𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙.𝟹 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗-

"and I know no one will believe me / but I don't want a second chance / to be an object of desire / if that means slipping through your hands."

~

After putting in a few hours of work at The Wreck later that day, Tate met up with JJ and Pope on the dock to help with their deliveries. The restaurant was dead because nobody wanted to go out with a storm brewing, so Tate and Kiara spent most of the day singing along to the Top 40 hits that came on the radio Mr. Carrera put in the kitchen. It was a fun afternoon, but Tate couldn't keep her mind off of JJ the whole time.

"You guys get these groceries over to Figure Eight," said Heyward, grabbing a few grocery bags and handing them Pope. "Get straight back here when you're done. No fishin'. I promised delivery by this afternoon." He turned back to grab another load of bags. "Rich folks don't wanna wait for you lazy sons of... Oh, JJ, thank you," he interrupted himself as he affectionately set a group of bags on JJ's outstretched arms. "...sons of bitches," he finished.

"Right," said Pope. Tate laughed and took the next couple of bags, setting them on the tabletop in the center of the boat and then going to sit by the wheel with JJ and Pope.

As Pope steered the boat through the wealthy part of town- by all of the summer-home docks in front of beachfront mansions, JJ twirled a pocket knife in his hands and Tate sat on the ledge, staring down into the tumultuous ocean. "Doesn't even look like the storm hit there," Pope said, sounding annoyed. He was staring at one of the mansions, the home of a family Tate used to babysit for.

"That's because they got generators, bro," said JJ. "Get used to it." He stared at the house bitterly. "And then they say the juice will be out all summer at the cut."

Tate nodded and plucked the knife from JJ's hands, setting it gently a few feet away. "That's the Parsons' summer home," she said longingly. She hated babysitting, but she did always love to look at the fancy and highly unnecessary things rich people bought when they had enough money for a summer home. "They have TV's in every room. That's what they're using their generators for while we go without power."

"It's nice to be a Kook," Pope sighed.

JJ gave Tate a sympathetic look and adjusted his sunglasses hanging on his shirt. "Lucky bastards."

"I'm gonna drop you guys off at The Circle and I'll meet you at the Hammond's dock- just to save time," Pope said, changing the subject.

Tate nodded her head and jumped down from the ledge, cat-like. "Great, divide and conquer."

When Pope pulled up at the dock that led to The Circle- a little cul-de-sac of rich-people homes that got pretty much all of their groceries from Heyward- she jumped off of the boat with JJ and balanced the grocery bags they needed in her hands. "You good?" JJ asked, struggling to hold his own pile of groceries. "Need me to take anything?"