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𝖍𝖔𝖜 𝖙𝖔: 𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑

(CHAPTER FIVE)

𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩

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"―and all we hear is just, 'Bam! Bam! Bam!' Knocking paint off the wall from the inside! All right? And I'm just looking at him, like...wait, first off, look at this shit―ohmygodRonni, oh thank god! We almost died!"

Veronica paused at the threshold of the screen door on the porch, a bag of food in her hands that she'd taken from her early morning shift at The Wreck. JJ ran up to her instantly, wrapping himself around her in a vice grip, nearly smashing the food had she not stuck an arm out for Kiara to quickly grab. Then she wrapped her now-free hand around JJ comfortingly, patting his back as she looked at the others like he was crazy. He only clung onto her tighter, nearly lifting her up off her feet as he shoved his head into her neck like a small child.

"What the fuck happened? I didn't even cover a whole shift and you guys almost die?" she asked, glancing between all of them, her words muffled by JJ's shoulder. Then she noticed flakes of something on JJ's shirt and she grimaced, pulling her head away. "JJ, ew? What the hell is on your shirt?"

JJ wrenched away from her embrace all of a sudden and nearly connected his hard head with her jaw, eyes widening as he returned to the dramatic show he'd been having before Ronni arrived. To continue his performance and answer her question, he bent his neck down and shook his blonde hair, all of them muttering in disgust when small white particles came from out of his hair that looked too much like dandruff.

"That's dandruff... disgusting," Kie mumbled out, her lip curling up in disgust as she purposely held the food away from it.

"That's paint," JJ corrected, turning on his heel with his hair now a mess, looking like he'd just rolled out of bed. "At that point, I was just, like...I'm waiting for death―"

Ronni still stood where she'd entered from, and she threw her hands out to look at all of her best friends in absolute confusion. "What did I miss here? Why is JJ throwing a tantrum?"

JJ went to talk, obviously to exaggerate the story, but John B beat him to it. "We went by Lana Grubbs' house. I wanted to ask her about why Dad's compass was on his boat. Whenever we got there, the two guys from yesterday were there. They trashed her house looking for the compass."

"They could've killed us! I swear we were that close," JJ added while pinching his fingers together as he looked over at Ronni. "I swear, V. I saw my life flash before my eyes. It's got me reconsidering so much about us, y'know, I mean they say life-or-death situations do that to you but―"

"JJ," Kie interrupted, knowing he was going to regret it later. "Shut up."

"So you saw the guys that shot at us, right?" Pope continued on like JJ hadn't said anything out of the ordinary, much to Ronni's surprise considering she was standing there still absolutely confused. "Did you get a good description of them? What did they look like?"

"Yeah, anything―"

"Anything we can bring to a police report?"

There was a brief pause as JJ paced around the porch, catching Ronni's eye momentarily before he sighed heavily and threw something out. "Burly."

"Burly?"

"Yeah. You know, like..." JJ puffed out his chest as Kie muttered how unhelpful that was, instantly stepping forward to add to his description. "Okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad's garage. I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers. I can tell you with full confidence, these boys―these killers―" JJ paused to pull out his JUUL, taking a long puff like it was an actual joint before continuing "―they're square groupers."

"Square groupers," Pope said pointedly. "Like narco square groupers? Like Pablo Escobar square groupers?"

Ronni waved her hands in the air, still confused as fuck, meeting eyes with John B from where he stood off to the back of the porch behind Kie. She decided that she would go over to him instead of standing in place, walking past Pope and Kie as they continued to interrogate a flustered and overly-dramatizing JJ. John B had zoned out of the conversation, barely paying any attention to them, his hands fiddling with his dad's compass like he'd been doing the last twelve hours.

She laid her hand over his on the compass, making him look up. Her concern was shining through, momentarily flickering toward the bruised eye only getting darker. "You okay?"

"It wasn't as bad as he's making it seem," John B muttered softly, turning his head just in time to see JJ push off the wall when Pope triggered another outburst of emotion. "We're fine. JJ's just being dramatic."

"Dude! I wasn't taking little mental Polaroids the entire time! I was under duress, okay?" JJ exclaimed all of a sudden, his voice cracking as he flew his hands around emphasizing his point. He fell back against the wall, taking another drag from the JUUL. "But I can tell you by the way that Miss Lana was screaming...that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man...it's a heavy vibe right now, okay? I am not liking this very much."

Ronni glanced down at the compass in John B's hands, then back up at JJ. "What do they even want with the compass anyway? Same with Scooter. What's so important about it?"

"It's a piece of shit. You couldn't pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted to," Pope added, and then he paused when he realized what he'd said, wincing and turning to John B as he walked over to him. "No offense, John B. I know it's like in your family..."

John B's face fell heavy in realization. "The office."

"What?"

"My dad. My dad's office," and he turned on his heel and walked into the Chateau, leaving the others to follow behind him quickly as he spoke. "He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research. I mean the only person who ever went in there was Harvey. We used to laugh at them like they were gonna find it...but now that he's gone, I've just kinda...I just left it as he kept it."

Ronni felt her heart drop to her stomach when they came upon the famous white door. When she, John B, and JJ were younger, they always used to call it the door to Narnia because Harvey and Big John would go into it and not come out for hours while their kids played with one another. As they got older, the less appealing the room became, and Ronni barely acknowledged its presence as a piece of the Chateau until she and the others were standing in front of it. JJ shifted slightly so his side was up against hers, the two of them finding the same memories, while Kie glanced at Pope.

"Yeah for when he gets back," Kie insisted.

The three of them turned to look at her as John B unlocked it, each sharing mutual expressions of 'why-would-you-say-that' because even though they were all certain Big John was not coming back, John B still held high hopes for his father's return. Kiara was always the most optimistic that he would come back, for JB's sake. The optimism was easier for her because she had never met him. Unlike Pope, JJ, and Ronni, Kie missed out on the part where JB grieved―when they all had.

The door opened, John B walking in immediately while the others took their time to settle into the new environment. Pope looked around, amazed. "You know, I've slept over here like six-hundred times and I've never seen this door opened."

"Here, look," John B called out, urging them to look at a board he'd grabbed from a corner of the room. He pointed at the oldest picture on the board, Ronni moving between Kie and JJ to stare at it slightly upside down with a twisted expression. "This is the original owner right here."

"Okay," Kie nodded, tilting her head to read off the name. "Robert Q. Routledge. Eighteen-eighty to nineteen-twenty... there's the lucky compass right there."

"Actually, um..." John B hesitated, making them glance up at him briefly. "He was shot after he bought it."

Ronni's lips straightened. "Oh. Great. Super lucky, JB."

"Then the compass was shipped back to Henry," he pointed at the next picture, following the generation of owners. "He was killed in a crop-dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen. Stephen had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam―"

"Let me guess, he died in action, right?" JJ asked, catching Ronni's eyes.

"Actually, uh, he was killed by a banana truck...in country..." John B cleared his throat, continuing on with the story like he wasn't explaining a string of murders connected to the compass in his pocket right now, all while his best friends gaped at one another. "Anyways, after that, Stephen passed the compass down to him... my dad."

"It sounds like there's a reoccurring theme here."

"Yeah," Pope agreed. "You have a death compass."

John B rolled his eyes and walked away. "No I do not. I don't have a death compass―"

"You have a death compass―"

"JB, they literally all died while they were holding onto the thing," Ronni interrupted Pope, the bickering stalling momentarily as she walked over to him. "That's not lucky. That's a bad omen. That's the world migrating decades of bad luck into an object through many generations―it's probably haunted―"

"―or cursed," JJ added, coming to stand next to her. "And its made his way back to you."

"From a sunken boat taken out by a hurricane that we miraculously happened to find before anyone else?" Ronni finished, thankful when JJ gestured to her as she emphasized the main points here. "John B. No way in hell is that just a funny coincidence."

"No," JJ shook his head. "Not funny at all. Scary, bro."

"My dad used to talk about this compartment in here," John B continued on like Ronni and JJ didn't highlight the obvious, causing them to shoot sharp looks at each other before coming around on either side of JB as he unscrewed the compass. "Soldiers used to hide secret notes."

Ronni looked at the piece in his right hand closest to her, grabbing his wrist to still his movements. "Hey. Look. What's this?"

"That wasn't there before..." he paused at the engraving in the cap of the compass, blinking in surprise. "This is my dad's handwriting."

"How can you know that?" Pope asked in disbelief.

"Because he does these weird R's with the..." John B held up the cap to show him the odd formation of the letter. "See it?"

"Can I see it?" JJ asked, leaning over his shoulder to squint his eyes. He tried to make out what it was saying. "Red...Rout...no I think that's an A..."

Kie happened to be the only one who could read the illegible writing. "It says 'Redfield'...okay, so what's redfield?"

"Besides the most common name in the county?" Pope pointed out, highlighting the obvious like the debby-downer he was. Ever the realist.

"Maybe it's a clue, you know?" John B offered, rubbing his hands over his face and then he glanced around at them. His eyes were lit with a fire of hope, one that none of them were eager to burn out. "Maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding."

"A clue? Come on, that's..." Pope's words trailed off when he caught Ronni's attention, the glare so present that it made a strike of fear go down his spine, halting him on the spot. "Oh...okay. A clue. Maybe it's an anagram?"

"Yes. Perfect. Anagram. You need paper. Ronni―"

She immediately grabbed the paper John B outstretched for her without a protest, walking over to Pope as she threw it in front of him. "Dream team, baby boy. Anagrams are a new one for us."

The rooster, named a beautiful Big Red, crowed outside to remind them that he was still very much there just like he did every other hour. Pope glowered at the noise. "How can you concentrate with that thing crowing at you?"

John B shrugged. "JJ loves the rooster."

"JJ doesn't even feed the rooster," Ronni cut in, shooting John B a defensive scowl. "I do. I love the rooster. Big Red is my friend. JJ just likes to chase him around and call it 'tag.'"

"He's very good at it," JJ confirmed, coming to stand next to Ronni so he could hover over her shoulder. The moment was not lost between either of them, a reminder of what had happened in the kitchen making a chill run down both of their spines.

"Can you ask your friend to politely shut up?" Pope huffed out, glancing down at the paper.

Ronni didn't miss a beat. "JJ, shut up."

Pope quickly took the pen from Ronni when JJ reached for her waist, his fingers going into her sides to try and find her ticklish spots for the splint of humor made. "Let me think...dedfiel. Colors. That's stupid―"

Ronni managed to push JJ away, pointing warningly at him to which he held his hands up in surrender. Then, she moved back to Pope and stole the pen again while he scratched his head. She worked faster than Pope was to mark out certain letters and rearrange REDFIELD into certain smaller terms, having created a list of reasonable options before opting out of them. Kie stood off on the other side of the desk, wincing every time another stupid option was formed.

"Fleed? Maybe? He fleed from something? Take away those letters and you have...RDIL―"

"Ruh...dil? Erdil. Are-dil?" JJ's attempts were endearing at best. "Dirl. Ir...ld?"

"That doesn't even make sense. What about...defile?" Pope threw out as he inspected the different letters, looking over at her in confusion. "Does that mean anything to you?"

Ronni cleared her throat, barely catching the smirk twisting on JJ's lips at the question. "I'm going to opt out of answering that one for the sake of your innocence, buddy."

"Guys!" John B shouted all of a sudden. Their concentration was broken, making them pop their heads up to look at where he was hovering near the window looking out to the backyard. They instantly stopped when they noticed a black truck pulling up next to Ronni's jeep. "Somebody's here."

They moved over to the tight space where John B stood, Pope nearly stepping on Ronni's heel as he tried to get a good look over her and JJ's shoulders. For a moment, nothing could be seen other than the truck, up until two men jumped out of it and started to walk in the direction of the back door. Ronni tried to take a step back in horror, clipping John B's shoulder as panic started to creep upon all of them when the guys disappeared around the side.

"Guys...guys. Is that them?" Kiara's voice wavered with tears already beginning to form, turning to look at them. "Is that them?"

JJ shook his head in disbelief, stepping away from the window. "No―"

"Is that them?" Ronni croaked out, her words mirroring Kie's as the girls turned around to look at John B and JJ, the only two to have gotten a good look. But she was halted when John B pushed JJ up against the door and silenced his approaching rant, her eyes already welling up with tears as she and Kie gravitated toward one another. "John B―"

"Hey," John B hushed lowly, holding his finger to JJ, trying to get his attention back. "Where's the gun?"

JJ blinked in surprise, his words failing him as he shook his head. "Gun? I, uh―I...I can't...V―"

"Now you don't have the gun?" Kiara cried out. "The one time we need the gun."

"Stop, stop, stop," Ronni interrupted her, holding onto her arm before stepping forward to look at JJ. Tears were burning in her eyes but she tried to think, her hands shaking. "JJ, your backpack―"

"―my backpack," JJ nodded, his hands going to his head as he retraced his steps, looking at John B. "My backpack. I put it in my backpack with the bullets, and then I..."

"It's on the porch," John B remembered suddenly, his eyes widening.

"It's on the porch."

JJ bolted out the door much to Ronni's protests. She lurched forward to stop him from being an idiot and going out there only to be yanked back quickly by Kie. When the two men shouted "John Routledge!" loud enough to ring through the whole house, Ronni and Kie stumbled back in terror as JJ tripped and rushed back to the room when he heard them. The second he was inside, JJ locked the door behind him, throwing his body weight up against it as John B came up beside him.

"They're on the front porch, guys," JJ whispered.

"ROUTLEDGE! Where you at boy!" was heard from one of the men with the sounds of different items clamoring hard against the floor, no doubt ransacking the place. Ronni had to put a hand over her mouth to silence herself, Kie doing the same as John B and JJ stayed against the door. Then, she turned to look around in desperation, noticing the only escape that they had in the confined room.

"Guys," Kie said, waving Pope and JJ. "Window. Window―"

JJ and Pope both ran over immediately to the window, trying to pull on it to open it. Ronni came over when she noticed them struggling. "What's taking so long? JJ, is the latch―"

"Yes, the latch is turned, Ronni, " he shot back quickly, sending a look over his shoulder. "It's painted shut, okay?"

Ronni and Kie both took the reigns after that, examining the room quickly to try and find anything that would break the paint sealing the window together. She rooted through the table hastily, not even bothering to care about the mess she was creating as she threw different papers and maps down on the ground. When she came across letter opener, she whirled around, nearly running into Kie who had a long, sharp collectable blade.

"Hey, guys, guys, we got it," Kie ran over, getting Pope and JJ to move so that she and Ronni could take their place and get to working on chipping the paint quickly. With both of them on either ends, they were able to scrape it away, but not fast enough. "Ronni―"

"ROUTLEDGE!" and then the sound of the door handle was being shaken aggressively, only peaking the rush that Ronni and Kie had as they continued to work quickly. Then they were shushed all of a sudden, the girls unable to spare a glance back to see why until a loud thud cut through the room when the man tried to kick in the door. "You better not be in there!"

Ronni and Kie managed to get to the middle and she stepped back, running right into JJ and catching his panicked stare. "JJ. JJ, you can pull the rest of it―"

So JJ stepped in Kie's place, pulling on it with all of his strength until he heard a small pop over the aggressive thuds behind them. After a third kick, the frame of the door split just as JJ and Ronni pulled up the window all the way. Before she could even usher him out, JJ was practically shoving her through with two hands on her, the drop to the ground thankfully clear as she hit the ground on two feet. She turned around to see Kie already coming out, taking Ronni's arms for support. Pope came after on his own, helping John B next.

The sound of a gun firing went off just as JJ clamered out of the window, taking a moment to lean halfway out so that he could pull it back down with him as he jumped. Ronni barely had the chance to check and make sure he hadn't been hit before they were all ducking forward, running ahead.

"Go, go―hide in the coop, hide in the coop," John B prompted, his hand on Ronni's back as he pushed her and Kie ahead of both of them.

So they did just that. Ronni was the most equipped with opening it, so she stayed behind as Kie crawled in, Pope and John B going after. She barely let JJ protest going in first before pushing him inside. She was halfway in when she saw that Big Red was racing to see her―thinking he was going to be fed―and she grabbed him, plucking him out of the coop and taking his place, shutting the door behind her with him crowing outside of it. She just barely managed to get her leg in when she heard the door completely shatter from inside the house, tripping into JJ's lap and staying there when she crashed against him.

Ronni went to say something but JJ shushed her, placing his hand over her mouth quickly and holding her against him with his other arm. His heart was racing through his t-shirt, and she could feel the thumping so much as she tried to ignore the tears burning against her cheeks. What felt like hours was only a few minutes before John B was waving his hand, peeking through the wiring to see the two men leaving the house carrying crates of Big John's research.

Big Red's crowing only got louder from outside the coop, Ronni squeezing her eyes shut and tightening her hold on JJ as she prayed that they didn't think anything was suspicious. Her tears were falling thickly on his hand now, and JJ pressed his forehead to hers, closing his eyes and trying to console her quietly. John B carefully fell back so that they couldn't see him and shushed Kie when she started to whimper quietly in the corner by taking her hand.

"Ratter! What're you doin'? Let's go!" called one of the men, effectively making all of them freeze. "It's just a rooster! Leave it alone!"

Ronni's heart lurched again at the mention of Big Red, but she stayed quiet, keeping to herself as she prayed they would just leave. When the sound of the truck bed being slammed shut rang through the air, and then an engine started, JJ slowly let his hand fall from Ronni's mouth. As tires drove off onto the gravel road, letting them know they were in the clear, the three boys shut their eyes tightly when Kiara and Ronni both broke out into loud sobs.

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When John B asked all of them to get into the van, not a single person protested or questioned what he was planning on doing. Mostly because all of them just wanted to get away from the Chateau for a few hours to ward off any residual terror still wreaking havoc on them. It took a while for Ronni's hands to stop shaking, having to wipe away the tears off her face with her t-shirt as Kie did the same next to her. JJ quietly helped her get Big Red back into the coop, the rooster eating happily with no idea that his life had nearly been ended just as much as the rest of theirs.

"My dad is trying to tell me something," John B said, the first one to speak up in the last fifteen minutes since he started driving them through Outer Banks. "I mean, it's obvious, right? A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was going to get back to me, right?"

Ronni stopped fiddling with JJ's lighter, having found some rhythm to messing with the cap that he'd engraved his initials into. On the other side was a very obscure 'V' that he'd reluctantly let her do after insisting that she'd slice a finger off for the first hour of asking. The fact that it was on there proved who won that argument. She was laying down across from JJ, her legs in his lap, with Pope sprawled out on the floor of the van, messing with a Rubix cube.

She met eyes with JJ as Kiara fed his wild beliefs. "Yeah...it's possible."

"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know..." Pope started to admit much to John B's chagrin and protest "...deal with your sad feels."

"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels," JJ added, ignoring the raised eyebrows that Kie shot him before they directed Ronni's way, insinuating something else. "Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it."

Ronni nudged his wrist with her Converse, only for him to press his hands down on her ankles warningly. "He also cries himself to sleep after watching The Notebook."

"Don't act like you don't go through a whole box of tissues when I put on Bridge to Terebithia, Veronica."

"That movie ruined our childhood innocence when Dad took us to see it for the first time, JJ."

"I'm not concocting, okay?" John B muttered out loud, talking to himself more than to them as he completely blurred out the conversation happening behind him between JJ and Ronni. It usually went like that. "My dad's trying to give me a message."

"If it helps you believe, John B..." Kiara comforted softly, only to turn and look back at them with a similar reaction of disbelief. Ronni shook her head slightly, her way of telling her friend to calm down on giving John B any false hope when they all knew the reality of the situation.

"Look. I don't need a therapy session, okay? I'm not tripping out."

JJ turned his head slightly to look at John B sitting in the driver's seat. "It's okay to trip, bro, but―"

"But nothing! My dad is missing okay?" John B dismissed, his eyes sharpening as he glanced back in the rearview mirror to see that Ronni sat up, concern lighting up her body for her best friend. "Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish, and then have no idea what happened...just wake up every day wondering..."

Ronni didn't understand, but she had an idea after going a day without seeing her father. She never wanted to imagine a world where that moment―that panic and worry―turned into an everyday feeling she just swallowed. She also knew because she had been there to see John B in the worst of it. Her and JJ were there every step of the way. From the night John B called them about the fight they'd had, to the afternoon when he didn't come home, all the way to the moment the Sheriff showed up with a paper declaring him 'lost at sea'. They were there for everything, even when John B didn't want them to be.

Kiara pursed her lips, pity caught in her brown eyes. "It's been almost a year..."

"Hey," JJ countered, lifting his head up optimistically. "He could've been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility."

"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub, getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere," Pope suggested, building up on the possibilities.

"Absolutely. Uh...or Atlantis."

Ronni looked at JJ before leaning completely over his body, squeezing John B's shoulder. "JB. No one is trying to tell you that you're wrong about the compass...there's always a chance, okay? Crazier shit has happened in our lives. I don't think it's a coincidence that you found it...but I think we need to be careful because other people are trying to find it too. Whatever 'Redfield' means is worth something to them. Do you know have any other ideas of what your dad meant by it?"

"I was thinking about that," he replied, tilting his head slightly to see her for a second before his eyes returned back on the road. Ronni fell back after squeezing his shoulder one more, landing next to JJ. "Redfield Lighthouse. V, do you remember whenever we were little and Harvey used to take us over there? He always said we'd find my dad somewhere around. That's his favorite place. "

At his revelation, Ronni looked over to see them pass by the sign with 'REDFIELD LIGHTHOUSE' covered by a sign saying 'Closed for the Hurricane' which never actually got taken off. It was always there, covering the actual name. Her eyes widened in realization. "But we never called it by its name. We always called it―"

"Dad's spot. Which is why we didn't recognize it right away."

"Holy shit, JB."

When they pulled up to the lighthouse, Ronni managed to slide open the back door to the van and jump out before JJ and Pope. Her and Kie met each other's footsteps, following John B as he jogged up slightly to where the place was fenced-in. Ronni definitely remembered it. Specifically, Harvey trying to hold onto hers and John B's hands while they tugged excitedly to get to the top where they knew Big John would be sitting and staring at the top. Now, it looked rundown, the two teenagers not having come to this place since they were maybe eleven or twelve. It was sad now. Like a piece of it died with Big John.

"Right," John B began before turning around to face all of them. He looked directly at JJ, leaning forward to pat him on the chest. "You're gonna post-up and look out for bogeys, okay?"

JJ was confused on why he was being singled out. "Wait...why me?"

"Because you're not coming," Pope said like it was obvious.

"Why?" he asked, his face pulling back in full offense.

"There are independent and dependent variables. You're independent," Pope explained the situation like JJ's entire life was a math problem waiting to be solved. Then he stuck his hand out, gesturing to Ronni as she stood next to him. "Without the constant, we don't know what you'll do."

JJ scowled, going forward when Pope continued to rant. "Shut up―shut up, Pope. Just shut up―"

"Just listen to me for a second!" John B announced, going to stop the two of them by waving his hand. "Pope, you stay and look out with JJ, okay? If we get split up, we meet back at Ronni's house. V―"

She sighed when she knew what he was going to say, her shoulders falling. "Yeah, yeah. What's new. I'll babysit Dumb and Dumber. Go on. Be careful. You haven't had a tetanus shot in the last fifteen years."

John B rolled his eyes but nodded nonetheless, turning around and walking away with Kie in the direction of the lighthouse. That left JJ, Ronni, and Pope to stand there for a few minutes in silence. Then, the first of the trio to move was Ronni, going back to the van so that she could slide it open and sit inside of it. JJ took the hackysac out of his pocket he'd grabbed from the van, messing around with it now that he knew he'd been left behind in all the fun.

Pope took that as his opportunity to glower at JJ, walking back to the van as well. "I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum."

"All right, would you just shut up already?" JJ shot back, grabbing the hackysac when he sent it flying toward his hand.

"Boys," Ronni called. "Play nice or I'll put you in time out."

Pope snorted. "He wishes."

JJ went to lurch forward at Pope's bold comment, but he was quickly stopped when something hard was thrown at him. He blinked, pausing at the impact of the object, and glanced down to see that it was a shoe. Ronni was now shoeless, her dirty-white Converse laying on the ground where she'd launched it at his back. Offended, the blonde-haired boy turned to look at her with an open mouth only to see her staring at him with raised eyebrows, daring him to say something. Pope snorted, obviously amused at the situation, and she narrowed her eyes at him next.

"I have two shoes," she reminded him.

Pope shut up real quick. Instead, he and JJ met eyes, their bickering stopping as they smirked at one another. JJ mouthed the words 'Mama's mad' to his friend, to which Pope grinned. It was a longstanding joke that Ronni was the mother of the group, seeing as it needed to be assigned to someone, and her and Kie often juggled with the position. Ronni, however, had the reigning title ever since JJ and John B were kids. She was the only girl in their messed-up little family, Big John and Harvey once included, and she just so happened to be the one who worried the most. She also had a bit of a temper, but Lord knows they tested her patience.

"Do you think if I write about that one service project helping you and Kie with the sea life habitats, that would get me a solid lead for the scholarship?" Pope asked as he and JJ passed the hackysac back and forth, glancing over at Ronni as she spoke. "Cause you know...service. Merit. They go hand-in-hand."

Ronni shrugged. "It's not really your passion, though, y'know? You won't be able to write a whole ass essay about that and convince them it matters to you. You guys just came because me and Kie asked you to help us out. If anything your merit would go toward being a good friend...why don't you write about that?"

"Isn't that a bit...egotistical?"

"The entire concept of writing an essay explaining why you're better than everyone else applying is egotistical, Pope. You've already sailed that ship a long time ago," she reasoned, making him frown and mess up on the rhythm him and JJ had gotten down. "The more you stress about it being perfect the less genuine it's going to be. Just tell them about yourself. You've got enough merit for all of us Pogues."

Pope smiled softly at her, his eyes warm with appreciation. "Thanks, Ronni."

"My turn!" JJ spun around, a smirk on his face as he took a step closer in her direction, letting the hackysac fly by him and land sadly on the ground. "Compliment me now. I need some lovin' from my favorite girl."

"You're the most humble, down-to-earth, careful, polite human being I have ever met, JJ," she praised, grinning at him when he came to stand directly in front of her with his arms on his hips.

"I love it when you lie to me, baby."

Ronni reached forward and tugged on JJ's shirt, which only resulted in him grabbing both of her wrist to pull her on her feet. Pope watched the silent exchange between them, crossed somewhere between pity and jealousy. While he'd gotten over his crush on Ronni a few years ago and moved onto a different Pogue in question, that didn't change the fact that she had something with JJ that the others desperately wanted. The Pogues loved one another and it would always be the five of them but...there was also some space left for just Ronni and JJ. Even though the two of them were too afraid to ever see it as anything more―well, Ronni was. JJ's biggest fear was that she would never love him back. Idiot.

JJ always had to be touching Ronni―always. Whether it was subtle flicks of his fingertips on her thighs or purposely standing up against her, there was usually not a moment in time when he wasn't glued to her side. She kept him out of the dark spot that his father dug so deeply. Pope wasn't lying when he said Ronni was JJ's constant. The unchanging variable in his life. Not so extreme that they were co-dependent, but close enough that the world would probably burn to the ground if anything ever happened to Ronni, and JJ would happily be the offender. 

JJ loved Ronni, simple as that, and she loved him too. That went beyond them being in love. Even if there weren't romantic feelings involved (which there definitely were), the Pogues knew the dynamic between them would be the same.

"Hey, Pope?" Ronni said, gaining his attention. JJ had given her a hug after pulling her up, but she slid out of his hold to sit back down on the ledge of the open van. "What about writing your scholarship about working with your dad?"

Pope raised his eyebrows. "They'd probably call DCS on me. He doesn't even know where I'm at right now. I'm dead when I get home."

"He just wants you safe. I meant, why don't you talk about what it means to you? The scholarship―what it means to your dad, y'know? Why you want it so badly, and that it isn't just to schmooze your way into some frat parties..."

JJ stepped forward to point two fingers at his eyes, and then at Pope. "Speaking of, I better be invited to all of them."

"Don't listen to him. They'll have posters of his face up saying 'call if you see this kid'.'

"Yeah, as in 'call for a good time'." 

Before Ronni and JJ could continue their usual ensemble of mindless banter, the three of them froze dead in their shoes when they heard the sound of police sirens. Their heads looked over to see two cruisers coming up the road, and JJ instantly cursed under his breath, turning around and pushing Ronni's legs into the van, quickly closing it and running around to the driver's seat. Pope was already in the passenger's side, slamming his hand impatiently on the dashboard. 

"JJ, hurry up!" 

"I'm hurrying! I'm hurrying!" JJ exclaimed, aggressively shifting the gear into drive and slamming on the accelerator as fast as the van would go. 

"Wait, wait! What about JB and Kie? We can't just leave them!" Ronni protested, shoving her head in between their two seats, gripping it tightly to keep herself from flying all the way to the back. "JJ, you gotta turn around―" 

JJ was already shaking his head in refusal, Pope for once nodding in agreement with the reckless blonde as he turned around to look at Ronni with wide eyes. "I can't afford to get arrested, Ronni." 

She paused, her lips already twisting in frustration at leaving them behind before she sighed heavily. "Fuck." 

"They'll meet us back at your place, V," JJ consoled, glancing at her through the rearview mirror when he noticed the little crease in between her brows start to grow. She had a little quirk of her lips when she was worried. "It'll be okay. They know where to go."  

Twenty minutes later, when they arrived at the Dunweather house, they nearly crashed directly into Harvey as he started to pull out of the driveway in his ratty, red famous pick-up truck. He was in a hurry, something that was very unusual considering Harvey was never late to anything. JJ was asking a question to Ronni along the lines of "where's he going?" when she already opened the door the van while it was still moving, much to JJ's frustration, and jumped out to run over to where her dad had stopped momentarily not to run her over. 

"Dad!" she yelled, jogging over to the driver's side when she noticed the frown lining his face. Her dad was never upset, so to see that sent a panic down her spine. "Dad, what's wrong?" 

"Peterkins just radioed in. She told me JB's been arrested and charged. I'm going to go get him."

Ronni halted in disbelief, shaking her head as she looked at her dad's blank expression. Then she turned back to see that JJ's arm was out of the van, and he raised it up in question when they met eyes. So she hit the frame of the truck for a moment, telling her dad to hold up a second, and then she jogged back to the boys. 

JJ was already leaning halfway, expectantly. "What―" 

"JB's been arrested. I've gotta go with Dad to get him," she rushed out, not even giving Pope or JJ the opportunity to say something in horror. "Stay here if you need to, okay? Or take Pope home. I'll see you back here tonight." 

"V―" 

"I gotta go, JJ." 

Ronni ran to the passenger's side of the red truck, barely getting in the seat and closing the door before it was racing off the gravel drive in the direction of town. The worst fears were stirring up in her stomach, trying to imagine all of the different charges that he could be getting. John B was only sixteen, but he could be a ward of the state after they processed him for his crimes. Her eyes burned and she glanced over to look at Harvey, noticing how tightly his hands were gripping the steering wheel. He was thinking the same thing she was.

"Dad."

His eyes were set on the road. "I'm not talking to you until he's in this damn truck too, Ronni."

So Ronni said absolutely nothing, sliding down slightly in the seat and doing her best not to shake her knee too much in anxiousness. The second that they pulled up to the Kildare County Sheriff's Station, she saw Mike Carrera walking out hastily with Kie following behind him quietly. Then, only a few seconds later, did John B come out of the door next. Harvey parked immediately behind Mike's nice black truck, and Ronni barely had the opportunity to unbuckle her seatbelt before her dad was jogging to the other side of the street to greet Mike. 

Ronni saw Kie and John B both come over to where she was, and she rolled down the window. Immediately, she was asking questions. "What the hell happened? I thought the two of you were just going to see what was up there?" 

"The lighthouse keeper knew something. He was hiding something," John B explained, shaking his head. All three of them shut up when they heard Mike shout something at Harvey, pointing in their direction before he shook his head. "Ronni. I didn't...Peterkins asked about the compass. She said either I give it to her or I get charged―" 

"What?" she quickly turned her head back around to look at him in confusion. "How in the hell does Peterkins know about the compass?" 

"I don't know. But she knows I have it, and she knows I pulled it out of the wreck." 

Kie immediately started to pat down her shorts, and Ronni was going to ask what she was looking for but then she pulled out the compass, handing it to John B so that he could put it in his pocket as soon as he was given it. Then, Mike was shouting for his daughter, him and Harvey having broken up from their heated conversation. Kie looked between them for a second, and when Ronni noticed her purposefully trying to avoid direct eye contact with John B, she couldn't help but wonder why. What the hell happened between them?

"Kiara!" Mike yelled again, that time much more impatiently. 

Kie whirled her head around to glare at him. "I'm coming!" then she turned back to the two of them, taking small steps back as she did so. "I'll see you guys later, yeah? Ronni, you work tomorrow, right?" 

Ronni nodded and Kie sighed in relief before turning around, jogging quickly to get into her dad's truck. Harvey was still standing in the middle of the road, his hands on his hips as he glared at the asphalt, and both Ronni and John B felt a heaviness grow in their heart. That was why John B didn't want for Harvey to sign guardianship over him. Just the way he looked now was enough for him to take the chance of being a ward of the state rather than put any more weight on Harvey's shoulders. He'd done enough for him.

Then he went in to the station after shooting the two teenagers a look from his truck to stay put, leaving them behind to grovel in the silence. For the first time in their lives, neither Ronni nor John B had any words to say. So she just scooted over until she was in the middle of the truck, letting him in. He got in without another word, and the second he was next to her, she grabbed his hand, leaning her head on his shoulder.

John B's eyes shut tightly and he threw his head back, trying to fight the tears. "V, I'm sorry."

"Stop," she muttered, shaking her head. "Seriously." 

"I brought you two into this―" 

"John B. You're family. You didn't bring us into anything. We're here because we love you." 

John B couldn't squeeze his eyes hard enough to get rid of those tears, and he threw his free hand up to his face so that he could quickly pinch them out of his eyes with his thumb and index finger. He was exhausted. Ronni didn't say anything. She and JJ may know each other well, but that didn't mean she didn't know John B either. So she held onto his hand tighter, squeezing it when Harvey came back to the truck with a stack full of papers and a straight face, saying nothing to the two of them when he opened the truck and slammed the door in after him. 

Harvey handed the papers to her wordlessly, and she blinked, glancing down at the top. 

CUSTODY OF CHILD TRANSFERENCE AFFIDAVIT

TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP for JOHN BOOKER ROUTLEDGE

Her eyes instantly welled up with tears and she looked over at him. "Really?" 

"What?" John B asked, turning to look down at her. He'd been keeping his eyes out the window when he heard the way her voice wavered, knowing that meant she was crying. He glanced at what was in her hands and his heart stalled. "Harvey..." 

"You listen to me and you listen to me, good," Harvey started, turning his body halfway so that both of them were looking at him. Ronni was sniffling. He wasn't looking at her, though, but at John B, also on the verge of crying again. "You're your father's boy, alright? Nothing's going to change that. I'm not Big John, but I'll be damned if you're not my boy, too, and I'm not letting you throw your life down the drain because he's not here right now, John B―don't you dare say a word. I know what you're thinking. There's no difference in you being my mess to clean up now verses yesterday or the day before that. I've been taking care of the three of you since you were kids and that isn't changing anytime soon."

Ronni could feel John B gripping her hand like a lifeline, trying his hardest not to break down and cry, but it was difficult when she was having a full-blown go with the waterworks festival right next to him. 

"Harvey, I...thank you. I don't..." 

"There's a process here," Harvey continued, glancing down at the papers. "And I don't know how long it'll be before I have complete guardianship over you, but I'll have the temporary affidavit filled out by the end of the day. Peterkins can speed up some of the process, but in the meantime, stay out of trouble...that goes for all of you," he emphasized, shooting his daughter a look too. "DCS is going to meet with me when they come out this way tomorrow. They'll go through all of the mandatory protocol and decide if you can stay with me until the court date, or worst case scenario, you have to be put in foster care for a few days―" 

"What?" Ronni stumbled out in horror, eyes widening at her dad. "Dad―" 

"I'm not going to let that happen, V," he dismissed, shaking his head. "Not if I have anything to do about it. I'll figure something out. No one's taking you away, JB...but that means you'll have to live with me and Ronni for a while. They're going to do check-ins, all of that shit." 

"That's perfectly fine," Ronni rushed out, nodding her head. "Sleepovers like the good 'ole days."

Harvey sighed, turning his head and rubbing his eyes together. "Lord, if JJ doesn't kill me first, it'll be you two...John B, you have work at three, don't you? I'll drop you off at the port. In the meantime, do either of you have anything you'd like to tell me?" 

Veronica and John B both froze. 

Step five: ....please hold for next step. (JJ was high when writing this one).

★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

Author's Note: 

Listen―I'm vegetarian―and both myself and Ronni refused to kill the rooster. It wasn't happening. But I loved this chapter! Especially the end. I've been waiting to write that moment between Harvey and John B forever, but I had to make sure it was in the right spot so that it didn't mess with the DCS situation in the future...things will still go as planned. 

I love this story. I love Ronni. Thank you guys so much for your support on this story and all of your kind comments. I've been on a ROLL with updating because of you guys encouraging me and giving me motivation. 

So, with that said, let me know what you thought! Comments keep me goinn. Love to you!