𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 // 𝑱𝑱 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌 \\

Chapter Six

The five pogues headed to the Grady-White on their boat. "This is empty. You took empty tanks?" Kiara turned to John B who had just sat next to her. "I..." John B didn't have an answer. Valerie walked up to one of the last tanks Kiara hadn't checked. "Well, this ones quarter full." Valerie said. "Okay, so it's enough for one of us." Kiara sighed as she stood up and moved towards Pope. "Love it when a plan comes together." Pope whispered, crossing his arms in his seat.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kiara asked, clearly annoyed. "Uh..." JJ shrugged as he leaned on the pole in front of him. John B pointed at JJ to which he responded by shaking his head. Valerie looked around not meeting Kiara's eyes. Pope scratched the back of his neck. "Anybody?" Kiara asked again. "It's kind of a kook sport." JJ answered, looking between the other pogues. Valerie sighed as she took Kiara's original spot. "I... read about it." Pope hesitated.

"Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die." Kiara stood behind Pope. "Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" JJ asked. Valerie rolled her eyes. "If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends." Pope stated. "Bends like, bend over and..." JJ trailed off as he slightly bent forward sticking his ass in the air behind him. "The bends kill you." Pope looked at he sternly. "Right." JJ quickly stood up. Valerie looked at him with a smile. "I can-- I can dive." John B said from beside Valerie. "You can dive. I'm cool with that." JJ agreed.

"Since when can you dive?" Valerie looked at him. "I'll do it. It's fine." John B looked at Pope and JJ, not making eye contact with the two girls. "Let me do some calculations real quick." Pope stood up. "You serious? You're gonna fucking die, John B." Valerie rolled her eyes as she stood up. "That boats about 30 feet down, right?" Pope grabbed a paper and pen and started sketching everything out. "Okay." John B nodded, listening to Pope closely. "So it'll take about 25 minutes at the depth." Pope looked up at John B every once and a while. Kiara bit her thumb nervously as Valerie stood on the bow looking out into the water. "Twenty-five." John B repeated quietly. "Which means you need to make your safety stop at about... ten feet. Alright? For two minutes."

"Yeah, yeah. Ten feet, two minutes. Got it." John B nodded. Valerie pulled off her dark green shirt and jumped into the water. JJ was watching the girl's every move. "Uh..." John B turned to the others with a look of confusion. "What was that all about?" Pope asked. "I don't know, but I liked it. A lot." JJ stared at the water where the girl had jumped in. "JJ." Kiara narrowed her eyes at the boy who still hadn't turned his head away from the water. John B cleared his throat, but JJ kept staring. John B stared at the boy before clearing his throat louder. "Right. Uh, so..." JJ snapped his head away. "All righty." Pope was done with explaining everything John B needed to remember. "Yeah. Uh, when you-- uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?" JJ explained. "Stick in the hole, twist, pull." John B repeated. "Yeah." JJ confirmed.

Valerie resurfaced from the water as she smoothed her hair back. "My dad moved weight back in the day." JJ said. "Who didn't?" Pope walked behind him looking at Valerie. "Hey! I tied my T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It's where you need to do your safety stop." Valerie explained as she swam towards the boat, but didn't pull herself out yet. "Cool." John B nodded. "Keep an eye on this. You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress." Pope explained.

"Okay, how much do I need?"

"Unclear. Breathe as little as possible." Pope whispered. John B pushed his lips together at Pope's great advice. "Zen. Think Zen, you know?" JJ said as he imitated breathing through the mask John B was about to put on. "Yeah. Got it." John B nodded. "Hey, if we get caught out her on the marsh, we're bascially screwed, so... better get a move on." Pope said. "Copy that." John B said while Kiara stepped on the bow in front of him. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. John B had a shocked expression, but decided not to pay attention to it. "Diver down?"