When I wake up at the Château in the morning it's still standing so that's good. What more could you ask for the morning after a hurricane? As I'm coming out of the bathroom, I see John B in the kitchen. He goes to check his phone.
"No service," I tell him.
John B groans as he goes to turn on the lights.
"No power," John B says. "Great."
"That's what we get for being poor," I tell him.
He looks at me. "Thought you'd be at your Kook house with a storm like last night."
I shake my head. "I'm a Pogue. If a hurricane is gonna get me, I'm going out Pogue style."
John B nods. "Fair enough." He walks over to JJ who is sleeping on the pullout couch. He slaps him on the back. "Yo, JJ, you been outside?"
"I have polio, bro. I can't walk," JJ tells him.
John B yawns as he walks out the back door.
"Rise and shine, JJ," I tell him.
JJ finally rolls over and looks at me. "Mornin'."
I laugh lightly. "Come on. Get up."
"No," JJ whines.
I hit him with the pillow. "Come on."
We stand out on the back steps. The hurricane really did a number on the island. There are fallen trees around the backyard and more than one boat.
"Are the chickens okay?" I ask.
John B nods. "The chickens are fine."
"Thank God," I tell him.
"Agatha did some work, huh?" JJ says.
"Yeah, she did," John B states. He is pulling tree branches out of the boat.
Thunder rumbles as John B hops into the boat. JJ and I walk over towards him.
"What you thinkin'?" JJ asks.
"I'm thinkin' that storm surge pushed all the crabs out on the marsh maze. All those drum are gonna chase the crab," John B tells us.
"What about the DCS? Wasn't that today?" I ask.
John B shakes his head. "Nah, they're not gettin' on a ferry." I give him a look. "Come on, think about it. It's God tellin' us to fish."
John B, JJ, and I get the boat back into the marsh. We pile in ready to pick up the others for the day.
"It's kind of a smuggler's boat," John B says.
I wave as we pass a man on his boat. "Good mornin'!"
"Sure hope Guffy's boat didn't sink," JJ says. "He doesn't have insurance."
John B nods. "Yeah." He waves to a woman and her husband on the dock. "Hi, Miss Amy! You guys get through it?"
Miss Amy smiles. "Still here."
"She totally looked at me," JJ states.
"I saw it," John B states.
I give JJ a look. "In your dreams."
The boat pulls around the dock and I can see the destruction Agatha caused. Boats are overturned and in all kinds of places a boat shouldn't be. Docks are partially destroyed.
"Dude, look at this place," I state.
"Agatha, what did you do?" JJ questions.
"She is a crazy lady," John B remarks.
"Hard-core, dude. Hurricane surge," JJ states.
John B nods. "Yeah."
"We'll be cleaning this all summer," I offer.
"That is my nightmare," John B states.
I smile as we drift in front of Heyward's place. Pope is on the dock cleaning up.
"Well, look who we have here," I say.
JJ whoops mimicking a siren.
John B mimics speaking into a radio. "We have a safety meeting. Attendance mandatory." He mimics static.
"I can't. My pop's got me on lockdown," Pope tells us.
"Come on, man." JJ mimics static. "Your dad's a pussy. Over."
Heyward walks towards us. "Oh, I heard that, you little bastard."
"We need your son," John B tells him.
"Yeah, and island rules. Day after a hurricane's a free day," JJ argues.
Heyward gives him a look. "Who made that up?"
"Uh... Pentagon, I think. We have security clearance. I have a card," JJ tells him.
"Think I'm stupid?" Heyward questions.
"I'll do it tomorrow. I promise. Tomorrow," Pope tells his dad.
"You think. No, no. Hell no. You doin' it right now," Heyward insists.
"Get in the boat," John B whispers.
"Make a run for it," JJ whispers.
"Come on, Pope," I whisper.
"Boy, if you get in that boat," Heyward starts.
Pope hops into the boat ignoring his dad's warnings.
"How does that feel?" JJ asks.
"Go, go, go," Pope tells John B.
"Bring your ass back up here," Heyward demands.
"I promise I'll do it tomorrow, Dad," Pope assures.
"Whoo!" JJ shouts while swinging a rope.
"You gonna clean shrimp, clean fish," Heyward warns.
"Love you, Pops," John B tells him.
"You'll clean your dirty-ass room!" Heyward shouts.
"We'll bring him back in one piece. No more than two. I promise!" I shout.
"And I don't like your friends!" Heyward shouts.
We head off towards Kie's house. She's waiting for us at the end of her dock. I see she has a cooler with her.
"Oh, top o' the mornin' to ya," JJ greets.
"Good morning," Kie says.
"Morning," John B replies.
"Whatcha got?" I ask.
"You got some juice boxes?" Pope questions.
"You know, just some yogurts and carrot sticks," Kie teases.
JJ helps her into the moving boat. "How about my kind of juice box?"
"Yeah," Kie says.
"Brace for impact," John B jokes.
Kie puts down the cooler and pulls out beers. I cheers mine with hers. "Cheers.
"Salud," Kie says.
We take the boat out into the marsh. The marsh is our own little world. Tourists and Kooks stick to the beaches. Us Pogues find a home in the marsh with no one else around.
"Bet you can't do this," JJ says. We all laugh. "Tell the world. A party trick."
I shake my head as he steps up onto the bow.
"Terrifying," Kie says.
"Hey, Pope. Can you go a little faster?" JJ tells him.
"Here we go. I'm movin'," John B says as he moves behind Pope.
"Doesn't work. We've tried this like 6,000 times," I remind JJ as I sit next to John B.
"I got this. It's gonna work!" JJ shouts. He holds the beer bottle up to his mouth trying to get the wind to take it there.
"Oh, my God. You're getting beer in my hair!" Kie shouts.
I can feel the beer flying backwards landing everywhere but in JJ's mouth.
"All right. All right!" Pope shouts.
"All right, you're done," John B states.
I laugh. "All right, stop, JJ."
Suddenly the engine rattles and everyone goes flying. JJ lands in the water. I land on the floor next to JB.
I groan. "Ow."
"Jesus, Pope!" Kie shouts.
"You okay, JJ?" I ask.
"I think my heels touched the back of my head," JJ tells us.
"Kie you okay?" John B asks.
Kie groans. "I'm all right."
"Pope, what did you do?" JJ asks.
Pope groans. "Sandbar. The channel changed."
"No shit," JJ says as he swims back towards the boat.
"Ugh, this is probably gonna mess this whole place up," John B states.
"Hey, I saved the beer, though," JJ tells us.
I step up on the bow and hold my hand out to JJ.
"Congrats, JJ," John B remarks.
Pope steps up on the bow to help JJ back in the boat.
"Congrats, JJ," John B remarks.
"Guys... I think there's a boat down there," Pope states.
"Shut up. What?" John B asks.
"No way," Kie says.
"No, no, guys. I'm serious." Pope points to the water. "There's a boat down there. For real."
John B, Kie, and I lean over the front of the boat. It looks like a boat is submerged below JJ.
"Guys... is this..." John B starts.
"It's a boat!" Pope shouts.
"Holy shit, she's right. Let's go," Kie advises.
"You think there's a dead body down there?" Pope asks.
I turn to look at him. "Really?"
John B takes his shirt off and hops into the water with JJ. They both swim towards the boat. Kie and I follow after them.
"Guys, wait up!" Pope shouts.
"Get your ass in here!" JJ shouts.
"Come on!" John B yells.
I take a breath before diving under the water. We stay down long enough to touch the boat and make sure it's real and not some illusion. I take a deep breath as we resurface.
"You guys saw that right?" I ask.
"Yeah," Pope states. "Yeah, I did."
"Yeah," John B tells me. "What the..."
JJ laughs. "That's a Grady-White. A new one of those is like 15000Gs, easy."
We swim back to the boat and pull ourselves in.
I laugh. "Okay! That's a primo rig."
John B looks at me. "Yeah. I think that's the boat I saw when we surfed the surge."
"Maybe it hit the jetty or something," I offer.
"You surfed the surge?" Kie asks.
John B nods. "Yeah."
JJ turns to me. "You surfed the surge?"
I nod my head. "Yeah."
JJ laughs as he swings his arm around me as he high fives John B. "Pogue style."
"What the heck?" Kie asks.
"Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?" Pope asks.
"No, but we're about to find out," John B tells him.
"Dude, it's too deep," JJ warns him.
John B starts to dig for the anchor. "Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ."
"Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front," JJ tells him.
"That's fine," John B tells me. He picks up the anchor.
"John B," Kie says.
He chuckles. "What?"
Pope salutes him. "Diver down, fool."
John B salutes back. "Diver down."
"Yeah, he is," JJ says before pushing John B off the boat.
After a moment John B still hasn't resurfaced. I'm starting to get a little nervous.
"Should we go get him?" Pope asks.
Just then John B resurfaces, coughing and whipping water out of his eyes. I let out a relieved laugh.
"Oh, my God. That took forever!" Kie shouts.
"Any dead bodies?" Pope asks.
"Looting potential?" JJ asks.
John B shakes his head. "No. No." He holds up a key. "I found this motel key."
"A key," Pope states.
"Yes, a key, Pope," John B states.
"Wow," I remark. "JB found a key."
"Great! We salvaged a motel key," JJ remarks.
John B pulls himself into the boat and we take off.
"Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard," Kie states.
"Maybe we'll get a finder's fee," I offer.
"Yeah, and not work all summer. Thanks, Agatha, ya batch," JJ remarks.
We try to tell the Coast Guard about the boat. Only problem is the place is a mess. Everyone is talking over everyone else. Someone is complaining very loudly that her dog has canine diabetes.
"Excuse me. Hey, man, we... we found a boat. You're gonna wanna hear this," John B tells the guy.
"Hey! Calm down," the guy shouts at John B.
I grab John B and we head out to everyone else. "Well, that went well."
"So, what's the plan?" Pope asks.
John B holds up the key. "I know how we're gonna find the guy who owns that boat."
"We don't know whose room that is. It could be anyone," Pope protests.
JJ takes the key from John B and throws it to Kie. "I'm in."
Kie catches the key. "Come on. We'll be lookout."
"Finder's fee." I smile at Pope. "Just sayin'."
"And, hey, at least you'll only be an accomplice," John B offers.
"Man," Poe says as he follows after us.
"Come on, bubba," John B teases.