CONTROL, JJ MAYBANK

CHAPTER 7

Joslyn stood next to JJ on the dock of the Chateau. She watched the drone camera as her brother swam around and tapped the lens underwater. She had been thinking a lot. Especially about how she felt she betrayed the Pogues and JJ by drunkenly sleeping with Rafe. It was the morning after now. She didn't remember every detail of that night but she remembered enough. Joslyn had sex with Rafe Cameron, again.

JJ, Joslyn, and Pope stood over the monitor. "What's this?" JJ pointed. "Don't touch that! I'm trying to work out this thing." Pope scolded. Joslyn looked up and grabbed JJ's hand, "Come here." She tried to get his hands away from the controls.

"God bless geeks, Pope. Truly, man. What would we do without you to control the drones?" JJ walked over towards the ladder as Kiara and John B surfaced. "It's not a drone. It's an ROV." Pope corrected. "Shut up. Shut up. It's too early for that right now." JJ ignored Pope's explanation.

"JJ," Joslyn sighed as she placed a hand on Pope's shoulder. "Tell me more later, I want to know," She smiled. Pope looked up at her, "Deal." The two did their handshake before Joslyn stood next to JJ.

"Hey, look. Once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim." John B announced from the water. "It's such bullshit. Why do we have to do that?" JJ groaned. Pope stood up, "Well, there is maritime salvage law. You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up."

JJ turned to look at him, "I know. I know. It's just, lawyers aren't cheap, bro." Joslyn nodded, "JJ's right. Plus, who's gonna want to help a group of pogue teenagers get rich?" "Well, as soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp," JB answered.

"How do you know all that?" Kiara questioned next to John B in the water. "Cause my dad said it, like, a million times." He looked toward his sister. Joslyn nodded. "That's fair," Kiara agreed as she swam up to the ladder. Pope leaned on the railing, "This tether is, like, really long. In the wrong weather, this thing could get pushed around."

Joslyn reached out a hand to Kiara as she climbed out of the water. Kiara smiled at her, "Thanks, B." "Then we'll go at dead calm." John B turned to his friends. "At slack tide?" Kie questioned. Joslyn nodded.

"So now, we just gotta wait around for the right weather." Pope looked up at the sky. "So definitely not today," Joslyn smiled as thunder clapped in the distance.

...

Joslyn, JJ, and Pope stood on Heywards' boat as he handed them bags of groceries. "You guys get these groceries over to Figure Eight. Get straight back here when you're done." Mr. Heyward looked over at Joslyn, "Don't let them fish, no matter how much they ask." "Got it, Pops." Joslyn smiled.

The teens placed the groceries on a small table. "I promised delivery by this afternoon. Rich folks don't wanna wait for you lazy sons of..." JJ placed both his hands out to grab some bags. "Oh, JJ, thank you. Sons of bitches." Heyward continued. "Right," Pope nodded.

...

The three made their way to Figure Eight. JJ twisted his knife around his fingers as Pope steered and Joslyn sat next to JJ, watching his hands as he attempted to teach her how to spin the knife.

"It doesn't even look like the storm hit there," Pope observed the nice tall houses with little damage. "That's because they got generators, bro. Get used to it." JJ turned away from the houses and towards Pope, "And then they say the juice will be out all summer at the cut." "It's nice to be a kook." Pope sighed. "Lucky bastards," JJ scoffed.

"Not all of them are as lucky as you think," Joslyn whispered. The two boys slowly turned their heads to stare at her. Joslyn looked up at them, "Think about it. Would you rather be rich and alone or struggling with friends?" The boys didn't answer. They just continued to stare. "Personally, if I was offered a million dollars to never see any of you again, I'd be broke as fuck. Anyway, I think it can be hard on either end."