Perfect Storm | JJ Maybank [3]

five

BIG JOHN ROUTLEDGE wasn't a great father by any definition, especially if you asked the members of the outer banks. But to Jo and John B, he was their whole world.

They were only two when their mother left, so growing up with Big John was all they knew. He filled their heads with outrageous stories about lost treasure and piles of gold. They didn't have much, but they had each other and they had their dreams. For the twins, that was enough. The stories their father told them was an escape from reality, and the far-fetched hope that maybe one day they could make it a reality worth living.

But as they got older, the Routledge siblings began to see through the veil that sheltered them. They realized that the treasure hunt their father was so obsessed with was really just a wild goose chase — a fantasy clung to with desperate and naive hands. The more years that passed with no sign of the gold, the less the twins began to believe their father.

All Jo wanted was a present father. Big John was always around when they were little because he couldn't simply leave them alone, so he kept his work limited to his office or occasionally taking the kids with him on a field trip. But once they were old enough to stay home by themselves, they scarcely saw the man. That was what she missed. She missed his attention, even if they only ever got it when Big John was telling them stories.

And now there he was, standing in a church in Barbados in all his ragged glory.

"Oh my god." Jo's eyes were wide as she gripped John B's shoulder. She could barely believe it.

All this time, he was alive.

John B moved first, rushing down the stairs and tackling their father in a hug. Jo wasn't far behind, wedging herself into the hug just like she did when they were little.

"How is this real?" Jo breathed. Tears brimmed her eyes as she stared at their father. He was definitely older. He stood slightly shorter and had more wrinkles. Time had not been kind to any of them.

"We thought you were dead," John B sniffled.

"Sorry about the Houdini act," Big John said. "It's a long story, but for another time."

The twins pulled away and glanced at each other in bewilderment. After everything, didn't they deserve an explanation?

"What?" John B scoffed.

"We gotta vanish, come on." Big John slipped between the teenagers and led the way out of the church. "Keep your head down."

"Pops, talk to us," John B called quietly.

Their father gestured outside where the ATVs were zooming past, holding the armed guards Jo narrowly escaped earlier. They all ducked down and Jo cursed once the engine sounded father away.

"Shit," Big John grumbled. He peered around the corner and snapped back quickly. "Well, we ain't goin' that way."

"The pogues," John B remembered. "The marina, they've got a boat. Come on, follow me."