003.

"𝐖𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?" John B asked as they all saw a lady run up to a body on a bed.

"It's Scooter Grubbs. He was out during the storm. Check out this pic I got. Dead boday." a girl from their school says. She shows the Pogues a picture of Scooter Grubbs's dead body.

"What kind of boat did he have?" JJ asked. "Somehow that dirtbag copped a brand new Grady-White. Everyone's out looking for it." she responded.

Emerson felt really bad for Lana Grubbs, who were really close to her and her family. She stood up from her spot next to John B, and headed towards Miss. Lana.

"Miss. Lana?" Emerson said as she walked up to the crying woman. "Emerson, sweetie." she said as she gave her a hug. "I'm really sorry. A kind woman like you shouldn't have to go through this." Emerson comforted Miss. Lana. "Thank you sweetie. How about you come over soon to have some tea and talk?" Miss. Lana suggested. "Of course, I'll find a way to come over soon." Emerson smiled as she walked away towards the group who was waiting for her.

"What was that about?" JJ asked. "What am I not allowed to say my condolences?"

The group just shrugged, and headed back to the Chateau.

···

"Okay. So, um, we didn't see anything. We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia." Pope freaked out. "Actually, Pope's right for once. See, I agree with you sometimes. Deny, deny, deny."

Emerson rolled her eyes at JJ's 'motto'. She thinks that you can't deny EVERYTHING. And plus, JJ uses it way too much.

"Guys, we can't keep that money." Kie spoke up. "Okay, not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kiara." JJ snapped back. Emerson can just tell by the way this conversation is going that JJ will do literally anything to keep that money.

"We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs. Otherwise, it's bad karma."

"Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too. We gotta go dark."

"If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree." 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵.

"I don't agree." John B and Emerson said at the same time. "What? Why?"

"Just think about it. This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about. Same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole." John B spoke up. "Yeah one time he begged me and John B for change at a Save-A-Lot parking lot, because he needed gas." Emerson said. "We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than 40 bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden he's got a Grady-White? Just sayin'." John B raises his arms.

"All right, so think about it, Pope. How does a marina rat get a Grady-White?" John B asks.

"Prostitution."

"Robbery?" Emerson and Pope said at the same time.

"Square groupers, bro. Okay, flying under the radar, no aerial surveillance. They don't do that stuff during a hurricane. What does that mean?" John B asked.

Emerson was sick and tired of the conversation they were having, so she went back inside and layed down in John B's room. She hoped finding that Grady-White wouldn't lead to anything too dangerous.

···

The Pogues decided the best decision was to lay low, so what better way than to throw a kegger?

𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘶𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥-𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘺-𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴.

All the Pogues were doing their own thing. JJ and Emerson having a beer-chugging competition, John B flirting with one of the tourons, Kiara talking about astrological signs, and Pope talking about dead bodies.

As Emerson was watching John B and a touron flirt, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously. "Someone's staring." JJ said next to her. She shoved him, and they continued to chug a bunch of beers.

"Hey Sarah!" Emerson said as she passes by her, heading towards John B. "Oh hey Em!"

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯, 𝘒𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘒𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘗𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘯𝘴.

Sarah and Emerson are, I guess, friends. They don't really talk much but whenever they see each other, they always say hi.

"Get outta here Em." Topper snaps. "To you it's Emerson. Only friends and kind people call me Em, not some snobby kid like you." Emerson smiles as she walks away.

Emerson can't help but feel really angry. Topper has always been rude towards Emerson, for no reason whatsover. She just hopes Topper is in his 'teenager stage' because if he isn't, 𝘰𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘺.

As the night when on, JJ and Emerson made their way back to each other. The two act like siblings, but normally when they throw keggers, Emerson babysits JJ since he usually gets drunk.

"Yo John B, I got this for you." JJ says to John B. JJ is currently hugging Emerson from behind, so Emerson is controlling his arms. "For me? Yeah, I'll take a sip."

"Oh, wait. Hey, hey, hey, Sarah! Sarah, may I interest you in a tasty Milwaukee beverage?" JJ asks. "No, thanks." Sarah replies. Emerson could already sense the tension happening.

"C'mon, is it not fancy enough for you?"

"Ignore him, he's drunk." Emerson says to Sarah, who's smiling at her.

"Hey you know what? I'll take it." Topper says. 𝘖𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺.

"Hey Topper, how about you go home and get your own drink with daddy's money. No one wants you here." Emerson says. Just as she says that, Topper hits the cup out of JJ's hand to splash it all over Emerson.

JJ starts to get mad and shoves Topper away. "You're so funny, man."

"JJ stop, he's not worth it." Emerson yells at him.

"Says the one with dead parents." Topper shouts. Now it was John B's turn to get mad. John B runs up to Topper and pushes him. "We're supposed to be incognito, remember?" Pope reminds John B.

Topper clearly didn't like getting shoved, so he goes up to John B and punches him in the face. He continues to shove John B into the water. Eventually, John B has had enough and tackles Topper into the water. They continue to fight as Emerson, Kie, and Sarah tell them to stop. Emerson wants to go help John B, but JJ and Pope are holding onto her, so that she doesn't get hurt.

"Don't make me drown you like your old man." Topper shouts at John B. Emerson's blood boils as she gets out of JJ and Pope's grip, and punches Topper in the face. Everyone starts to laugh since Topper got punched by the 'Pogue Princess'. Topper, however, gets really mad and starts to charge towards Emerson. Before he can even make it to her, John B punches him so that Emerson doesn't get hurt.

Eventually, Topper took full control over John B and was currently drowning him. Emerson got so mad she ran up to Topper and punched him for the second time that night.

"You think you're so tough? Come on show me what you got shortie!" Topper yelled at Emerson. She went up to him and they started to punch each other repeatedly.  Little did Topper know, she took defense classes with the police when she was younger, so she knew how to defend herself.

Everyone kept encouraging for them to fight except for Kie and Sarah, and eventually Kelce went up to Topper and Emerson, and started to help out Topper. They pushed her to the ground so that Topper was straddling her, and they started to choke her. With her being in the water, the waves weren't really helping her trying to catch her breath.

"Topper stop!"

"Stop it, you're gonna kill her!"

"Cut it out!"

Emerson's vision started to blur, along with her hearing. Everyone's voices started to disappear, until all of a sudden she sees a person standing over Topper with an object in his hands. Her vision was extremely blurry, that she couldn't even tell who it was or what they were holding. Eventually, she felt Topper climb off her as she tried to gasp for air, and cough at the same time.

Her vision and hearing was still blurry, but she could see and hear people running away and screaming. Eventually, everything went black.

···

"𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵." 𝘌𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯? 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨?" 𝘌𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴. "𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵." 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩.

Emerson immediately wakes up, and notices that she's in John B's room. She remembered what happened last night and groaned. She gets up from bed and picks up one of John B's vintage shirts off the ground and heads to the kitchen to get some water.

"Good morning pumpkin." a voice startles her as she walks out of the bedroom. She enters the living room to find John B and Sheriff Peterkin talking. "Momma Peterkin?"

Since Emerson was young, she gave Sheriff Peterkin the name 'Momma Peterkin' since she would take care of young Emerson whenever she was in the station. Sheriff Peterkin always called Emerson 'pumpkin' because Emerson was born on Halloween, and Emerson loved pumpkins.

"What're you doing here?" Emerson asked as she hugged the sheriff. "Just having a little chat with your friend here. I should be going soon though. Remember what I told you." she said pointing to John B as she walked out the door.

"Bye Momma Peterkin!" Emerson yelled. "Bye pumpkin." Sheriff Peterkin waved as she drove off.

"Momma Peterkin? Really?" John B asked as he threw a random can of beer at the wall. "Yeah, that's what I've always called her. Are you good?"

"Well, Peterkin told me to stay out of the marsh and she'll help me with foster care." he replied. "Okay, then stay out of the marsh. I don't want you being taken away." Emerson said, as she grabbed a cold beer from the fridge and put it on her bruises on her stomach. Although Topper didn't punch her in the face, he did however punch her in the stomach multiple times.

"Not sure how everyone's gonna take that though." John B said. "Who cares what the others think. If you go off to foster care, the Pogues will probably disband. You're like our glue. Our leader." Emerson said as she sat down next to John B.

"Bird, you're the only person I have left right now. Please don't leave me." Emerson said as she leaned her head against his shoulder. John B's heart couldn't help but break a little when she said that. Although John B lost his dad, she lost both her parents who she was extremely close to. For John B, him and his mom weren't that close so he really only lost one person. He doesn't know what he would do if he lost Emerson.

···

author's note: [word count: 1887]

this chapter sucks, but oh well.