THE POGUES MADE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE WATER TO THE MOTEL, the sun beating down on all of them. As they approached the motel, the worse it looked. With such an expensive boat they found, it was surprising that he would be staying here of all places.
"I thought the Chateau was bad." JJ remarked, standing on the front of the bow, ready to jump off and tie the line to the ground.
"This place is a shit show." John B added, trying to look past JJ to see where he could park the boat.
"Motel or meth lab?" Kie asked, her curly brown hair blowing behind her shoulder from the wind.
"You be the judge." Pope said, rubbing his hands together nervously even though he was only lookout.
"This is not a place a someone with a Grady-White would stay." Talia told the crew as they turned a slight corner to park the boat.
"No, this is a place someone with a Grady-White would get killed." Pope said, and the whole group nodded in agreement.
"This is your captain speaking, HMS Pogue coming in for landing." JJ hopped off the front of the boat, tying the bowline to a stake in the grass so their trusty boat wouldn't float away. Once it was secure, John B and Talia leapt off the boat onto the grass, making their way towards the dilapidated motel.
"Hey." Pope said before the three left. "Don't let them do anything stupid." He told Talia, who glanced at the two boys behind her, knowing they would get into some kind of trouble.
"Oh we will." JJ said, whipping around to face the motel.
"Just be careful." Kiara told John B while handing him the key. She gave him a look which caused her to roll her eyes. "I mean it." She said in a serious tone, eyebrows raised. The three turned around and started walking towards the motel, coming across a pile of mattresses.
"Why are all these mattresses out here?" John B asked, glancing at the mattresses piled up high outside of the motel's entrance.
"After a hurricane, they have to get rid of them because they're moldy." Talia informed them, causing the two to look at her questioningly. "Yeah, that's right, I know things." She told them, and they walked up the stairs to the second floor.
"Just be so careful, John B." JJ joked, caressing John B's face, still walking towards the room. JJ was imitating Kiara, just to get on John B's nerves.
"God, you're so weird." John B responded shoving him off, Talia still walking behind the boys, acting like she wasn't paying attention to their conversation.
"What was that about?" JJ asked him.
"I don't know, maybe she wants us to be careful?" John B told him, continuing to look for the room, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Ever since she heard you're being threatened with exile, she's like 'Oh, be so careful John B, give me that John D already.' When are you gonna swoop?" JJ taunted, rubbing his shoulders, causing John B to jerk him off again. Talia rolled her eyes at the conversation, the two boys acting like immature kids. Sure, it would make sense for the two to date, but if what Kiara told Talia was true, it would make sense why he hadn't made a move on Kiara already, since the other boys have many times.
"Bro, you know the rule. No Pogue-on-Pogue macking." John B reminded him. That stupid, stupid rule. Was that rule the reason he hadn't made a move on either Talia or Kiara, because of a rule he made up when he was 13?
"Besides, you're the one who's always hitting on her." John B told him, slightly stumbling, the floor uneven from the storm.
"Of course I'm hitting on her. She's a super hot, rich, hippie chick slumming with us. Why? I can't figure it out either, but who cares, bro? I know that door's locked because I've tried it, have you?" JJ told him as they approached the door, 229.
"Are we here to investigate or to chat, boys? Let's get on with it." Talia said, her toned laced with annoyance.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today." JJ joked, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, which she shoved off.
"Let's just get this over with." She huffed as John B knocked on the door, with no answer. JJ knocked, making a high pitched 'housekeeping' voice as he looked into the window.
"Should we try it?" John B asked Talia and JJ, who both nodded.
"No power, no security cameras, no one will know." JJ muttered as John B opened the door, revealing a dark room with two seemingly untouched beds. The three walked into the room, where a bag lay on the bed and a map on the bedside table.
"Check the bag, see if there's a name on there somewhere." John B told JJ, walking into the room farther. Talia ventured into the bathroom, hoping she wouldn't find a dead body or anything gross in there. She had been watching too much Criminal Minds. She reluctantly pulled open the shower curtain, relieved that there was nothing in there. She found a small black bag sitting on a shelf above the toilet, going through it slightly before JJ came up behind her and took it from her, letting out an 'Oh'.
"Did you find anything?" She could hear John B ask as JJ rooted through the bag.
"Found a pretty awesome dopp kit that you won't let me steal." JJ told him, finding some deodorant, and slipping it into his pocket, causing Talia to hit his arm.
"Yeah, cause we're not stealing shit." John B answered. Talia gestured for him to put it back.
"Why?"
"You heard what he said. And plus, we're not getting caught for breaking and entering into someone's room because you took their Old Spice. Come on." She dragged JJ out of the bathroom as he put the deodorant back to find John B crouching down in front of a safe, punching in random numbers.
"Punching shit at random, that'll work." JJ told him while him and Talia walked over to the map again, trying to make sense of it and the post it note that was placed on it.
"I don't know about the second one. These coordinates... wait! My cousin said you could catch swordfish over there."
"And why is that relevant, JJ?" Talia asked, him earning a shrug as he continued to look over the map.
"Wait, Tal, could you read me the number on the piece of paper?" John B asked from across the room, still in front of the safe.
"Six, one, six, six, six." Talia said dismissively, listening to JJ ramble about what the coordinates could mean.
"Have you heard of shoals, Tal?" JJ asked the girl, and before she could respond, John B interrupted her.
"JJ, Tal? You're gonna wanna see this." They bent down to his level to find the safe full of stacks and stacks of money, along with a gun.
"Dude." JJ said, grabbing the gun before Talia or John B could stop him. He moved around the room while Talia and John B tried to get him to stop and put the gun back.
"This is a SIG Sauer, this is a fucking spendy gatt, man! Bam, bam, bam!" He imitated shooting the gun, causing Talia to groan.
"Oh my god, stop before you actually shoot someone with that." Talia urged him as he still pretended to shot the gun around the room.
"Hey, we are not stealing anything." John B told him after he finally stopped JJ.
"Just take a pic of me, right here." JJ asked Talia, who looked at him, eyes wide.
"Really? Did you really just ask me that?" She asked him as he posed, with the gun. They heard a pang on the window, which caused John B to peak through the shade, finding Kiara and Pope frantically waving their arms. He ran over to the window by the door, peaking through the shade once again.
"Cops." The three ran around the room frantically, trying to find a way to escape. JJ made an 'a-ha' noise and pried open the window, climbing out the window and onto the ledge. John B followed after him, going on the other side, barely enough room for the two of them.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Talia whispered frantically. She could hear the keys ringing outside and the door opening. John B grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room, onto the outside of the building, Talia closing the window just before the door swung open. John B clamped his arm around her waist, holding her secure against the exterior of the building. She could feel his breath on the side of her face, he breathed rapidly due to the excitement of the past two minutes. This was not the time for the butterflies in her stomach to come alive, but they did. She could hear the sheriffs opening the safe, no doubt finding the money.
"I said it, didn't I say it?" She could hear Sheriff Shoupe's voice through the now closed window. He was a family friend, so Talia could recognize his voice. Talia was able to peek through the shade to see that in fact he was going through the safe and opening a manila envelope. After inspecting its contents, he gave it to the other officer and told her to bag it. He pulled out a stack of money, waving it in front of the officer.
"Sir?"
"Everybody's gotta dip their beak." Shoupe told her, and she reluctantly grabbed the money. John B and Talia looked over at JJ, who mouthed, 'what the fuck'.
"Do you believe-" JJ whispered as the gun slipped out of his pocket, hitting the roof and landing on the ground. John B and Talia looked at him with wide eyes.
"You took the gun, you stupid idiot?" Talia whispered as he pushed up against the building, a pained look on his face. She could feel the sheriff moving closer towards the window. John B clenched her waist tighter as he moved as far as he could away from the window. Talia moved ever so slightly into his body more, making sure she was out of the sight line of the window. She held her breath as the shades went up and held a finger to her lips towards JJ. After what seemed like forever, Shoupe walked away from the window and out the door of the motel room. Talia released a breath and ran a hand through her hair.
"Enough of an adventure for you?" John B asked her quietly, and she nodded.
"Yeah, I think a heart attack is forthcoming."
___________
"Could've warned us a little sooner." JJ told Kiara and Pope when they were back on the boat. John B drove, one leg propped next to where Talia was sitting.
"We would have, except Pope was on the math team." Kiara said, brushing out a knot from her curly hair.
"Of course you were." Talia muttered, jokingly nudging Pope.
"The cops took everything like it was a crime scene. Did you guys find anything?" He asked, swiftly changing the subject, causing Talia to let out a light laugh.
"No, I don't think so. Oh, yeah, we did." JJ held up the gun in one hand and a stack of hundred dollar bills in the other.
"What the hell?"
"Dude, what?" Pope and Kiara said at the same time in disbelief, while Talia and John B shook their heads.
"I can't believe you took the money too, JJ." Talia said as Pope moved towards him.
"Why would you take that from a crime scene?" Pope asked angrily as Kiara looked towards Talia.
"You were supposed to keep them from doing anything stupid." Kiara told her, causing Talia to shrug her shoulders.
"I had no idea he did that until he was stupid enough to drop the gun from his pocket and make the loudest sound known to man." Talia said, referring to the event on the roof.
"I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship." Pope said in distress, moving his hands to his head.
"Hey, hey, sh, sh. At least you have us, right?"
"I'm living a nightmare." Pope whispered, sitting down next to Talia, who placed a hand on his back.
___________
"Ok, so, we didn't see anything. We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia." Pope said as he entered John B's screened in porch. They had just gotten back from the marina, where Scooter Grubbs' body had just been fished out of the water. After speaking to some people around the marina, the crew discovered that he was the owner of a brand new Grady-White, which had not yet been found. The Pogues went back to the Chateau to figure out a game plan. Talia and Kiara sat on a couch, Kiara plucking her ukulele and Talia on her phone, despite not having service from the hurricane. JJ sat in a chair, flipping the top on and off of his lighter, while John B leaned against a wall, flipping an empty beer bottle in his hands.
"Actually, Pope's right for once. See, I agree with you sometimes. Deny, deny, deny." JJ said, moving across the room towards John B.
"Guys, we can't keep that money." Talia told the group, putting her phone on her lap and looking out at her friends.
"Not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Tal." JJ said, looking out of the porch towards the ocean. She knew that her friends did not have as much money as her, but that didn't justify keeping stolen money.
"We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs, or else it's bad karma." Kiara told them, which Talia agreed with.
"Bad karma can be implicated in a felony, too." Talia said in a serious tone, earning a smile from John B from across the room.
"We gotta go dark."
"If that means keeping the money, then I agree." JJ said, glancing over to John B for support. Usually, he would agree with him at times like this, but after thinking, he didn't agree with JJ.
"I don't agree." John B told JJ, clapping him on the shoulder and pacing to the other side of the room.
"This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about." John B started, making his case to his friends. "Same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We're talking about a dirty, marina rat who's never had more than forty dollars in his pocket, and all of a sudden he has a Grady-White?" Pope launched up from the couch by Talia's feet and went out the door out to the dock, trying to get away from the conversation. The group followed him as he grabbed a fishing pole and cast it out, JJ doing the same. Kiara sat on the railing of the dock while Talia leaned up against it, her arms crossed over her chest.
"All right, just think about it, Pope. How does a marina rat get a Grady-White?" John B continued, sitting on the dock next to Pope, while he was focused on fishing.
"Prostitution?"
"Robbery?" Talia and Pope said at the same time, causing Kiara to laugh.
"Square groupers, bro." John B said, ignoring Talia's remark.
"Flying under the radar, no surveillance. They don't do that stuff during a hurricane. What does that mean, JJ?" John B glanced back at his best friend, who was also focused on fishing.
"They were straight smugglin'." JJ answered, his eyes never leaving the water.
"And I guarantee there is a serious amount of contraband in that wreck."
"Hell yeah!" JJ interjected, just as he caught a fish. Pope reeled the pole back in before placing it on the dock, leaving the group again, going back towards the house, this conversation making him anxious. The group followed him yet again, into John B's bedroom. Pope moved onto John B's bed, while the rest of the group filed in, Kiara sitting at the desk chair and JJ taking a seat on a chest. John B sat on a window sill, Talia taking a seat next to him. He gave her a shy smile as Pope started talking.
"For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband inside of it, it probably belongs to someone else." Pope said, snatching the money JJ held out to him. "Then it probably belongs to someone else." Pope finished.
"Minor details." Kiara said, swiveling slightly in the chair.
"And they could come looking for it. Taking it would be catastrophically stupid." Pope told the group.
"Right. Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time." JJ said, getting the money back from Pope and fanning it out revealing the many hundred dollar bills. "All we need to do is figure out how to get into the cargo hold of that wreck. Until then we just lay low, act normal." JJ explained, leaning back into the wall.
"Right. And how exactly do we do that?" Pope asked, looking around to the group for suggestions.
"Kegger?" Talia asked, and the rest of the group smiled in agreement.
___________
Soon enough, the five friends moved to part of the beach known as the Boneyard, red solo cups and kegger in tow. News of the party spread like wildfire amongst the teens of the island, even the tourists, or Tourons, as the Pogues call them. Soon enough, the beach was filled with teens, drinking, dancing, and just talking to each other, some flirting. Talia loved when her and her friends hosted a party, mostly because of the free booze, but also she was happy that for even a couple hours, the Kooks and Pogues could coexist peacefully. Sometimes Talia found it hard to have a balance with her Kook life and her Pouge life, but with times like these, she didn't have to worry about that. They just steered clear of each other and had fun.
After talking to a rather dull Touron, Talia looked around and saw John B sitting on a high peace of driftwood, alone and red solo cup in hand. She made her way through the small groups of sweaty teenagers and over to John B, who's face lit up when he saw her.
"All alone? What, did you scare off the ladies with your belching?" She joked, referring to when he got drunk, he always belched loudly and frequently. He laughed and shook his head. "No, she saw her friend stumbling over herself, wasted, and decided to take her home." He told Talia, offering her a hand to sit next to him of the fallen tree. She gladly took it, taking a seat next to him, taking a sip of her own drink.
"What about you, meet any eligible men up to your standards?" He asked her, nudging her arm slightly. She let out a sigh and looked at him. Oh, if only he knew.
"Well, I was talking to this Touron, and he asked me what we all did for work in the winter when it snowed." She said, as if the ocean was not right next to them as they talked. "I thought he was joking, but then when I started to laugh, he looked at me like I was the stupid one." She said as they laughed together. John B was about to speak when Kiara interrupted them, looking over both their shoulders.
"What is she doing here?" Kiara asked, causing Talia and John B to turn around to see Sarah Cameron, resident Kook princess, standing on a fallen lifeguard tower. Topper was close behind her, shouting at her to be careful and to get down.
"What is he doing here?" Talia asked, shifting back around and finishing her beer.
"I need another drink." She said, hopping off the driftwood and walking over to the keg, keeping the distance between her and her brother as much as she could.
As the night went on, more people showed up, which was not surprising. As the sun set, the music got louder and the teens got drunker. By the time it was dark, the keg was almost out. Talia made her way back to the keg for another drink. She was slightly tipsy, but still sober enough to be aware of what was going on around her. As she was filling up her cup, a voice filled her ear that made her shiver.
"Talia Thornton. Can't say I'm surprised to find you here." Rafe Cameron told her, causing her to spin around and face him. She has known Rafe almost her whole life, with him being her brother's best friend and her next door neighbor. They've grown up together, and Talia has always hated his guts.
"Rafael. To what do I owe the pleasure?" She asked, her voice dripping in sarcasm. He chuckled, looking at her up and down.
"How about we get out of here, just you and me. Go back to my place, get in the hot tub, like old times." He referred to when him and Talia, before she became friends with the Pouges, had an on and off relationship. She scoffed, taking a sip of her beverage.
"No offense Rafe, but I think I would rather die." She told him frankly as he inched closer to her.
"Come on, Talia, what's it gonna take to get you to stop hanging out with those Pogues and realize that we're gonna end up together?" He asked, his hand tracing her upper arm. She let out a laugh.
"Oh, I don't know, Rafe, how about when you move out of your dad's house and stop doing crack? Maybe then I would consider it." She smiled sweetly, and the smile fell from his face. He was about to shoot an insult back her when a commotion by the shore broke them away from their conversation. She saw JJ grabbing a fist full of her brother's shirt, their faces inches apart. She left Rafe standing there, trying to break up the argument between her best friend and brother. Before she could get there, John B, pulled JJ off of Topper.
"You're funny, man." JJ yelled at him, dripping in beer.
"Dirty Pouges." Topper muttered, causing John B to shove him, a fight between them ensuing.
"John B, we're supposed to be incognito, remember?" Pope said, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Topper, don't do this." Talia warned, trying to calm the two boys who acted like she wasn't there. Right after, Topper socked John B in the face, causing him to fall to the sand, a wave coming over him.
"Babe, chill!" She could hear Sarah yelling.
"Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man." Topper taunted, which caused John B to launch out of the water and go at him. His arms wrapped around Topper's waist, hitting him in the sides, Topper doing the same. The crowd was chanting, and Kiara, Pope, Talia, and Sarah shouted for them to stop. They threw punches at each other until Topper flipped John B to the ground and into the water, his hand wrapping around his neck. Topper pushed John B's head above and below the water, not letting him get enough air. Tears filled Talia's eyes, the sight of her brother drowning her best friend. She ran to pull Topper off John B when JJ pushed past her and pressed a gun against the back of Topper's head. People shouted that there was a gun, which made everyone else scatter, leaving Talia, JJ, Pope, Kiara, and Sarah, still shouting, but falling silent at the sight of the gun.
"Yeah, you know what that means. Your move, broski." JJ told Topper, whose hands left John B's neck.
"Put the gun down!" Sarah yelled, slowly moving closer.
"Did you say something, princess?" JJ said, his eyes not leaving the back of Topper's head.
"Kie, Talia, can you check your psycho friend, please?" She asked the two girls, who stood there in shock.
"Ok, ok! Chill out, man!" Topper slowly got up and moved away from John B, who was left laying in the ocean. As soon as Topper was away from him, Talia ran to John B, who was slowly sitting up.
"Are you okay?" She asked him softly as JJ yelled something and shot the gun into the air. She looked back and saw Sarah and Topper walking away. The anger she had been harboring inside of her was bubbling to the surface, and before she knew it, she was taking off towards Topper.
"Hey!" She yelled, and Topper and Sarah turned around. Talia raised her hand and slapped him as hard as she could, her hand stinging on impact.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you just go around trying to drown people now?" She screamed at him, while Topper showed no reaction as he looked behind her. Talia turned around and saw John B falling backwards into the water. She left her brother and while Kiara and Pope were screaming at JJ, Talia was the only one who noticed John B. She bent down into the water, lifting his head slightly.
"John B! Hey, hey, stay with me!" She told him, lightly smacking the side of his face. His eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Am I in heaven?" He groggily asked her, a slight smile forming on his face. She let a few tears slip as she laughed.
"Shut up, asshole."
wow, almost 5000 words. hope you enjoyed this longer chapter! let me know what you guys think of the story so far :) -brooke