MERCEDES, jj maybank

56.

KARMA

When nightfall came and everyone was asleep getting rest so that Pope could go visit his great-grandma in the morning. Rafe had been messaging Trinity through the day and all though she didn't reply to any of them she felt that she would have to sooner or later.

"Where do you disappear to?" JJ came up behind her and asked.

She jumped and turned round in her chair, "What are you talking about?"

JJ reaches for a chair and pulls it around to sit in front of her, "Like, today, you just vanished and you said you were getting food?" JJ quotes but didn't believe the girl.

The girl nods, "Yeah, I was hungry and needed to get away from the awkwardness of John B and Sarah,"

JJ laughs, "Yeah the whole thing with Topper, that was uncomfortable."

"See, Topper's not that bad. I mean he saved Sarah,"

"Yeah, because he's obsessed with her." JJ put's it simply, "Anyway, I'm tired, so goodnight Mercedes," He gets up from his chair and passes Trinity, rubbing her shoulder as he passes.

"Wait JJ," She calls out and he stops, turning around to look at her. "I missed you,"

JJ smiles to himself and quickly walks back over to her, and kisses her cheek, "Missed you more,"

§

Trinity sat in the very back of the Twinkie watching the silent and awkward ride. She had her headphones in and was nodding her head to the rhythm of her music which the others close to her could faintly hear.

"Guys, the thing that Limbrey said, I don't think she meant to let it slip," Pope says stopping the since from getting to his head. "She said the key leads to the Cross of Santo Domingo."

"Wait can I see that?" JJ holds his hand out to Pope to receive the key.

"Are we supposed to know what that is?" Sarah says bluntly. She and John B were both at a rough patch in their relationship which was why everything around them was currently awkward.

"I'm guessing it's some sorry of a historical artifact of great importance," Pope suggests.

Kiara looks up from her phone, "Well, according to the interwebs, it was a gift from New Spain to the Spanish King."

"New Spain? Is there an Old Spain?" JJ turns around from the passenger seat to look at Kiara, who just looks at him like he's stupid.

Kie continues to talk about the cross. "Talk about over-gifting. Look at that thing,"

Trinity notices Kiara showing everyone in the van a picture of the cross on her phone and took out one of her earbuds. It was a giant golden cross that was heavily blinged out. "Looks like there's a person standing next to it."

"So it's a giant-ass cross," Trinity sums up, "If it's actually solid gold imagine how heavy that would be,"

Kiara goes back to reading the facts from the webpage she found on her phone, "It was widely considered at the time to be the most extravagant tribute ever from the provinces. It was lost off the coast of Bermuda in 1892."

"Did you just say Bermuda?" JJ whips around.

"Oh, no. Not the triangle," John B groans.

JJ slaps John B's arm as if he's had a breakthrough, "It always leads back to the triangle, dude, like every single time something weird, it's Bermuda."

Trinity pipes up, packing her headphones away, "Did you know triangles are one of the strongest shapes?" They all turned to face her and stare at her apart from JJ, he pointed and agreed, "What? It's true,"

"Okay, well, what does a key found above Pope's grandmother's pharmacy have to do with any of this?" Kiara asks.

"Great-grandmother," Pope corrects her quietly.

"Yeah, sure, but where do we come in?"

Pope doesn't have an answer, "I don't know. That's a good question,"

"Well that's what we're going to find out aren't we?" Trinity says.

John B pulls up to a home for the elderly about fifteen minutes later so JJ goes and slides the door open, letting Pope out. Just as Kiara and the other two girls were going to join him, Pope changes his mind,

"Hey, actually, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself,"

JJ narrows his eyes and notices and he is speaking directly to Kiara. "Are you sure?" She asks him, fixing her headband.

"Yeah. I can handle it." He says bluntly, "I don't really need you, so,"

Trinity's face falls. More awkwardness and tension that she will have to endure even though it was the one thing she couldn't stand the most.

"Oh, we're just all one big happy family today, aren't we?" JJ clasps his hands together sarcastically, watching Kiara sit back inside the van.

Pope doesn't say anything and just turns his back on his friends, heading off inside so JJ slides the door shut and sits back in his seat, putting his feet up on the dashboard.

John B quickly rolls down his window, "Pick you up in a bit!" He calls out to Pope as he drives off.

Trinity shoved her earbuds back into her ears because she couldn't bear to deal with another silent car journey. Kiara wanted to stop at a store to get something to eat so John B pulled over by the Kildare Island Surfboard Co.

And then just John B and JJ were left in the van, talking things out while the girls were in the store. Sarah bought a soda, Trinity bought a slushy and Kiara bought a bag of chips and a bottle of water.

"This is killing me, guys." Trinity pouts, "JJ asked why I keep disappearing and it's because I cannot cope with awkward situations,"

Sarah takes a sip of her soda, "Yeah but all I did was thank Topper because he saved my life and John B is acting like it's the crime of the century,"

Kiara agrees, "Pope is giving me the silent treatment for not being in love with him but look at what is happening around us! I don't really have time to be focused on that, you know?"

Trinity sighs, "Why are they so dramatic?"

"But even you and JJ, something's off with that, you went from dating to not even talking," Kiara points out.

Trinity holds her index finger up, "We were never dating and now it's just not the same, besides I have a psychotic ex-boyfriend, wouldn't really be the smartest thing in the world to date someone new,"

"True," Sarah laughs, "Boys," She shakes her head and sits back into the van.

"What y'all talking about?" Kiara asks, getting seated.

"This evidence that the Limbrey chick supposedly has," John B tell her, glancing at JJ. "Shall we go and get our boy?"

"Yeah,"

"Let's do it!"

It had eased up a bit now and there was a light hum of chatting during the ride back to Pope. The Pogues had passed around Trinity's slushy all taking a sip. "Okay, give it back now - JJ!" She shouts watching him slurp it down.

He hands it back and holds his forehead squeezing his eyes shut, "Uh, fuck. Brain freeze,"

"Karma," Trinity shrugs, putting the straw to her mouth.