Strawberry Sunscreen - JJ Maybank - Outer Banks

Chapter 27 - The Bell Tower || Part 1

JJ, Kiara, Elizabeth, and Pope all took cover near a shed as they watched the plane fly away with the gold. The gold flew right over them, seemingly taunting them. They had been so close— too close. "There goes the gold."

JJ spun around, kicking a chair out onto the pavement. Pope began to throw and hit things all around the room as Kiara yelled for him to stop. Pope then grabbed a bat, smashing whatever he could. Even JJ had stopped what he was doing, not expecting this behavior from Pope. After he was finished, the boy sat back down as he hyperventilated.

"Yeah, dude." JJ began, walking towards the boy. "I was wondering when this was gonna happen. Here you go, chief. A little weed never hurt no one." JJ held out a joint in front of Pope's face.

Elizabeth walked over to stand behind JJ, "It does always make me feel better. No pressure, obviously."

"You know he doesn't smoke," Kiara stated as Pope grabbed the joint and held it closer to his face.

"Well, maybe not until today," JJ stated.

"Pope." The boy ignored Kiara. "Yeah, what is that gonna help?"

"I lost my scholarship. Walked out in the middle of the interview. Every... It's gone. It's not gonna happen," Pope explained as tears dropped from his eyes.

"You tried to help, Pope. You were being a good friend," Elizabeth attempted to help the boy.

"You did that for us?" Kiara asked him, sympathizing.

"No, not for us. For nothing," Pope stated, standing up and staring back at Kiara.

"I'm here for you, Pope. Welcome to my world, okay?" JJ patted the boy's chest. "He's right. It doesn't matter anymore." Elizabeth shut her eyes as she watched Pope contemplate smoking. Tensions were high between everyone right now, and she didn't want to say or do anything to upset anyone.

"You don't have to do that," Kiara stated, her voice raspy. Pope lifted the joint to his mouth, taking a hit from it.

"What do you care?" He asked, glaring towards the girl. Pope pointed behind them as John B appeared from outside the area.

"Dude! Dude, you good?" JJ called out, his friends all rushing to his aid.

"John B..." Elizabeth's voice trailed off as she noticed the blood on his shirt. She looked back up to meet his eyes, full of trauma. He looked around at his friends as if they were strangers. "Are you hurt? Is this your blood?" The girl asked.

Suddenly, a cop car blared its sirens as it went past them. John B pushed his friends behind a barrier in order to conceal them from any suspecting eyes.

John B lead them to a car, taking them on a silent journey as he turned off the radio and stared blankly in front of him. His friends were only told the skeleton of the story— Rafe Cameron had shot Sheriff Peterkin.

"John B, what are we doing at the police station?" JJ asked his friend.

"Somebody's gotta tell them what happened," John B explained. Pope broke out in a fit of coughs as he took another hit of the joint.

"Easy there, chief," stated JJ. "Damn."

Elizabeth leaned down, grabbing her water bottle and passing it to the boy. Pope threw the bottle back, most of the water ending up on his t-shirt.

"You're alright, Pope." Elizabeth stated, patting the boys back as he coughed again.

"All right. I'm just gonna be real with you right now. You might end up in the lion's den, but you don't go there on purpose," JJ began. "It's fundamental. Just like my old man always told me, you should never ever trust cops, no matter what the circumstance is."