adrift. |jj maybank|

four.

"You're telling me what I can and can not do right now?"

"Look, I'm callin' it off. All right?" John B says to his friends as they sit in his backyard. "Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS." 

"And you believed her?" JJ asks, clearly annoyed. 

"Yes, I believe her, JJ. All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out. It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."

"You know what I should have done? Just let Saige's crazy ass brother drown your ass."

John B and JJ bicker more, causing JJ to get fired up, "They always, always win! Goddamn!"

"Hey, it's okay!" Saige says, trying to get JJ to calm down. 

"They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it. I know you do." JJ says turning to Pope, "And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk." JJ points to Kie, "I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?"

He stops at Saige, "You have no reason to do this, miss trust fund." JJ turns back to John B, "But you and me, man, we got nothin' to lose! We really don't, all right? And I know it didn't use to be that way for you."

John B shoves past JJ, "I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to talk about it."

JJ follows him, "John B, listen to me. I have a plan. You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right There's scuba gear. We borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man." 

John B shakes his head. Kie, Saige, and Pope exchange a look, not liking the sound of JJ's plan. 

"This is empty." Kie says as they stop the boat in the middle of the marsh. "You took empty tanks? Okay, this one's a quarter full and this one is a little less. It's enough for two of us."

"Love it when a plan comes together." Pope says, leaning back in his seat from behind the wheel.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" JJ asks. 

John B looks at Saige, "It's kind of a kook sport."

"I haven't been diving in like two years, but I remember it being pretty simple. Just put the thing in your mouth and breathe. Even JJ could do it." Saige says. 

"I read about it." Pope adds. 

"Great, Pope read about it and Saige did it years ago, so someone's gonna die." Kie says. 

"If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends." Pope says. Saige nods, remembering that from her past experience. 

"Bends like, bend over?" JJ says, demonstrating. 

"The bends kill you." Pope says. JJ stops and goes back to leaning against the side of the boat. 

John B raises his hand slightly, "Saige and I can dive."

I nod, "Yeah, that's our best bet." 

JJ shakes his head, "No way."

Kie turns to John B, "Since when can you dive?" 

"I'll do it. It's fine. Plus, Saige will go with me and she has experience." John B says to Kie. 

JJ shakes his head again, "No, she's not going down."

"You serious? You're telling me what I can and can not do right now?" Saige asks JJ, her eyebrows raised. 

John B coughs to cover up his laugh and Pope raises his eyebrows at the two blondes. "No, I mean, I just- it's not safe." JJ says, backtracking.