★★★
★★★
John B. hopped back on the boat and showed me where to drive it, to where he lived. We eventually reached a fish shack and docked Skipper. John B. grabbed my backpack, slinging it over his back and I smiled to myself, hopping out of the boat after him and following him inside.
Once we were inside, he showed me to the spare room I would now live in, and I took a deep breath. "You didn't have to do this, you don't even know me," I reminded him, giving him another chance to change his mind.
"What are you talking about, I do know you. Your name's Stevie, and... I know you," He said with a small shrug and I chuckled. He came towards me and sat down on the bed behind me.
"I just have to ask you something, but you have to be honest with me. It's gotta be the truth or this won't work, we don't keep secrets around here," He said, and I could tell what was coming.
I sat down next to him on the bed so I wouldn't have to maintain eye contact with him, and I sighed deeply to prepare myself.
"What happened to your face and why are you living like a... like a vagrant?" He asked.
"I live with my aunt on a boat docked on the Cut. My parents died when I was young, I don't remember them. Mom was a Kook, dad was a Pogue, they got married and mom moved to the Cut. Helen, that's my aunt, was kicked out. Then their dad died so she got the money my mom would've and now she drinks her life away and ritualistically pisses herself off. She hits me sometimes. It got really bad and I had taken enough of it, so I grabbed my stuff and my dad's boat and split, but she got a few licks on me before I could leave," I said.
There was nothing you could say to someone who spills their whole life story to you like that. Nothing could ever be correct, but he was trying to formulate something.
"Dude, I'm sorry," John B. said, but I shook my head.
"Don't be, I'm not asking for pity. I'm fine, I'm away from Helen now, aren't I? She's an asshole," I said. He turned his head to me and I looked up at him too, there was a certain sadness in his eyes, but he didn't have it for long.
"You're gonna live here now. Like... indefinitely," He said again without hesitation, and I frowned.
"Are you sure," I asked again.
He rolled his eyes, "Pogues don't leave other Pogues hanging."
I chuckled at his rule, "I'm not a Pogue though."
"Close enough, you're one of us now, whether you like it or not," John B. said and I reveled in the fact that all of this was happening so fast. I had just met him earlier today, but now he was offering me a place to live, a place with no adults, which was even better. I wondered why this was though, so decided to ask, not thinking anything of it at first.
"Thank you," I breathed, and I hugged John B. out of nowhere. He accepted the hug and hugged back tightly. I was glad to have a friend in him, and I wasn't normally a touchy-feely person, but my emotions were running on high at the moment.
"You said before that no parents were here, why is that?" I asked when we pulled apart, but when I saw the look on his face, I regretted asking right away. "Shit, touchy subject? I'm sorry, forget I asked," I said, but he shook his head.
"No, it's not fair that you have to tell me everything but I won't," He said. "My dad went missing at sea looking for the Royal Merchant. The ship, you know?" He asked and I nodded, I was familiar with it.
"Who goes missing at sea these days?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"I know, right?" He shrugged.
"Anyway, he's been missing for a while, and my mom split when I was a kid. My uncle's technically my legal guardian but supposedly he's off in Mississippi building houses. I haven't seen him for months," John B. explained. I collected the information he was giving me, but I decided not to pry further with the whole missing father thing.
Soon, the rest of their Pogue gang came to the house, but I stayed in "my" room for a while, unpacking my stuff and getting acquainted with the space. It wasn't much, but it was more than I had, so I was thankful for it.
I could hear them out there, but I didn't want to awkwardly walk out and have people get the wrong idea. I was fine with Kie and Pope, but for some reason, JJ really didn't seem to like me.
That's all I needed; for this new group of people that I could see myself becoming friends with thinking I was some rando who hooked up with John B. an hour after meeting him.
That was not the way I was, and I wouldn't want to have them think that. I heard some movement near the door, and I instinctually freaked out, darting under the bed. The door opened, and I recognized John B.'s shoes, so I sighed in relief.
"Stevie?" He whispered, clearly confused, and I shimmied out from under the bed.
"Hey," I said with a smile, not sure what he was thinking of me being on the floor.
"What are you doing?" He asked, and I stood up and dusted off my clothes.
"I didn't know if someone else was coming in and I didn't want them thinking we were... you know," I said, gesturing to me and then to the bed.
"What are you- Oh... oh!" John B. realized and covered his mouth with his hands. "Yeah, I see your point, this is weird. Anyway, I'm gonna go back out, come with me and we'll explain everything," He said.
"Wait, uh, I don't know if I want to put on blast the fact that I literally was homeless this morning," I interjected, and he nodded.
"I'll just say you're hanging with us now, you don't have to tell them you're living here right away. I'll say you were just laying down in here because you had a migraine or something," He answered, and I sighed in relief. He had a good story, and it made sense, so I shrugged off my previous worries.
We walked out of the room together and instantly, all eyes were on us. I was afraid of that, but before anyone could speak, John B. attempted to explain himself. "I invited Stevie to hang out with us if that's cool with you guys," He said, and everyone seemed to shrug it off, but JJ felt the need to interject.
"Hang out with us, or hang out in a bedroom with you?" He asked, not believing John B.'s story.
"Dude, she had a headache," He said, but JJ didn't look convinced.
Luckily, Pope surprised me and spoke up, "JJ, chill out, John B.'s been out here with us for like an hour, how would that even work?"
JJ shrugged, backing off of the topic for a second, and Kie seemed unbothered by the whole thing. It seemed like she was used to male bickering, and I hoped she was as glad to have a female friend as I was. I was glad to have any friends at all, honestly.
"Can we all just relax," Kie suggested, and everyone dispersed, relieving me of any further questions. John B. patted my shoulder as he passed me to get to the kitchen, and I walked over to the front porch, looking out at the water behind the house.
"Like the view?" Kie asked sarcastically, coming out of the house behind me. "The Chateau provides you the most boujee scenery you could ask for," She joked further and I smiled in return.
"Seems like it," I answered.
"So, uh... what's up?" She asked casually, as if she was pretending to flirt, and I chuckled. We talked for a little bit, getting to know each other and laughing when either of us made a joke. The time flew by and a few hours later, the sun began to set.
It was beautiful, the colors across the water were always dazzling. It was one perk of living on the Cut. The sunsets here were far better than any Figure 8 view.
We both went inside and saw Pope and JJ wrestling on the floor while John B. cheered them on. Kie rolled her eyes and walked past the scene to grab a beer from the kitchen while I walked over to John B., standing next to him. I crossed my arms and watched the brawl, laughing at the scene unfolding in front of me.
"Who's winning?" I asked, and John B. sighed.
"I wish I could tell you. I don't even know what they're fighting about, to be honest," He said, and I nodded. The two boys broke it up, laughing with each other as they helped each other to their feet. Kie walked up from behind me, passing out beers while everyone applauded the fact that she had brought them to the living room.
She extended her arm and tried to pass me one, but I shook my head, "I'm good, I don't drink," I said. Everyone looked at me like I had two heads, no exaggeration.
"What? Boo," JJ said, cracking his beer open while I scoffed at his attitude.
"I can't handle my alcohol for shit, plus smoking's a better time," I said, and JJ clapped briefly.
"Redeemed," He shouted in a fake regal tone, and I gave a small joking bow. He seemed to be in a lighter mood, and after being the only person I didn't start off well with, I took notice of this. I narrowed it down to the alcohol in his system, but given that it was just a little beer, I was skeptical.
We all sat around and Kie started laughing about she drove Pope and herself back to Figure 8 so Pope could drive John B.'s Volkswagen van, or "The Twinkie" as they called it, back. I still felt super weird about staying at the Chateau, but I tried to look on the bright side of things. At least there was a roof over my head where my aunt couldn't rip into me.
Eventually, the sky went dark and everyone got pretty tired. Kie was asleep on the couch while Pope passed out on a chair nearby. John B. had fallen asleep on a hammock outside and I decided to go into the room I was supposed to be staying in. When I got in there, I noticed JJ sitting on the bed, scrolling through his phone. "Oh, sorry," I stammered idiotically, about to leave the room before he looked up at me.
I managed to get out of the room before having to talk to him, and I decided to go outside. I went over to where I tied up my boat and went inside. I sat in the boat, debating what I was going to do for a minute.
I didn't want to go back inside since JJ was in the room and I obviously couldn't explain why I needed to get in there. I had shoved my stuff under the bed, so hopefully, he won't have found it.
I looked down at the floor of my boat and saw my surfboard. I always used to surf to clear my head but hadn't for at least three weeks. I guess I had never gotten around to it or something, but either way, the board lay flat, waiting to be picked up.
I obliged eventually, tucking the board under my arm and walking towards the beach. It would be a longer walk, but it was okay, I needed to clear my head.
I thought about my current situation. I could never go back to the houseboat, which worried me. I hated Helen, there was no doubt about that, but she truly was the only family I had left. The only connection to my parents I would've ever had. I didn't know whether or not I was happy or confused at this point.
I was frustrated that Helen wouldn't stop drinking. I honestly never knew a stable, sober Helen, so her drunken state was far too familiar. I still resented her for it. She was the reason I hardly ever made friends. She "homeschooled" me, which consisted of her screaming at me every day to get my shit together and learn something.
I ended up just going into my room at the end of the day and reteaching it all to myself, which proved to be effective in the long run, I had pretty good grades. This summer was the same as every other summer, I would wander around the island surfing, swimming, boating, or reading. By myself. I had a phone but what's the use when there's nobody to text or call? I hardly used the thing.
When I got to the beach with the best surf spot, I looked out on the waves. They were perfect that night and I was excited to get back out there and de-stress. I shed my clothing, revealing a simple black bikini I loved to surf in. As luck would have it, I happened to wear it today for comfort. My other bathing suits were cute but a little annoying to wear at times.
I put the clothes down and took my dirty flip-flops off too, putting them all somewhere I would remember to retrieve afterward. After attaching the strap on the board to my ankle, I began to venture down the dunes to the water but was stopped by a voice.
"Didn't take you for a night-surfer," I heard someone say behind me.
★★★
Pt. 2! I know this is a fairly new story, but I hope everyone likes what I have so far. Ugh, I just want to be able to write faster... I have so many ideas!