𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙. 𝟷 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘-

"the house behind me and the people in it / will all go up like steam in just a minute... on the day / when my new friends come"

~

Tate woke up the next morning still laying on John B's couch, stretched out across the section facing the TV.  She could feel warm sunlight pouring over her before she even opened her eyes and knew the hurricane was over. She raised her head slightly and squinted around the messy room. JJ was lying perpendicular to her on the other section of the couch, sprawled out in his cargo shorts from the day before and no shirt. She rubbed her eyes as John B stumbled out of his room towards them. He slapped JJ's leg to wake him up. "Yo JJ, you been outside?"

"I have polio bro, I can't walk," JJ muttered, his voice muffled by a pillow. Tate sat up and swung one leg over the edge of the couch, pulling the other to her chest.

"'Morning," she said through a yawn.

John B raised his chin at her in a half nod of acknowledgement. "How'd you sleep?" he asked on his way to the door. Tate only nodded in sleepy response and watched John B stagger out onto the lawn to survey the damage. She always loved the calm after storms. The way the entire island seemed to be bathed in clean, golden light.

She rolled off the couch, stumbling a bit before standing straight and running her fingers through her hair. She stretched her arms towards the ceiling and groaned, "Come on, JJ." She reached down to mess up his hair. "Let's go see what Agatha did."

JJ let out a halfhearted protest, but picked himself up and grabbed a can of beer before following Tate outside.

"Agatha did some work, huh?" JJ called to John B, who only grunted in response. The damage was worse than they'd expected. Branches littered the backyard and the Pogues' boat had been moved almost to the house by the strong wind and raised waters. Tate stepped over the ground carefully in her bare feet, careful not to walk on anything sharp as she and JJ joined John B at the boat. He was beginning to clear away the branches that had fallen on it. Tate crossed her arms and squinted up at the sky as the boys talked.

"What're you thinking?" JJ asked John B.

"I'm thinking that storm surge pushed all of the crabs out on the marsh maze," said John B, giving up cleaning to sit on the ledge of the boat and gaze around at the disheveled yard. "All those drum are gonna chase the crab."

"What about the DCS? Wasn't that today?" said JJ.

"The DCS?" Tate piped up. "They find out you're living alone?"

"Yeah," said John B grimly, "But they're not getting on a ferry today. Come on, think about it," he turned to JJ and Tate and gestured grandly at the water. "It's God tellin' us to fish."

---

Tate helped the boys get the boat to the water's edge, but then turned and started back towards the house.