SEASON ONE,
CHAPTER 17:
JUMPED AT A GOLF COURSE
"Did I win the fight?"
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THE POGUES ARE currently testing out the drone that they had 'borrowed' from the salvage yard yesterday afternoon. The device is being used to ensure that it all works properly before they head to the location of the Royal Merchant. Everything is to go according to plan if the group want to get this mission done as soon as possible. A lot of people are after the famous shipwreck, so they need to get there first.
The two brown haired friends (John B and Kiara) are swimming under the water in front of the camera. John B's face is pressed right up against the device as he pulls different faces at it, aiming to make the others laugh. He then swims backwards in the water and puts his thumbs up, forgetting that his friends aren't able to reply. Delilah watches it all from screen with JJ and Pope by her side, the three sitting up on the wooden docks.
"What's this right here?" Delilah asks.
The girl reaches out to press one of the many buttons on the device as curiosity gets the best of her. But Pope is quicker with his actions and lunges forwards, slapping Del's hand away and causing her to retract it. A small yelp leaves her mouth since she didn't expect that to happen.
"Don't touch that!" Pope orders. "I'm trying to work this thing out."
"God bless geeks, Pope. Truly, man." JJ comments. "What we do without you to control the drones?"
"Technically, it's not a drone. It's an ROV." Pope corrects.
"Shut up. It's too early for that right now." JJ tells him, not wanting to deal with that stuff.
"Smartass." Delilah mumbles.
As the redhead playfully shoves Pope in the shoulder and causes his body to shift slightly to dodge it, the two that were previously in the water rise back up to the surface. Kie smoothly pushes the brown hair out of her face so that she's able to see her friends, while John B shakes his own hair like a wet dog. They swim over to the docks where they haul themselves onto the wood and wrap a towel around their bodies.
"Hey, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim." John B informs.
"It's such bullshit." JJ argues. "Why do we have to do that?"
"Yeah, finders keepers." Delilah adds.
"Well, there is maritime salvage law." Pope reminds the two. "You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up."
"I know, I know." JJ replies with a sigh. "It's just lawyers aren't cheap, bro."
"As soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp." John B assures.
"I don't trust adults. All they do is create problems or make them worse." Delilah says.
"And do you know why that is?" Pope questions.
"Yeah, trust issues." Delilah bluntly replies, almost sounding as though shes singing the sentence.
"How do you even know all of that, John B?" Kie asks, changing the subject.
"'Cause my dad said it like a million times." John B replies.
Kie nods. "Yeah, that's fair."
"This tether is really long. In the wrong weather, this thing could get pushed around." Pope informs.
"Then we'll go at dead calm." John B concludes.
Thunder rumbles loudly in the sky as the long haired boy says that, completely contradicting the plan that he's decided to go with. Dark clouds are starting to roll in and cover the once blue sky, which is only another sign that there's going to be another storm. Guys of wind blow against their bodies, ruffling their clothes and the hair on their head.
"Now, we just gotta wait around for the right weather." Pope states.
Delilah sighs. "And today is not that day."
"Hey, Ly, you coming with us later to deliver groceries?" JJ suddenly asks.
"Yeah, why not? I have nothing else to do." Delilah replies.
JJ shoots a smile to the girl standing right beside him, noticing how her green eyes are locked onto the rippling water below them all. The ocean calms the redhead, which is something that she found out from when she was young. As a child, she would always look out of her once perfect household and watch the teenagers at the time surf the waves. She was too young to copy their adventurous actions though and resorted to relaxing by the docks with her little feet dangling into the water. Fortunately, she met JJ and John B through this since they shared the similar interest in surfing, as well and many other things.
Heading into their teenage years, JJ and Delilah had stolen a boat from the salvage yard together. This resulted in the pair dragging John B out of the house to sail through the marsh on the boat. Since this was during the time that her family was crumbling, being out with the boys and on the waters made Delilah forget about her home situation and was able to relax her tense body. They soon met Pope and Kiara through this. Then, after a mutual agreement, the boats name became HMS Pogue.
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Delilah stands on board of one of Heywards boat as she, JJ, and Pope have volunteered to give the Kooks the groceries that they ordered. A decent amount of money is coming from the job in return, and it's just a kind gesture towards Heyward. The grocery bags are currently being unloaded onto the three, which are then being carefully put aside within the boat.
"You boys, and girl, get these groceries over to Figure Eight." Heyward orders.
Pope reaches out and takes two bags.
"I promised delivery by this afternoon." Heyward states. "Apparently, rich folks don't wanna wait for you lazy sons of bitches."
JJ is now the one to take two bags.
"Get straight back here when you're done, you hear me? No fishing!" Heyward demands, pausing as he looks at the girl. "Oh! Thank you, Delilah."
The redhead had her hands already stretched out in front in preparation. She smiles at her friends father before kindly taking the grocery bags off of his hands, placing it down with the rest of them. They luckily have post-it notes on the side of the plastic bag, meaning that it'll be easier for them to decipher which household it belongs to.
Soon enough, the three say their brief goodbyes to Heyward before Pope take controls of the boat and drives away from the docks. They sail across the cold water and away from The Cut, making their way to Figure Eight to do as instructed. Delilah's eyes skim over the land with jealousy settling in the pit of her stomach; everything on this side of the island looks so neat and clean in comparison to where she and her friends lives — JJ and Pope notices this too.
"It doesn't even look like the storm hit there." Pope states.
"That's because they have generators, bro." JJ reminds. "Get used to it."
"Yeah, then those sons of bitches have the audacity to say the juice will be out all summer at The Cut. I mean, at least help us out a little, you pinheads." Delilah rambles, becoming angrier the more she talks about them.
JJ sighs. "They're some lucky bastards."
"Must be nice to be a Kook." Pope says.
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The teenagers practically travel around the whole of Figure Eight in order to complete the work that's been given to them. They drop the groceries off at the houses they were ordered to, making sure that it's the correct address so that no problems can arise. Only two more houses are left before the three are completely done with the job — JJ has the Cameron house, while the other two go to another.
The white plastic bags are filled to the very top to show that a lot of food and drinks have been ordered by the Kooks. Delilah and Pope walk along the sandy paths with those bags gripped in their hands. The trees surrounding them both don't provide much shade due to the fact that they're palm trees and look as though they're dying.
"Hey, Del, are you okay?" Pope quietly asks.
"Yeah, why?" Delilah replies, slightly confused on the sudden question.
"You know, from the two fights on the beach and that whole rant to John B." Pope reminds.
"I'm fine, Pope. Don't worry about me." Delilah assures as she gives him a small smile.
"I see your bruising is healing." Pope states while motioning towards her cheekbone.
Delilah, however, doesn't get a chance to reply as she looks over at the golf course they're passing by. Rafe, who is Sarah Cameron's older brother, and Topper are standing there with golf clubs gripped in their hands. She can practically feel her blood bubbling at just the mere sight of Topper, wanting to throw one final punch at him for even attempting to drown one of her best friends.
"Don't try anything, Del." Pope whispers. "Just keep your head down and continue walking."
"Fine, but if they try something then I won't hesitate." Delilah replies.
Not even seconds she says that, the boys glimpse in their direction and take notice of the fact that they're walking by. The Kooks proceed to make their way down from the golf course to join them both on the sandy paths. Delilah's jaw clenches as she watches them stop just a few feet away, stopping herself from making a comment. Rafe just sticks his golf club in front of the friends and stops them in their tracks.
"Hey, how much for one of those beers?" Rafe asks.
"They're not for sale." Pope informs.
Pope tries to push past and walk forwards, only for Rafe to stop him with his gold club again.
"Wait, wait, wait." Rafe says. "You can just give us one then, right?"
"Or you can order one, like everybody else. I mean, you have enough money, right?" Delilah fires back as glances over at Rafe, pouting. "Or is daddy not giving you any pocket money?"
"Del!" Pope hisses.
"Listen, you shut up for a sec, yeah?" Rafe demands, turning to face the boy next to her. "Look, you've got so many, bro. And we've got nothing."
"They're not ours. They're already paid for." Pope states.
"Already paid for?" Rafe repeats, peaking inside the plastic bag. "You probably stole them, right?"
The boy uses his golf club to hook it onto the bag, dragging it downwards where the plastic rips with ease. The contents all fall out at once and hit the sandy ground with a small thud — that's definitely not something to just be picked back up, otherwise a few grains of sand will be chewed along with it.
"The fuck is wrong with you?" Delilah shouts.
"You owe us for that!" Pope exclaims.
Rafe ignores the anger being directed towards him, smirking as he realises that he's getting under their skin. The golf club is swung through the air once again where, this time, it collides with the plastic bag that Delilah has held in her hands. The bag is ripped out of her grip and tossed over to the small mound beside them all.
"Dude, we don't owe either of you shit, Pogues." Rafe tells them, walking forwards.
The redhead opens her mouth to fires back a reply to the boy, only cutting herself off at the sight of Pope. The boy is frantically pulling the box of beer away from Topper as the two begin fighting for it, one trying to steal it while the other tries to complete his job. Then, Pope falls and collides with the hard floor beneath them all, hitting his forehead along the way. Blood is drawn from the wound as a grunt of pain slips past his lips out of instinct.
"Shit, my bad, man." Topper says, not meaning a single word of it.
Delilah glares at the boys, not taking them injuring one of her best friends (yet again) very lightly. She strides forwards and raises her balled first where a hard punch is landed to Toppers jaw. He stumbles back slightly from the shock and the sudden force applied. This is used to the girls advantage as she lands another punch right between the eyes.
However, since Del's full attention was on the blond, she didn't notice the fact that Pope had fallen to the ground again. Rafe has been using the golf club as a weapon, beating the poor boy with it. It's only when screams of pain erupt from her friends mouth does the girl spin around on her heel. Even more anger floods through her body and boils her blood, now knowing that the fight is only going to get worse.
"Stay down, bitch!" Rafe spits.
"Get the fuck off of him!" Delilah yells.
"Hey, hey, hey. Let's go!" Topper exclaims to his friend, ignoring the fact he's been punched twice.
"Listen to your friend, buddy." Delilah says.
Rafe turns around to focus his attention onto the ginger standing nearby. He reaches out and grabs the thin material of the shirt that she wears before slamming her body against one of the trees standing tall beside the golf course. The girls head smashes against the rough bark where a shot of pain strikes through her, releasing groan of pain.
"You think you're so tough trying to stick up for your little friends. But look what's happened, huh? Look at him on the ground bleeding!" Rafe snaps.
The boy grabs Delilah by the chin, forcing her to turn her head and look down at Pope. He's still lying on the floor in pain as sand sticks to the sweaty clothes that he wears. Blood is dripping from the wound on his forehead, as well as spilling out of his mouth. His eyes are scrunched shut from both the pain and the sun shining down on him.
At this sight of her friend like this, the girls vision seems to be clouded by red as the same feeling from the fight back at beach rushing back to her. Delilah places her hands upon Rafe's chest and shoves him away with force so that he's completely off of her and she's free to move. Then, her knee is lifted up into the air and connects it with his gut where he doubles over in pain. A punch is then swung at his face.
But Rafe isn't like Topper because he doesn't choose give up on the fight or simply ignore the hits being directed towards him. Instead, the boy grabs ahold of Delilah out of rage and throws her down onto the ground as if she was simply a doll. Her head collides with a large rock that was hidden beneath the sound, while her rib lands upon Rafe's golf club.
"Rafe!" Topper shouts in disbelief.
The redhead groans loudly as agony shoots through her body, unable to properly focus on anything else. Black spots start to fill her vision from how hard her head connected with the rock. Warm blood trickles down from her head and onto her face, beginning to enter her mouth with a metallic taste.
"We don't want either of you here, you both got that? Stay off Figure Eight, Pogues." Rafe demands.
The boy leaves the fight at that and turns to walk away from the scene, deciding that it's over and he was the winner from it. However, Topper remains frozen in his place. He stares down at the injured teenagers with a sympathetic look trying to make its way onto his face, desperately trying to hide it so that no one notices. Rafe soon notices that his friend hasn't followed and calls after him — almost like an owner controlling its dog.
Once the Kooks disappear around the corner, Pope finally pulls himself up into sitting position with a grunt as an ache overcomes his weak body. He spits the blood out of his mouth so that he doesn't choke on it, trying his best to keep himself together. The boy pauses for a moment to catch his breath after being hit in the stomach and winded from it.
Brown eyes then glimpse over to where Delilah lays nearby, quickly realising that she has now fallen unconscious. Panic instantly settles in his stomach as he scrambled to his feet and stumbles over to her. Pope lowers his head towards Lila's mouth, staying quiet as he listens for a breath. Soon enough, a small amount of relief enters his body at the sound of a couple of breaths, meaning she's still alive. The boy leans back, shakily lifting the girls head onto his lap for support.
"Shit, Del." Pope mutters under his breath. "JJ's gonna kill me for letting this happen to you. And then he'll kill Rafe."
He was half expecting a witty response to come out of her mouth.
"Delilah, wake up." Pope pleas.
The redhead doesn't move a single muscle, which makes it known to Pope that she won't wake up from her unconsciousness right now. He rises to his feet before carefully swooping his friend up in his arms, ensuring that she rests comfortable and he's able to continue holding her. The boy then begins to make his way back over to his fathers boat that they've been using this afternoon. Fortunately, just as he reaches the wooden docks, Delilah stirs from her unconsciousness.
"P- Pope?" Delilah stutters.
"Oh, thank fuck." Pope breaths out, relieved. "Yeah, it's me. You're okay."
"Did I win the fight?" Delilah asks, a hint of a smile on her face.
"Del, you only just woke up and you're trying to make jokes already?" Pope questions, pausing for a moment. "Think you can walk?"
Receiving a nod in response, Pope sets Delilah down onto the wooden planks and makes sure that she's able to steadily stand on her two feet. Just as they do this, JJ comes running over with a wide smile etched onto his face to show the excitement that he feels. However, this only drops in an instant at the sight of his two friends with blood on both of their faces, also noticing that Delilah looks extremely tired.
Ly stumbles slightly as the pair walk across the docks, trying her best to hold onto Pope so that she doesn't hit the floor. Her body still feels weak despite how hard she's trying to keep it together and make things easier for her friends, not wanting them to worry. But JJ still rushes forwards and wraps an arm around her waist to help keep her stable. A look of worry crosses over him as he turns to look at Pope.
"What the hell happened?" JJ asks.
"Just help me get her onto the boat first, then I'll explain." Pope replies.
JJ hesitates before nodding in response, knowing that he should listen and focus on Delilah. They both work together to help the girl continue walking along the thick wooden planks. The teenagers step off of the docks and onto the boat, wobbling slightly as the adjust to the boat swaying on the water. The boys seat Delilah down into one of the seats so that she's able to relax and recover from the beatings.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Pope asks, raising a couple fingers up in front of her face.
"Four." Delilah replies, it being correct. "I'm not concussed, Pope. I'm perfectly fine."
"Yeah, sure. Say that to your face." JJ mutters.
"You calling me ugly?" Delilah instantly fires back.
"Yeah, she's okay, Pope." JJ assures.
A small grin spreads across the blonds face as his blue eyes meet her green ones. He leans forwards and presses a kiss to Delilah's temple, watching as a smile tugs at the corners of her pink lips.
"And, no, I'm not calling you that. You're gorgeous, Ly." JJ tells her, pausing as he turns to the boy once again. "Okay, what happened?"
"Rafe and Topper jumped us. They said no Pogues on their side of the island. I mean, JJ, you know how Delilah gets... She was just trying to stick up for me and landed a few punches, but then got knocked out." Pope explains.
"Fuck sake." JJ mumbles under his breath.
The boys jaw unknowingly clenches out of anger, feeling even more rage towards the Kooks for going after his best friends once again. A small hand wraps around JJ's wrist and causes him to turn around, eyes travelling up their arm. His eyes rest on Delilah as she sits there with her legs pulled up to her chest. Her cheek is resting against the top of her knees, green eyes staring up at him — JJ would admit she looked adorable, but only if she didn't have bloody cuts that Rafe inflicted onto her skin.
"You mad at me?" Delilah questions.
"No, I'm mad at them." JJ replies.
JJ can almost feel his heart shatter at the sound of her voice sounding so small, cracks of pain peaking through in her sentence. Delilah's been in many fights and the group all knows that because they've either broken it up, or jumped in and got involved. But never has the girl been knocked out and had them deal with the aftermath.
The redhead made the assumption that JJ would be just as angry at her for even getting herself in that particular situation. Even if it wasn't JJ acting this way, she'd still assume the same for the rest of her friends would too — they wouldn't, they'd all just be worried for her. She guesses it's just an instinct of hers after having thought the same way when her dad first left (among many other thoughts).
Pope passes them a first aid kit so that the wounds can be dealt with, then moving to the drivers seat where the boat starts moving. JJ opens the kit and grabs the equipment that he needs, beginning to clean Delilah's cuts and wipe the blood away. He allows her to squeeze his free hand every time the rubbing alcohol was becoming too painful, or if he was accidentally pressing down too hard on them.
"Hey, hey. It's okay, Ly." JJ whispers, trying to calm her down.
Once the cleaning and bandaging process is finished, JJ presses a soft kiss on top of her forehead. The first aid kit is then packed away and pushed to one side, allowing it to be available for the next person that may possibly need it. The blond boy takes a seat on the chair beside Delilah, wrapping an arm around her waist as she lays her head upon his shoulder. Yet again, both of their 'soft' sides are exposed, but the two couldn't careless as long as they have each other.
"What are you going to do?" JJ asks, glancing over at his friend in the drivers seat.
"Sink that stupid boat of Toppers." Delilah replies.
"Read my mind." Pope informs, agreeing to the idea.
Just a minute after the little conversation, Pope pulls the boat to a stop so that it's now floating in the still water. The three rise from their seats and look over at the docks to see the expensive looking boat that Topper brought with his Kook money. Delilah feels jealous rising inside of her, swiftly reeling that back as she realises that nothing could ever compare to the HMS Pogue — all of their memories have been made on that boat.
"2020 Malibu, 24-MXC. It's the worlds finest wakesetter. Number one in quality, luxury, and performance." Pope tells them, now being the one to show off his knowledge.
"This is war, guys." JJ concludes. "They hit us, so now we hit them."
"Yeah, lets knock 'em unconscious too." Delilah adds.
JJ tosses the girl a spare hoodie that he had brought along with them, doing this just in case it got cold since the weather can be unpredictable. Delilah slips it on over the top of her head before pulling the hood to cover her face, making sure to tuck her all of her ginger hair away to avoid it being clearly known that it's her. JJ pulls up a mask and some sunglasses to cover his facial features, whereas Pope just instantly dives into the cold water below.
The teenager swims the short distance from their boat and over to Toppers, holding his breath to keep himself underwater for as long as he can. He climbs onto the boat itself and allows the water drip off of his clothing and onto the leather seats, which doesn't soak any of the droplets into its material. Pope then fumbles around where he then unscrews the cap of something, allowing it to bubble slightly.
As their friend dives back into the water, JJ leans over the edge to lower the ladder down. Pope soon appears back on his fathers boat that his friends are still standing on. He climbs up the ladder so that he's now standing in front of the two with a grin on his face. The cap stolen from the boat is then lifted up into the air, proving to them that he successfully done the task. In the background, the boat can be seen slowly being swallowed up by the water.
"You did it!" Delilah exclaims.
"Holy crap! I'm so proud of you right now." JJ states.
The pair are wearing wide smiles that are directed towards the boy, JJ even reaching out to pat his back in a brotherly way. Pope's grin only grows widens at his two friends being proud of him and expressing that through their body language. They're both quite good at stealing things and managing to get away with it, meaning they he's successfully done the same thing they would do.
However, realisation crosses over him as he rethinks what he's just done. The smile falls almost instantly falls as Pope finds himself growing worried about the situation, rather than remaining proud of himself. What if they know it's him? What if the news spreads like a wildfire? What if they attack back at them? So many questions cloud Pope's mind that he doesn't know the exact answer to.
"JJ, Del, you can't tell anybody." Pope says, a serious tone in his voice.
"Oh, yeah, totally—" JJ begins.
"No, I'm serious, dude." Pope interrupts, glancing between the two. "Not Kie, not John B. Nobody."
"My lips are sealed." Delilah assures.
The girl pulls two fingers across her lips as if she's zipping it shut, pretending to lock it and toss the key into the water.
"Same here." JJ adds.
The blond then takes the object that Pope stole from Topper's boat out of his friends hands, knowing how the situation is bothering him because he committed the action. JJ turns around and launches it into the water, which only makes it difficult for people to find if they go looking for it.