"Everyone hands up!" The cops yelled at us. We did, following John B into the opening.

They all kept yelling at us. "Hey listen, Shoupe. I wanna testify." John B told him as they advanced. "It's about time. Get down. Do not move a muscle. Everybody else, don't move." Shoupe repeated as another cop came up behind John B.

He acted like he was going to cuff John B but then started pulling him up, choking him. "Seriously? Come on!" JJ yelled at them.

"Come on, Thomas!" Shoupe yelled as Thomas threw John B to the ground.

"No!" Sarah yelled. "Stop! Let him go!" Kie yelled. I'm not even sure what was coming out of my mouth. All I felt was rage.

Thomas was kicking John B. "Sherif, what is that? You're gonna let that happen?" I finally heard myself yell. Another male officer was trying to keep me back cause apparently I was yelling a lot before.

Plumb finally put a gun up to my head, inches away. "Don't move!" She shouted. Another officer with a machine gun held his up to me. That made me stop moving.

None of us stoped screaming though.

Thomas pulled John B up. "Thomas!" Shoupe yelled as he tried to pull him off John B. "Get off!" Thomas protested and pushed Shoupe back.

"This is for Peterkin." Thomas said. John B made direct eye contact with me. I could see it in his eyes he knew it was coming. I knew what was coming.

Thomas punched John B so hard it knocked him to the ground. "No!" I heard myself yelled.

When I get angry, fuck I don't know how to explain it. Everything goes black. People say they see red, really it's just like blacking out but your body's still moving. Its like I can see and hear myself but I cant control it.

I have anger issues if I haven't stated that before and they've been bad for a long long time, but I take medication for it. Guess I didn't take it in a while oops.

I'm not even sure what happened if I'm honest. I'm pretty sure I punched Plumb and then started going at Thomas. Also pretty sure I had my knife in my hand. My bad.

Something happened but either way I got knocked the fuck out.

~~~

When I woke back up, I was on the couch in the Chât and it was dark already. It was quite besides the waves outside.

I sat up, holding my head where a huge headache was coming on. Guess I did get knocked the fuck out.

I stood up, yelling "Hello?". Where is everyone? I knew John B was gone. I had to worry about where the Pogues were first though then I'd worry about him.

No one answered and I checked the house. No one. I went outside and found JJ's shoes in the screened in porch.

After a second of searching, I found him on the waves. Well sitting on his surfboard on the water and letting the small waves take him up and down.

He was just staring out into the moon and just watching him was peaceful.

After a while I decided to get my board and went out with him. He realized I was there when I got closer. "Hi." I said, sitting right next to him, my legs in the water on either side of me.

He forced a smile when he looked at me. He was stressed and sad, JB was gone again. "What'd they do with him?" I asked quietly, JJ looking away from me. "Jail. For now." JJ replied after taking in a deep breath.

"They just told us he'd have a court date soon." He added. My breath slowed down, my head was still pounding. "Pope and Kie went to Popes house. Sarah's in John B's room." He added.

"He's gonna be okay." J said. He told me it but it sounded more like he was reassuring himself. "He's gonna be okay." He repeated again softly.

I looked at him. He was still looking up at the moon, but his eyes were filled with tears. They weren't coming down his face yet but you could tell they were about to.

"He's gonna be okay." JJ said one last time, looking down from the moon and making eye contact with me. I gave him the best smile I could, which wasn't much, and nodded slightly.

We weren't the best at being positive but maybe we could be for a night.

We just sat on the water for a while, listening to the water and trying to stay calm. The water was both of our safe places. It was so calming if you just listened. It was what we both needed right now.

When we both got so tired that we had to go inside, we went back. I went inside to change out of my wet clothes and came back out, but JJ wasn't in the house again.

He was outside laying on the hammock, facing the ocean. Comfort place.

I went outside and walked up to the hammock. Neither of us said anything but I laid down beside him and he just put his arm around me, pulling our bodies together.

It was nice despite the circumstances. Just us together, alone, on a perfect night, watching the waves and falling asleep to the sounds.

~~~

Then the next morning it hit. John B's court date was pushed to that day because they claimed it "urgent". So we went to court.

All the Pogues were there obviously and a lot of other town citizens, some on our side and some on the other.

We all sat together on a bench, watching anxiously as they debated his case.

Finally those words. Those fucking words.

"John Booker Routledge... you are charged with murder in the first degree."

Then it got worse.

"If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty."