𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 [𝐣𝐣 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤]

𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐝𝐚 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

When we took the turn off of 95, I was skeptical about where we were going. We were no where near Kildare and I didn't see anything that was going to get us to South America for miles.

"Where are we going?" JJ didn't answer as he took another turn and that's when I saw it. In the middle of a farm field was a cargo plane. "What-"

We pulled up right in front of Barracuda Mike as he stood in front of the open plane. "What about the twinkie?" I asked JJ as we got out.

"One of his guys are gonna drive it back." JJ ran around to me and grabbed my bag before heading over to Mike. When we stood in front of him, he gave me a smile.

"I owed your dad a few favors. Figured I'd start with this for you." I smiled and looked over at JJ as he reached for my hand.

"Direct flight to South America on Barracuda Airlines, what more could you ask for?" JJ said sarcastically as we made our way on the old plane.

"Are you sure about this?" The plan was a bit unclear to me, but I was confident in JJ having it figured it out even if it was just a little bit.

"Is there somewhere else you need to be?"

"Not anymore."

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

The plane ride was a bit scary. The plane was older so it made for an interesting trip. Considering how I just jumped on board without a second thought, I now had had plenty of time to think about my decision. I really only got on the plane because JJ asked me to.

"So, we're gonna land a couple hours outside of Tres Rocas-"

"A couple hours?" We were already behind on our traveling, taking another couple hours on a bus was gonna push back our reunion with our friends.

"Yeah, but Barracuda Mike says there's a bus that goes into town that we should be able to catch, so.."

I nodded and looked past him to Mike who was passed out. I hadn't spent time with him since I was in middle school. He used to be close friends with my dad before my dad started earning straight. "Hey, we're gonna be fine, alright?" JJ tried to reassure me as he placed a hand over mine.

"What if they're not there when we get there?"

"If they're not there, then, uh, free vacation?" he said with a laugh trying to lighten the mood, "We're on an adventure, baby. Come on now."

When the plane finally landed, I let out a breath. Being back on solid ground was nice for the whole anxiety thing. I was still questioning if Barracuda Mike was doing this out of the kindness of his heart or for another reason. "Dang, Barracuda Mike's got this import-export thing down." JJ said as I threw my hair up and attempted to change my shirt without physically taking anything off.

"Yup, nothing like the illegal drug trade." I responded sarcastically as I shoved my original shirt back in the bag.

Barracuda Mike walked over to us, cutting our conversation short. "Is that our executive coach to Tres Roces over there?" JJ asked sarcastically making me snicker, but I covered it up with a cough after noticing Mike did not find it funny.

"It is, smart ass." I nodded and took a few steps away toward it, "We have a deal. You still owe me for that lost load." I heard as Mike spoke quieter, letting me know that there was an ulterior motive to him being helpful.

"I remember alright?" JJ walked over to me.

"Hey JJ." Mike called out, getting both of our attentions, "Word of advice, this aint Kildare. Try and lay low."

"Yeah, sure thing chief." JJ responded as he intentionally bounced off my shoulder. "Well, this should be fun."

We moved quickly to get on the bus before it was too packed. I sat uncomfortably, shifting in my seat every so often. I glance over to JJ once and he had dozed off. The second time I looked at him, he was wide awake and looking around the bus.

He started chatting with the guy in front of us, he was the only other person on the bus that spoke English. He gave us a run down of Tres Roces as he drew in the little bit of sand that was on the seat.

"Up here to El Dorado." He said as he drew the Orinoco through the sand.

"Who says?" I asked, not sure who he was referring to as he told the story.

"All the world."

"If all the world says it, how come it hasn't been found?" I asked again.

"Some people say it doesn't exist. Some people say it's hidden and only one very special person can find it."

JJ shared a look of uncertainty with me, "Un-huh."

"But, most people say it's maldito."

"Maldito?"

"Cursed. Over the years, people that go up, don't come back."

I could see JJ shift in his head as I looked down at my hands, "Funny."

What were we getting ourselves into? I looked at him with worried eyes. He moved his hand to hold mine and gave me a squeeze for some reassurance.