[rosemary] .jj maybank.

chapter thirty-eight

the summer sky had turned to one of darkness as the pogues were all jammed into kiara's jeep. john b gave kie instructions while jj and rosie were huddled together in the back– pope's turn to be the third wheel. jj was worried about both cousins, but he couldn't even lie to himself, rosie was his main focus at the moment. plus, the fact that the young woman had barely even said a word since they got in the car, worried and scared him.

for half an hour, she had just been picking at the blood that had dried on her fingernails and cuticles. jj watched her shaky actions with a heavy heart, hesitant to touch her since she flinched at the junkyard. he had noticed the light purple bruises around rosie's wrist, however, he worried that if he asked, she would only push herself farther away. he would ask her later. but as the time passed, rosie slowly shifted her body to rest on jj, making him feel slightly better. he brought his hand up near her face, tucking some of her hair behind her ear and softly raking his fingers through the tangled strands.

but when the car stopped in front of the kildare county sheriff station, the pogues (minus john b) looked out with confusion. "john b, what are we doing at the police station?"

"somebody's gotta tell them what happened," john b muttered as kie stopped the car. unexpectedly, pope started coughing aggressively. "easy there, chief.. damn," jj commented, shocked at pope's lack of tolerance when it came to weed.

"alright. i'm just gonna be real with you right now," jj started, patting john b on the shoulder once. "you might end up in the lion's den, but you don't go there on purpose. it's fundamental. just like my old man always told me, you should never ever trust cops, no matter what the circumstance is."

"jay, your dad is also a fucking asshole," rosie muttered for the first time in a while. she wasn't a big fan of cops either but she was not about to start listening to anything luke maybank has said. kie agreed, "your old man's an abusive liar."

"i agree with jj... fuck the police," pope chimed in. rosie almost chuckled at pope's unfamiliar tone, "amen to that. acab is a thing for a reason."

kie looked back at the dark-skinned boy in shock, "you goin' to the dark side now?"

"when's the last time the police helped us?" pope asked, matter of factly.

"peterkin looked out for me, alright? tried to, at least," john b stressed, making the pogues fall silent.

"they need to know," john b stated, but before he could open the door, rosie spoke up. "i'm coming with you, john... i was there. i'm another witness." he nodded silently, opening the door for him and his cousin.

the two pogues walked up the steps quietly, opening the door to the station. "adam, at the clinic. peterkin's still in the ER... advise if you need air tran. copy... copy that." they heard as they walked in, seeing the lady at the front desk using the dispatcher.

john b and rosie stopped in front of the desk, "uh... excuse me, ma'am." the lady shook her head, "this is not a good time, kids... adam. advise if you need air tran."

rosie looked at john b, and then back at the lady. "ma'am.. we know who shot the sheriff. we're witnesses." the woman went silent, staring up at the two teens, "you two stay put. i'll get a deputy."

she scurried away quickly as both pogues stayed still, rosie sighing and resting her head on her cousin's shoulder. "this is a shit show," but john b only nodded his head.

"central, three vic. we have two suspects in our 31. john routledge and rosemary booker," an officer said over the radio, making rosie and john b stand up straighter. did they hear that right? they walked closer to the radio as the conversation continued. "copy that. all units, be on the lookout for john b routledge and rosie booker. first suspect, sixteen-year-old white male. six foot. last seen wearing board shorts, a 'bad brains' t-shirt, and a faded red hoodie. second suspect, sixteen-year-old–"

suddenly, two deputies walked through the door, staring at the two teens. "just... breathe. alright?" followed by the cop, john b described as 'no-neck', "let me see your hands."

"john b, rosemary, do what he says," the female cop advised. rosie and john b both slowly raised their hands, "look, i didn't... i didn't do it, okay?"

"don't... move."

"we didn't do it, we swear," rosie said weakly, tears already forming on the water lines of her eyes. "don't move!" the deputy yelled again, only making john b grab onto rosie's hand and run to the door.

"kie! start the car!" john b yelled, along with rosie, "start the car, kie!"

"what? rosie? john b?" the pogues asked as the cousins frantically opened the car door and hopped in. "what did you do?"

everyone panicked, yelling at the same time. "the cops! they're right behind us!"

"kie, drive! go!" the pogues yelled while the female officer reached the car, trying to open the car door as john b held it shut. "i'm going! i'm sorry!" the tan girl yelled as the car took off. the deputy held onto the window, somehow keeping up with the car.

"open it," pope said lowly, to which john b opened the car door, making the officer let go and fall down. rosie chuckled evilly, mumbling "sucker" at the cop who fell in the dirt.

"what did you do?" kie cried.

"what did we do? no, what the fuck did ward do?" rosie stressed, hands shaking as she placed them on her knees once the car fell silent yet again. they couldn't even believe this was happening.

⤛ ∴ ∗ ∵☾  ❀  ☽ ∵ ∗ ∴ ⤜ 

"good new for the residents of the outer banks. dominion power says their underwater transmission line, which will restore power to 90% of the area.. should be functional within 24 hours," the radio stated as police cars flew by.

currently, the five pogues were trying their best to stay hidden, laying down in kie's jeep in a little car shack near the side of the road. "and still, no arrest in the shooting death of sheriff susan peterkin. the state police have issued a statement regarding two local people of interest, two juveniles from–" the radio continued but kie quickly shut it off.

"let's game this out. maybe you guys can help, being the smart ones and all, but..." jj sighed, playing with the joint between his fingers. "..who are the cops going to believe? ward cameron or.. us? so the accuser is a bigshot developer, kind of lord of the island, got the governor on speed dial kind of person, and the accused... is john b, who is... pretty much a homeless 16-year-old boy at the moment. and, of course, rosie, who is not so much a homeless teenager, but still a teenager from the cut."

"thanks, captain obvious," rosie sighed. they knew they were screwed so at this point jj was only pointing out the crystal clear information, which was not helping. frankly, it was only stressing rosie out more, forcing her thoughts on the situation at hand.

"shit," pope sighed from the passenger seat, rubbing his forehead. he wanted to think of a good plan but nothing had come to mind yet.

"okay, guys. yucatan, alright? i'm saying that's the only option. what other option do you have?" jj pointed out, turning to look at his girlfriend and best friend. "enough with the mexico bullshit," john b sighed. "sarah's gonna bail us out."

"she did witness the whole thing," kie agreed. "thank you."

"and she's gonna snitch on her brother?" pope challenged. rosie shrugged, "if my brother killed someone like that, probably yeah. i would."

jj took a puff of his joint, which was quickly taken from rosie a second later to lessen her nerves, even just the slightest bit. "not happening, bro. okay? we've gotta get you two off the island."

"the ferry. it's the only way."

"exit stage left while you guys still can, okay? before the entire island is on lockdown," jj commented. "guys, just get down," kie said as another cop car drove by.

"sarah's not a pogue, you guys. you can't rely on only her to get you out of being framed." jj agreed with pope, turning to john b, "yeah. you two can't stay here, man."

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school is currently kicking my ass so here's another prewritten chapter :')