Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

Obvious

     

The salty air from the breeze pasty through the window of my bedroom. I breathed in the sent as I stared above at my ceiling, reminiscing about Rafe.
    A week had passed last time I've seen him. He was out of town with Ward. Probably something to do with the gold. But I couldn't concentrate on the treasure.
    My mind kept going to that night. Thinking about they way Rafe touched me. How he held me. Pressing, pulling, pushing every part of my body and making it about of him.
    The way his calloused fingers guided down my stomach making me moan and whimper with each breath he took.
    I reached up to touch my lips; thinking about the many kisses we shared that night. His plump lips would brush against mine before delicately landing a kiss.
      I wanted to lay in bed all day just thinking about him. Thinking about us. But the sound of a truck horn blasting through my window, pulled me out of my state of mind.
     I furrow my brows, hopping out of bed. I almost tripped on Echo as I rushed to my window. "Be!" Kiara calls out from the back yard. "We're going to Charleston. Get dress." She demands, walking back to the front of the house.
     I don't think too much in it. I make my way to the closest pulling out a pair of low rise tan linen pants and a matching pink Henley that hugs my chest just right.
    I quickly slip on a pair of converse before grabbing my phone. As I rush down the stairs the sound of Kiara, Mike and Anna arguing causing me to falter in my steps slowing approaching the scene.
     "Baby, no, you can't go to Charleston on a school night." Anna explains, clearly frustrated. "But this is my chance to finally clear John B's name!" Kiara shouts.
     "What does it mean now to clear John B's name?" Mike asked. "He's gone. He killed the Sheriff. And he stabbed Phoebe." He shouts.
    I immediately shake my head. "How many time do I have to keep telling you. It wasn't John B. It was Rafe. Are you guys really that blind." I cry.
     "Be, you have to except it." Mike shouts. "Michael, stop it!" Anna shouts, walking over to Kie and I. "Listen to me. I understand that what you are going the right now is incredibly difficult." Anna says.
     "Do you?" Kie sassed. "Baby, I do. All we're trying to say is that we're worried 'cause you're spending all of your time with these boys. Phoebe and you're encouraged her by spending time with them too. It's not right. You both need a change. A big one. And I can't make you do anything you don't want, Be. But if it comes down to it. I will not have you around Kiara." Anna states.
     "God!" Kiara sighs. She rolls her eyes grabbing my hand. "Let's go, Be." She says. "Kiara. Phoebe. Stop it." Anna and Mike follow us to the front porch as me make our way towards the driveway.
     Pope and JJ watch from Heyward's truck. "You are so worried about us being a Pogue, because you got pregnant with a Pogue, and then you had me. It was a tragedy!" She says.
     "Seriously! This is not fair!" Anna shouts. "Of course it's not fair." I start. "John B is getting blamed for a serious crime. And you two won't take the time to listen. I'm sick of it!" I screamed.
Kiara and I turn away from Mike and Anna as we head towards the driveway.
"Stop it! Do not walk away when I'm talking to you both. Turn and look at me right now!" Anna shouts, making us turn on our heels.
I look at them with anger as I try to calm the beating of my heart.
   "I am so sick of this shit! Every single time you get in trouble, you guys try to stir up the pot between us, and I am not having it anymore!" Anna shouts, clearly frustrated.
    She looks over to Mike before looking back to Kie and I. "I'm going to tell them." She sighs. "Tell them." Mike agrees.
   "Tell us what?" Kie asked, confused. I knew what was coming. I thought back to the time I overheard them talking about us being sent away.
     "Phoebe, first of all I understand that you are eighteen. Technically, we can't stop you from going to Charleston. But when you live under our roof; doing whatever you want is not going to cut it. If you don't start getting your act together; we're going to send you to Louisiana with your grandparents or you're on your own." She explains.
    I feel a lump in my throat as Kiara clutches my hand tighter in hers. I pout my lips as try to hold back the tears.
    "Kiara, we want you to go to boarding school." Mike speaks up. Kiara immediately cuts them off once again pulling me down to the truck with her.
     "Oh, my God! Boarding school? What are you talking about?" Kiara shouts. I walk to the truck greeting the boys.
     "I'm not going to Louisiana! Are you crazy!" I shout at them. "It will give you structure! Look at your lives!" Mike says. Kiara shrugs her shoulders as JJ opens the door for us to slide in.
    "It's good to see y'all Mr. and Mrs. Carrera." JJ waves. Pope sticks his head out the window. "Hi...uh...ma'am, sir. I...I promise to have them back at a reasonable hour and safe." Pope explains.
     "What are you doing?" Kiara asked her boyfriend, annoyed. "Phoebe. Kiara. Listen to me. You wanna go, then you can go. But if you don't come back at a proper time, then don't come back at all!" She shouts.
    I roll my eyes before hoping in the car after Kie. She slide in next to Pope. I follow behind; sitting between Kie and JJ.
     "This shit would be so much easier without parents." Kiara states. "Trust me it's still hard. And my parents are dead." I groan.
     Pope starts the truck before backing out the driveway.
The four of us are silent for a while as we head towards the loading docks. My mind wanders off as I watch the trees pass by in a blur.
Once we finally make it to the docks Pope and JJ hop out to pay for the truck to be moved onto the ship.
"You okay?" Kiara hums, noticing my inability to look at her. "Hmm?" I answered with a sigh. "You'be been zoning out theses last few days." She comments.
"Oh, sorry." I apologized, shaking my head and looking down at my hands. "Don't apologize, Be." Kiara says. "I was just wondering if you're okay." She states.
I shrug my shoulders. "I kind of want to tell you something." I whisper. "What is it?" She asked, scooting closer to me. I feel my hands begin to turn clammy as I look behind me at the back window. Pope and JJ still waiting in line to make a payment.
I turn back to face Kiara, letting out an exaggerated sigh. "I had sex." I said. Kie's eyes widen. "With who?" She asked. I shake my head. "No, I can't say. It's kind of random." I exclaimed.
"Was it JJ?" Kie asked, looking disappointed. "What? No!" I shout. Kie puts her hands up in surrender. "We'll then who else could it have been? She wondered.
"You can't tell anyone." I start. She immediately nods. "Promise." She says. "It was Rafe." I suddenly feel a weight fall of my shoulders as his name slips past my lips.
"Phoebe are you crazy?" She scolds. "Rafe? Really?" Kie shakes her head in disbelief. "It just happened okay. We went to a party together and got caught up in the moment." I explained.
"Wait! Hold up. You've been hanging out with Rafe? Willingly?" She asked. "Yes." I said. Kiara opens her mouth to say something but is quickly cut off by the sound of Pope's voice.
"Alright, let head to the ship." He says opening the door for Kiara. She hops out the truck before pulling herself in the back of the truck. Pope, JJ, and I follow the girl. The four of us get cozy in the back as we watch all the vehicles being pulled along the dock.
The boat begins to moves towards Charleston; which causes me to feel a little bit of excitement. Growing up in South Carolina had its ups and downs. While some people went to Myrtle Beach during the summer. I went to Charleston with my high school friends. More specifically, Folly Beach.
I thought about the time my friends and I spent the whole day on the beach as we drank Trudy's and gorges on a huge pepperoni pizza from this hole in the wall called Slice. Life was so simple last summer.
"My parents are so paranoid of me being a Pogue, like it's the worst thing that could ever happen." Kiara says.
"Hey, I hear they got good weed at boarding schools, though." JJ teased. "I roll my eyes. "Not helping, JJ." I sigh.
"What about you, Be?" He asked, rolling his blunt. "What do Mike and Anna have planned for you in the future?" He says.
"Louisiana, apparently. Sending me off to live my grandparents. From my dad's side. Which means the messed up side." I explain.
JJ hands the joints to Kie. She gladly takes it. "Hey, Kie, have you tried to hit John B back on that number yet?" Pope asked. "Like twenty millions times. Some random lady at a hotel keeps answering." She says.
"Well, until we hear from them again, we gotta try and clear his name. Right now this letter's out best bet." Pope says. "Let me see that?" I reach for the letter.
Pope hands the paper to me. My eyes quickly skim the words before landing on the name Limbrey. "Limbrey was the caption of the Royal Merchant." Pope explains. I nod. "Yeah, I remember. It's just this address on the bottom of the page. It's right near Rainbow Row." I explained.
I look at Kie. "Remember, Kie. 2017. We took a trip with our parents to Charleston. That really gorgeous house with the tall gate. I think that's it." I smile.
"Good, then we stay in task." JJ nods. Kiara stands up in the truck. What Pope are you going to be today?" She smiles, trying to hand him the joint. "I'm good. I'm going to try and focus." Pope shakes his head turning away.
"Good Pope. Boring Pope." Kiara sighs, taking a seat next to JJ.
"I'll take that." JJ wiggles his fingers reaching for the joint. Kiara dangles it over his head. "Do tricks now! Roll over, boy!" JJ laughs, pretending to be a dog. "Sit." Kiara demands, laughing. JJ reaches his head up like a dog panting with his tongue out.
"Try to catch a fish. Catch the fish!" She jokes. JJ begins to bark as he reaches for the joint. "Fish on!" She laughs, finally handing the joint to JJ. "Good boy." She giggles, rubbing her hands through JJ's blonde hair.
I watch the two cuddle up against each other finding it a little odd that Kie doesn't show this much affection towards Pope. It was kind of obvious that she liked him instead of Pope. Well at least obvious to me.
It only made me wonder was it obvious that I liked Rafe. Or was everyone in denial with me.