riptide- outer banks

108 | the weight we carry

〰⋅〰⋅〰

Everyone had believed him. Not one raised flag at the explanation JJ had given as to where he and Kori had been since yesterday morning. No one seemed to question Kori's disappearance either. Pope was the most skeptical, but even then, he went with it. The whole fifteen months card had been a sore spot for years and even though it hadn't been touched in what felt like ages, no one thought anything of it.

Logan didn't know if that relieved him or if it worried him. How did no one pick out that Kori didn't care about that anymore. In an odd way, she'd accepted being the younger sister. So the fact that no one batted an eye at that being the lie JJ had come up with only confused him. But in all fairness, would he believe it if he didn't know the truth?

His hands fell from the steering wheel of the twinkie, eyes wandering over to his sister. "I don't know if I'm ready for this." He admitted.

"Same." Sarah remarked, hand instinctively falling atop his. "But we're in this together. And if he really said what he did to you yesterday–about how he wants us all to be good–then it's on him to actually make that happen."

"Yeah." Logan quietly agreed, subsequently getting out of the car.

Sarah joined him and together, the two of them walked up the steps to the front door. They wouldn't be doing this unless they were desperate. And they were. Logan's little investment gig wasn't enough for a lawyer. Maybe some cheap-ass one, but not enough for the kind they'd need to save Poguelandia. The hearing was tomorrow and if they didn't figure out a solution soon, they were screwed.

"Hello?" Sarah called out as she pushed the front door open.

There was no response, forcing the pair to walk through the condo and to the back door. Logan opened it, eyes locking onto his older brother's as his hands smacked together. He was applauding them. "Hey. Thank you for showing up. Good work."

"Shut up." Logan quipped as Rafe leaned back with a smirk.

Sarah mirrored her younger brother as they both took a seat. "Please stop. I don't want to argue. We already have enough people against us."

Rafe scratched the back of his head as he held eye contact with his younger siblings, his full undivided attention given to them. He just knew that Logan was a big reason as to why Sarah was there. And that made the hope in his chest gleam slightly.

"Kiara mentioned that you might be able to help." Sarah recalled.

"Uh, no. No, not with the land stuff." Rafe declared, leaning forward. "You guys are on your own with that. Sorry."

"Why the hell are we here then?" Logan questioned.

"Because–" His brother responded, potently meeting his gaze. "There's something else I want to talk to you about. Something we didn't get to talk about yesterday."

There was a beat.

When Rafe's voice came out next, it was soft. As if one wrong current and he'd fall beneath the surface of the waves. "So, when...dad died, the first time..." He inhaled. "Um...he said I got a quarter of what he had."

"Yeah, he said I got a quarter, too."

Logan remained quiet, choosing to stay that way.

"But you didn't get it–either of you–right?" Rafe asked.

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "No."

"Yeah, well, good luck trying to get that from Rose's greedy paws. She's got that money locked down tight."

"Well, I keep trying to call." Sarah admitted, head beginning to shake. "She won't even let me talk to Wheezie."

"Which is why I wanted to hear it from you." Rafe said slowly, statement directed at his little brother.