𝐒𝐄𝐗 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐘 𝐄𝐗, ˢᵃʳᵃʰ ᶜᵃᵐᵉʳᵒⁿ

x. dcfs can suck it

THE GIRL WOKE up to pounding on her front door, although it was nothing compared to the pounding inside her head. "Fuck." She groaned, pressed her hands to her temples as the loud knocking continued. "Shut up!" She got to her feet, making her way to the door quickly, swinging it open so hard that the handle left a hole in the wall. "Oh shit."

"Mornin' sweetheart." Sheriff Peterkin stood on the porch, an expression on her face that was unreadable. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure. Of course." Emma stepped back, letting the woman in.

Peterkin looked around and Emma internally cringed, there were beer cans and bottles, alcohol and roaches stubbed out in ashtrays pretty much all over the place. "Your brother home?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's asleep." Emma ran a hand through her hair, the look on Peterkin's face made her nod, biting her lip nervously. "Right, I'll go wake him." Emma made a b-line for John B's bedroom, walking through the open door and smacking him on the back of the head. "Get up, dipshit. Peterkin's here."

He mumbled incoherently, Emma shook her head, grabbed the glass of water on his nightstand and dumped it on him. He gasped, lifting himself off the mattress with his arms. "Emma, what the fuck did you just do?" He spat at her, looking up with a glare.

"Uh, made your life better?" She rolled her eyes. "I told you to get up. Peterkin wants to talk to you." He stood up, pushing his hair back before attempting to walk into the living room, Emma stopped him with a hand on his chest. "Put a shirt on first, would you?"

He shook his head, grabbing a shortsleeved button up and throwing it on. The siblings walked into the living room, Peterkin was leaned against a wall. "DCFS called. They wanted me to check up on the two of you. See how you're doin'." She explained to them, directing her attention to John B.

"DCSF can suck it." Emma scoffed, folding her arms over her chest before she glared out a window.

Ignoring the girl's comment, Peterkin continued. "So how are ya'? How's the-" She gestured to her eye, referring to the shiner John B was left with after the fight.

"Oh, no. I'm- I'm great. Yeah fantastic. Uhh.. Thanks for coming by." John B nodded.

Peterkin held her hat in her hands. "I'm so glad to hear you say that, John B, but I heard a few things that worried me." She tilted her head at the boy as he walked to the kitchen, grabbing a few empty bottles of beer and carried them to the trash can. "Let me see if I can remember. Oh yeah, one the things I heard was that your Uncle Teddy, your guardian..." Peterkin stood, straightening out a picture on the wall. "Hasn't been in the state for three months."

"Yeah, that's false." John B said.

"Dear Uncle T works a lot, I mean you know what that's like, right?"

"You don't have to say anything, I know it's true, I called the school." Peterkin lifted her hand into the air to stop them. "They said you used to be a good student John B, but now you're failin' all your classes." She picked up a roach from the ashtray and sniffed it, putting it back down. The dark skinned woman then turned to scold Emma. "And you, you just stopped going all together by the the end of the year didn't you? You only have one year left of school, you really wanna throw that away by not earning any credits?" Emma looked down at her shoes, Peterkin was right, of course, but who the hell was she to try and tell Emma what to do, she sure as hell wasn't her mother, and it's not like there was any man that could ever even compare to her father.

"No. No." John B shook his head. "I'm only failing one, and it's history."

"That's probably true, I had the same teacher sophomore year, he was a douche." Emma defended slightly on her brother's behalf, she was the one that tried to keep him up on his schoolwork since everyone else fucked off.

"She's right, the dude's a dick. He's out for me-"

Peterkin was quick to cut him off. "And I heard there was a fight on the beach yesterday, and a gun was involved."

"Okay, gun? No." John B stood up from the table he was propped against, patting the sheriff's shoulder. "Did I get in a dustup? Yes, but was there a gun? Pfft, no. No way."

"That's okay, I know who it was, I'll get to him. All I'm worried about right now is makin' sure you're in a safe home." Peterkin told the two.

Emma shrugged. "I don't The Chateau here is pretty sturdy."

"Yeah, super safe. Super sound. Plus, Uncle T's comin' back."

"Is that what he told you?"

"Yep."

"Yeah, I heard them on the phone."

Peterkin shook her head. "Well if he really is comin' home I think you should be able to stay."

"Thank you." John B breathed out.

"But if I stick my neck out for you, you have to help me. Tit for tat." Peterkin said.

Emma laughed. "What is that? Blackmail?"

"Emma, shut up." John B hissed in her direction.

"Let me see, how can you help me?" The woman though for a moment then nodded. "Oh, I know. So a body was found in the marsh yesterday. Were you in the marsh yesterday?" She asked, stepping closer to John B.

"Yeah, we were fishin' for some drum." John B simply explained, which was the truth.

"Catch anything?"

John B shook his head. "Nah, we were skunked."

"Strange. Fishing's usually good after a storm. All sorts of things get stirred up. You come across a wreck yesterday?" She then asked, Emma closed her eyes, wishing this visit was a nightmare.

"No."

Peterkin sighed heavily, looking between the two. "Y'all skimmin' just above the surface. Now, down here, is foster care, juvie. Pretty big drop from a couple of smart kids like you both. Up here is you and your little friends doing whatever you want, Outer banks, or foster care on the mainland. Y'all one inch above the surface." John B sunk down to the couch, Emma's fists clenched at the woman's stupid threats of foster care. "If I was you I'd start flappin' my wings. Now, you sure you didn't come across a wreck yesterday?" She asked again.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure." John B looked toward the floor then back up.

Peterkin leaned down to John B's eye level. "It's better if you didn't, you understand?" John B nodded and Peterkin stood straight. "I'm gonna look the other way, as long as you stay out of the marsh." She was about to walk out when she turned back around, taking in the house again. "I got dogs livin' better than this. Might wanna think about cleanin' up." With that she left.

Emma rolled her eyes. "I'm calling the crew, I need a distraction from this shit."

"Good, I need to talk to them anyway."

___

( author's note )
— i love sheriff pete with my whole
heart bro omfg :,(
<3