𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

  "Hey!" Tatum pointed behind the screen. Kie jumped up, and they ran to stop the fight between the Pogues and the Kooks.

"Hey! Let go of him, Topper! Fascist asshole!" Kie hit him with the backpack. "Hey, listen, Pope. All you gotta do..."

"Topper, stop!" Tatum yelled at her brother. "JJ!" Kie kicked Kelce in the balls, making him let letting go of JJ. "Let go of me, Rafe!" Tatum yelled as he pulled her off of Topper.

"Stay out of this, Tatum!" He attempted to throw her on the ground gently, but that's not how it worked out.

"Tatum! You okay?" JJ yelled out when he saw her clutch her stomach on the ground. JJ punched Rafe in the face while Kie went to help Tatum up.

"Admit you did it, bitch!" Topper had Pope in a chokehold. Tatum pointed to the backpack behind her, and Kie crawled over to it, pulling out the gun.

"You don't mess with me, Pogue! You hear me? I'm gonna give you one chance." Kelce held JJ as Rafe punched him, and Tatum gritted her teeth.

"One chance, Pope!" Tatum pulled a match out of the bag, taking the gun away from Kie.

"Come on! Got something you wanna say?" Tatum lit the movie screen, trying to get the people's attention to stop the fight once and for all.

"Finish him off, Top!" Rafe yelled, and Tatum looked behind her, making eye contact with him.

Rafe looked between her and the lit movie screen, backing away from JJ. "Guys, fire." "Get off of them!"

"Kelce! Let go of JJ!" Tatum stood up, walking over to him. "Let's get outta here," Rafe pulled Topper.

"Holy shit, you almost killed him, man!" Rafe laughed as he pulled Topper to the side. Topper sighed, running his hands through his frosted tips.

"Hey, let's go, Kelce!" Rafe yelled at his other friend. "You okay?" Tatum held JJ's face, trying to make sure he wasn't bleeding.

"You're fucking stupid, T," JJ held her face in his hands. "And I just saved your ass from my brother. Let's go," Tatum interlaced her fingers with his, and she dragged him away with Kie and Pope.

...

"We got lucky. There's a camera on a solar panel. We can't make out a face, but we were able to ID the other boat."

"Well, who's boat is it?" Cynthia asked Shoupe. "Registered to Heyward." Tatum glared at her brother, knowing his next move. "We think this is his kid."

"All right, so she thought that I did this, Deputy, right? I told you, Mom, not everything's my fault," Topper sat down and faced his mother.

Tatum folded her arms over her chest, and looked away over the railing. "Can we talk about this privately, please? So, what happens now?"

"Well, if you press charges, it'll be up to juvenile court. Now, Pope is 16. Could be tried as an adult. He'd do time," Shoupe explained as Tatum's head whipped around at the last part.

"Press charges," Cynthia said, looking at her children. "Mom!" Tatum stood up. "You know, Heyward, uh..."

"Deputy, I said press charges." "Yeah, all right. We're on it." Shoupe stood up and made his way out of the Thornton house.

Cynthia stood up to walk him out, and Topper stood up, looking at his twin sister.

"I hate you! You already beat him up to the point where his eye was swollen shut. How could you?" Tatum jammed her finger into his chest, and Topper did nothing to stop her. He regretted every decision he had made since the golf course.