Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

Sarah

   

"Okay so what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asked. The flames from the bonfire illuminated his skin as he eyed John B.
     "You ready for this?" John B asked. "Yeah." Kiara says, eagerly. "So the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." John B spoke. 
    I furrow my brows. "Oh, my God." Pope sighed. "Here we go again with this." He says, shaking his head.
    I raise my hand. "Um...what gold? What are you talking about?" I asked the Pogue. "There's gold hidden on this island and we're going to find it." JJ smirks, proudly.
    "I don't believe you guys." I chuckled. "Is this some kind of joke? Cause this is very much sounding like that show On My Block. Are we searching for Roller World Money. Is there a secret gnome hidden in that book bag of yours, John B?" I joked.
    He rolls his eyes. "No, Phoebe!" John B snaps. "This is real. It's been here the whole time. It's on the island." He says.
   "Are you serious?" Kiara leans forward. "I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope states. I nod in agreement. "I would like to here his skepticism." I say. "I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B stands up grabbing his bag.
    "Proceed." Pope waves his hand. "Okay, so in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B opens his bag, pulling out an old folded up piece of parcel.
   ""Who the hell's that?" Kiara asked. "Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." John B unfold the parcel handing it to Kie. I look over her shoulder skimming the page as she focuses on the writing.
    "Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom." John B explains.
    Kiara hands the page to Pope. He quickly takes it. "After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is...."
    Kiara and JJ pat their legs waiting for the big reveal.
    "Tannyhill Planation." He says. "Tannyhill?" Kiara says, excitedly. "Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him. So on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold." John B looks into my eyes as he tried to convince me of the story.
    "Where?" I whispered. "Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except...there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." John takes the page from Pope.
    He flashes his flashlight onto the words. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water." John B explains.
    Kiara laughs in disbelief. "Holy shit." Pope says, stunned.
     I cross my arms, standing up in the process. "Okay, this sounds a little too thought out. Are you sure this is the right information?" I tilt my head. John B runs his fingers through his hair.
   "Of course, Be!" He grabs my arms, shaking my body in the process. "You gotta believe me." He says. "I think John B is on to something, Phoebe." Kiara says.
   I slap John B hands off me. "Fine. I'll bite. But if we come to a dead end just know I'll be ready to tell you I told you so." I sassed. John B smirks. "Oh, I'm sure you will."
   I sit back down on the log. "All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold." John B smiles.
    "Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope spoke. "Dude, it's like King Tut." Kiara smiles, giddily. JJ quickly gets up and pulls John B into a big hug.
   "Hey, whoa! Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn." John B warns his friend as JJ balances back onto his feet away from the fire pit. "I'm so proud of you right now." JJ pats John B's cheek.
   "Okay, so guys what's the plan?" Pope asked. "Good question. So, Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She's gonna bring an original survey map-." Kiara quickly cuts John B off.
    "Hold on!" She starts. "Sarah? Wh-why Sarah?" She asked. "Sarah she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter." John B explains.
    "You we're in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron? Kiara snaps. "He was mackin' on her." JJ pipes in. "I wasn't macking." John B defends. "You we're totally macking Sarah Cameron." JJ adds.
     "I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access." John B explains. "There was access, all right." JJ mumbles.
    "Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kiara shouts. "I was just trying to get into the archives." John B shouts back. "Is that a yes!" Kiara asked. "I-I left out key details." John says. "Yo, what! You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?" Kiara says.
    "Wait, who the hell is this Sarah girl?" I asked Kie. "Remember that bitch I told you about over the phone last summer?" Kiara asked. My eyes suddenly widen in realization.
   "Wait. Is she the blonde sister of that Rafe guy?" I asked. Kiara nods. I quickly stand up. "Oh, hell no, John B. We are not working with her." I say. "Come on Kiara we're leaving." I hold my hand out for my cousin to take. Kiara takes my hand, standing up. She wipes her dress off with her free hand.
    "You guys cant just leave." John B blocks me from leaving the cove. "I'm trying to make us filthy rich here." John B argues.
    "Move." I say, sternly. "Look, you don't know her yet. I do! You can't trust her." Kiara says. "Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club." Pope states.
   "Rafe and Sarah are different human beings." John B defends. "What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ asked. "She's like a-like a spitting cobra. First, she-she blinds you." Kiara tries to explain.
    "This is a bad analogy." Pope said. "Listen to me! What ever we get, she's gonna try to take." Kiara says.
    "Look I promised Sarah we would meet her at the Hawks Nest." John B says, eagerly. "Can we please just go and talk about this later?" John B asked.
    I look over to Kiara. Her lips are pulled into her signature pout. "Fine let's go." She whispers, silently.
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The ride to the Hawks Nest was silent as the five of us rode in the back of John B's Twinkie. The floor was covered with sandy clothes from the beach. And empty Cook Out cups. The seats smelled like weed.
John B finally shuts off the engines as we make it to our destination. Pope immediately opens the sliding door.
"Let's hit it boys! Recon Mission!" JJ shouts. "Yo, uh....so, uh, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself..." John B stuttered.
I roll my eyes along with Kie. "Really?" JJ asked, adjusting the hat on his head. "What?" John B asked. "Nothing, brother." JJ sighed. "Look I just don't want to spook Sarah with peanut gallery." John B defends.
"I just don't understand why we're involving her at all." Kiara speaks up. John runs his hand though his hair as he sighed, clearly frustrated with Kie.
"Kie, we're not involving her, okay?" John B says. "It's just like a business meeting..." John B explains.
JJ pretends to deep throat a joint. Pope and I smile at his playfulness. "Look, once we get what we need we cut her loose, all right?" John B said.
"You better, John B." I finally speak up. "If my cousin isn't comfortable with her being around, then neither am I." I spoke.
"Promise me nothing happened between you two." Kiara says. "Nothing is happening, Kie." John B said. "I'm being serious." Kiara snaps. "Okay!" John B shouts. "This isn't about you, and this isn't about us. This is about her. Dude, she's gonna get inside your head. Just promise me nothing's happening between you guys." Kiara asked one more time.

John B hesitates before he answers. "I promise." He says, shrugging his shoulders.

"He's lying." I snap.

"That was really believable." JJ says.

"A hundred percent believable." Pope agrees.

"Anyways, um... I'm gonna take care of business." John B says. "Yeah. Yeah. Just leave us in this hot-ass car. While it's lightning." Pope says, before John B hops out the van.
Kiara and I sit in silence as we wait for John B to come back with the original map. "Kiara, holding onto your grudge is like drinking poison and thinking Sarah will die." Pope says. "Exactly." Kiara nods in agreement.
"Do you think Anna is going to be pissed when we get back home?" I asked Kiara, changing the subject. "Pissed is an understatement." Kiara says, clicking her tongue. "Mom expects you to be a good influence for me." She says. I laugh. "I feel like you've influenced me a lot more these past few days." I say.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure my mom doesn't go ballistic on you." She says.
"Somebody help!" A faint cry for help could be heard from outside. Kiara and I look at each other, making sure that we both heard it.
"Wait did you guys hear that?" Kiara asked. JJ and Pope continue to chat amongst themselves. I grab one of my heels and poke Pope with the stiletto.
"Ow!" He snaps. "Listen!" I cut him off. "Somebody help, please!" We hear the voice again.
"Shit! Let's go!" JJ says. The four of us hop out of the van. We follow the voice to the Hawks Nest. As we make it to the bottom of the tower, I can see Sarah Cameron holding John B as he lies unconsciously on the ground.
"Sarah, what happened?" Pope asked. "I don't know what to do. He needs help. Topper shoved him." Sarah sobs. Her fingers caresses John B's cheeks.
"Where the hell is he!" JJ shouts, looking around for the Blonde Kook. "Oh, please, please, please get help. I don't care who. Just call someone." She continues to sob. Her white dress blows in the wind and the rain begins to pour.
"Go, go. Get help. JJ says. Pope begins to run back to the van. "Pope, hurry!" Kiara yells. "John B stay with me." Sarah cries. She leans forward, bringing her lips to his. "Please don't leave me." She says, before kissing him.
I look over to Kiara. Her face is filled with devastation as she watches her ex-best friend kiss her now best friend.