dog days of summer//pope heyward

nine

We get the drone in the water to test it out. JJ and I stand with Pope on the dock. John B and Kie are in the water with the drone. On the screen I see John B rubbing his teeth.

JJ points at a button. "What's this right here?"

Pope smacks his hand away. "Don't touch that. I'm trying to work out this thing."

I grab Pope's face and squeeze it lightly. "God bless geeks, Pope. What would we do without you to control the drones?" I tease.

Pope pulls his face from my hand. "Technically it's not a drone. It's an ROV."

"Shut up. Shut up. It's too early for that right now," JJ states.

"Hey look, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim," John B tells us.

"See it's bullshit why we have to do that," JJ says,

"Well, there is maritime salvage law. You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up," Pope reasons.

"I know. I know. It's just lawyers aren't cheap, bro," JJ offers.

"As soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp," John B assures.

"How do you know all of that?" Kie asks.

"'Cause my dad said it, like, a million times," John B says.

"Yeah, that's fair," Kiara reasons.

"This tether is, like, really long. In the wrong weather, it could get pushed around," Pope warns.

"Then we'll go at dead calm," John B says.

Thunder rumbles overhead.

"At slack tide?" I ask.

"So now, we just gotta wait around for the right weather. And today is not that day," Pope states.

A storm is rolling in. The clouds are dark and I can already hear the thunder.

JJ and I head off with Pope to keep him company while he does deliveries for his father.

"You guys get these groceries over to Figure Eight. Get straight back here when you're done," Heyward says as he hands us plastic bags. "No fishin'. I promised delivery by this afternoon. Rich folks don't wanna wait for you lazy sons of..." JJ stands there with his arms outstretched. "Oh, JJ, thank you. ...sons of bitches."

We go past all the rich homes. They are in perfect condition, while our side of the island still doesn't have power.

"Doesn't even look like the storm hit there," Pope states.

"That's because they got generators, bro. Get used to it," I tell him.

"And then they say the juice will be out all summer at the cut," JJ adds.

"It's nice to be a Kook," Pope states.

"Lucky bastards," I remark.

I wait on the boat and tan while Pope and JJ deliver the groceries. Pope comes back first and he doesn't say anything. JJ comes back a little while later. He runs down the pier towards the boat.

"Pope!" JJ laughs. Dude, you are not going to believe what just happened to me, man!" He hops on the boat. "Whoo! That was the best 100 bucks I've ever made! When I say count me in on all these grocery deliveries, Pope, I mean it."

Pope doesn't say anything. I get up and walk over to him. "What's up with you, Pope? You haven't said anything since you got back. You good?"

JJ looks at Pope. "Yo, what happened to your face, dude?" He lifts up his head and sees a cut. "Jesus!"