Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

The Key

      I burst through the Château doors, dropping the duffle bag onto the ground hard. My body began to shake as tears ran down my face.
   My breathing was rapid as I tried to swallow my cries. I wanted to hold it in but I couldn't. The love of my life or what I thought was the love my life was just arrested in front of me. And I didn't know when I would see him again.
    "Be..." Sarah, says. Rushing to my side as Kiara follows. "What's wrong?" Kie, asked. Pulling me into an small embrace.
    Pope, JJ, and John B stood awkwardly as they watch us three girls pull each other into a hug.
     "Rafe..." I breathe. "They arrested Rafe." I finally say after several hiccups. I could feel Sarah squeeze me tighter as she hears that her brother was just arrested.
     "I'm sorry, Sarah." I whisper. Kiara gently rubs my back, trying to soothe my cries. "I'm sorry, too." She says. Pulling away from the hug. I could see her eyes are filled with tears as she tries to not let them slip.
      "I hate seeing you like this." Kiara says. She always seemed more mature than me. A lot more practical.
     "I should have never gotten myself involved with Rafe." I sigh, looking down. I begin to play with the hems of my shirt. Avoiding eye contact with the boys.
      "Phoebe, you need to go to therapy." John B speaks out. "John B!" Kiara scolds, upset with her friend.
     I lift my head up glaring at the Pogue. "What?" I snap? Stepping closer to the boy. He shakes his head. "I'm not going to sugar coat it anymore for her guys." He breathes.
     My eyes move around the room looking at everyone. "What is he talking about?" I asked, wiping tears from my face.
     "You're depressed, Be." JJ says. "You stopped going to therapy." Pope adds. "You lie to us." Sarah said. "It's sad because we all know it and we choose to ignore it." Kiara admits.
     "So, what?" I scoff. "You've all been talking about me behind my back?" I asked, clearly upset. "I love Rafe-." John B shakes his head, cutting me off.
     "No! Stop. Don't bring Rafe into this. You're depressed because of what happened to your parents. Rafe is only a catalyst for your emotions." He exclaims.
     "You guys can't tell me how to feel. You would all be a sobbing mess if you saw the love of your life get handcuffed!" I shout, looking to Sarah.
     "Sarah, you were crying for days after John B was arrested." I remind the girl. "It's not the same, Be." She whispered, reaching a hand towards my shoulder. "You can't have kids anymore..." she says trailing off.
"Don't remind me." I say, shaking my head and stepping away from Sarah's touch. "Cause if you guys remind me, then it's real." I snapped, running my fingers through my locs. The Château was suddenly feeling very claustrophobic and hot and all I wanted to do was strip my sweaty clothes off and take a cold shower.
"But it is real." Kiara states. Her lips continue to pout as she watches me, her cousin, make up excuses for a boy who has hurt me several times.
     "What do you guys want me to do? I was out of my mind in love." I sob. The tears begin to pour again.
     Everyone is silent as they watch me cry. I felt embarrassed and untrusted. My only friends didn't understand the pain I was going through.
    I felt empty. Like I was pretending most days. But at the end of the day when I'm in between falling asleep and staying away I remember that my parents are dead and there not on some long trip.
     I remember that night with me in the backseat of the car with blood and pink dust on my face. And no matter how many showers I take I will always feel it on my skin.
     "This isn't an intervention, Be." Pope starts. "It's more of us just expressing our feelings and letting you know we care. I'm sorry we had to spring it on you like this." He says, apologizing.
     My heart immediately melts at his words, allowing me to sob even more. I rush over to the boy and pull him into a hug. "No, I'm sorry." I say, squeezing him tight.
    I feel his hands run through my hair as we sway back and forth. For just a moment I felt really loved. I pull away from Pope, looking at the rest of my friends.
     "I'm sorry." I say once again. I felt like I needed to keep apologizing for everything I have been through. But it wasn't my fault.
     "Can we just go see Pope's grandmother?" I asked. Standing awkwardly. "Yeah, sure." Kiara says. The Pogues silently nod piling out the house and into the Twinkie.
     John B throws his arm around my shoulders guiding me towards the van. "You know I love you, right." He says, giving me a small smile.
    "You drive me crazy, but I love you too." I smile, sadly back at him, hopping into the van. I scoot in next to Kiara.
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     I sat quietly to myself in the back of the Twinkie staring out the window, watching the trees past by. The late September weather still left my skin bronze as the sun stood high in the sky.
My hair stuck to my lipgloss as the wind from the open window blew my hair. I leaned against the wall even further when I notice a tiny black spider hanging onto the window pane. It's tiny legs crawled against the brown van.
"Guys, the thing that Limbrey said..." Pope starts, breaking me out of my thoughts. "I don't think she meant to let it slip." Pope states. "She said the key leads to the Cross Of Santo Domingo." He says. twirling the key in between in fingers.
    "Wait, can I see that?" JJ asked, reaching for the key. "Are we supposed to know what that is?" Sarah asked. She turns around in her seat looking at us in the back.
    "I'm guessing it's some sort of historical artifact of great importance." Pope explains. "Well, according to the inter webs, it was a gift from New Spain to the Spanish King." Kiara says, scrolling on her phone.
    I look over shoulder looking at the screen. An old picture of a man standing next to a cross illuminates the white phone.
    "Talk about over-gifting." I say. "That's a big ass gift." I state, taking the phone from Kie and showing the screen to the Pogues.
     "So it's a giant ass cross?" JJ implies. Kie nods, taking the phone back. "It was widely considered at the time to be the most extravagant tribute ever from the provinces. It was lost off the coast of Bermuda in 1829." She reads out loud.
     JJ quickly turns around in his seat. "Did you just say Bermuda?" He asked, excitedly. "Oh, no." John B sighs. "Not the triangle." He teased.
     "It always leads back to the triangle, dude." He says, banging his hands in the seat. "Like every single time something's weird, it's Bermuda." He explains.
     I roll my eyes at the Pogues funny hypothesis. "JJ do you really believe in all that stuff." I smiled. "Hell yeah, Be." He says as his southern accent drawls out my name.
"Okay, but what does a key that was found above your Mee-maw's pharmacy have to do with with any of this? Where do we come in?" Kiara asked, staring at her phone, zooming in on the picture.
"So Limbrey was kind of right." I state. "Pope knew where was the key was, it was just in the back of his mind." I explain.
The van comes to a slow stop as John B pulls up to the house where Pope's Mee-maw stays. Before the van can come to a complete stop, JJ hops out pulling the van door open for everyone in the back.
Pope is the first to get up from his seat. Kiara and I follow behind.
"Hey, um, actually, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself." Pope admits, looking at Kiara. "Are you sure?" She asked, fixing the head on her head.
Pope shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah, I can handle it. I don't really need you, so..." He says. JJ looks between the two teens then to me. "They broke up." I mouth quietly to the blonde. JJ nods.
"Don't be mean, Pope." I sigh rolling my eyes, hoping back into the Twinkie. "Oh, we're just all one big happy family today, aren't we?" JJ says, sarcastically, rolling me back into the vehicle with Kiara by his side.
Pope begins to walk inside. "Hey, man, pick you up in a bit." John B says, pulling off.
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I handed the cashier a ten dollar bill as I pay for our sodas. "Thanks." I smile softly at the guy. He returns the smile as I take the cups from his hand.
"Here y'all go." I say, handing the drinks to Sarah and Kiara.
Sarah struggles to swallow the soda. Her neck was still bruised from Rafe. "You're so lucky Topper was there." Kiara mentions before taking a sip of her Sprite.
    "I'm sorry, Sarah." I apologize. The blonde shrugs. "It's not your fault, Be." She sighs. "Yeah, I know. But I some how feel like everything is my fault." I twirl the straw between my fingers.
     "Well it's not." She smiles. "It's no one's fault but my own. And John B needs to understand that. He's still kind of pissed i didn't mention our marriage in front of Topper. And of course I thanks Topper. He saved my life, and I'd put him through so much already. And you'd think that that is the crime of the century." Sarah explains.
     "Tell me about it." Kiara, huffs. "All of this crazy shit's happening, and Pope's giving me the silent treatment for not being in love with him." Kiara scoffs.
      "And we're the dramatic ones." Sarah giggles. Kiara and I laugh as the three of us walk back to the Twinkie with JJ and John B inside.
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     We pull up in front of the building. Pope hops into the vehicle once we've come to a stop. The young teen takes his seat letting out an exaggerated sigh.
     "So, how'd it go?" John B asked, turning around in the drivers seat. "Shit just got way more personal.
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     I swung my legs back and forth as I sat pitch up on the cooler with Sarah and Kiara.
     "I still can't believe that's you're related to Denmark Tanny." John B smiles widely at the boy. "Pope you are now the coolest person on earth. An official monarch." I teased. "Yup!" John B exclaims. "We're in the presence of a royal." He adds.
        "A king!" JJ corrects. "We shall crown him. All hail the Lord of Tannyhill!" JJ pretends to use a British accent while putting an invisible crown on top of Pope's head.
      Kiara and Sarah begin to bow. "We are not worthy." They laugh. "You're majesty is now above our presence." I giggle.
     "Alright." Pope says. "Everybody relax. Can we relax, please?" He asked. "Relocate to Cat's Ass, question mark?" Sarah suggest. "I'm with that." JJ jumps up at the mention of getting into the hot tub.
     "Mmm, not a good idea after what we saw go down in there." John B laughs. "I playfully hit the Pogue in the arm. "Oh, God! Don't remind me." I cover my face laughing of embarrassment.
    "I'm down with anything! I've been kicked out. How soon can we move in?" Kiara, asked. "Bunk beds?" JJ implies. "Bunk Bed!" Kiara, nods, excitedly.
    I smile at the two Pogues watching them think just alike. I look down at my feet stopping them from swinging. I knew Kiara wasn't truly in love with Pope the way she was in love with JJ. She was too afraid to admit it. And who could blame her. It's too crazy to even think about anything else but the Gold, or the cross.
     "I keep think about the letter the one that Limbrey sent." Pope says, changing the subject. "It had the wheat symbol on it. That must mean it has something to do with the Royal Merchant." He explains, looking to us for answers.
     "Yeah, something seems fishy." JJ says. "But if we find the cross, we can split it like we are gonna split the gold."  Pope smiles. "Yeah! I'm with that." JJ agrees.
    "And live happily ever after?" I jumped from my spot the cooler making my way closer to the other side of the dock.
    Carla Limbrey sables her way to us with Renfield by her side. We all tense up. Holding our guard.
     "You assaulted my father." Pope says, taking a step closer to the crippled woman. Renfield puts a hand top Pope's chest pushing back into the walk of the boat house.
     "Oh, I didn't assault anybody.." Limbrey lies. "He can identify the psycho from a mile away." Kiara sassed.
    "Why would my employee assault your father?That's absurd. Limbrey says, pretending to not have a clue about what happened to Heyward. "Listen, we can keep on negotiating, but the fact is I want the key."
     Renfield pushes Pope even harder, causing Kiara and Sarah to jump from the spot on the cooler. "Get your hands off him!" I exclaimed, trying to push the tall man off of Pope. Kiara pulls me back. Stopping me from hurting myself.
     "I won't stop until I have it. I don't have a choice, which means you don't either." She snaps.
       "It's Limbrey, right?" John B suddenly asked. Everyone turns their attention to the Pogue. He holds up a key. The key. Twirling between his fingers like it was just any old house key.
     Limbrey's eyes widen as she warbles closer to John B. "Yes." She says. Her voice is shaky. "Is this what you're looking for?" John B asked. "Yes, it is." She breaths.
     "Looking at the tide right now, I'd say it's about 20 feet deep out there. So, if I just threw it in the channel, the probability of you finding it again is slim to none." John B says. He points to the waves hitting against the dock.
    Front he corner of my eye I watch Pooe dig in his pocket and pulling out the real key before shoving it back into his shorts.
    Kiara, Sarah, and I glance at each other now understanding that the key in John B's hand is a fake.
     "You wanna give it a shot? Ready?" He teased. Before pretending to launch the key into the current. Limbrey and Renfield tense up. "No! Hey! She calls out watching John B throw his arm back, only for him to not throw the key.
     She takes a big sigh of relief. "Please don't do that." She begged. "Get him to back the hell up." John B demands, gesturing to Renfield still holding Ope against the wall.
     "Of course, Limbrey agrees. She turns to the man. "Back up." She says, politely. "As I have told you from the beginning." She starts, looking at Pope. "I am willing to be reasonable."
    Pope glances at John B and back at Limbrey. "Okay." He said. "I'll give you they key, but I want the tape." He requests.
    "Pope, hey man. You don't have to this, okay?" John B says. "No, it's okay." Pope uttered. "Hey, dud, this is your family." John B adds. "It's fine. It's okay. It's about your dad. This is way more important." Pope states. He hold his hand out for the key. John B slowly out it into his hands.
      "Oh, you're a good friend." Limbrey sighs. "The tape." Pope demands again. "Yes, give him the tape." Limbrey says.
     Renfield and Pope slowly exchange the items before taking each of what they wanted. "You know, I wish that's you'd come to this decision earlier. We could have avoided all this unpleasantness." Limbrey breaths before wobbling away.
    "See you around Pope." Renfield tease as he follows the blonde woman. "Just go." Kiara snaps. The six of us watch the two walk further away from the dock.
     "How long do you think we have til she realizes she had your fathers old key?" JJ whispers. "Ten minutes." John B shrugs.
      Once their out of ear shot Pope turns around on his heels. Whose idea was the fake key?" He exclaimed happily.
     "Shockingly, not mine." Kiara admits. JJ looks way teasingly as John B rest his arm on JJ's shoulder.
     "JJ such a good idea!" I clap. "Wow! I'm impressed." Kiara smiles. "Maybe you are good for something." She teased. "Did he'll freeze over? Pope jokes.
     "Even a blind pig could find an acorn at times." JJ laughs. I scrunch my face at his weird analogy. "That's doesn't make sense, JJ" I chuckled. "Shhh, Be. Don't ruin my moment." JJ smiles.
     "We gotta take the tape to Shoupe." John B says, patting JJ on the back. "Yes, sir. Ward Cameron, we're coming for you, big boy!"