One of Two // JJ Maybank

my druthers: three

we all sat in the back of the twinkie, driving to the senior center for pope. sarah was sitting next to me, still pissed with john b for some reason. i sighed to myself and looked out the window, counting the trees that we drove by. 

jj sat in the front with john b and kie sat across from me. pope was diagonal. "guys, the thing that limbrey said, i don't think she meant to let it slip." pope said breaking the awkward silence between all of us and fiddling with the key in his hands. "she said the key leads to the cross of santo domingo."

i rubbed my eyes, leaning my head against the window. "wait." i heard jj's voice. "can i see that?" pope handed him the key.

me and sarah looked to pope with unamused looks. "are we supposed to know what that is?" i asked, with a huge sigh.

"i'm guessing it's some sort of historical artifact of great importance." he started.

"yeah, can you put that into dumber terms for me?" i interrupted.

jj looked at me with a slight smirk on his face as pope rolled his eyes and kie spoke. "well, according to the interwebs, it was a gift." she read off her phone. "from new spain to the spanish king."

"new spain? there's an old spain?" jj asked as i rolled my eyes, shaking my head as sarah snickered.

kie chuckled and flipped her phone to pope, who john b handed the key back too. "shit, talk about over gifting." kie said, showing pope her phone. "look at that thing."

i took her phone and looked over it. "so basically it's a giant cross?" i asked, looking unamused as ever. i kept scrolling and looking. "apparently, it was widely considered at the time to be the most extravagant tribute ever from the provinces."

jj chuckled, and turned around. "wow, we got a history wizz over here."

i looked up at him and shook my head. kie took her phone back and read. "it was lost of the coast of bermuda in 1839." i bit my lip. "not the triangle." kie looked to pope who was staring off out the twinkie window. "how does the key you found above your mee-maw's pharmacy have to do with this?"

pope looked to kie then looked to all of us. "i don't know." he said looking down. "that's a good question."

john b slowed down the van as we arrived outside the care home. jj got out of the van and opened the door for us to get out. pope stopped him and kie stopped in her track. "i think i'm gonna do this one by myself." he said. kie gave him a worried look. "i can handle it. i don't really need you so..."

i closed my eyes and blew out a big breath. that's gotta hurt. kie chuckled with hurt and looked down. "oh, aren't we just all one big happy family today?" jj asked and i face palmed and kie climbed back into the van, letting pope go.

john b drove not far from popes location and stopped in front of a kildare island shop. me, sarah, and kie got out to get some food and drinks. we walked, having small chatter with each other while we waited. "why is he being like that?" i asked.

kie looked to me. "who?"

"pope." i replied, grabbing the drink of the cashier. "he was rude to you, in my opinion. he could've been nicer about it."

"i mean i see why he reacted like that. same with john b and jj too, with topper saving us from our own brother." sarah said, taking a sip of her soda. i shrugged and looked to her. "of course, i thanked him. he saved our lives, spence. i mean, i'd put him through so much already, and you'd think that's crime of the century."

"tell me about it." kie chuckled. "the silent treatment from pope from me not being in love with him, is just... phew." she breathed out quickly. she looked to me. "at least your love life is going good."

i rolled my eyes and took a drink. "i guess, it's just weird you know? me and jj had this beef between us and as soon i get back he asks me to be his girlfriend." i sighed. "i-i think its just a little too fast."

kie and sarah gave me confused looks. "why?" sarah asked. "he's everything you've ever wanted right?" i stayed silent. kie let out a low whistle.

i shook my head. "he is, he's a great guy, but i feel like... its just not the right moment right now, with all this shit going down." i replied.

"and we're the dramatic ones." sarah joked.

we giggled at her commentary, hopping back into the van with john b and jj. we drove back to shady oaks, where pope was and he got back into the van. he closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. john b turned around to face him. "so, how'd it go?" he asked.

pope looked to him for a moment before he spoke. "shit just got way more person." he replied.