XXXIX. MY BRIAR ROSE
"that's a lot of wax on your board. put too much wax, it's gonna be slippery," pope said to jj.
"i hate surfing," holly mumbled from where she sat in her dirty church dress next to briar. it was a sunday morning and the pogues were sitting in the chateau's yard.
briar had on a pink dress, which had at one point been perfectly appropriate for church, but due to her growing bump and breasts, required a white cardigan over top.
"shut the fuck up, holly," jj cut in. "are you telling me how to wax my board?"
"just saying that's a lot of wax," pope shrugged.
"you're telling me how to wax my board. you kidding?" jj snapped.
"that's a colossal waste of wax," pope defended himself.
"shut up!" briar snapped from where her head lay against kie's knee.
"guys, really?" kie sighed.
the pogues' heads snapped up at the sound of a car horn. "did you hear that?"
briar used the arm of kie's chair to pull herself to a standing position.
and there, pulling up the drive, was john booker routledge.
"are you serious?" kie gasped.
"hold on. am i dreaming?" jj asked aloud.
"no!" pope yelled.
"you better not be screwing with me!" briar shrieked.
"holy shit, he lives," holly chuckled.
"guess who's out of the clink, boy!" john b climbed out of the cab.
"no freaking way, man!" pope said excitedly. pope and jj ran to embrace him first. kie tightly hugged him after.
"now, there she is!" john b scooped briar up, pulling her heels off the ground. "my briar rose!" john b planted kisses all over his girlfriend's face, her lashes, her cheeks, her earrings.
"okay, love birds," jj pushed john b's shoulder. "how'd you do it? you bust out?"
"uh, they dropped the charges," john b said. briar was tucked under his arm. a place that she'd missed for far too long.
"they dropped the charges," pope said in shock.
"that's phenomenal!" kie said excitedly.
"you're telling me i did all that work for nothing?" jj chuckled.
"oh, the most elaborate escape plan of all time?" pope shook his head at jj.
"'foolproof'," kie said with air quotes.
"yeah, it was, actually," jj continued.
briar felt john b's arm tense around her. he felt the same feeling briar had been feeling all day, the missing of sarah jean cameron. briar called and texted and called and texted some more.
but, with the level of shit she was in for running off to charleston with the pogues, she couldn't do much about it. kie had been driving briar around for three days after her parents took her car keys. she'd been stuffed into a church pew all morning and snuck out with kie during the benediction.
"wait, where's sarah?" john b voiced his concern aloud.
kie knew more than she was telling john b. or briar. kie shared a look with pope and jj.
"don't do that," briar snapped. "where's my cousin?"
"she went to go meet wheezie last night," kie sighed. "she didn't come back."
"you didn't know that?" john b asked briar.
the teen shook her head. "no, my mom has been bed checking me at 11pm for the past couple days. i've been home every night."
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"so, sarah just dips and doesn't call?" john b said angrily.
"that's so unlike her," briar shook her head.
"yeah, man," pope shrugged. "she just left her bag. didn't tell anybody."
"maybe uncle ward. . ." briar sighed in disgust.
"i agree, dude, i really think ward got to her. i mean, the dude tried to have me killed in jail."
"what?" kie said.
"i'm sorry?" briar gaped. she was laying on a towel on the dock with a bikini top and pair of rubber-banded jean shorts on. she was tanning, the colder it got outside, the paler briar got.
"yeah," john b nodded. "he sent somebody to the prison who yoked me up and almost killed me."
"you serious?" kie asked again.
"that felt like an important fact that you could've shared earlier," briar scoffed.
"yes," john b nodded.
"do we know who this dude was?" jj piped in.
"no, i have no idea. dude, i swear to God, one day i'm gonna kill that son of a bitch."
"it's okay," kie shrugged.
"no, kie, it's not okay," john b continued. "we gotta find sarah."
"no, literally," kie cut him off. "it's okay. she's right there."
the pogues all turned around to find sarah cameron on topper thorton's boat.
"what the fuck?" john b mumbled. "she can't do tig like that. after everything that they did together?"
tig. sarah's mystery bahama boyfriend. allegedly they'd gotten fake married. there wasn't a face to put to all the pogues had heard, but from the stories sarah had told, he qualified for sainthood.
"what the hell is she doing with topper?" kie whispered.
"he's out," sarah said in shock. sarah jumped off the boat and gave john b a side hug. "what happened?"
"uh, they dropped all the charges," john b told her.
"what?" sarah said in shock.
"yeah, no, yeah, i'm a free man. yeah," john b repeated.
"that's amazing!" sarah smiled wide. "briar! your lover is free!" sarah wrapped her cousin in a tight hug.
"i know, it's great," john b sighed before continuing. "but listen, sarah, they're coming after rafe."
"good," sarah breathed out. "he's completely unhinged. he jumped me last night."
"what?" briar gasped and pulled sarah close to her.
"that's why i didn't come back," sarah explained.
"yeah, man," topper cut in. "rafe has lost his mind. literally almost drowned his own sister. thankfully, i got there. . . got there just in time."
"yeah, he did."
"well, i guess i owe you one, topper, don't we?" john b clicked his tongue. tig. tig. tig. tig.
"it's all good," topper scoffed. "i mean, somebody had to rescue your side piece, right?"
"that's funny because she's not my side piece at all. i'm a loyal man. she's someone else's girlfriend, right?" john b chuckled. tig deserved better. and john b was gonna make sure the whole island knew it.
"well, who's is she then?"
"tell him," john b said, anger creeping into his tone.
"i'm. . . i'm with someone," sarah said awkwardly.
"gotcha. she's with someone," topper chuckled. "crystal clear, captain. you guys clear on that?"
"i think it's clear you gotta go now," jj chuckled.
"think i'll head out," topper nodded. "it's about that time."
"topper," sarah jumped in. briar tensed next to john b. tig. tig. tig. tig. "thank you." sarah hugged topped. briar blew out a breath slowly, cradling her bump. john b had a hand around briar's waist and a hand on the back of his neck. it was tense.
"yeah, of course," topper hugged sarah far too tight. "i'm just glad you're okay."
"huh," briar hummed as topper pulled away. "that was interesting. sexy sarah cameron, huh?"
"cut it out," sarah snapped. she shoved briar's shoulder before walking up to the chateau.
SADIE SPEAKS!
word count: 1175
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