𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 - 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗 - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒

THE GROUP sat around at John B's house after the Sheriff visited him that morning.

"Look, I'm callin' it off. All right?" John B annouced. "Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS."

"And you believed her?" JJ asked.

"Yes, I believe her, JJ."

"An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop."

"All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple of days, and she'll help me out. It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."

"You know what I should've done? Just let Topper drown your ass," JJ told him.

"JJ, come on," Willow sighed.

"Topper was gonna drown me?" John B asked.

"Sure looked like it."

"Funny."

"Have you looked in a mirror?" John B did have a black eye.

"Tell me some more. Come on."

"They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win! Goddamn!"

"Look, it's okay!" Kiara said.

"No, it's not okay!" JJ told her. "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." He pointed at John B. "I know you do. And I understand why you don't wanna go." He pointed to Pope this time. "You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk. And you --" He turned to Kiara. "I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother? But me, Willow, and you, man, we got nothing to lose! We really don't, all right? And I know it didn't use to be that way for you."

"I don't wanna talk about this," John B told him. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"So that's it? John B, listen to me. I have a plan. You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?"

"No."

"There's scuba gear. 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?"

You know, I should have learned a long time ago to never listen to JJ. He's full of bad ideas, like stealing from my rich boss. But this time, he was right. I had nothing to lose.

"This is such a stupid idea," Willow muttered as John B tied the HMS Pogue to the Cameron's dock. "Why am I here?"

"Cause, like me, you've got nothing to lose," John B told her.

"Offensive. It's true but still offensive."

My dad said the island was America on steroids. The haves and have-nots like anyplace, but magnified and multiplied. The way I see it, the game's rigged. Maybe it always has been. No parents, money, and no one looking out for me. I got no chance...unless I make it on my own.

Willow helped John B carry the scuba gear out of the boat when, suddenly, Sarah Cameron appeard.

"Oh! Hey," Sarah greeted. "Are you two stalking us? Plotting your revenge."

"Yeah. Why don't you tell your daddy I blew the bilge on the Druthers," John B told her.

"We're just topping off these tanks," Willow lied to Sarah.

"Is he okay?" Sarah asked her, pointing towards John B. "The eye looks pretty gnarly."

"Well, maybe if your boyfriend wasn't so psycho is wouldn't have happened."