Baby Pogue - Outer Banks

4

"What?" Liz peered through the hole trying to see what Kiara had found. Kie turned around handing her a FedEx envelope with 'For Bird and Angel' written on the front.

"That's not gold." Pope looked over Liz's shoulder. John B stood beside her with the same shocked and dazed look on their faces.

"Holy shit." John B gasped. Liz felt a single salty tear run down her face. "This is from our dad." John B looked up at his friends. Kie smiled at the siblings. Liz couldn't help the large grin that appeared on her face.

JJ stood a few feet away from the group smoking a blunt. His eyes widened in alarm when he saw headlights pull towards them. "Code red. Code red! Square groupers! Square groupers!" The group quickly ran away crouching behind the mausoleum. Liz sat on the ground in between Kie and Pope. She fiddled with her flashlight anxiously while John B struggled to turn his light off.

"He's got a gun." JJ peaked around the wall.

"Screw this!" Kie said running away. Liz was not far behind followed by the rest of their friends. The men spotted them and started yelling but the group was already climbing over the black metal gates of the cemetery.

"Hurry up!" JJ rushed. Pope got stuck in the gate by his pants. JJ pulled out his gun ready to shoot him out the gate. John B quickly pushed the gun down. Kie and Liz rushed over to Pope pulling him down.

"Wait you're going to rip me!" The brown skin boy said.

"You're fine-"

"Come on-"

The two girls said at the same time. The girls dragged him down causing his shorts to rip off and get stuck in the gate.

"Nice dude," JJ commented.

The teens continued running quickly diving into the van. John B swiftly hit the gas speeding off into the night.

+OBX+

"That bread is molded," Liz spoke nonchalantly to JJ who was trying to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She was sitting on the kitchen counter reading Treasure Island.

"I'll just pull off all the bad parts," JJ responded. Liz gave him a disgusted look but decided to let him do whatever. Putting the book down she walked into the living room with Pope towards John B who sat at the kitchen table with a candle looking at the envelope.

Leaning over John B's shoulder she smiled. "Open it up JB."

He tore the paper off pulling out a map of the U.S. and the North Atlantic Ocean.

"X marks the spot." Pope pointed at an x written on the map on North Carolina. John B looked at the spot's longitude and latitude. Liz noticed the envelope still seemed to have a lump in it.

"Wait, there is something else in there." She pointed out. John B picked the envelope back up pulling out a voice recorder.

"What's that?" JJ questioned.

"It's a tape recorder, dumbass." Kie quipped back.

John B pushed play on the recorder. "Dear Bird and Angel-"

"Who's that?" JJ questioned.

"That's what our dad used to call us." Liz smiled.

"I hate to say, 'I told you so' but I told you so. You doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment you're filled with guilt and self-loathing over our last fight, Bird." Liz looked over at John B remembering how her dad and brother got into a screaming match over their dad wanting to sell the Twinkie. "but don't kill yourself just yet, kid. I didn't expect to find the Merchant either." Liz percked up at the mention of the lost boat with treasure their dad spent years of his life researching and looking for. "It was right for you to call me out. I wasn't really the father of the year to you or Angel. I'm also sorry for yelling I know you hate that stuff, Angel...What can I say, kids? I could smell the barn. Hopefully, we're listening to this in our brand-new shack down in Costa Rica. Living off passive investments and pulling on permits. Maybe even Elie's fashion brand or bookstore." Everyone heard the sound of a gun being loaded in the back of the recording. "If not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well that's what the map is for. There she is, the wreck of the Merchant. If something happens to me finish what I started. Go for the gold, kids." Liz now sat beside her brother. Her head lay on his shoulder silent tears streamed down her face. "I love you Bird and Angel. Even if I didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side." Static from the tape field the room.