[rosemary] .jj maybank.

chapter six

"look, i'm calling it off. alright?" john b said, the day after the gun reveal, walking closer to where all the pogues were sitting. "peterkin said, if i stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with dcs."

"and you believed her?" jj asked, wondering why john b would believe a cop, of all people. "yes, i believe her, jj." the blonde boy stopped throwing rocks for a moment to look at the brunette, "an actual cop, john b. you believed a cop."

"all i gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out. and, it doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun!" john b argued. rosie rolled her eyes; even if using the gun to save john b was catastrophically stupid, he should at least be thankful that jj even did something. because, if he didn't, it didn't seem like topper was gonna stop his attack on john b.

"you know what i should have done? just let topper drown your ass."

rosie scoffed lightly, "harsh."

"yeah, cause topper was gonna drown me?" john b said sarcastically. rosie looked at her cousin, "what? have you seen your face, john b? topper did not look like he was stopping any time soon. jj was an idiot but at least he did something." she pointed out, shrugging. john b scoffed, "of course. siding with jj.. shocking. tell me some more. come on."
rosie opened her mouth to defend her point of view of the situation– she didn't want to seem like she was siding with jj all the time as opposed to sharing her genuine opinion.

"they always win, don't they, man? kooks versus pogues. they always, always win... goddamn!" jj spoke up quickly, walking over to the four teens and hitting something. "look, it's okay!" kie said, not wanting to witness another fight.

"no, it's not okay! it is not! they don't want us to go down into the marsh. that means there's something valuable down there, and you know it. i know you do. and i understand why you don't wanna go. you're the golden boy. you got way too much to risk." jj explained, shifting his attention to pope before redirecting it to kie, then rosie and john b. "and you– i mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. why would you bother? ...but you, me and rosie, man, we got nothin' to lose! we really don't alright?"

"yea, except our lives... and each other." rosie mumbled, rolling her eyes. jj continued with his rant, "and i know it didn't used to be that way for you."

"i don't want to talk about this. i don't want to talk about it." john b said, dismissing his words and walking away. "so that's it?" jj asked. "just get out of my way, bro." john b said, pushing jj out of the way, just for him to follow john b.

"john b, listen to me. i have a plan." jj said, causing kie, pope and rosie to share a warily look. "you got the key to cameron's big boat, right?" john b groaned, "no."

"there's scuba gear inside, man. we borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man.... you don't see rich kids going into foster care, do you?" jj said, persuading john b into the (somewhat) stupid plan.

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"this is empty. you took empty tanks? ...okay, this one's a quarter full. it's enough for one of us," kie complained. rosie laughed teasingly, "nice one, john b!"

"love it when a plan comes together."

"does anybody know how to dive?" kie asked the four pogues, "anybody?.." she asked again when pope and rosie scratched their necks awkwardly. "it's kind of a kook sport."

pope looked up from the ground, "i... read about it."

"great, pope read about it, so someone's gonna die." kie said, worrying rosie, after all she had no clue how scuba diving worked.
"look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. how hard could it be?" jj asked, voicing her thoughts. rosie quickly leaned over, whispering in jj's ear with her hand cupped over her mouth, "that's what she said." jj smiled and chuckled, pushing her face away jokingly.