Chapter 3
I was gone the next morning before John B and his friends were even up. I started early with Mr. Henderson's boat then went on from there. When I got home, I went straight to my room and ignored my brother and his friends. The next day, I was walking from the Cormacks store when I walked past Mr. Heyward. I smiled and waved at him.
"Afternoon, Veronica." He said loading a boat.
"Afternoon, Mr. Heyward. Here, let me help." I said sitting down my bag. I grabbed a few grocery bags and hopped on board with them.
"Thank you." He said sighing. He looked at his watch then looked around.
"Do they need to be delivered?" I asked him.
"Do you mind? My dumbass son and his friends are off somewhere. Sorry, I know that it's your brother and all." He started.
"Totally fine. I understand. I got a few hours off before my shift at the Wreck so, I'll deliver them for you." I said reaching over and grabbing my bag.
"Thank you, Ronnie. Figure 8, please." He said hopping off. I nodded. I drove out there and docked. I was walking through the Golf course when Rafe Cameron and Topper walked up to me.
"Ooh. Who do we have here?" Rafe asked smirking.
"Really? We went to the same school, idiot." I scoffed.
"How much for the beer, little Routledge?" He asked putting the club end to the case.
"Not for sale. If you want some, call the cart and tell them Veronica sent you." I said trying to go around him. He stepped in front of me.
"Come on, man, leave her alone." Topper said.
"Look, Cameron. Whatever beef you and your buddies have with my brother and his friends, settle it with them, okay? I have a job to do." I told Rafe.
"One beer, that's all we want, sweetheart." He said biting his lip.
"Like I said, call the cart and tell them I sent you and to bring you one." I said stepping around him. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
"Come on, little Pogue. Just one." He said.
"Get off of me, Rafe. Now." I said.
"Or what? You'll scream for your brother? Have his friend pull a gun on us again after another fight?" He asked tightening his hand.
"A gun? When? Who pulled a gun?" I asked him.
"So, big brother doesn't tell baby sis everything." He said chuckling. He looked at Topper and laughed again.
"No. He doesn't. Now get off of me." I said yanking away from him. I huffed and turned to walk off.
"You should hang with us sometime, little Pogue." He called out. I turned back to him and laughed.
"And be a part of the life-long feud between Kooks and Pogue's? No thanks! I'll go to work, mind my business, and go home and not deal with that." I said walking backwards. He smiled. I turned back around and continued on with my deliveries.
Rafe's POV
I watched her as she walked away with the bags of groceries in her hand. I knew how to get to the Pogue's easily now. The Littlest Pogue was my way.
"Dude, really?" Topper asked as we walked to get my ball.
"What?" I asked him.
"If you even think about going after her, the Pogue's will be all over you and us." He scoffed.
"Then that's the end of the Pogue and Kook feud. Pogue's will be gone. We'll handle them." I said smirking. He laughed and shook his head at me. I now had a plan.
John B's POV
I walked inside the house later that night and saw Veronica sitting at the table. She had a beer in front of her, a pen, and a calculator.
"Hey, Ronnie." I said clearing my throat.
"John B." She said not looking up. I nodded and pulled out the chair to sit down.
"So, is it going to be like this from now on?" I asked her.
"Like what John B?" She asked.
"The cold shoulder." I said.
"I don't know. Are you done keeping secrets from me or not?" She asked looking up at me. I was a bit scared to answer.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am." I said nodding. She nodded and placed down the pen.
"Then tell me how you really got that black eye." She said leaning back in her chair. I swallowed and rubbed my chin.
"Surfing accident." I told her. She nodded and stood up.
"God, John B. The one thing I ask from you is not to lie to me! And here you are lying to me!" She snapped.
"I'm not lying!" I snapped back.
"Bullshit! You or one of the guys got into a fight the other night and someone pulled a gun! A gun John B!" She yelled. I cleared my throat and looked at the table.
"Who told you?" I asked.
"So, it's true? A gun was pulled at your party?" She asked. Her voice shook.
"No one got hurt." I said sighing.
"But someone could have, John B! You or one of your friends could've been hurt or someone else!" I snapped. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed. I noticed bruising on her arm. I got up and walked over to her. I grabbed her wrist and turned her arm.
"What happened?" I asked. She yanked away from me.
"Remember those two morons that terrorized our home? It's from them." She said walking around me. I rubbed my face and turned towards her.
"I'm sorry. Okay?" I said.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay." She said sitting back down. She rubbed her face and groaned loudly.
"What are you doing anyway?" I asked walking over to her. I looked over her shoulder and saw our bills. I sighed and sat down beside her.
"Are we good?" I asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, we are. I'll just pick up some extra shifts, clean more boats and houses. See if Heyward needs any help around his store. We'll be fine, John B." She said nodding. For once I got a good look at my sister. Besides the bruise from the two guys, she had dark circles under her eyes and the white parts were bloodshot red.
"Ronnie." I said.
"It's fine, John B. Really. I'll see you tomorrow." She said standing again. She touched my shoulder and went off to her room. The next morning, we were gone before she woke up. We borrowed Heyward's boat and took it out to find The Royal Merchant. Well, we found it, but it was rusted to pieces with no gold. I got back to the Chateau and walked inside.
"Ronnie! You here?" I called out.
"Nope. She's not. Hey buddy." Cheryl said from behind me. I sighed and turned around to her.
"You know, Cheryl it's kind of a bad time for a check-in." I said grabbing the box of cereal.
"It's not a check-in. We're here to take you and your sister." She said. I walked to the kitchen and sat at the table.
"Today? Really?" I asked.
"Just for a few weeks until the hearing. Where's Veronica?" She said standing.
"Work, I'm guessing. Look, my sister and I have everything covered. We're not going into foster care, okay? We're not going to go be a part of your little system or whatever." I told her. A radio beeped behind me. I looked and saw a no neck officer.
"John B, this is Deputy Thomas. He works with juveniles for the sheriff's department. Look, we know Uncle T's down in Mississippi working at a casino. He hasn't been here in months." She said.
"What?" I scoffed. I tried to run but no neck dodged me.
"No, see, that's my nightmare right there. Look. I. I. I want emancipation for me and my sister." I told her.
"From who? There's nobody here but you and Veronica." She argued.
"Asylum then." I argued.
"On what grounds?" She asked.
"Solid grounds. On holy grounds. I feel real prosecuted right now by you and Mr. Big Head over there. What're you looking at, bro? What're you going to do? You going to tase me?" I scoffed at him. I tried to run again but he was able to take me down. When he released me to get up, I went to pack me a bag. I went to my wall and grabbed the last picture of dad and Veronica. I took it over to Cheryl.
"See this? Do you know who this is? Yeah, my dad and my sister. Do you know what he wanted? He wanted us to stay here, at home, and you're taking us away from our home. Do you understand that?" I snapped at her.
"It's the law, John B." She told me. I scoffed and walked out. I looked back as we drove away.
"Where's Veronica working?" Cheryl asked me.
"Everywhere. I don't know." I said shaking my head.
"When was the last time you saw her?" She asked.
"Last night before she went to bed." I said sighing. She huffed and nodded to Thomas. He radioed it in for someone to pick her up.
"Just take me, okay? Ronnie works to hard for it all to be taken away." I said.
"We can't do that, John B. Especially with siblings." She said shaking her head. I sat back and rubbed my face.
Veronica's POV
I was down at Heyward's busing the tables and clearing the fish with Pope. He went out to grab some plates when he came running back in. He knocked into me on his way out the back. I shook my head and walked outside to pick up the tables he ran out on.
"Yo! Little Pogue!" I heard someone call out. I ignored them. I knew who it was, but I chose not to acknowledge them. I turned around and ran right into Topper and Rafe.
"Jeez. Don't the rich side have bells they wear or something?" I scoffed at them.
"Ha ha. Funny! Where did your little friend run off too?" Rafe asked crossing his arms.
'How should I know." I said shrugging.
"Cause you're a Pogue. You hang with them." He argued. I sat down my bucket and placed my hands on my hips.
"That's where you're wrong, Cameron. I don't hang with them. I am the sister of a Pogue. I get up, go to work till whatever time it is at night, go home, look at whatever bills I need to pay, then go to bed. Then it's on repeat 7 days a week. Why are you looking for Pope anyway?" I said. Rafe looked at Topper.
"He uh. He sunk my boat." He said.
"He what?" I gasped loudly. Rafe covered my mouth and pulled me over to Topper's Jeep.
"Listen. We just need to talk to Pope about it. No harm in talking, right?" He said uncovering my mouth. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah. Talking is code for beating the shit out of each other until someone is dead! I am not dumb, Rafe. Now I got to get back to work." I said moving away from him. I saw a cop car pull up as I went inside. I eased around the corner and saw Cheryl getting out. I hurried over to Mr. Heyward.
"Mr. Heyward, you know I don't ask for much. But DCS is here, can I?" I said motioning to the door. He sighed and looked behind me.
"You're really nothing like your brother. Asking permission to run. Go, kid." He said scoffing. I kissed his cheek and grabbed my bag. I ran out the back and down the road. I slid to a stop when Topper almost hit me with his jeep. I ran to the side.
"Where you off too?" Rafe asked me.
"Anywhere but here right now. DCS is here." I said panting.
"Hop in." Topper told me. I hopped in and he took off. I sighed and leaned back in the seat.
"We're going to the OBX movie show. Wanna go with?" Topper asked me.
"I can't. I got a shift at the Wreck in an hour." I said rubbing my face.
"Where DCS will be waiting for you. Come on. It'll be fun." Rafe said looking back at me and smirking. I groaned and huffed.
"Fine! Just this one time!" I told them. Rafe shoved Topper and laughed. We picked up Kelce and headed to the land.
"What happened to your eye?" Kelce asked me.
"A shelf fell on me at work. Took a can of corn to the face." I said nodding. He nodded then turned to Topper and Rafe. We pulled up and parked. Rafe opened my door so I could get out. I slid down and we walked over to the screening area.
"I'm going to go grab a drink. You want something?" He said looking down at me.
"Water. Here." I said reaching for my wallet.
"You're good. I got it." He said walking off. I looked at Topper and bit my lip.
"Thanks for the save back there. I needed it." I told him.
"No problem." He said shaking his head. Rafe handed us each a drink and looked around. I looked around and saw JJ, Kie and Pope here. JJ shoved Pope's head to the front when they all looked back. Kie had to do a double take to see if it was me or not. Topper and Kelce grabbed seats from the Jeep and brought them out for us. I sighed as I sat back in it.
"You don't ever relax, do you?" Rafe asked me.
"Nope. This is actually the first time in months I've done this." I told him. He looked down at his drink then back at the screen.
"Hey. Come on." Topper said. I looked to where he was and saw JJ and Pope using the bathroom behind a tree.
"Really? Here?" I scoffed at them. They went the other way while Rafe went towards the tree. When I saw Kie jump up, I ran with her.
"Rafe! Kelce! Stop! Let him go!" I said trying to pull them apart. Rafe shoved me down to the ground then went over to Pope and Topper and took Kie off Topper.
"Stay out of this, Kiara!" He told her. I got up and ran to Topper and Pope.
"Let him go, Topper!" I yelled hitting him. He shoved me down like Rafe did. Suddenly the movie screen went up in flames.
"Let him go. Kelce!" Kie yelled. I was hauled up off the ground by Kelce.
"Come on, man. Dude, you almost killed him." Rafe told Topper. I shoved Kelce off and tried walking away but Rafe caught me.
"No, you don't. You're coming with us." He said pushing me the other way.
"Hey!" I snapped. He put me in the Jeep and got up front.
"Seriously! You just wailed on my brother's best friends and expect me to ride with you? Topper! Stop the car and let me out." I snapped.
"Drive, Top." Rafe told him. He looked back at me then back at the road. Topper dropped Rafe and I off at Rafe's house. I shook my head and went to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Rafe asked me.
"Home. Some of us actually have work in the morning." I scoffed.
"Yeah. Go home. Where DCS will be waiting for you when you get up." He called out. I shook my head and turned back to him.
"And where do you suppose I go, Cameron? Not all of us have multiple houses to go live in." I snapped.
"Ouch. You sure, you're not a Pogue?" He said smirking. I sighed and crossed my arms.
"I'm sure. And I'm sorry. I become a bit bitchy when I need sleep." I said. He nodded.
"Forgiven. Come on. You can stay here for the night." He said nodding to the house. I looked at the house then back at him.
"You're joking right?" I scoffed. He shrugged and motioned to follow him. I groaned as I did. He led me up to a room and shut the door. I looked around his room.
"Bathrooms through there, use whatever you need too. I'll grab you something of Sarah's to wear tomorrow, you can sleep in a shirt and shorts of mine for now. I'll sleep in the guest room." He said opening a drawer. He tossed them at me.
"Shower, you stink." He said walking out of the room. I scoffed and went into the bathroom. I locked the doors and had the best shower ever. I dried off, placed the clothes on then went to the bed. I got in and groaned. I was instantly asleep.