Paradise // JJ Maybank

The Pogues (Chapter 2)

Sams POV

We're the Pogues, and our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time.
The Outer Banks, paradise on Earth. It's the sort of place where you either have two jobs, or two houses.

Two tribes, one island.

First figure eight, the rich side of the island. Home to the Kooks, otherwise known as polo shirt, golf playing, stuck up trust fund kids with nothing better to do then spend daddys money. So, guess where we don't live.

Then there's the Southside or The Cut, home of the working classes who make a living busing tables, washing yachts and running charters.

Natural habitat of...drumroll please...

The Pogues, that's us.

Pogues, Pogies, the throwaway fish, the lowest members of the food chain. We're always overlooked. The downside of Pogue life is we're ignored and neglected. But the upside to Pogue life? Is we're ignored and neglected, which means we do whatever we want, whenever we want. To the Kooks we are the scum of the Earth, but in reality, we are just dumb teenagers out to have a good time with our closest friends. Well lets get into it.

First there's JJ, my best friend since the third grade. My mother lives next to Luke, which mean JJ is my neighbour when I'm not staying with my brother at the Chateau. So, Jay and I grow up next to each other but never really talked, until one day in the third grade. That day, I took JJ to my dad's chateau where he met my brother John B, and the three of us have been inseparable since. JJ is about as local as they come. Lasted in a long line of fishing, drinking, smuggling, vendetta-holding salt lifers, who make their living of the water. Best surfer I know, just don't tell him I said that. Mild kleptomaniac and future tax cheat. JJ always been there for me, I guess I owe him a lot. Without JJ I don't think I would have been able to make it through the past 9 months. He's dads a dick and my mother's a dick as well, that always been one of our mutual bonds.

Next there's my brother, John Brooker Routledge. He's older than me by only 10 months, but to him it may as well be 10 years. He tries to play the whole overprotective big brother role, but the truth is if anyone hurt him, I'd skin them alive. I would die for him, I would kill for him. I would do that for any of the Pogues but especially JB, I'm the only family he has left. When our father went missing 9 months ago, I had to keep it together for John B. I excepted dads death and tried to move on, but John B has found it harder, he's living in denial. It's probably unhealthy, I've tried to tell him that but any time I suggest that dad isn't coming home, he gets all mad and defensive. I'm trying my best to support him, but I'm not dad. Dad always knew what to do. John Bs mum and my father used to be on and off all the time. One day when JB was just a baby, they went on a break and my father drunkenly knocked up the local drug dealing whore and bam! I was born. One drunken hook up and now I have to get up every god damn day, it's exhausting. So that's the story, same dad, different mums. My father begged JBs mum to stay with him and she did, for about three years. I don't exactly remember what happened the day Johns mum split, but all I remember was he couldn't stop crying. God, I don't know why, I wish my mum would take off it would solve a lot of my problems. John Bs a sweet kid with a heart of gold, he doesn't deserve this life. I wish that he could give me all the pain he's feeling, I can handle it.

Thirdly, there's Kiara, or Kie. When she's not saving turtles, listening to Marley or getting a Dolphin tattoo, she hangs out with us. I'm not really sure why though, she's a rich kid actually. Foot in both worlds. Her family own The Wreck, this Outer Banks institution, a total cash cow with the tourists. Her parents kindly gave me a job there, but I think it was only because Kiara begged them too. I don't think they like the boys or me very much. The only thing Kie and I have fought about is money. I hate Kooks. It doesn't matter to me if they are nice or not, they have had a different life, so they act different, and I don't get along with those kinds of people. But it's different with Kie, she's a Pogue but it doesn't mean there isn't still a lifestyle barrier there. Her parents were kind enough to employ me as a waitress because I needed a second job. Her parents have been nice to me and all, but I guess to them I'll always be trash from the Cut. They have treated me like family, but I guess I have been a bad influence on Kie. I'm pretty sure my brothers got the hots for her, I ship it!

And of course, there's Pope. The brains of the group, finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit scholarship. He the smartest person I know and has a real shot at being able to leave this hell hole. He's fathers this legendary character Heyward, I love Heyward. My mother used to work for him, poor Heyward. I'm not sure he knew what to make of his oddball son, but it doesn't matter, he's a Pogue just like the rest of us. Popes like a literal genius and my designated tutor. He's a kind soul with a weird fascination with the dead human anatomy. 

So that's the Pogues.

And then there's me, Samantha Jones Routledge. I'm half Jones, half Routledge. My whole life I was raised on the cut. Don't get me wrong, I love my father and we were close, but I always felt he was closer with JB. I think it's because I remind him of my mum. My father tried his best to keep me away from my mother but since he has been missing, I've been living with her. Kerry Jones, my mother, is a legend on the cut, but not for good reason. She's a force, in a way I admire that. She dropped out of school and was pregnant with my brother Malachai, by the time she was sixteen. Then she was pregnant with me at twenty-two. She has struggled her whole life with addiction, and it's made it hard for Malachai and I. Malachai left the OBX about a year ago and hasn't come back. He just left me behind to fend for myself, to look after our mother, by myself. I don't blame him for leaving her and leaving this place but how could he leave me? My mum's brother, Uncle Tom, has always been like a second dad to me and funnily enough he is my dad best friend. Dad used to say the only good things he got from my mother were me and Uncle Tom. I'm very close to Uncle Toms son, my cousin Barry. Barry has been like a brother to me and if my mum gets too much to handle and I don't feel like going to the Chateau, Barry has always let me crash at his. Enough about them, this is about me. I love surfing, riding my motorcycle and hanging out with the Pogues. I would do anything for my friends. Some people would call me strong willed and I'm not one to back down when it comes to defending my friends. I love to sing, and I busk around town or preform at the local pub, from time to time. So yeah, I guess that's me.

I'm so ready for this summer! 

Thanks for reading!