
"Right now, helping a friend," he told her, "You need a ride and I've got a bike."
Biting her lip, she weighed her options, "Fine, but this doesn't mean anything," she said, taking the helmet.
"Just a friend helping a friend," he agreed.
"Are you sure about this?"
Climbing off the back of Rafe's dirtbike Coral took the helmet off her head, "I'm sure," she responded, handing the helmet to him.
"Coralina, we're in the middle of nowhere."
"I told Pope and his dad I'd help them down at the air strip."
"Then let me take you down."
"No, you've done enough getting me this far. I'm fine to walk from here," she told him, "Besides, don't you have something you need to go take care of with whatever you were talking about earlier?"
Sighing, he nodded, "Actually I do," he said putting his helmet on and starting the bike, "Be careful out here."
"You too," she responded, watching as he popped the bike in gear and drove off down Bohicket Lane. As soon as he turned the corner she turned around and took off running towards the airstrip.
"Guys! Guys!"
"Babygirl, where have you been? Where's Kie?"
Panting, Coral took several gulps of air, "God, I hate cardio," she breathed out.
"Coral, what's going on?"
Glancing at her brother, she shook her head, "Kie's parents went ballistic. They had like the gestapo waiting at her house and they took her to that wilderness camp."
"What!" came several exclamations before everyone started talking at once.
"Okay, okay, everyone shut the hell up!" JJ yelled, "We obviously need to go get her. Give me the keys," he told John B.
"Uh, no, we don't have time for that."
"John B, she's one of our best friends. You can give us an hour to go spring her from the hellhole her parents sent her to just to keep her away from us."
"Coral."
"No, we gave you the time when you heard bells ringing, you can give us the time for this," she cut him off.
"It'll be like a black ops mission, in and out," JJ added.
"Damn it, you have an hour," John B told them, handing the keys to JJ.
"Hurry!"
"We got this!" JJ exclaimed, taking off towards the parked Twinkie.
"No, no! Don't don't!" John B yelled as JJ jumped through the open passenger side window.
"That door opens, Bro!" Pope called.
"You're so ridiculous," Coral said yanking the door open and climbing into the Twinkie.
"But you love me anyway," JJ responded, kissing the air in her direction as he started the van, "Now let's go save our friend."