The Stray

Chapter 10: The Stray

It's kind of shit, but it's mine lmao ^

~SiriusCatBennett

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"Oh my god, that was amazing."

The groaned words of pleasure had fallen from one CJ Maybank's mouth as the Pogues traveled from Kiara Carrera's house to the Routledge Chateau. The J's had just finished their heavenly hot showers, having been snuck into Kie's house while her parents were out. Over the last week and a half, the only wash the three had gotten was one very cold shower before their water ran out, and the halfassed rinse the ocean gave them. They were all relieved for warmth and soap and JJ would be lying if he said he didn't spend too much time under that multi-function showerhead.

John B and JJ responded at the same time, simple hums of approval falling from their lips. The oldest Maybank was seating behind his sister, lounging back with his signature thin joint between his lips. All of the Pogues were decked out in jackets and long-sleeves, pants coating the legs that were usually donned with shorts. A storm had run through OBX the day prior, pushing a cold front and some mild rain through the island today. The forecast (according to Pope's assumptions) called for clear skies tomorrow and CJ had already brought up heading out on the water which was answered by a resounding shout that could only mean they'd be on the water for hours.

"Seriously, Kie, I think I'm gonna have to steal your showerhead." John B joked, a crooked smile covering his face as he glanced back to the girl. "You think your parents would notice it was missing?"

Twirling a piece of hair around her finger, Kie looked at the boy with sarcasm clear in her eyes. "No, John B, I think they'll look at the empty space that a showerhead used to be and simply think, 'oh, isn't something supposed to go there?'"

Cracking up, JJ leaned forward, trying to hand the joint over to his sister. When she simply waved him off, he scoffed but handed her the Juul instead, which she took with a grateful smile. They both knew the reason she said no was because she hated JJ's joints, something he took great offense from.

"Anyone got any ideas for the day? It's still early and I'm bored."

"JJ, it's almost seven and you're always bored."

Leaning forward, he pointed at Kie, partially with his finger and partially with the joint. "Now, that is just not true. You just don't know how to have fun."

"J, there's not much to do today. It's a boring day. Suck it up and just accept that tonight is board games and beer."

Groaning at his sister's words, JJ plopped back against the side of the van, finishing off his joint as they pulled into the Routledge abode's driveway. Before he had even parked, Pope was already pulling open the door and jumping out. CJ rolled her eyes fondly, knowing that the boy was simply excited to play Clue; something that every one of them knew he would insist on playing first.

"You guys suck. You left me all alone all morning to go work," he dragged the word out, obviously annoyed, "and then once you get off it's 'JJ, we can't do this' and 'JJ, we can't do that.' We can do anything, damnit! We're Pogues!"

None of them were quite sure if JJ was planning on continuing his tirade because as soon as they walked past the front door to see Peterkin with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip, everyone shut up. With an 'I'm out of here' and a 'yeah me too,' Kie and Pope took off on JJ's bike, neither wanting to deal with the outcome of the police being at the house. Pope had a scholarship to look forward to, after all, and Kie was just tired of listening to her parents go on about those she affiliated with.

With two-fifths of the Pogue family gone, the other three did what they did best.

Acted casual in the face of adversity.

While Peterkin stared at the three, John B walked to the kitchen to grab the water jug while CJ flopped back on the pull-out. Her brother sat next to her, stretching out his tense limbs. After a week, their bruises had faded, reducing the pain to much more manageable levels but still painful nonetheless. Peterkin tried not to pay too much attention to the gnarly yellowish-green dotting their skin, knowing it would only make her feel worse for the teenagers she needed to only view as delinquents.

"So...I heard the house got ransacked." She started, noticing the automatic curiosity that came from each of the Pogues though they tried to hide it. "Looks pretty good, considering."

"Thanks. We're good at cleaning up after ourselves." CJ said bitterly, a smart ass smile on her face. Peterkin nodded, looking to the floor for a moment with an amused turn of her lips.

"We'll agree to disagree." She said, thinking back on all the times she'd been left to clean up their messes. What she didn't truly realize was that no matter how many messes she cleaned up or left undiscovered, there were twice as many that the Pogues dealt with themselves. "Found out who did it. Some of Big John's things were in their truck. Thought you'd like to know."

With a newfound energy, CJ surged up from the bed, staring intently at the officer. If the police didn't have them in custody, whoever it was would have hell to pay. "Who?"

"Out of towners. Two of 'em." Peterkin explained, carefully watching the young girl's expression. She had, of course, been the one asking around about the men. "They're dead."

Any suspicious she had of the teenager fell to nothing when CJ's eyes widened in horror and confusion. What did Peterkin mean, they were dead? What the hell were they even here for in the first place? Were they dead because of what they took? And finally, why did people keep dying in the OBX? This would now be three since Agatha hit, which was unusually high for the area.

"They were murdered." Peterkin continued, only making CJ's eyebrows furrow until they were practically one with her eyes. "Wasn't sure if you three would know anything, but by the looks of it, you're all shell-shocked."

She was right. Behind her, John B had stopped in his pursuit of the living room, water jug halfway to his mouth. JJ was trying to act cool but was kind of disgusted by the correlation between their home and two dead guys. Part of him thought they deserved it for what they did, though. He was also glad that someone got to them before his sister because that would either end with her in a hospital or in a jail cell.

"Had to keep some of the things for evidence, but everything else is in John B's bedroom." Behind him, she could hear the boy scurry through the room, shoes scuffing on the hardwood floor as he set down the water jug. "Maybe try staying away from trouble for a while. I've seen your faces too many times this month for my liking."

CJ didn't even have the heart to scoff as the older woman left. She just sat on the pull-out, wondering what the hell was going on. Why on earth would murders be in any way connected to Big John Routledge? With a sigh, her warm water-induced good mood plummeted and her head fell into her hands, finger brushing through her hair. Flopping back on the bed once again, she brought the Juul to her mouth, just hoping the next day would come quickly.

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The waves felt incredible lapping against CJ's knees. Legs stuck in the water, ass on her surfboard, she and John B simply sat and allowed themselves to enjoy the warm sun against their skin.

Just as Pope had presumed, the night came with new weather and when they woke in the morning, the sweltering heat was back. The two had spent some time hanging around the house before they grabbed their treasured boards and took to the waves. With Kie by their side, they'd messed around in the water for a while before it hit three o'clock; the time Pope said he'd be done with work. With a quick wave, Kie ran up onto the beach, dried herself off, and drove off to pick up the other boys. Left alone, the two swam around a bit, dunking each other under the water with giggles before they posted up on their boards and just enjoyed the sun.

Sitting there, John B stole a glance over at his favorite person, wondering what she was thinking. He would never in a million years guess that the girl donned in a beige bikini was thinking about him.

Her face was content, eyes closed and face turned towards the sun, but her thoughts were another story. She'd spent the day with random thoughts flitting into her brain at inopportune moments. She'd had one of those dreams again. They didn't happen often, only two other times, but they confused her every time. She didn't understand why she would dream about her best friend like that.

The dream had a pretty simple premise. John B and CJ were alone (which wasn't rare) while the rest of the Pogues were off doing whatever. They were lounging on the pull-out bed and CJ was wrapped up in Johnny's arms. What was different were the hands that were intertwined as the two of them traced absent-minded shapes on the other's palm. CJ's cheek was pressed into his chest, a content smile on her face. A feeling filled her heart that the girl didn't quite understand, but was completely familiar with at the same time.

At some point, John B hummed and pressed a kiss to CJ's temple, the arm wrapped around her twisting into her hair. She moaned lightly at the feeling of the tips of his fingers massaging her scalp and her head leisurely turned to face him with her eyes closed. Not able to see, she felt him lean down slightly, pressing his lips to hers in the lightest of kisses.

She remembers feeling her stomach flutter and her heart stutter and remembered the big smile that covered her face. She remembered rolling on top of him with a giggle, eyes still closed as her legs found positions on both sides of his hips. Sitting up, she'd opened her eyes, hair falling behind her as she looked down at him with a positively radiant expression. He'd looked up at her much the same, running the tips of his fingers over her hips that were clad in his unbuttoned pullover.

Shivers ran up her spine as he looked up at her with a cheeky grin, unable to keep from lightly tickling her sides. The girl had squealed and fallen over on top of him, face pressed into his neck as she laughed uncontrollably. 'Stop, stop!' She'd exclaimed, giggles erupting from her lips in between the words. When he finally did, she nuzzled up against him, pressing small kisses to his neck.

She woke up when he groaned.

Opening her eyes, trying to ignore her racing heartbeat and sweating palms in the present, she turned to look at her best friend. CJ would never say that she found him unattractive. He was very attractive, but CJ never really saw him that way. Much in the way that she knew her brother was a good looking guy, but that would never be what she focused on because he was her brother.

But maybe John B wasn't just a brother to her.

Maybe he never had been.

Physically shaking the thoughts from her head, she ran her hands through the water, effectively cooling herself off. She didn't know what was going on, but it was just a dream. It would never be more than that because he was her best friend, not her boyfriend. And she didn't want that, she really didn't.

Or at least, that's what she told herself.

"Hey! Save some waves for us!"

CJ felt her heart soar in her chest. Not the way that it did in her dream when John B's lips touched her own, but in the way that it always did when she heard JJ's voice. The two had never liked being separated for long, probably due to being the only blood family the other had, and it always brought an immense amount of relief when one heard or saw the other after a long day of being apart (even if it was really only a few hours). Not to mention, surfing had to be one of their favorite pass times and she missed it after the week they'd had. It didn't feel right not sharing the ocean with her other half.

"Whoop whoop!" CJ shouted, excited beyond belief as a giant grin split the sides of her lips. Thoughts of dreams pushed to the back of her mind, John B stared after her as she lied down like a pro and paddled out to the ocean. Shaking himself out of his own thoughts of the girl, JB smiled as his best friends jumped into the water and paddled out to be one with the waves.

As they should be.

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"Bills?"

Lounging on the pull-out as usual, joint in her mouth, CJ looked up at John B with a raised eyebrow. Decked out in a pair of tight denim shorts and a lacey bralette, Johnny did his best not to stare as he nodded, going through the white envelopes he hadn't bothered to grab after their ocean escapades the day before.

"Did Teddy send money for this month?"

"Nope. Guess I'm on my own."

"Bullshit." She spouted off, pressing the joint to her lips as she took a drag. Leaning forward, she passed it to John B before grabbing the small stack of letters from him. "I'll pay half."

"No, no, CJ-"

Looking up at him, she shook her head, holding up a finger on her unoccupied hand. "No, John B. This is our home. At this point, JJ and I are here just as much as you are. We've barely been home since Teddy left. And even if we weren't, what do I have to pay for that's more important than your well being? We're in this together." Grabbing the joint from him, she ashed it before taking a quick drag from it, a small smirk coating her features. "Besides, I'm sure they're not even too bad this time. It's not like we've had power for half the month."

Staring at the teenager in front of him, John B lightly shook his head. He wanted nothing more than to refuse but knew it would do no good. If he fought her, she'd just go behind his back and pay the bills herself. While he gazed at her with all the awe and love in the world, CJ tore open the paper, pulling out the water and electric bills. The house had been long paid off and there was no trash bill due to the Pogues simply burning or driving garbage to the local dump.

"See, they're not too bad." She told him, turning the papers around to show him the total. Handing over the bills, John B's lips downturned as he noticed it wasn't quite as bad as he'd been previously stressing about. With him barely noticing (only because he noticed just about everything she did), CJ moved into his room and rummaged around in her clothes drawer, and came out with the money needed to split the bills.

It was as she was putting the money in his hand, wrapping his grasp around it, getting particularly lost in one another, that Pope burst through the door with JJ on his heels.

"CJ!"

Startled by the shout, especially in close quarters, CJ jumped slightly as she whirled around, being lightly stabilized by John B. His hands on her hips burned from being out in the heat and CJ had to pry herself away from him to walk closer to Pope.

"Pope, what's wrong?"

"They know."

"Yeah, you're gonna need to be a little more specific than that, Pops."

Pope sighed, pulling his hat off of his head as he fell back on the bed. Hands on his head, he rubbed them over his hair for a moment before looking back up at the girl. "They know."

CJ would've laughed at the boy simply repeating himself, giving no more context, but she'd realized what he meant. Topper and Rafe must've figured out what they'd done.

"Pope, it's gonna be fine." She sighed, walking into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of much-needed water. "If the cops aren't breaking down the door, they have no proof. The only reason they're even making assumptions is because they jumped you. They're in the wrong."

"They posted outside of the shop and mad dogged me. They know."

"Pope, chill bro, they don't know shit." JJ added in, flopping back on the bed. It felt nice after chopping firewood for the last hour. Luckily, almost all the downed tree branches were now nicely chopped up. They just needed to be stacked.

"They have cameras. They could've seen me."

"Pope, we've been over this. That's why we went at night. There's no way their cameras could've seen you." CJ tried her best to calm the boy down, bringing out two beers Kie had snagged to pass to the boys on the bed.

"Okay, hold on." John B interjected, raising his hand and he held the bills in his other. "What's going on?"

At his confusion, CJ turned slowly from her boy to Pope. She hadn't realized that the distraught boy on the pull-out hadn't yet told their friends what happened. Sighing, she took a drag off of the almost dead joint before passing it to JJ and falling back on the bed. JJ, sensing her drained mood, traded the joint for his beer.

"Oh, well, umm...we kind of...so, Topper and Rafe jumped me at the golf course and so I sunk Topper's boat and CJ poured water in Rafe's gas tank."

Pope went from stuttering out words to rushing through his sentence in an instant, looking at John B like the boy might cut his head off or something. Instead, he stared for a moment before an uncontrollable laugh bubbled up from his chest. The reaction made CJ giggle and she took a swig of the beer as Pope stared open-mouthed. For only a moment, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips before he was freaking out once again.

"They don't..give scholarships..to kids who vengefully sink boats."

If it weren't for the fact that this was her best friend and she was mildly concerned, CJ would've laughed. Not that he didn't have a point.

"It's not a good look on my transcripts..."

Pope would've continued to go on if JJ hadn't taken matters into his own hands, standing up as he put his hands on Pope's biceps and shook him lightly. Mini blunt in his mouth, he puffed out smoke, away from his friend, and told him to stop regretting his actions. "They caved your face in. They hit us, we hit them. It's the law of the jungle." He explained, looking Pope dead in the eye as Pope stared, anxiety clear in his brown eyes. "Now, if any Kooks comes up to you and ask if you had anything to do with it...you walk up to 'em...look 'em right in the eye...and?"

The sentence was left open-ended in a question, JJ and the other Pogues waiting for Pope to finish it. It took him a moment, and he seemed almost ashamed, but he did. "Deny the living shit out of it."

"That's right."

"Deny, deny, deny." CJ chorused, taking another swig of the bottled beer as she hummed. God knew that one word (and in retrospect, the word lie) had gotten her out of many a bad situation.

"Yup." He agreed, stretching out the single word. "But, just in case...we don't go anywhere without protection." It was easy for the J's to understand he meant the gun in his bag, but it took Pope a moment to understand. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything, most likely due to how freaked out he was.

Due to his major anxiety and stress, CJ decided to pull out Clue to get his mind off of it. She knew the boy was still mildly upset that they didn't get to play it the other day and not even JJ complained as he rolled the dice and moved Colonel Mustard forward. The three ended up getting more drunk than they originally planned and played for hours, becoming increasingly competitive as John B shouted about how it just 'had to be the maid with the candlestick in the hall.'

When Pope left, the J's followed him out, walking together into the woods. They missed their cabin and after everything that had happened lately, they decided to go camp it at their favorite place. With the windows left open to let in a breeze, the three passed around the silicone bong they kept in the filing cabinet.

At some point, JJ passed out and it was just the other two left awake. Neither of them said anything, not realizing the other was even awake. Not able to sleep, CJ got up and grabbed her guitar, beginning to strum out the chords of a song that she and John B wrote years ago. And as she began to softly sing the words, John B fell into a peaceful sleep.

"And I would rather be the stray than be nothin' to no one at all..."