sunken
adjective. having sunk or been submerged in water.
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The morning after Hurricane Agatha, Lee didn't wake up to sunshine pouring through her window, as she'd hoped. It had been two long nights in a row—one filled with blue eyes and blonde hair and the other with howling wind and heavy rain. She wanted to sleep for as long as the world would let her. Instead, she woke up to the sound of someone knocking frantically on the front door at an absolutely ungodly hour. Well, it would be ungodly, except that Lee's alarm clock was blinking 12:00 in bright red to let her know that the power was out.
"Lee!" her mother shouted from downstairs. "Can you get that?"
Lee groaned, crawling out of bed and pulling on a pair of jean shorts. Great, she thought, glancing out at the branches strewn across her backyard. More yard work. Lee stumbled downstairs and threw open the front door to reveal John B and JJ, each of them sporting a shit-eating grin.
She stared at them for a moment before going to close the door, saying a quick, "No."
JJ stuck his foot in front of the door, forcing it to stay open. "Aw, c'mon, Lee, you know you love us!"
Lee shot him a look that screamed, do I?
"Lee, the crabs are gonna be all over the marsh today," John B said, walking into her house.
"I didn't invite you in!" she protested, but the boys ignored her.
Her mom walked up as she was trying to push her friends back outside. "John B! It's good to see you, honey, it's been too long!" her mom said, pulling John B in for a hug. She looked tiny next to John B, only pale skin and fragile bones next to his tanned muscle and bright brown eyes. "And JJ, has it been a full day since I last saw you?"
"I don't think so, Mrs. Carter," JJ responded, sticking his tongue out at Lee as her mother hugged him.
"Well," Lee's mom continued, ignoring Lee as she made slicing motions across her throat at the two boys, "I'll let you three go back to whatever you were doing! Lee, just let me know if you'll be home for dinner. Oh, and you boys are welcome to join us!"
Lee and the boys made faces at each other as her mother walked into the kitchen, humming as she went. Lee tried to keep from yelling at them about waking her up and then intruding in her home. She swatted at John B's hand as he patted her head mockingly.
"If I was four inches taller, John B, your ass would be grass," she threatened once her mom was out of hearing range.
"Okay, crabby," JJ said, putting his hands up in surrender. "We're going, whether you like it or not."
"I'm not even ready yet," Lee mumbled in complaint, rubbing her eyes in a show of sleepiness. "I just woke up."
John B raised an eyebrow in confusion. "We're just going crabbing. You just have to put on a swimsuit and you're good to go."
Lee shook her head. "No, no, no. I need to do my morning skincare routine, and fix my hair, and find an outfit—"
"Doesn't sound too hard!" JJ said, cutting her off.
"Yeah, we'll help!" John B quickly agreed.
Lee protested as the boys picked her up, each lifting her from one side and dragging her upstairs as she shouted at them. "Guys, I have so much work to do to clean up the mess Agatha left in the yard! I can't go crabbing!"
"And we'll help you with that, too," JJ promised, sending her a sly grin.
"You better," Lee mumbled as they set her down inside of her room.
John B crossed his arms, smirking. "Get dressed, we're leaving in five minutes."
Five minutes later, Lee was unhappily dressed in her usual jean shorts and crop top over a bikini, her skincare routine partially finished and her hair a slightly more contained mess. Her converse dangled from her fingers as she walked downstairs. It was unlikely that she would need them, anyways, but it's always good to have a pair of shoes on hand when you run with troublemakers.
"You boys have fun on the marsh!" her mother said as JJ and John B exited the kitchen, each munching on a sandwich.
Lee growled, smacking them each with her bag.
"Hey, honeybee, I have a sandwich for you here!" her mother exclaimed, rounding the corner as she wielded a turkey and cheese sandwich in a Ziploc bag. "We need to eat up all the food in the fridge—power probably won't be back up for a couple weeks."
"Thanks, mom," Lee said, grinning. "I'll see you later!" she continued, ushering the boys towards the front door.
"Don't forget sunscreen!" her mom called in response, throwing a bottle of it towards Lee. "And be safe, honeybee! Cell towers are down, so there's no calling for help if something happens."
"We'll be careful, mom, I promise," Lee murmured, flying through the front door.
"Yeah, don't forget sunscreen," JJ mocked quietly as he neared her.
"You boys need sunscreen, too!" her mother continued, barely audible through the door as it swung shut.
Lee raised an eyebrow at JJ. "We'll remind each other, then."
They wandered slowly to the dock, observing the wreckage that the hurricane had left behind. Lee called out to several of her neighbors as they walked past, asking them how they'd fared in the storm. Many of them had downed trees to deal with, but some had more significant damage done to their homes.
"Mornin', Lee!" Mr. Morgan called out as she waved at him. Mr. Morgan and his wife had been two of the first people to welcome Lee and her mom to the area when they had first moved from Figure Eight.
"Hey, Mr. Morgan! How are you and the misses doing?" Lee responded, pausing for a moment.
John B and JJ halted beside her as she talked to the elderly man.
He grimaced, crossing his front lawn to talk to her. "Well, that old oak tree we had in the back—you remember it? You kids used to come climb in it?"
Lee nodded. "Yeah, that's the one Pope fell from, right?"
"Right," Mr. Morgan said, running a hand through his thinning gray hair.
When Lee had first moved to the Cut, Mr. Morgan had thick black hair and warm, dark skin. In the two years since then, however, he had grayed significantly. It might've been from the stress that Lee and her friends caused him with their antics, but Lee hoped that wasn't the case.
"Well, that tree fell over and sent a couple branches through the kitchen window. Gonna cost a lot to fix it," he continued, sighing. "We're lucky it wasn't the roof."
Lee frowned. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, Mr. Morgan. We didn't have anything too bad—just some branches down."
"That's good," Mr. Morgan said, sending her a bright smile. "Tell your mama I said hello!"
"And the same to Mrs. Morgan!"
Soon, the trio of troublemakers had reached the HMS Pogue, John B's old fishing boat that had quickly become the group's favorite hangout spot. Lee took her usual spot on the front deck, laying out a towel and flopping onto it to get a little sunshine as they went to pick up their other friends. She let her fingers trace along the water's surface as the boat cut through it, ignoring JJ and John B's banter.
Lee woke up from her daydream to hear Pope's father yelling, "I heard that, you little bastard!"
She sat up, glaring at JJ, who she assumed to be the little bastard in question. Glancing to the dock, Lee nodded at Pope in greeting, bringing one hand up to shield her eyes from the sun.
"We need your son!" John B explained.
Lee smiled as she looked at Mr. Heyward. "Island rules, sir. Day after a hurricane's a free day."
"Who the hell made that up?" Pope's dad said, an eyebrow raised.
Pope glanced nervously between his friends and his father. Lee grimaced. Her mother was so thrilled Lee had any friends that she rarely objected to Lee going off on random adventures with them. JJ's dad rarely knew where his son was to begin with. John B's uncle, his legal guardian, was currently living in Mississippi—a fact that the Department of Child Services was very interested in. Unfortunately, not all parents were quite as lenient in letting their kids spend their time exactly as they wanted.
"Uh, the Pentagon, I think?" JJ said, shrugging. "We have security clearance. I have a card."
"Y'all think I'm stupid?" Mr. Heyward said, frowning.
"Listen, Mr. Heyward," Lee said. "You're welcome to join us!"
Mr. Heyward only rolled his eyes in response. Lee stood up as Pope and his father argued, stretching her arms over her head. JJ pushed her playfully and Lee grabbed his arm instinctively when her balance wavered. He sent her an apologetic glance, but her attention was already on Pope.
"Come on, Pope," she insisted. "If I'm going, you gotta."
Pope grimaced but jumped onto the HMS Pogue, shouting at John B to go. JJ and Lee cheered, patting Pope on the back as he withered under his father's harsh stare.
"Bring your ass back here!" Mr. Heyward shouted.
"I promise I'll do it tomorrow, dad!" Pope shouted back, shrugging.
Lee patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Yeah, we'll help him tomorrow!"
John B steered the boat towards the Wreck, a small seafood restaurant that Kiara's family owned. It was a hit among tourists, but unfortunately during off-season and bad weather it always seemed to suffer. Living in a tourist destination was fun, except that the economy was seasonal and the visitors were assholes.
"Oh, top o' the mornin' to ya," JJ said in a phony Irish accent, glancing over Lee's shoulder as Kiara walked towards them on the dock.
"Whatcha got? Got some juice boxes?" Pope asked, staring at Kiara's ice chest.
Kiara smiled, opening it as she hopped onto the boat. "You know, just some yogurts and carrot sticks, some juice boxes."
JJ turned to Kiara. "How 'bout my kinda juice box?"
Kiara grinned in response to his question and Lee whooped in excitement. As Kiara began to pull beers out of the ice chest, Lee went to remove her top, wanting to avoid a farmer's tan. JJ wolf-whistled behind her as she tossed it towards her bag. She turned, reaching out towards Kiara for a beer, but froze when Kiara gasped.
"Lee!" Kiara murmured, her brown eyes locked on Lee's stomach. Lee quickly put her hands over her abdomen, but she knew that everyone had already seen the dark bruise on it.
John B's attention had been stolen from the water. "Is that from Topper?"
Lee nodded hesitantly. "But it doesn't hurt too bad. Just if I push on it—see?" she said, demonstrating by pressing on her ribs.
She grunted as pain shot through her ribs. Her hands fell to the waistband of her jean shorts, fidgeting with it apprehensively. The crew slowly nodded in affirmation, but Lee didn't miss Kiara's sleight of hand as she swapped out Lee's beer for water. Lee rolled her eyes but accepted the water–she had long since learned to fight Kiara. Besides, she needed to stay hydrated if she was to be in the sun all day. Each set of eyes stayed locked on Lee's lanky frame as she sat back down on the deck, wincing when she bent over. It was no secret that Lee liked to downplay and medicate her own pain, but her friends would certainly keep an eye on her as well as they could despite that.
The bruise was quickly forgotten as they suntanned and joked around, cruising through the marsh with drinks in hand. Lee watched the horizon as she sipped her water, squinting as the sun reflected off of the water. This was where she belonged: sitting on the bow of a boat, feeling the water spray against her legs, the warmth of the sun shining on her shoulders. She had spent every evening of her childhood in the water with her dad, waiting for her mom to call them in for dinner. There was inevitably a scolding when Lee came into their house dripping saltwater, her eyes reflecting the blue of the ocean and her honey brown hair scraggly as it dried in the breeze.
JJ suddenly appeared next to her on the bow, disrupting her reverie. "Hey, Pope, can you go a little faster, please?"
Lee watched him curiously, shading her eyes with her hand. "What are you doing?"
The boat sped up beneath them as Lee stared at JJ, who smirked down at her in response.
"You might want to move out of the splash zone," JJ said, lifting his beer bottle into the air.
Lee gagged as the beer began to drip down onto her, whining as it got into her hair and all over her shorts. "JJ, are you serious? Again?"
The rest of the crew behind her complained loudly as beer sprinkled the boat. It seemed to land everywhere except JJ's mouth, which Lee pointed out—much to his chagrin. Just as Lee stood to grab the beer bottle from JJ, the boat lurched, sending her flying off of the bow. Her eyes were wide as she belly-flopped into the water, pain immediately echoing through her entire chest cavity. She swam up, spluttering, to see JJ next to her, shaking water droplets from his bright blonde hair.
"You guys okay?" John B called, staring down into the water.
"I think my heels touched the back of my head," JJ groaned.
Lee nodded to John B, slowly treading water. "Pope, if you ever do that again, I swear," she threatened, watching as the perpetrator in question walked to the bow.
"It was a sandbar," Pope protested. "The channel changed."
"This is probably gonna mess this whole place up," John B groaned from the deck.
"Hey, I saved the beer, though!" JJ said, paddling to the edge of the boat, beer bottle in hand.
"Congrats, JJ," John B mumbled.
Lee rolled her eyes at JJ. "It's probably full of nasty water. Don't drink that."
JJ raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, yeah? Are you gonna stop me?"
Luckily, Pope stopped Lee from retorting as he peered into the dirty water. "Guys, I think there's a boat down there," he said.
Lee stared into the water, struggling to try and find a boat through the murk. "Oh, I think I see it!" she exclaimed.
She didn't hesitate to dive down towards the sunken boat, kicking her way towards the roof. Her friends soon swam down around her, all looking at it curiously. Just as all her friends began to swim back to the surface, Lee kicked down a little deeper in the water to check the brand name on the boat. Her lungs protested as she took the time to glance at the side, but she was suddenly glad that she had checked. When she reached the surface, her eyes were wide with elation.
"That's a Grady-White!" Lee exclaimed as the other four stared at her. Kiara's and Pope's mouths fell open in shock as JJ's eyes widened and John B's eyebrows raised.
"A new one of those is like five hundred G's, easy," JJ said, swimming back to the HMS Pogue. "That's a primo rig."
Lee nodded in confirmation, heaving herself back onto the boat. She stumbled towards the anchor locker with a plan that her friends likely wouldn't be fans of. Despite this, Lee desperately wanted to see what was in that boat—a Grady-White didn't just sink.
"That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge," John B said. "Maybe it hit the jetty or something."
Lee looked up with a frown. She had been surfing since before she could walk and even she was hesitant to surf the surge. They were well-known for having dangerous waves as the sea levels rose when a hurricane made landfall. If she had learned anything from her father, it was to not surf before a storm.
"You surfed the surge?" Kiara asked, concern lacing her voice.
JJ laughed. "That's my boy. Pogue style!"
"Do we know whose boat that is?" Pope asked.
"No, but we're about to find out," John B said, watching Lee as she pulled the anchor out of the locker.
Lee sent him a wink as he crossed his arms, nodding back at her.
"Dude, it's too deep," JJ protested, staring at John B.
"For the weak and feeble, JJ," John B commented. "Luckily, Lee isn't weak or feeble—and she can hold her breath for a long ass time."
Everyone's eyes turned to her, staring as she pretended to stretch. "Yeah, coach used to make us hold our breath for four minutes at the start of every practice. Had a lot of kids pass out doing it but, hey, we won state."
"I will perform mouth-to-mouth on you, if need-be," JJ said, winking at Lee. "I'm just making that clear up front."
Lee rolled her eyes. "You won't need to," she said, grunting as she lifted the anchor into her arms. She winced as the anchor's sharp arms pressed on her ribs but said nothing, not wanting her friends to worry.
"Lee—" Kiara started hesitantly. Lee sent her a small smile in reassurance as she stepped to the edge of the boat.
"Diver down, fool," Pope said, saluting Lee.
Clearing her throat, Lee turned to her friends and began, "Good morning." They all groaned as they realized what she was doing. "In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world."
It had been two years since Lee had first memorized the speech from Independence Day and her friends had probably heard it at least 20 times since then.
"And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind—" she was suddenly cut off as JJ shoved her into the water.
Apparently people could get tired of motivational speeches.
She sucked in a breath just before hitting the water, the anchor dragging her down quickly. It pressed roughly against the bruise on her abdomen, causing her eyes to squeeze shut in pain. Once she was deep enough to reach the boat, Lee heaved the anchor off of her and began swimming towards the cockpit. She approached the captain's chair of the boat, searching for anything that could tell them whose boat it was. She couldn't find keys or a wallet near the chair, searching around the floor and the front console. The locker on the deck refused to open and she couldn't locate a key for it. Just as her lungs began to scream their need for oxygen, Lee saw something from the corner of her eye. She grabbed a yellow motel key from a cupholder, eyeing it for a moment before kicking away from the boat. She gasped for air as she reached the surface, her tongue lolling out of her mouth dramatically.
"Oh, my God, that took forever!" Kiara said, relieved.
"Are you okay?" John B asked, reaching out a hand to Lee.
Lee nodded, grabbing John B's hand. "Great."
John B heaved her onto the deck as Kiara handed her a towel.
"Any dead bodies?" Pope asked, seeming hopeful.
Lee frowned. "No, weirdo."
"Looting potential?" JJ asked, beginning to haul the anchor up from the water.
She rolled her eyes at him. "No, klepto. Just this motel key." She handed the key to John B as she wrapped the towel around herself.
"A motel key?" Pope said skeptically.
Lee glared at him. "Yes, a motel key."
JJ looked at her skeptically as he pulled the anchor back into the hold. "Great. We salvaged a motel key."
"It's more than you got!" Lee said, sticking her tongue out at JJ as he stared at the yellow key. John B was holding it in the air, inspecting it from every angle. "I couldn't find a wallet or anything. The cockpit was totally cleaned out."
John B pursed his lips. "Weird. Let's go."
Pope got behind the wheel again, turning the engine over and heading back towards the Cut. Lee sat by JJ, playfully shaking her wet hair in his face. He grabbed her in a headlock, rubbing his knuckles on her head.
"JJ!" she squealed in protest, squirming in the headlock. "I thought we agreed on no more noogies!"
"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't shake your wet hair in my face!" he challenged, releasing her anyways.
They sat down beside each other as the group discussed the key, JJ's arm falling around Lee's shoulders. He glanced down at her abdomen, the area around the bruise sporting red marks from where the anchor had been pressed into her.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, his blue eyes piercing into Lee's.
She nodded, moving an arm to cover her abdomen as her fingers tightened around the edges of the towel, fiddling with its hem. "Yeah. Remember that time I fell off of the Chateau roof?"
JJ grinned at the memory. "We were all pretty sure you were dead."
"But this is nothing compared to that concussion, and I survived that," Lee said, smiling brightly. She rested her head on JJ's shoulder. "Although I did have unlimited access to painkillers around that time–"
"That's not funny and you know it," JJ cut Lee off, sending her a sharp glare.
Lee rolled her eyes with a small chuckle. "Relax, JJ. I'm kidding." JJ pursed his lips but didn't say anything more. Lee knew that her friends hated it when she joked about her struggles with addiction, but Lee saw it as the best way to cope. Every time that she saw the Kook friends she'd get high with, that she passed the road to her old dealer's mobile home, that she spotted the Ibuprofen in her mom's medicine cabinet, Lee was reminded of how much she wanted to use. How is someone supposed to move past those constant reminders without a bit of humor?
"Guys, we should report the wreck to the Coast Guard," Kiara suggested. "Maybe we'll get a finder's fee."
Lee raised her head, her lips pursed. It wasn't a bad idea to report the wreck in hopes of a finder's fee. While some finder's fees were less than $100, they could get into the thousands if what was found was worth enough.
JJ raised an eyebrow at Kiara's suggestion. "Yeah, and not work all summer. Thanks, Agatha, ya batch!"
The crew eventually agreed to report the finding to the Coast Guard and headed towards the emergency station set up on the island. As John B, JJ, and Pope went to talk to an officer, Lee and Kiara crossed their fingers that they would get a finder's fee for discovering the boat. Thanks to Agatha, a significant amount of work on the island would be slowed and finding extra money that summer would become increasingly difficult. For now, Lee still had her lifeguarding job, but if activity at the beach decreased due to bad weather or less tourism she might not.
"What's up with you and JJ?" Kiara asked, leaning against a post with her arms crossed.
Lee sent her best friend a confused look. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently, furrowing her eyebrows.
Kiara raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to tell me, but I can see that something's going on," she said, grinning slyly at Lee. "Just remember the rule. No Pogue-on-Pogue macking"
Biting her lip, Lee nodded. "Of course I remember the rule. And you don't have to act so jealous, babe, you're the only one for me," she said, blowing a kiss to her friend.
Kiara pretended to swat it out of the air, laughing as Lee pouted. "I know. Just be careful—that boy is a piece of work."
They laughed as they waited for the boys to return, hopeful that they would be able to talk to an official. Their prayers for the finder's fee remained unanswered as JJ and John B exited the Coast Guard's tent, looking irritated.
"Well, that went well," Pope commented, frowning.
"So, what's the plan?" JJ asked, turning to John B.
John B raised an eyebrow, holding up the motel key. "I think I know how we're gonna find the guy who owns that boat."
Lee stepped forward, raising an eyebrow jokingly. "You want me to use my terrific stalking abilities to find them online? I thought you'd never ask."
Pope scoffed. "Lee, do you realize that electricity is down all over the island? The Cut won't have WiFi again for weeks, probably."
"Has that ever stopped me before?"
"Um, yes?"
"Shut up," John B interjected. "We're gonna figure out where this key is from."
Pope was not thrilled by the idea. "We don't know whose room that is. It could belong to anyone."
"I'm in," JJ said quickly.
Lee shrugged. "Mom always said that trouble is my middle name."
The crew turned to Pope, who looked distraught.
"Come on," Kiara begged. "I'll be lookout."
"You'll only be an accomplice!" John B said to Pope, following JJ and the girls back towards the boat. Pope hesitantly turned. "Come on, bubba."
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Updated 8/17/22. If you see this note and realize this book has been updating as you have been reading, I recommend going back to the beginning to reread the changes. Otherwise, please look at the pinned message on my profile for more information on updates to "The Deep End."