DRAPETOMANIA
— chapter three —

"so um, we didn't see anything." mutters kiara bluntly. kelsie looks at her sister as she twists a piece of her curls between her fingers nervously. the cops found the body of scooter grubbs. he is, or was, the owner of the grady white.

"we don't know anything." panics kelsie bounching her leg. jj notices her nervous gesture and puts his hand on top of her knee which helps her calm down, "we need to have complete and total amnesia." speaks pope pacing back in forth on the chateau's porch. he seems more nervous then the other pogues combined. "actually, pope's right for once."

"deny, deny, deny." speaks jj with slight aggitation in his tone. jj's recent actions and mood make kelsie nervous so she's hesitant to speak up but she decides that it's for the best, "we can't keep that money."

"okay? not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, kelsie." mutters jj anger still in his voice, "kelsie's right. we have to pass that off to lana grubbs. otherwise it's bad karma." replies kie defending of her sister which causes kels to smile at her, "bad karma to be implicated in a felony too-"

"we gotta go dark." interupts john b who was previously quiet. "if that means we get to keep the money then i agree." speaks jj, "i don't." mutters the twins.

"i don't agree either." retorts john b running his hands through his hair, "what? why?"

"hm. let me see. this is scooter grubbs we're talking about. he's a dirtbag marina rat." speaks kelsie growing angry with the lack of a decent conclusion from the group, "kels is right. same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the porthole." adds john b which makes her smirk proudly. "and all of a sudden he has a grady-white? just saying."

"all right. so think about it pope. how does a marina rat cop a grady-white?"

"prostitution."

"square groupers bro!" yells jj smacking the wall. "flying under the radar. no survellience. they don't do that stuff during a hurricane."

"and what exactly does that mean jj?" asks kelsie furrowing her brows in confusion and doubt, "they were straight smugglin. and i guarantee there's a serious amount of contraband in that wreck."

"if there's as much illegal shit as you think there is on that boat, then someone's definitely gonna come looking for it." speaks kelsie rubbing her forehead from stress. "and taking it would be catastrophically stupid." adds pope, "right. well stupid things have good outcomes all the time. all we need to do is get into the cargo hold of that wreck." smiles jj brightly holding the stolen money from the motel.

"until then we need to lay low. just act normal." adds john b adjusting the hat on his head. "right. and how exactly do you plan on doing that?" asks kie with disbelief in her voice, "kegger." smiles kelsie brightly.

kelsie looks around the boneyard at her friends. her and kiara are talking to some tourons about environmental issues while the boys are hitting on random girls they'll never see again, starting to grow bored.

kelsie rolls her eyes at the sight. "kels! get over here!" yells the blonde boy a few feet away gesturing her to come quickly to save the boys. kelsie sighs and gets up from the log she was sitting on and gestures her sister goodbye.

she approaches the boys and their faces light up, "hello boys." smiles kelsie. "glad to see you could join us." laughs john b. "who's this?" asks a random touron who was leaning onto jj whose visibly unimpressed. "save us." mouths jj.

"i'm kelsie. and.." kelsie's mind races to try to think of a plausible excuse, "and. you're all over my boyfriend." speaks the girl crossing her arms and putting on her bitchiest face.

the girls face instantly drops and she gets up scoffing before storming off. kelsie and the boys burst into laughter. jj opens his arms widely and kelsie goes into them happily. "your boyfriend huh?" whispers the boy into her ear.

"oh shut up maybank. i saved your ass." smirks kelsie. "yeah you did. thanks carrera." kelsie just nods into the hug, "sorry to disturb. whatever that is. but look who's here." interrupts john b.

kelsie climbs out of jj's arms to see sarah cameron and topper thornton. when kelsie and kie had their "kook year" she was friends with them but she left before the end of the year, "what do you guys have something against sarah and topper?" asks kelsie confused about the big deal, "a problem is an understatement." replies pope bluntly.

"well i don't know what your problems are but i'm gonna say hi." speaks kelsie as she gets up, "i don't think that's a good idea-" kelsie brushes it off and continues walking.

"oh my god! kelsie carrera!" kelsie smiles at the beautiful blonde in front of her, "sarah cameron! it's been a minute."

"try a year or two. how have you been?" asks the girl wrapped around her boyfriend, "i've been good, i just got home the other day and i'm here to stay. how have you and topper been?" questions the girl trying to spark a conversation with the completely silent topper.

"oh uh. we've been good. ya know you and kie should stay away from those pogues. they're bad news." sarah lightly smacks her boyfriend for his rude comment. before kelsie has anytime to defend her friends, with the best possible timing, jj approaches the kooks. "hey kels. uh hey sarah. can i interest you in a tasty milwaukee beverage?"

"no thanks." speaks sarah leaning into topper, "what is it not fancy enough for you?" questions the blonde boy.

"no we were just leaving." kelsie starts to gesture jj to back off before he starts something but it was already too late. before she could process what was happening topper starts talking to jj and they quickly start fighting.

"jj!" as kelsie screams john b approaches topper and he takes over for jj. the boys punch and tackle each other and everyone in the boneyard watches. topper really sets john b off when he talks about drowning him like big john.

the pogues cheer on john b while sarah stands there screaming at topper to stop. the crowd begins to chant and it only encourages the boys more. topper eventually pushes john b into the water and begins to drown him. "TOPPER!" screams the twins and sarah simultaneously. the girls scream at him to get off of john but he doesn't acknowledge them.

"he's drowning him!" cries kiara into her sisters arms. kelsie feels her face get hot and tears follow, her still screaming at topper while she comforts her sister. kelsie lets go of kie when she sees jj approach topper and place the motel gun to his head, "yeah you know what that is. your move, broski."

"JJ STOP!" screams kelsie and the pogues while sarah begs and pleads the blonde. "did you say something princess?" yells jj towards sarah.

"we're good! we're good!" yells topper letting go of john b. "kels! can you check your psycho friend please?" asks sarah running to topper.

"okay everyone! listen up! get the hell off our side of the island!" yells jj as he shoots the gun twice in the air,

"stupid!" "are you crazy? you idiot!" yell kie and pope but jj ignores them as kelsie approaches him.

"you're unbelievable maybank. you scared the shit out of me." scolds kelsie as she wraps her arms around the boy nuzzling her head into his chest as she peers at john b still in the water.

kiara and pope walk towards john b when he falls back into the water passing out. "john b!" yelp the pogues in distress.