more than gold, jj maybank

The forbidden zone

I pick it up and examine it before passing it out of the hole.

"That's not gold." Pope says.

"Holy shit. This is from my dad." John B says, looking at the note.

"Um a little help?" I ask, struggling to get through the hole.

"Yep, on it." JJ says, walking over. He grabs my arms and pulls me towards him with out even thinking about how it would turn out.

"No, JJ!" I yelp, feeling my knee get scraped from the inside of the tomb as my upper body exits it.

"Shit!" He yelps, falling back and taking me with him. We land on the ground me literally on top of him. We groan in pain and I slowly sit up, only to find that I'm straddling him. "I could get used to this." He smirks. I shove his head and stand up to examine my grazed knee. It was bleeding a little bit but nothing I couldn't bare.

JJ stands up as well and takes a hit of his blunt before looking off in to the distance, "Code red. Code red. Square groupers! Square groupers!" He yells, pulling us all behind the tomb and away out of view. 

"Lights!" I hiss, turning mine off. JJ's head torch goes on strobe instead of off, making me have to lean over Pope to turn it off for him.

"Is it them?" Kie asks. JJ pokes his head around the corner to see the cart.

"Homie's got a gun." He says, looking back at us.

"Screw this." I say, grabbing Kies hand and running back to the Twinkie. Eventually, the boys follow and we all jump over the gate... except Pope. 

"Guys! Guys, I'm stuck!" He whispers.

"Pope, come one man!" JJ yells, pulling out his gun.

"What are you doing?!" I yell standing in front of the gun before pushing it down. "You trying to kill him?!" I hiss.

"You're gonna rip me! You're gonna rip me Kie!" Pope yells, a ripping sound following shortly afterword. 

"Nice, come one dude! It's like a little tootsie roll." JJ laughs.

"Stop come on!" I laugh dragging him by his hand.

"Stupid." Kie laughs, getting in the van after us and closing the door.

⋆

"That bread had mold on it three days ago." 

"I'll just pull off the bad parts. Besides, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism." JJ sasses.

"Hurry up!" I yell from next to John B.

"Hot damn, let's do it." He walks into the room holding his sandwich and a beer. he bites into it and instantly gags, spitting it into his hand. I grab the beer from his hand, cringing and take a sip.

John B opens the envelope revealing a map. "Holy shit."

"Oh, X marks the spot."  Pope points.

"Wait, there's something else in there." John B says, pulling out a tap recorder.

"What's that?" JJ asks.

"Tape recorder, dumbass." Kie says.

"Play it." He says.

"I- Ok..." John B says, handing it to me. I frown and turn it on.

"Dear Bird." Big John's voice starts. I grab John B's hand out of instinct and look to see if he's ok.

"Who's Bird?" JJ asks.

"That's what my dad called me." John B answers, squeezing my hand.

"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. I 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, livin' off passive investments and pulling on permits. If not, and you find this for less then optimal reason, 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. I'll see you on the other side."