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"To going full kook?"
- John Booker Routledge
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[present day]
"That bread had mold on it three days ago." Pope informs JJ, whose currently trying to spread peanut butter on the moldy bread in the kitchen.
"Yeah, I'll just pull off the bad parts. Plus, mold is good for you, it's just a natural organism." JJ explains. Pope locks eyes with Abigail as she scrunches her face up at his explanation.
"JJ." Abigail calls, as John B sits down at the table, the other three teens surrounding him.
"Yup, yup, yup. Hot damn! Let's do it." JJ says, jogging over to the table, moldy sandwich in one hand, soda in the other. He stands next to Abigail.
He takes a bite of his sandwich and immediately starts gagging, spitting the food into his hand and moving away from the table. "Disgusting." Abigail mumbles to Pope, crossing her arms. The boy chuckles slightly.
John B rips open the envelope, pulling out a large piece of paper that's folded over several times. He quickly unfolds the paper, revealing some sort of map.
"Holy shit." The brunette breaths out.
"Oh, 'x' marks the spot." Pope says, pointing to an 'x' marked on the map, coordinates scribbled next to it.
"Longitude, latitude...wait, there's something else in there." John B mumbles, pulling another object out of the envelope.
A tape recorder.
"What's that?" JJ asks, still picking at his moldy bread.
"It's a tape recorder, dumbass." Kiara tells the boy. Abigail pats the blonde on the shoulder, as John B presses a button.
"Dear Bird..."
"Who's bird?" JJ asks quickly.
"That's what my dad called me." John B replies, staring at the tape recorder in his hands.
"I hate to say 'I told you so', but I told you so. And you doubted your old man." The sound of Big John Routledge's voice fills the space around them, shock rendering them all speechless. Kiara glances up to her other friends, as Abigail swallows the lump beginning to form in her throat.
"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." Big John continues, John B finally lifts his head to meet the gaze of his friends, all of their eyes wide from the revelation.
The teens can hear shuffling on the tape recorder, meaning Big John was probably looking for something.
"You were probably right to call me out, wasn't exactly father of the decade. What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn." Abigail looks to her side, same time as JJ looks down at her, her lips between her teeth as they continue to listen. "And hopefully we're listening to this in our brand new sugar shack down in Costa Rica, living off passive permits and pulling on permits."
YOU ARE READING
In the Dark ~ j.m¹
RomanceAfter being abandoned by his mother at a young age, left to deal with his abusive father, JJ Maybank feels like he was stranded out at sea during a terrible storm, fighting to make it through each day. Even though he meets the Pogues at a young age...
