dog days of summer//pope heyward

eleven

I breathe a sigh of relief when I see JJ coming down my driveway on his dirt bike. I can see cuts on his face that weren't there when he got arrested.

I walk over to him and grab his chin. "What happened?"

JJ takes my hand off his face. "I owe 30 grand in restitution."

I look at him concerned. "Okay. We can work it off. I can help you."

JJ shakes his head. "Yeah I told my dad the same thing and look what happened."

"He hit you?" I ask.

"It's nothin' that hasn't happened before," JJ tells me.

"You don't deserve that, JJ," I tell him.

JJ shrugs his shoulders. "I'll survive."

I nod my head. "So what are us Pogues doing for Midsummers?"

"I gotta talk to John B." JJ gestures with his head. "Hop on."

I get on the back of the pick and hold onto JJ. "Try not to kill us."

When we get to John B's house we wait around for a while. Then I realize that there is a car out front of John B's house that we don't recognize. JJ and I hide waiting for John B to come home.

When JJ sees John B he grabs him by the head and covers his mouth. John B fights back and throws JJ on the ground.

"It's me, JJ. Stop, stop, stop, stop," JJ tells him.

John B hits him in the chest. "What are you doing, Bro?"

JJ covers his mouth. "Shut up." He pulls him down beside a truck.

I point to the car watching us. "See that? They're watching us, okay?"

"Who?" John B asks.

"I don't know," JJ tells him.

"Let's go. Sneak around to the dock," I tell John B.

We walk through the marsh. The water gets higher as we go.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. You got the keys to the Pogue?" John B asks.

JJ nods. "Yeah."

John B and JJ hold their bags on their heads as the water is almost head high. We get to the Pogue and pull ourselves in. JJ and John B untie the boat as we lay on the floor, keeping out of sight. John B starts the engine and we're off.

We park the boat by a little clearing on the marsh. I sit next to JJ on a rock as John B sits across from us.

"First, I almost get strangled to death by Kooks, and now I'm on the hook for 30 grand," JJ says.

"We should just dip," I offer.

"Okay, where do you wanna go? Hm?" John B questions.

"Yucatan," JJ offers.

John B scoffs. "Yucatan."

"No, I'm dead serious right now. Surf all day, and then we can just live off lobsters we catch with our bare hands," JJ reasons.

"You just wanna leave 'cause you got your ass beat?" John B says.

"You didn't see the photos," JJ states.

The two guys that were after us were found dead, and used a chum.

John B hops off the rock. "Think about it. They're willing to kill for the gold, then it's gotta be out there."

I hop down and face John B. "Have you lost your mind?" I shout. "One hundred years, man. One hundred years, people have been tryin' to find this Royal Merchant, and no one succeeded. And you think you are gonna be the one that actually finds it? When will you get it in your thick skull? If you keep goin' down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad!"