Sarah and I are sitting in her backyard talking.
"Any idea why my brother didn't come home last night?" Sarah asks me.
I grin widely. "I think you already know."
Sarah rolls her eyes. "Spare me the details."
I laugh lightly. "What's up with you and Topper?"
Sarah hesitates for a moment. "We're good."
I raise my eyebrow. "Just good?"
Sarah nods. "Yeah.
"Sarah, you can't tell me that you don't see it," I state.
"See what?" Sarah asks.
"Topper," I state.
"What about Topper?" Sarah questions.
"If you ask me, he's starting to spiral," I confess. Sarah just looks at me. "He punched John B last night, no provocation."
The daughter of Sarah's neighbor comes walking over to us.
Sarah crouches down to her level. "Hi Amy."
She points to her family's boat. "I think my stuffed elephant is on there."
"Oh, so you left her in the boat?" I ask.
She nods her head. "Mm-hm."
"Okay, can you tell me what she looks like?" I ask.
"She has a trunk and blue ears." Amy tells me.
"Okay. I'm gonna get her for you," Sarah assures her.
"Better you than me," I remark.
"Be careful of electricity," Amy warns Sarah.
"Don't worry, I'll be okay," Sarah assures Amy. She avoids the wires as she makes her way to the boat.
"Hey, there's 14,000 volts in those wires," Rose shouts.
Sarah almost loses her balance and shrieks before laughing it off.
"Hey, Sarah, be careful!" Topper shouts.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me. Sarah, get down now!" Rose yells.
"Rose, calm down. I'm an athlete. I got this," Sarah assures her.
"You're gonna get electrocuted! Get down!" Rose yells at Sarah. Sarah shimmies her shoulders and doesn't watch where she's going. "Are you kidding me? Get..."
"Sarah, that's not funny," Topper tells her.
"When I tell your dad about this, Sarah..." Rose trials off.
Sarah keeps going across the wooden plank towards the boat. Once at the end of the plank she slowly steps into the boat. "I see her."
Amy giggles in happiness. I smile at her.
"Sarah! When I tell your dad..." Rose starts.
Sarah screams as she falls down.
"Sarah!" Amy yells.
"Sarah! Sarah!" Topper shouts.
Sarah laughs as she swings around the dead wire. "It's disconnected."
Topper looks at her pissed off while Kelce laughs.
"For the love of God," Rose says.
Sarah grabs the elephant. "Absolute sucker." Topper just looks at her. "Topper, you should see your face."
"Yeah. Okay, yeah, I'm sorry that I care. All right, guilty," Topper tells her.
I walk over towards Rafe, Kelce and Topper walk away giving us some space.
I smile at Rafe. "Your sister's crazy."
"She just wants attention," Rafe states.
I chuckle as I take the glass from Rafe's hands. "Don't we all?" I take a sip. "Vodka. Classy."
Rafe takes the cup back. "It's a mimosa." I shake my head as I smile. "What are you doing this afternoon?"
I shrug my shoulders. "Probably gonna hang out in the cut. Maybe rob a bank." Rafe gives me a look. "I'm kidding." I smile. "Mostly."
"Yeah. It's just like, you gotta be careful. These Pogues are all just lowlifes, I mean..." Rafe starts.
I shake my head. "Don't say that, Rafe. You don't know them."
"They're dangerous," Rafe states.
"To be fair, Topper threw the first punch," I remind him.
Rafe gives me a look. "What? So he deserved it then?"
"I didn't say that," I state.
"Shit. You realize I'm just trying to protect you?" Rafe tells me.
"Rafe, they have been my friends since my days in the cut. What do you want me to do?" I ask.
"Yeah. Yeah," Rafe says.
"I don't know why you think you have a day," I remark. "You're not my boyfriend."
"I know, Addie," Rafe says. "Trust me I know. I gotta go find Kelce."
"I'll see you later," I tell him.
I hop in my car and drive out to JJ's house. He smiles when he sees me in his driveway.
"Get in, loser," I remark.
JJ shakes his head as he walks towards the car. "Where are we going?"
"John B's," I tell him.
JJ leans on the open window. "This about the compass?"
I nod my head. "Did you think we were gonna let John B do this alone?"
JJ smiles as he walks around the car. "Pogue's never abandon Pogue's." JJ hops into the passenger seat. He drags his hand along the dashboard. "All I got for my sixteenth birthday was pizza and beer."
I notice JJs holding his backpack.
"Please tell me you don't have that gun in my car right now," I state.
JJ smiles sheepishly. "I mean technically. It's in the backpack."
"Is that why you carry that backpack around?" I question.
JJ chuckles. "Yeah. That and I need someplace to store my weed."
JJ slams his fist hard on John B's front door. "DCS! I know you're in there!" He waits a moment before jumping in front of the window and slamming on it.
John B looks terrified. "Whoa!"
JJ laughs. "Gotcha, slick." He laughs even harder. "You should have seen your face. Your face was like..."
"You're gonna wind up giving someone a heart attack," I warn.
JJ shrugs. "It's worth it."
We get in the Twinkie heading to talk to Ms. Lana, Scooter's wife.
"I'm just saying, I don't understand why you don't at least try with Kiara. She clearly likes you. She's like," JJ makes his voice more high pitched, "'Oh, John B.'"
"Is that what she does?" John B asks.
"She's sketching about you diving, then she kissed you, bro," JJ points out.
"She kissed me on the cheek. It's not like we were makin' out or something," John B states.
"Low-hanging fruit, bro," JJ says.
"Don't pretend you don't notice. I see it in your eyes. You're like, 'I kinda like that,' and you start blushing," I state.
"I blush?" John B asks.
I nod. "Yeah."
"Really?" John B asks.
"Really," I tell him.
JJ goes to grab the compass off the dashboard and John B tries to grab it from him.
"Hey, don't..." John B starts.
"I was just looking at it." JJ swats his hand away. "I gotta admit, your father's compass in Scooter's boat, that's freaky."
"Yeah. That's why we're going to talk to Ms. Lana, figure this whole thing out," John B states.
"And I'm sure she would just love to talk to us. It's not like her husband just drowned or anything," JJ remarks.
We pull up to the house and hop out of the van. The house is covered in flowers and looks like a bunch of hippies live inside. We start to walk towards the front door.
"Know what this house looks like?" JJ asks.
"Whoever lives here smokes too much weed," I offer.
JJ laughs. He stops when we hear glass breaking and things being thrown around in the house. I look at John B worried. He holds his hand out for JJ and I to stop.
"Bullshit!" a man shouts.
"Maybe we should come back. It's a little too soon," JJ states.
"No, no, shut up. Shut up, JJ," John B says as he keeps walking towards the house.
"Tell me where it is, or I'll fuck you up. I'll sink you in the fucking..." a man shouts from inside the house.
I hear something breaking and Ms. Lana screams. "You're hurting me!"
"I..." I start.
John B turns to me. "Shut up. Come on. Come on."
More things are thrown around. We duck beside the house close to a window. "Where the fuck is it, you bitch?"
Ms. Lana sobs. "I don't know!"
"Is it here in this house?" More things breaking and sobbing. "Is it somewhere else?"
John B stands under an open window.
"Please! I... I didn't..." Ms. Lana whimpers.
JJ grabs John B and pulls him to the ground. "Still think we should stay?"
I hear more breaking and I close my eyes.
"The compass wasn't in the boat! Where is it, Lana?" the man asks.
"I don't know!" Ms. Lana shouts.
Glass shatters and the whole house shakes. I feel someone grab my hand.
"Don't listen," JJ says.
The house shakes and flecks fall from the window into our hair.
"Is that paint?" JJ asks.
"Yes, it's paint," John B says. He stands to look through the window as Ms. Lana cries.
"Let's get the hell outta here, man," the man says.
"We should just go. He's got smuggler..." I start.
John B walks past me. "Shut up."
"...smuggler written all over him," I finish.
John B peeks around the edge of the house. He pulls his head back quickly and stiffens. "Shut up. Shut up."
I can hear a boat engine start as Ms. Lana keeps crying. We peek around the house and it's the guys from the boat that shoot at us.
"Dude, those were the guys that shot at us," JJ states.
John B pushes us back around the house. "Go back."
The boat pulls away as we slowly walk into the house. Everything imaginable has been knocked over and it seems like everything else is broken.
"Ms. Lana?" John B asks.
We find her sobbing on the floor in the bathroom. The sink is falling off the wall. There are things everywhere. Those guys really did a number on her and the house.
John B rushes over to her. "Hey. Hey! Hey, are you okay? It's okay."
JJ puts his hand on John B's shoulder. "Dude, she's tweaking."
"Do you need a doctor?" John B asks. He turns to JJ and I. "Let's call the sheriff's department."
Ms. Lana sobs. "No. No. No cops, please."
"Mm. That's not good. Come on, dude. Let's just go," JJ says.
"You shouldn't be here," Ms. Lana tells us.
I grab John B's arm. "That's enough for me. Come on."
John B pulls his arm back. "Wait, wait. What do you know about these guys?"
"They were looking for something," Ms. Lana tells him.
"Does it have anything to do with this?" John B pulls the compass out of his pocket. "Do you know anything about this? This is my father's, and Scooter had it. Why?"
Ms. Lana shakes her head. "Scooter didn't have it, okay? Don't tell anyone you have that."
JJ taps John B. "Come on."
"Why?" John B asks.
"They can't know that you have that! You've gotta get out of here!" Ms. Lana shouts.
"What do you know about the compass?" John B asks.
"Go! Get out!" Ms. Lana shouts.
JJ pulls John B to his feet. "We gotta go. Let's go."