WASTE - OUTER BANKS

six - hurricane agatha

The only thing anyone talked about all day was the hurricane. As Marina worked a shift at the boutique, it was the only topic of discussion on the radio. Tourons who came into the boutique asked her about it - whether she was scared, how safe she thought the hotels were, whether this would close the island down, etc. When she came home, the reporter on the five o'clock news was discussing the most efficient way to board up your windows.

"Mari," her mother said as she frantically cleaned their garage, "can you please grab the kayaks from the driveway and bring them in here? I do not want those blowing way."

"When is the storm?" Mari asked.

"The worst of it is supposed to come tomorrow night."

"And that means I have to do this right now?

"Mari, please," her mother cast her a threatening look, "just do this one thing for me and then you can go piss around with your friends."

Mari shrugged, "I don't have any plans."

"Really? You don't have plans with JJ and everyone?"

Mari shook her head.

"With Ben?" Her mom asked.

Mari shook her head again, "Just felt like staying home."

"Sweetheart, is everything okay?"

"You know mom," she said, "most teenagers on this island are jumping at the chance to avoid their parents. You should be thankful you have a daughter that's willing to spend time with you."

"Mari, I just wanna make sure everything's okay."

Mari shrugged unconvincingly.

"I'm fine," she said, "I'll pull the kayaks in."

Marina and her parents prepared the house for the hurricane for most of the day until her mom had to go into the boutique. She watched the news and ate lunch with her dad, until he got a phone call from a customer who needed a snapped belt fixed on their boat. When Mari became sufficiently bored, she called Kie and asked her if she wanted to come over.

The two girls sat on the edge of Mari's battered dock, passing a joint.

"John B had some appointment with DCS this morning," Kie said.

"What type of appointment?" Mari asked.

"Same old, same old I guess. I don't know. But," she said smiling a little, "on his way out this morning he saw JJ making out with some random girl in the bedroom."

Marina felt her face get about fifteen degrees hotter. Her stomach dropped as she asked, "Why would you tell me that?"

Kiara smirked and shrugged, "I don't know, I thought you might find it interesting."

Marina took a long hit of the joint. It was so much that she almost started coughing and she hadn't coughed while smoking since she was fourteen. She handed the joint back to Kiara without saying anything.

"I'm worried they're catching onto him," Kie said, changing the subject after she taking a hit.

"Catch onto JJ?"

"No," Kiara said, "John B. DCS."

"If they do?"

"He gets sent to foster care off the island I guess."

"Shit. That sucks."

Marina had nothing to contribute to this conversation. Obviously she would be devastated if John B got taken away, but she wasn't dwelling on it as much as Kiara clearly had been. She wasn't scared, she knew it would all work out. JJ said it earlier, but pogues had nine lives. There was always this feeling that they were invincible. No matter how deep the shit they got into was, they always came out of it.

"We're having a fire tonight, just the pogues," Kie said, "you should come."

Mari shook her head, "Thanks, but I'll pass."

"Come on," she said, "everyone misses you."

"I just need a little more space," Marina said.

Kiara didn't pry, which Marina was thankful for.

They kept smoking, talking about everything from their least favorite teachers to the hurricane.

Marina didn't see any of the pogues the following day. The entire population of the island was running around in a frenzy. The boutique was nauseatingly slow, so Mari spent the day putting the clothing on the racks out of their correct order, just so she could put them back into order again.

Mari decided to go to bed early. She wanted to fall asleep to the sound of the rain starting (she found it relaxing) but didn't want to be awake for the scary parts of the storm. Her plan was successful, and she drifted to sleep as she heard the wind pick up.

Marina woke up to a loud cracking noise and a bang. When she sat up, she saw a tree piercing through her bedroom ceiling and resting on her dresser across the room. She screamed. Her parents ran into the room and once they saw the tree, they screamed too. Rain started leaking into the room as Mari and her parents frantically tried to clear out the items in the room they didn't want getting wet. Mari had to sleep on the couch for the rest of the night, the image of the tree falling into her room burned into her mind.