The Breaking Point

This time, when Big John leaves for the weekend, it’s the ocean that calls to John B and JJ, the waves promising escape. They paddle out far, pushing themselves beyond the break, laughing like they’ve left every consequence behind on the shore.It ends in disaster, of course—6 months after the bonfire and the fight with Rafe, and 3 months after JJ spent his 13th birthday in a hospital bed, he’s still reeling. The bruises have faded, but the scars haven’t healed. He’s a shell of the kid he once was—physically weaker, emotionally lost.But out on the water, though, he feels a flicker of the kid he used to be. The risk, the thrill, the rush—it’s the closest he gets to feeling alive. So he chases it, paddling harder, craving the danger like it’s the only thing keeping him tethered to the world. But the ocean has other plans for him.