Pogue on Pogue- JJ Maybank

Chapter 33

After 10 minutes we switch places and I go into the interview room and JJ goes back into the cell.

I am by myself for a second before Sheriff Peterkin walks in.

" You, unlike your boyfriend, are a first timer in here." She says, then sits down in front of me.

" Yeah." I say, then sit down too.

" Starting out strong, aren't you?" She asks.

" Went from being a good girl, to a felon, in a day." She tells me.

I don't say anything, I don't have anything to say. I just relax and lean back in my chair, I'm playing it cool, because her just talking to me has cracked my wall, and I don't like it.

" How are you going to feel six months from now, sittin' in juvenile prison in Wadesboro? Are you gonna be relaxed like you are right now?" She asks me.

I look away for a second before looking back at her.

She grabs two pictures and puts them on the table in front of me.

I don't move, just keep my gaze on her.

" Look." She tells me, and I listen. The pictures are of the guys who shot at us, and broke into JB's house.

" Do you know these men?" She asks me, and I think about what JJ has said, because if I don't find a way to keep our stories straight, we're both fucked.

" Hello?" She asks sarcastically, pulling me out of my head.

" Yeah. I know them."I answer.

" How?" She asks.

" They broke into JB's house, and they chased us through the marsh on their boat." I tell her. Still relaxed in my chair.

" Here's a more recent photo." She says, putting two more photos on the table. I look at them and I see that they are torn apart everywhere and you can see into one of their abdomens.

" Jesus fucking Christ." I say, disgusted, and I look away, throwing up in my mouth a little bit.

" Someone gaffed them, and then used them as chum." Sheriff Peterkin explains.

" I'm not gonna unsee that anytime soon." I say, still trying not to look at the pictures.

" Whoever killed them, is still out there, and I think that they might come after your buddy, John B, next." She tells me, I crack even more and the wall protecting me is almost down, and I feel the anxiety start to creep back in.

" You guys aren't the only people after the Royal Merchant." She tells me, and my eyes widen a little bit in surprise.

" Yeah, I know about that." She tells me.

" Sheriff, he's not into the boat anymore, and we were only into it because of him." I explain quickly, and my protective wall is down, I am now flooded with anxiety, and my leg starts shaking.

" So you say, I'm just trying to keep him safe." She explains.

' What does she mean, so you say?" I think, because I haven't lied to her about anything so far, other than the fact that I didn't actually sink Topper's boat.

" You tell John B to come into the station and talk to me and I'll see if I can keep you or your boyfriend out of Wadesboro." She says, packing up her things and leaving me alone.

Another officer comes in after her and takes me back to the cell, and I see JJ sitting there.

He lets me into the cell and then leaves.

I sit beside JJ and don't say anything for a moment.

" JJ?" I say, looking at him.

He turns and looks at me and I see that his eyes are brimmed with tears, and that hurts my heart.

" It'll be okay." I say, then gently press my lips against his. It's not a passionate kiss, or a needy one. It's a kiss that says " I love you," " I care about you".

I pull away after a second.

" Thanks, but you don't know that for sure." He explains, looking at me softly.

I hear two people walk into the station and I hear my fathers voice, talking to a cop.

' shit.' I think as I hear cops walking toward our cell.

" You're right, but we have always survived before and I don't know about you, but I don't wanna die just yet." I say as the cops get to our cell.

The cops come in and grab us and walk us out, right before we turn the corner to where our parents are, I look at him.

" I love you." I say, and before he can reply we have arrived at our parents.

JJ and his dad are in front of me and my dad.

I don't look at my dad, Who I haven't seen in about a week or so.

" Are you his guardian?" The cop asks JJ's dad.

" Sorry to say, I'm his father." JJ's dad says, and if I wasn't so frozen with fear, that would have pissed me off.

JJ takes a step back and grabs my hand, and I grab his before I feel my fathers gaze on me and pull away.

He quickly glances at me and I look at him with sorrow in my eyes, before looking back down at the ground.

" You her's?" The cop asks, looking at my dad.

" Unfortunately." He answers.

That hurts a little but nothing like what I imagine is gonna happen when we get home.

If he is even half as harsh as he was last time, he's gonna kill me.

" Hearing will be in two weeks. If they fail to show up, they will be forfeiting their bail." The cop explains.

" The restitution will be based on the average of three outside estimates of the damaged article." The cop says.

" Restitution?" Both of our dads ask, in the same angry tone.

" They each have to pay for half of what they broke, It's part of the plea." The woman tells us.

I see JJ's dad look at him angrily and I feel the same glare from my dad. I don't look up, I am frozen with fear.

" Sign here, please." The cop says to JJ's dad and too mine, putting two clipboards on the little shelf above her. They sign the papers.

" Let's go." JJ's dad tells him.

" Go, now!" He says louder, when JJ doesn't move.

My dad just grabs my arm hard, and pulls me out of the station.

On the way to the car my dad speaks up.

" Where are you gonna get 15K from?" My dad asks me.

" I don't know yet, but I'll get it, I promise." I tell him, arriving at the passenger side door.

" Yeah, you always promise, don't ya?" My dad says, then gets into the car.

I get in the passenger seat, only because we don't have a backseat.

I would look at JJ's dad's car but I don't want to know what is happening to him, and I am too afraid of what's gonna happen to me. Surprisingly my dad doesn't touch me in the car, probably because he knows that I scream, and we are right outside of a police station, and he's too smart for that.

If my dad is anything other than an abusive asshole, he's smart, too smart.

It is silent the whole ride home, but I can see his hands tightly wrapped around the steering wheel, and I am afraid of what's to come.

A/N: Hi! I hope you're having a good day. Please don't forget to vote and comment. Thank you for reading.