The Cool Kids - JJ Maybank

All This Over A Compas?

I know I’m not going to be welcomed by Kiara when I enter the chateau but I don’t expect John B to instantly interrupt her argument: “She stays, Kie. At least for this.”

“Why?” Kiara demands.

“Because look at her,” John B says. I frown a little at that but know I probably look like shit. My elbow has a piece of my flannel wrapped around it while the rest is around my waist; my hair is messy and halfway tied up; Lana’s dried blood is on my hands; and I personally think that my expression probably shows that I’m thinking about something that I shouldn’t be thinking about. “And besides, she was there when everything went down. She helped Lana get better enough to avoid the police.”

“And what exactly all happened?” Pope questions.

Taylor sighs. “Why would you ask that?”

And JJ proves her right because Pope’s simple question causes JJ to launch into the story.

But my mind does exactly what I wish it wouldn’t: remember Jake. How he would be gone for a while and our parents would trash-talk him and Tasha. How he had taught me how to fight; told me that I should come with the two of them. I had gone with and it had been my worst decision: I had to witness his death that night. Tasha had been there too but she had gone missing earlier.

At least I had thought it would be my worst choice made. But here I am… following in Jake’s footsteps without hesitation.

“I wasn’t taking little mental polaroids the entire time!” JJ’s exclamation is what snaps me back into reality. “I was under duress, okay? But I can tell you…” his voice cracks slightly and he takes a deep breath. It reminds me of how scared he had been at the house too. “I can tell you by the way that Ms.Lana was screaming… that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man.” John B isn’t paying attention either, I notice. Instead, he’s looking at the compass those said guys are looking for. “It’s a very heavy vibe. I’m not liking this very much.”

Kiara and Pope don’t seem convinced but Taylor nods along.

“Why do they want the compass?” Kiara asks.

“It’s a piece of shit,” Pope adds. “You couldn’t pawn it off for five bucks even if you wanted to.” He quickly looks at John B. “No offense. I know it’s in your family-”

“The office,” John B mutters. We all look at him. “My dad. My dad’s office.” He starts toward me and I push off the wall, letting him pass. “He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research. We used to laugh at him like he was going to find it.” The rest of us follow him. “But now that he’s gone, I’ve just kinda…” He stops by a door, his hand hovering over the handle. “I just left it as he kept it.”

As he finds the right key, Kiara nods. “Yeah,” she says, “for when he gets back.”

John B nods but he doesn’t seem to believe that anymore. He slowly unlocks it and pushes it open to reveal a room that is single handedly messier than the entire house.

“I’ve slept over here like 600 times,” Pope says in awe, “and I’ve never seen this door opened.”

“Lucky me,” I say quietly. Kiara glares at me but Taylor chuckles, earning her own glare from Kiara.

John B gathers their attention again by grabbing a board off of the wall and setting it down on the table between them. “Here, look. This is the original owner, right here.”

“Robert Q. Routledge,” Kiara begins. “1880 to 1920.” She points to a place on the picture. “There’s the lucky compass, right there.”

John B clears his throat. “Actually, uh, he was shot after he bought it.” A rooster crows in the background. “Then the compass was shipped back to Henry.” He points to another picture. “Henry was killed in a crop-dusting accident when he had the compass.” I glance at the others and Taylor’s wide eyes find mine but she shrugs at my question which is the same as hers: does John B realize he has a compass of death? “After he died, the compass was given to Stephen. He had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam.”