dog days of summer//pope heyward

nineteen

We stop running when we make it to a junkyard. Looking up we can see Ward's plane taking off.

"There goes the gold," Pope states.

JJ kicks a plastic chair.

"Shit!" Pope starts to throw things around. "Fuck!"

I call out to him. "Pope!"

"God damn it!" Pope picks up a baseball bat and starts to smash things with it. "Shit! Fuck!" He smashes an old tv. "Shit! Damn it!" He smashes things lining the shelves on the wall. He yells as he swings the bat around.

I look at JJ and Kie, but neither of them know what to do.

"Pope!" I shout. He doesn't stop smashing things. "Pope!" He yells as he throws a garbage can. "Pope!"

Pope stops smashing things as he sits down on a couch.

I look around at what Pope did. "Pope."

"Yeah, dude." JJ starts walking towards Pope. "I was wondering when this was gonna happen." He holds his vape out to Pope. "Here you go, chief. A little weed never hurt no one."

"JJ," I start.

JJ looks over his shoulder at me. "Relax, Nix."

"You know he doesn't smoke," I state.

Pope takes the vape from JJ. I look at him in surprise.

"Well, maybe not until today," JJ counters. He sits down next to Pope and watches him.

"Pope. Yeah, what is that gonna help?" I remark.

"I lost my scholarship. Walked out in the middle of the interview. Every..." Pope starts to get choked up. "It's gone. It's not gonna happen."

"You did that for us?" I question.

"No, not for us." Pope gets up and stands face to face with me. "For nothing."

"I'm here for you, Pope." JJ grabs Pope in a half hug. "Welcome to my world, okay?"

"JJ," I start.

"What, Nix? He's right," JJ states. Pope walks away from us. "It doesn't matter anymore."

Pope leans against a support beam and takes a hit.

"You don't have to do that," I state.

"What do you care?" Pope asks.

I shake my head. This isn't the Pope I know. "What do I care?" I question. I hear someone behind us and turn to see John B. I rush towards him. "Dude! Dude, you good?"

"Oh, my God! John B!" Kie shouts.

JJ looks at his blood covered hands. "Is this yours?"

"Whose blood is that?" Kie asks.

"Hey, you okay, man?" Pope asks.

"John B, are you okay?" I question.

We hear sirens and a police car is coming our way. We duck down behind some junk out of sight.

John B explains to us what happened after we ran. Sheriff Peterkin tried to arrest Ward Cameron for the murder of Big John. In the process Rafe showed up out of nowhere and shot her in the chest. He doesn't know where Sarah is, but he can only assume she's back at Tannyhill.

Since John B's van is at the airstrip we take my SUV to the police station. It's dark by the time we get there.

"John B, what are we doing at the police station?" JJ asks.

"Somebody's gotta tell them what happened," John B explains.

Pope takes another hit and starts to cough.