𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬, and our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time.
"That's what, a three-story fall to the deck?" Pope asks as he squints up at John B, who's standing on the edge of a new house construction. "I give you about a one-in-three chance of survival."
"Hm," John B hums, licking his finger before putting it up to the slight breeze. "Should I do it?" he asks.
"Yeah, you should jump," Pope responds before holding a drill up, pretending it's a gun. "I'll shoot you on the way down.
"You'll shoot me?" John asks in a sarcastic tone.
"Yep."
"Pow!" John B says, mimicking a gun with his fingers.
"They're gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers," Kiara complains as she walks out from around the corner to where the boys and I are.
"Of course. Why wouldn't they?" JJ responds in a "duh" kind of tone as his arms hang over a pipe.
"You know, this used to be a turtle habitat," I back Kie upfront where is sit on a few feet behind JJ. "But who cares about the turtles, right?"
"I can't have cold towels, Y/n. You know that," JJ says as he turns his head to look back at me.
"Yes, JJ. I know." I roll my eyes, a smile tugging at my lips, before looking back toward John B, my twin brother. "Can you please not kill yourself?" I ask as I raise my hand above my eyes to see him better. "If you die I'm not going to have anyone to take care of me," I whine.
"I'll take care of you," I hear JJ say softly. I smile up at him and he smiles back before turning to John B, "Don't spill that beer. I'm not giving you another one."
"Whoa!" my brother exclaims as he leans his foot out a little too far. "Oh, shit," he mutters as his beer falls from his grasp.
"Of course you did," JJ grumbles. "Right after I told you not to."
"Smooth," Kiara says quietly as John B groans in frustration.
"A-plus," Pope deadpans as Kie comes over to sit next to me.
"Dumbass," I whisper before resting my head on Kie's shoulder.
"Hey!" we hear a man say. My head pops up before it turns, looking in the direction of where the voice came from.
"Hey, uh, security's here," Pope warns. "Let's wrap it up."
"Boys are early today," John B says, looking over in the direction of the cops.
"They just ruined my whole day, man," I grumble as JJ comes over and reaches his hands out to both Kie and me. We both take his hand before getting pulled up. "Thanks."
"Humpty Dumpty, let's roll," JJ says in John B's direction before turning away from us and climbing down from the roof.
"Let's go, boys, and girl," Kie directs as she jumps down from the roof before I quickly follow suit.
"You better hurry up, John B. I'm not breaking you out of jail again," I yell up at him before turning and running after Kiara.
"Gary, is that you?" JJ asks jokingly as he leans over the railing to see if it is.
"Get down," Pope hurries JJ.
"It's me," JJ teases Gary. "Gary, good to see you, man!"
"Is it time?" John B asks no one in particular as JJ continues to tease Gary.
"You're asking for it." Kiara eyes JJ specifically.
"JJ!" we hear Gary yell.
"Whoo!" I exclaim in utter excitement as we all run toward the front of the house.
"Hey, stop!" Gary yells at us as he appears at the front of the doors, right where we're running toward. JJ slips on the ground as he quickly turns around and runs in the direction we came. "Get 'em! They're comin' your way!" Gary yells to the other cop.
"I got him!" the other cop tells Gary as JJ runs straight into him.
"Not much of a hugger, man!" JJ exclaims as he narrowly escapes his grasp and continues running.
"They're going out front," I hear the cop say.
"Go, Pope!" JJ encourages before turning around to see me running close behind him. "Come on, Y/n! Let's roll!" He laughs as a huge grin forms on my lips from the adrenaline in my body. As Pope, JJ, and I all jump over the fence, Pope trips and falls on the grass.
"Get up, Pope!" I squeal, trying to grab his arm as JJ and I both start laughing.
"Fatso's coming," JJ says, helping me by grabbing Pope's other arm and lifting him up.
"Hey!" Gary yells at us as he attempts to lift his, rather large, body over the fence, just like us. "Come here, you little pricks!"
"Bus is leaving!" John B yells to us as he pulls the van to the curb. He honks on the horn multiple times as Kiara moves from beside him.
"Come on, boys and girl! Whoo!" Kie exclaims as she opens the side door to the van. Pope grunts as he climbs into the van and JJ turns around before grabbing my waist, lifting me into the van so I'm not left behind. He quickly climbs in after me, completely sprawling across my whole body.
"Hey, hey! Hey! Hey!" Gary yells as he chaises the van.
"Check out Gary, gunnin' for a raise," Pope says as we all laugh.
"Come on, Gary!" I yell from under JJ.
"Wait. Slow down, slow down," JJ directs John B as he gets off of me and leans out the open door. But not before throwing a wink in my direction.
"Hey! You little pricks!" Gary continues to yell. "Hey!"
"Guys, you're gonna give him a heart attack," Kie criticizes as she looks in my direction for help.
"It was bound to happen anyways," I joke instead as I peek between JJ's arm and the van door to see Gary running after us.
"You're so close!" JJ laughs, holding out a beer to Gary. "You can do it." He throws the beer and Gary catches it, surprisingly. "There you go. They don't pay you enough, bro."
"JJ, stop. Stop," Kie complains. JJ looks toward her, and I pull him back inside the van by his arm.
"Oh, come on. That sort of initiative is just begging to be punished," JJ says before turning to me and asking, "Right Y/n?"
"I'm not going to answer that," I say, not wanting to upset JJ or Kiara.
I quickly slam the side door closed just before we drive over the bridge. We all start laughing as we look through the back window, Gary bending over in exhaustion in the distance.
☼☼☼
The Outer Banks, Paradise on Earth.
It's the sort of place where you either have two jobs or two houses.
Two tribes, one island.
All right. This is Figure Eight, the rich side of the island. Home of the Kooks.
So, guess where we don't live.
And then, this is the south side, or the Cut. Home of the working class who make a living busing tables, washing yachts, running charters.
The natural habitat of... drumroll, please...
...the Pogues.
That's us.
Pogues, pogies, the throwaway fish. Lowest member of the food chain.
Okay. So, the downside of Pogue life is we're ignored and neglected. But the upside of Pogue life? We're ignored and neglected, which means we do whatever we want, whenever we want.
That's John B, my twin brother. Older by only 12 minutes, but he definitely doesn't take those few minutes for granted.
He's always been there for me, especially when our mom split when we were three. Even though we were still so young, he took it upon himself to always make sure I was alright.
A little overprotective, but I love him all the same.
And that's JJ, my best friend since the third grade. He's about as local as they come.
Latest in a long line of fishing, drinking, smuggling, vendetta-holding salt-lifers who made their living off the water.
Best surfer I know. Just don't tell him I said that.
Mild kleptomaniac and a future tax cheat, but I love him.
And that's Kiara, or Kie, as we call her.
When not saving turtles, or listening to Marley, or getting a dolphin tattoo, she hangs out with us. I'm not really sure why, though.
So, she's a rich kid, actually. Foot in both worlds. Her family owns The Wreck, this Outer Banks institution. Total cash cow with the tourists.
You know, I'm not really sure how her parents feel about the boys, but I know they love me. They're always telling me I can come over whenever I want. Which is nice when Kie and I want to hang out without the boys. Which happens a lot.
The boys all kind of have a thing for her.
And that's Pope, the brains of the operation... finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit Scholarship.
And the smartest person I know. Little bit of a weirdo.
His father's this legendary character, Heyward. Anything you wanted on the island, Heyward could get for you.
Now, I'm not sure Heyward knew what to make of his oddball son, but it didn't matter.
He was a Pogue, just like the rest of us.
So, that's the crew.
And that's me, Y/n Y/m/n Routledge.
And this is where my brother and I live. An old fish shack on the marsh. The Château, as our dad used to call it.
There's Dad.
He disappeared at sea nine months ago, looking for a shipwreck. Who disappears at sea these days?
I miss him.
And then there's Mom. As you know, she split when we were three. Last I heard, she was in Colorado? I think it was Colorado.
That's Uncle T. Since Dad's vanished, he's supposedly John B and mines legal guardian. At the moment, he's in Mississippi, building houses... which means it's just my brother and me right now, on our own, hangin' out with our friends.
Three months after my dad was missing, he was officially presumed dead. John B refused to sign the papers. He said until he sees a body, he's not giving up.
I don't know if I believe he's still alive, though. I'm kind of in between. I think I'm holding out for some proof that he's alive. But who knows? Maybe I really do believe he's alive.
☼☼☼
"John, Y/n, it's come to our attention that you are unemancipated minors living on your own," Cheryl, the social worker says, as she places her glasses on the table and sits down.
"No... No," John B scoffs, looking over at me.
"No," I repeat, backing him up.
"I need honesty to help you guys. That's what we want, right?"
"Yeah," I sigh, already tired of this conversation. I shift myself in my seat, antsy to get out of the room and into the water.
"We're being honest," John B says seriously as he too moves in his seat.
"Okay, then when is the last time you spoke to your uncle?" she asks, clearly not believing John's words. She looks down at the piece of paper in front of her and waits for one of us to answer so she can write it down.
"Uh... 34 minutes ago," I answer, grabbing John B's wrist to look at his nonexistent watch.
She quickly scribbles it down before asking again, "When's the last time you saw him?"
"Two hours and..." I begin before looking at John B with a quizzical expression on my face. I don't know if Cheryl is believing us or not, but I'd rather go along with this than not.
"... 43 minutes ago?" John B finishes in a tone that says he's making it up. Great job, John B.
Cheryl looks up at us for a few seconds. Yup, definitely doesn't believe us.
"John, Y/n, we're gonna come out there tomorrow to talk to your uncle. If he's not there, we're gonna move forward with foster care," she warns. I look over at John B with an expression that tells him I'm scared. He looks back at me and his eyes tell me that everything will be alright. "I want to assure you, we're gonna find you two a safe and loving home."
They actually thought we were gonna be happy to hear that.
☼☼☼
And that's where this story starts.
My dad missing, my uncle MIA, and the Bride of Frankenstein threatening foster care.
But then we caught a break.
"Hurricane Agatha continues its steady march towards Kildare Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina..."
Hurricane Agatha
Coming in the same day DCS was supposed to do our assessment.
"Hey, Howie," John B greets as he and I walk away from the television together.
"I need some sandbags over here!" and "We gotta board this up!" are a couple of the phrases I hear as people crowd the area we're at, hurrying to make sure nothing gets destroyed in the hurricane.
"DCS, can I help you?" I hear Cheryl say from John B's phone.
"Yeah, uh..." John B almost yells into the phone because of how loud the wind and people around us are. "I think we're probably gonna have to reschedule."
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞
First chapter you guys!!! I hope you really enjoyed it and that it left you excited for the next chapter! I'll have that chapter out VERY soon (maybe within the next several minutes!), so be on the look out! With that, I hope you guys have an amazing Labor Day.
Love you guys!