turquoise

~ nine ~

We all should have learned a long time ago never to listen to JJ.

He's full of bad ideas, like stealing from John B's rich boss. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't happy about calling off the whole adventure like JB originally suggested. JJ was right about that. We had nothing to lose. I still think I could have definitely come up with a better plan than this.

Dad always said the island was like America on steroids. The haves and have-nots like anyplace. but magnified and multiplied. The way I see it, the game's rigged. Maybe it always has been. And with no parents, no money, and no one looking out for us, we got no chance unless we find a way to make it on our own.

*:･ﾟ✧.

"This is empty. You took empty tanks?"

"I-" my brother starts.

Kiara holds up a hand, stopping him.

"You couldn't have checked?" I ask.

"Nah, I bet he was too busy drooling over Sarah Cameron," JJ laughs, bumping shoulders with me.

"Okay," Kie says, turning over the last tank, "this one's a quarter full."

"That's enough for like one of us."

"Fuck."

"Does anyone know how to dive?"

"I... read about it?" Pope offers.

"Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die," Kiara stresses.

"Look, you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" JJ says.

I shake my head, "I don't wanna burst your bubble, Blondie, but this isn't snorkeling. There's more to it."

"If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood and you get bends," Pope corrects.

"Bends like, bend over and..."

"The bends kill you."

"Oh. Right."

John B stands up and waves a hand dismissively, "I can do it."

"Yeah," JJ agrees, "I'm cool with that. You can dive."

"Since when can you dive?" Kie whispers, looking at him.

"It's fine," he assures her.

"Lemme do some calculations real quick," Pope says, getting up hurriedly.

"Are you serious?" I catch Kie saying to John B as Pope talks through numbers to JJ. I think it's just going in one ear and out the other for him, though.

"The boat's about thirty feet down, so it'll take around 25 minutes at that depth. That means you need to make your safety stop at about... ten feet."

My brother nods uncertainly.

"For two minutes," Pope adds.

Kie taps me on the shoulder silently and motions to my shirt.

"Huh?"

"Tie your shirt down at around 10 feet. Your brother's an idiot, no way he'll remember when he's down there."

I laugh, quickly stripping and jumping off the boat. The water's warm, but we're in the marsh so that means it's murky and with the sun setting, it's getting even harder to see. Kie was right, no chance John B could have known where to stop.

When I come up for air, JJ's demonstrating what my brother needs to do when he gets down there and John B's getting the gear on.

"Hey," I call from the water, "I tied my T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. That's where you need to do your safety stop."