We were back at the Chateau and John B was staring at the envelope not sure whether he should open it or not. I went to the kitchen to get a drink of water where I saw JJ making a peanut butter sandwich.
"That bread had mould on it three days ago JJ, that's disgusting" I said sitting on the counter next to JJ.
"I'll just pull off the bad parts, plus mould is good for you. It's a natural organism" He said, putting his sandwich together and standing between my legs.
"Want a bite?" He said raising his sandwich to my face
"Not one bit, and JJ you will not be kissing me after you eat that" I said pulling a face at the green bread between his hands
"Better get one now then" He said, giving me a kiss as we heard Kie call us from the lounge where John B had opened the envelope.
I sat next to John B and JJ stood above me. I pulled a face when I saw him take a bite out of the mouldy sandwich and laughed when he spat it out and gagged.
"Told you, idiot" I said laughing, looking up at JJ who was now picking at the sandwich.
A map and a tape recorder were in the envelope. John B looked at me as if to ask if he should play the tape recorder, I gave him a little nod and smile and then we heard our fathers voice.
"Dear Bird"
"Who's bird" JJ asked me quietly
"That's what he used to call John B" I said, I was a bit upset that this envelope and recording was just for John B but then again I did doubt the entire thing anyway.
"I hate to say, I told you so but I told you so. You doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment you are 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 the father of the decade, especially to Savannah." This comment made my eyes water as I felt John B hold my hand "What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn. And hopefully, we're listening to this together in our brand new sugar-shak 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 and look after your sister, just because she doubts the Merchant doesn't mean she doesn't care. She's too strong for her own good, don't let her look after you, you need to look after her.
I love you both, even if I didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side"
John B and I were both speechless and just looked at each other with tears in our eyes. He got up and leant against the door frame and began really crying.
"Holy shit, he did it!" I heard JJ say above me "Big John, he found the merchant!"
"Can you please read the room?" Kie said to JJ, noticing both John B and I were crying.
"Sorry" JJ said, kissing my head as Kie went over and hugged John B.
We all went out and sat on the dock, Kie and I sitting on the wooden railing, she was playing her ukulele and I was playing with JJ's hair as he stood in front of me.
"How much was it again?" JJ asked the group
"Four hundred mil" Pope answered
"All right, let's talk about the 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?" JJ said making all of us look at him
"You haven't trained" Pope said
"You have done zero training" I said to JJ
"Youtube" He said as if it was obvious "That's at least a five percent bump right there, any objections?" He asked and all of us raised our hands but he ignored us "Didn't think so"
"So what are you going to do with your 80 mil pope?" Kie asked
"Pay for college in advance, also textbooks, those are expensive" Pope said making us all laugh
"What about you, Kie?" I asked her
"Yeah what does a socialist do when she's rich?" Pope asked
"I want to 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" She said dreaming
"Peter Tosh is dead" Pope said to Kie
"Peter Tosh is dead, I know. Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die" Kie said, holding up her beer.
"I know what I'll do. I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figure Eight and go full kook" JJ said making me laugh
"You're going to go full kook?" I asked the boy in front of me
"Yup, going to get a marble statue of myself and then I'm going to get a koi pond put a bunch of fish in there" He said smiling at his idea
"I am never visiting" I said laughing
"You won't have to visit cause you'll be living there too" He said smiling at me
"What are you going to do JB?" Pope said looking up at John B who hasn't said a word since we listened to the tape recording.
"To going full kook" He said holding out his beer
"To going full kook" We all said together.
YOU ARE READING
Against the world/OBX
FanficSav Routledge thought her summer was going to be completely laid back until her brother and friends found a wreck in the marsh that brought up a lot of history for her family. She learns a lot about her dad, brother and her best friend suddenly has...
