One Stupid Thing

The King Has Fallen

Every minute that passes feels like 20. I relocated to the couch, flopping down on it with an exasperated sigh. It's one thing to lock someone in a room, but it's another to lock them in a room with nothing to do. It's torturous.

"Sarah!" I hear someone shout faintly from down the hallway. For a second I think I'm hearing things, but then I hear it again. "Sarah!" This time it's louder.

I sit up on the couch with interest. That voice is familiar. I'd say it's impossible that it could be him, but after today anything's possible. I hear pounding on a door just across the hall and the man calls my sister's name once more. "Sarah!"

Then, after a brief pause. The pounding sounds on my own door. The doorknob rattles as the man tries to open it. "Open up! Sarah!"

"John B? John B!" I shout back. I hurry over to the door and pound on it. "John B, it's Stella."

"Stella?"

"Yes, yes it's me!"

"Hang on. I'm going to get you out of there," he assures me. I wait in silence until he comes back and starts fiddling with the doorknob once more. Thankfully, the lock clicks and the door swings open. John B stands on the other side with a bent coat hanger.

"Oh my God," I breathe out in relief. He quickly steps through the threshold and wraps his arms around my shoulders in a big bear hug; the kind that is almost too tight, but you don't say anything about it.

"Are you okay? Where's Sarah?" he asks me once we step away from each other.

"I don't know. Wheezie left the door open when she went to go get cards and Sarah and I used the opportunity to escape. I kept Rose busy for as long as I could but she saw right through me and locked me in here," I explain to him frantically.

"Okay, so she is somewhere on this boat?" he asks.

I nod. "What are you even doing here? How did you get on the boat?"

"We snuck on inside of some container," he replies nonchalantly. "You didn't think we'd just let your family kidnap you two, did you?"

"Wait, wait. Hold on. We?" I ask him.

"Yeah. Me, Pope, Kie, and JJ."

The corners of my mouth turn up subconsciously at the sound of his name. "I knew he was lying. I knew you guys wouldn't trade us for the cross," I say, partially to myself.

"What?" John B looks at me in confusion.

"Nevermind. Long story." I purposefully avoid the topic of my dad's reappearance. The boat is big, but it's not too big. He'll find out eventually.

"Okay, well, we have to get out of here. I ran into Rafe downstairs and now he's out for blood."

"Well, then why are we just standing here? Let's go!" I urge him.

He turns tail and darts back out of the room, running down the opposite direction in which he originally came. I follow as quickly as I can, pushing away the dull pain.

The two of us break out into the light, creep around corners, and steer clear of any crew members until we reach a balcony type thing that overlooks one half of the ship. John B touches a finger to his lips, signaling for silence, and we crouch down below the half-wall to keep out of sight. The sounds of struggle peak our interest.

"Dad," a weak voice barely speaks.

"Don't call me that," a man responds, clearly distressed.

"Dad."

"Don't call me that! You don't mean it!"

John B and I peer over the edge and down onto the deck below us. The sight makes my breath hitch. My father has his hands wrapped around Sarah's neck aggressively. My sister is trying desperately to get out of his tight grasp, but she isn't strong enough. John B takes immediate action, running down the nearby stairwell and coming up behind Ward.

"Get off her!" John B cries out as he wraps his arms around my dad's neck and pries him away from Sarah. She gasps for air and coughs.

"Oh my God, Sarah!" I hurry to her side and place a comforting hand on her back, rubbing it as she coughs. "Just breathe."

John B lands a fist across my dad's cheek and it knocks him to the floor. "Sarah. Hey. Hey. Hey. Look at me. Look at me. I got you, okay? Hi." John B holds Sarah's face in his hands and wipes the hair away from her tear soaked face.

"John B," she replies softly, reaching up to touch his face.

"I told you I wasn't gonna leave you, right? I got you. I got you." John B holds my sister and presses his forehead against hers sweetly. "It's okay."

Out of the corner of my eye I see my dad stir. He gets to his feet and starts to come up behind John B. "John B! John B, watch out—"

My warning is too late. Ward wraps his arms around John B's throat and rips him off the floor and away from my sister. "No! No!" she cries.

"It's your fault! Your fault!" Ward groans as he struggles to hold on to the boy. John B fights for his life and manages to elbow my father in the side. The impact causes him to let go of John B, but he rebounds quickly, taking the Pogue by the shoulders and throwing him to the ground. He hits the metal side of the boat with a groan.

"No!" Sarah cries out. She lunges forward and tries to grab onto Ward's shirt.

"Sarah, no!" I gently grab her by the shoulders and pull her back. She sobs in my arms, but doesn't try to escape them.

Ward doesn't pay attention to us. He doesn't give John B any time to catch his breath before he lunges at him again, however the boy is prepared for him. He lifts his leg up, presses it against my father's chest, and pushes him back. Ward stumbles back and John B gets to his feet. The boy's face is stone cold and merciless.

The two men continue to tousle. My father gains the upper hand for only a moment, pressing John B's face down onto a table, but the boy quickly smacks his hand away. Ward throws a punch, John B dodges it, and catches my dad off guard by returning his own hit to the man's jaw. Ward falls back and turns to catch himself before he hits the ground.

"Come on, Ward!" John B eggs him on, grabbing onto my father's shirt and pulling him off of his feet to face him once more. He latches onto the man's shirt with one hand and lands a few blows to his face with the other. The once strong Ward Cameron gave up and rolls with the punches.

With one last final hit, John B releases Ward and he falls back. The man's neck falls on a sharp edge with a grotesque squelching sound. I grimace and avert my eyes. When I glance back, my father is staring in bewilderment at his fingers, which are stained red with fresh, flowing blood. He groans in agony.

John B leans down on top of him and grips his shirt once more. "Is this how you did it, huh? Is this how you killed my father? You just threw him in the ocean?" he mutters grimly. John B moves his hand from Ward's chest to gripping his face to make certain that my father is staring right into his eyes when he speaks. "I never got to say goodbye. Because of you. This is all your fault." The boy sniffles and tears run down his cheeks as he stares down at his tormentor. Taking matters into his own hands, John B grips Ward's shirt once more and lifts him off the floor. He glances over at Sarah and I with a coldness in his eyes. My sister just nods softly.

Holding my father's life in his hands, John B had every right to toss him off the ship and into the ocean below after everything he had done. Sarah knows that now. She has accepted it and so have I, but as the boy stares down at the man, something in him shifts. He lowers the man back to the ground and walks away. He didn't have to take mercy on my father, but he did. John B could have put an end to everything but he didn't because if he did then he would be no better than Ward Cameron. And so, he did the bigger thing. My father lays on the deck with his mouth gaping. The Kook King has fallen. The Pogues are in power now.

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Edited: 4/5/26