fade away youth// rafe cameron

5-SITTING ON YOUR SOFA

I go with John B to get the tanks from the Druthers.

"You'd think we'd have learned a long time ago to never listen to JJ," I tell him. "He's full of bad ideas."

John B nods. "Like stealing from my rich boss." I nod my head. "But this time, he's right. I have nothing to lose."

"Except for the crew," I remind him.

"My dad said the island was America on steroids. The haves and have-nots like anyplace, but magnified and multiplied," John B tells me. "The way I see it, the game's rigged. Maybe it always has been. No parents, no money and no one looking out for us. Addie, we've got no chance unless we make it on our own."

I sigh. "I guess we're gonna have to take these tanks."

"I think it's our chance," John B tells me.

After John B gets the tanks, we grab the rest of the crew and head out into the marsh.

Kie inspects the tanks. "This is empty. You took empty tanks?"

"I..." John B starts.

I check the other one. "Okay, this one's a quarter full. It's enough for one of us."

"Love it when a plan comes together," Pope remarks.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kie asks. We all look around at each other. "Anybody?"

"It's kind of a Kook sport," I offer.

Pope sighs. "I... read about it."

"Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die," Kie remarks.

"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" JJ asks.

"If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends," Pope explains.

JJ arches his back. "Bends like, bend over and..."

Pope cuts him off, "The bends kill you."

JJ stands up straight. "Right."

"I can... I can dive," John B offers.

"You can dive. I'm cool with that," JJ remarks.

"Since when can you dive?" I ask.

"I'll do it. It's fine," John B assures.

"Let me do some calculations real quick," Pope says.

Kie looks at John B. "You serious?"

Pope picks up a pencil and starts to write. "That boat's about 30 feet down. So it'll take 25 minutes at that depth. Which means you need to make your safety stop at about... ten feet. All right? For two minutes."

John B nods. "Yeah, yeah. Ten feet, two minutes. Got it."

I take my shirt off before jumping into the water. I tie my shirt around the anchor chain before resurfacing. I swim back towards the boat.

"Hey! I tied my T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down," I explain. "It's where you need to do your safety stop."

"Cool," John B states.

Pope holds up the air gauge. "Keep an eye on this. You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress."

"Okay, how much do I need?" John B asks.

"Unclear. Breathe as little as possible," Pope warns.

"Zen. Think Zen, you know?" JJ imitates breathing through a mask.

"Yeah. Got it," John B states.

"Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so... better get a move on," I advise.