𝐀 𝐊𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄, 𝗋𝖺𝖿𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗋𝗈𝗇

9: "𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚘𝚘𝚔!"

Still night time, the group of teenagers found themselves back at the Chateau that had been cleaned up, most likely from John B before he had picked them up to go to the graveyard. Kiara, Y/n and John B were all at the dining room table together.

Meanwhile, Pope was walking down the hallway, about to join them. The Heyward boy had been able to find a pair of shorts from John B's closet, putting them on so he didn't have to keep covering his crotch by just wearing his boxers.

In the kitchen by himself, JJ leaned over the counter, a butter-knife in hand as he continued to apply peanut butter to very, very moldy bread that laid out in front of them. At the sight of this, Y/n couldn't help but let out a little gag upon seeing her best friend not caring about it.

"That bread had mold on it three days ago." Pope tells the blonde, walking past him.

"I'll just pull off the bad parts. Plus, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism." JJ states, clearly not knowing a thing.

Once finishing by putting the peanut butter on the bread, the blonde joins his friends at the table, taking a bite of the bread only to start gagging, walking away from a second and spitting it out into the garbage all while John B opens the envelope from his father, unfolding a map and placing it on the table.

"Oh. X marks the spot." Y/n points out, pointing at the X on the map.

"Longitude, latitude. Wait, there's something else in there." John B murmurs.

The four friends watch as he digs into the envelope, bringing out a tape recorder and staring at it curiously as it laid in his hands.

"What's that?" JJ asks.

"It's a tape recorder, dumbass." Kie replies.

"Dear Bird." A voice begins from the tape recorder.

"Who's Bird?" JJ questions.

"That's what my dad called me." John B informs.

"I hate to say, "I told you so", but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment, you're filled with guilt and self-loathing over our last fight, but don't kill yourself just yet, kid. I didn't expect to find the Merchant either. You were probably right to call me out. Wasn't exactly Father of the Decade. What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn. And hopefully, we're listening to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, living off passive investments and pulling on permits. If not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for. There she is, the wreck of the Merchant. If something happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold, kid. I love you, Bird, even if I didn't always act like it." The voice of John B's father, Big John, explains. "I'll see you on the other side."

Feeling tears prick his hazel eyes and swallowing a lump in his throat, John B turns the tape recorder off and standing to his feet. Both Kie and Y/n watch in concern as he stumbles a little out of the room, holding onto the side of the wall, sobs leaving past his lips.

"Holy shit, he did it! Big John found the Merchant--" JJ exclaims.

"Can you... Can you please?" Kie stammers out, gesturing for him to be quiet.

JJ frowns. "Sorry."

Three out of the four friends watch as the Carrera girl makes her way towards their sobbing friend, wrapping her arms around him from behind as he continues to sob over his father's words, wishing things could've been different.

***

Now outside of the Chateau on the docks, the group of five found themselves silently sitting around together as John B had now calmed down from earlier. The only sounds that could be heard was Kie gently playing with her ukulele, the crickets deep beneath the grass and the soft whooshing of the water below them.

"How much was it again?" JJ asks, breaking the silence.

"Five hundred mil." Pope replies.

JJ nods, sighing. "Alright, let's talk split. Now, before we say "evenly", may I remind you that I am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us. Protection? Not cheap, okay?"

"You haven't trained. You've done zero training." Pope reminds.

"YouTube, bro!" JJ replies. "That's at least a five percent bump right there. Any objections? Didn't think so."

"What are you gonna do with your one hundred mil, Pope?" Kie questions.

"Pay for college in advance. And also, textbooks. Those are expensive." Pope lists, nodding in confirmation.

"What about you, Kie?" Y/n asks.

"Yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?" Pope adds in question.

Kie let's out a soft chuckle, shrugging. "Just wanna make a double album. About OBX, the Pogues. You know, the way Catch a Fire is about Kingston. Record it at Marley Studio, Peter Tosh producing."

"Peter Tosh is dead." Pope recalls.

"I know. Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die." Kie states. "How about you, Y/n/n?"

Y/n shrugs a shoulder, looking down at her hands. "Keep using my camera. Take more pictures of the scenery, of Outer Banks, the Pogues, the Kooks. Hopefully become a film teacher or something when I'm older. See my photo on the wall at a museum or a studio, a crowd surrounding it."

"I know what I'm gonna do." JJ blurts out, making everyone look at him. "I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figure Eight and go full Kook."

"You're gonna go full Kook?" Pope repeats in question.

JJ nods. "Yup. Gonna get a marble statue of myself, and then I'm gonna get a koi pond."

"I'm never visiting." Kie informs with a chuckle.

Y/n nods in agreement. "Yeah. Sorry, JJ, but neither am I. Ever."

"What are you gonna do, JB?" Pope suddenly questions, now looking at the brunette.

With a soft smile, John B glances between them. "To going full Kook."

Glancing at one another, the teenagers all share a smile before lifting their beer cans up in the air, clinking them all together.

"To going full Kook!"