CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: I'M LIVING MY BEST LIFE RIGHT NOW

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"okay," pope sighed, "okay, all right, no."

"pope, can you act normal?" kiara replied to him.

"so um, okay. bad news. the ferry's closed, and there's this," he handed a paper to us in the back seat.

"what is that, what is this?" john b asked.

"well john b, uh, this is a good framer of you," jj pointed to the picture on the wanted notice.

"okay so, the whole island's looking for john b right now."

"that's a lot of money."

"congratulations john b, you're famous," jj handed the paper back to the suspect.

"guys, we need to get to the hms. we need small, no running lights," kie suggested.

"that's not going to work," i muttered.

"it's at the chateau, kie," john b added, supporting my point.

"and, i wonder if cops got the entire place staked out. oh yeah, no. they definitely have the place locked down." i mean, that was the entire reason we didn't go back there last night. but i wasn't going to say that though; none of us were really thinking straight.

"yeah, copy that," kie realized.

"let me think. just give me a second," pope sat in silence for a moment, "jj. does your dad still have that boat? the cigarette boat, the phantom. the one he used to race?"

jj gulped, "maybe."

it sucked that that seemed to be our only option, bringing luke maybank's boat into this.

"you could get right up the coast, no problem," pope announced, like stealing a huge boat from an addict would be a good idea.

"okay look-"

"it's not going to be easy pope-"

"the surf's running from like, three to four," kie thought out loud.

"pope, i don't know where the keys are," jj said as pope started the car.

"well find them," he retorted.

"i'm thinking."

"why is no one moving forward," pope said, growing impatient. "what's going on here?"

"that car is parked, pope," i explained.

"can you relax? jj, how much weed did you give him?" kie spoke over him.

"hey, guys," john b suddenly attested, "your car's on the poster."

"fuck," i let out as pope was honking the horn, "hey, you're drawing attention to us pope! stop!" looking outside of the car, we all took notice of a young boy who was pointing and yelling at us.

"shit."

"we got a snitch, pope, turn the car on," jj patted his shoulder as more people started looking our way.

suddenly, a man stopped right outside of the car and pounded on the window, "look, he's right there!"

"hey, we gotta go!" kie yelled.

"pope, turn the car on!" jj repeated, knowing we didn't have much more time. pope tried to start it, but everyone was forming around us and we didn't have much space to move.

"go, go, go," jj said as the car suddenly jerked forward, hitting another vehicle.

"jeez, pope."

"hey."

instead of backing up, pope attempted to push the car again, still going forward.

"hey, the other way!"

"it's okay," jj reasoned, "pope, just go!" finally, he pulled out successfully as people chased behind, including the cops that held guns at john b and i.

"what are you doing?" kiara questioned. "watch pope! woah, woah, woah, pope! watch out!" clearly in a frantic state, pope ran the car right into a mailbox, breaking it completely.

"oh my god!" pope shouted, grinning from ear-to-ear. "i'm living my best life now. oh my god!"

"my mom's gonna kill me," kie feared.

"i should be the last to say this, but you are not okay to drive dude. stop!" jj chimed in as pope hit the brakes.

"john b, get out," pope turned and looked at the boy.

"he's right. john b, we'll draw the cops, you run! alright, i'll get the rig, and i'll meet you at the dump tomorrow, okay? three o'clock, okay? three o'clock tomorrow at the dump!" jj explained as john b hopped out of the car.

"okay, pope, go!" i said to him.

"where? we're on lockdown!"

"somewhere where they won't look, pope! just drive!" kie added as pope began to drive again. after a while, things began to settle down.

"holy shit," i mumbled, a possible thought coming into mind as we sat in the car that was hidden in some woods. i had been thinking about why they weren't looking for me anymore, and there was only one reasonable explanation.

"what?" jj asked me.

"rafe probably knows i have that video, goddamnit! that's why they're not looking for me anymore, ward changed the fucking story. how are they still believing him?" i said to the other three.

"if that's the case, rafe's probably after your ass, elsie," kie mentioned.

"i'm not scared of him."

"he's got a gun apparently," kiara countered.

"yeah, and so do we," i opened up jj's bag to reveal our gun.

-

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"pope, you clocked that car, man!" jj laughed gleefully as we drove around aimlessly in the dark. he seemed genuinely happy when he laughed at the moment. "like that was so bad! right, elsie?"

"definitely," i agreed with him, smoking a blunt. jj and i were somewhat high, but still completely fine. and pope, he was having the time of his life. but by kiara's face, she wasn't having it.

"i'm just glad i'm not driving now," pope joked, while all three of us laughed even harder.

"told you this shit's good!" i tapped the boy's shoulder, him nodding in agreement.

"pull over," kie blurted, annoyed with our nonsense.

"woahhhh," i held my arms in the air dramatically when pope turned the corner wildly. naturally, that only made jj, pope and i crack up even more.

"guys, it's not funny. he shouldn't be driving," she opened her door angrily, which caused us all to go serious.

"mama's mad."

"so where are we goin'?" jj inquired once she was in the driver's seat instead of pope.

kie looked back at us, "the last place they're gonna look."

-

-

"perfectly focused," pope muttered, getting out of the car at the cameron residence.

"you sure this is a good idea?" jj asked from the car. we were instructed to stay put in case of emergency.

"she's the only one who can clear john b," kie replied while walking.

"last place they'll look because of how stupid it is," jj said. "so how are you darlin?" jj diverted his attention to me.

"i'm alright. not worried or anything, but i just wish they'd listen so we could clear john b's name already," i groaned just thinking about the officers that wouldn't even let us finish a sentence. "you think jb's still running?"

"i wouldn't doubt it for a second," jj decided after a second to think. it was better that he say that, even if it wasn't the truth.

"how are you? you're always asking me, but i never really check in with you," i sat up, eyeing him with curiosity.

"that's false," jj shook his head, "completely, false. i'm fine, for once it's not me who the cops are after."

"thank god for that. we gotta look out for each other, jj," i smiled.

"always, darlin. it's you and me, forever."

if only that were true.

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