Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

The Diary

My hair was pulled up into a messy bun as I carried a few beers with my oversized shirt like a bucket.
Kiara, JJ, and I managed to sneak a few from the nearest gas station. The night sky was clear and bright with stars making it one of the most peaceful nights in Kildare.
"Hot potato, hot potato, hot potato two!" JJ shouts, throwing two beers at Pope and John B who are lying at the edge of the dock.
"Y'all in the mood for some bud light?" I laugh, enjoying the moment. My bare feet walked down the dock.
Kiara joins my side. Clicking open a can of beer and downing it. John B catches the two beers.
"Impressive catch!" Kiara compliments. "I'll take that." Pope smiles, taking the other beer from John B.
"What are you guys doing down here? Having a good cry?" JJ jokes. John B and Pope pretend to look confused. "Cry? What? We don't cry" John B states.
"You know it's not your fault, right?" Kiara says, taking the joint that JJ passed her and hitting it a few times.
After coming back from Rafe, Kiara explained to me how Sarah decided to break up with John B. Something about him being glad about Ward's death.
I understood from both angles. I would love to see the man who killed my parents in the accident die in a some kind of tragic death. But I know he has family that cares for him too.
"You think she'll come around?" John B asked, standing on the edge of the HMS Pogue. "Yeah, dude. She's one of us." Kiara assures.
"Hmm..." John B hums. "Sarah's a Pogue." He says it like he's realizing it for the first time. "She'll come around. Yep. You know, she'll come back to me." He continues.
"Alright now, Johnny" I teased. "Enough of your snappiness for tonight." I chug down my beer, before diving into the water from the dock.
"Join me! The waters nice." I shout, floating in the dark blue waves.
"I'm gonna do a backflip!" John B states. "You're lying? If I had money, I would bet against you." Kie laughs.
"Hold my beer!" John B says to Pope. He walked closer to the edge of the boat, turns around and launches his body into the water.
I cover my face from the splash. "Woogity-woogity, baby!" Pope shouts.
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A hard poke to my side made me jump from my spot on the pullout coach next to Kie. I immediately blinked my eyes. "Why are you waking me up, Pope" I grumble as I see him waking the rest of the Pogues for school.
"I already graduated dumbass." I groan, wiping the sleep from my eyes. My face was puffy from slumber
Pope ignores me as he continues to wake the rest up. He hits John B with a beer can. "Hey, we gotta go to school. We have a geometry test in 30 minutes." He states. He walked over to the other couch, shaking JJ awake.
Kiara hops off the couch, immediately going to the fridge for food. She opened the door roaming her eye before closing the door again, realizing there's nothing to eat.
"Umm...I will meet up with you guys later." She sighs, looking through the empty box of pizza on the table.
The boys head out the door and into the Twinkie, leaving us two girls by ourselves. Kiara immediately plops down on the couch next to me.
"You're not going to school?" I asked, lifting up an eyebrow. She shakes her head. "Hell, no." She groans. "My period started. My stomach is cramping. And there's nothing to eat. Therefore, I will be skipping school today." She states, giving me a big smile.
"Welp, that's a good enough excuse for me." I giggle. "I'm going back to sleep." I sigh, plopping down back onto the couch and covering my body with the thin blanket.
     I feel Kiara jump on top of me. "I'm bored." She whines, trying to get me back up. "Take a nap, then." I groan.
     "No, let's watch a movie." She suggests. I pull the covers away from my face. "Why can't we have a day of relaxation?" I asked. Kie rolls her eyes. "When did watching a movie become a strenuous task?" She teased.
     I don't answer the girl. Instead I turn on my side, trying to go back to sleep. A defeated sigh comes from Kiara as I feel her body leave the couch.
     After a few silent minutes, Kie asks me a question. "What do you have Rafe as in your contacts?" She hums. I immediately jump up from my spot on the couch.
My eyes widen as I see Kie going through my phone. "Don't call him!" I demand, rushing over to the girl. Kie quickly makes her way around the table, scrolling through my contact list.
"Kiara, please! Give it." I shout. She immediately starts laughing. The two of us dance around the table. Me trying to snatch the phone from her hand, while Kie throws her arm in the air, out of my reach. She was younger than me. But always remained taller.
"Reach for it." She laughs. She continues to back away from me. As she's nearing the kitchen, my phone goes off.
The two of us stop in our tracks. "Who's calling?" I asked, eagerly. "Speak of the devil." Kiara smiles. "It's your boyfriend." She teased.
"Give me the phone, Kie." I whine. She shakes her head, before clicking the accept button.
"Hello." She says. Her voice changed as she tried to imitate me. Her impression was good if I don't say so myself.
She's silent as she listens to Rafe. I could see the expressions on her face go from confused to worry. "What's he saying?" I begin to fiddle with the necklace around my neck.
Kiara pulls the phone from her ear, putting it on mute. "I can't deal. He's crying." She scrunches up her face; handing me the phone.
I take the phone off mute and put it to my ear. The sounds of his uncontrollable sobs are loud. "Rafe, babe." I start. "What's the matter?" I asked.
"Everything is falling apart." He finally speaks. "Sarah hates me. Rose is an absolute fuck up. She can't find the accounts to the Cameron Developments. And she doesn't know where the fucking gold is." He becomes louder and louder with each word.
"Rafe, I'm sure everything will work out. You're freaking out." I say, trying to calm him down. "Can you come over?" He asked.
"Rafe, I-." He quickly cuts me off. "Please, Phoebe!" He whines. "I need you."
We told each other we'd take some time. And it's only been a day. "Maybe tonight." I whisper. "I have to go, okay. Text me later." I say, hanging up the phone, before Rafe could say anything else.
I turn back to Kiara. She looks at me with a worried expression. "Is that what you usually deal with?" She asked. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath.
"What movie did you want to watch?"
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I sat on one of the wicker chairs on the porch of the chateau. My legs were pulls up to my chest as I curled up in the corner with the rest of my friends.
Pope, John B, and JJ had just gotten back from school. JJ was currently telling us how he most likely failed his geometry test, since Pope didn't tell him about it.
"He mentioned it this morning." I acknowledge. JJ gives me a death stare. "Guys, that's not important right now." Pope exclaims. Pulling out an old leather journal from his book bag.
"What's that's?" Kiara asked. "It's Denmark's diary." Pope answers. This causes me to sit up further in my seat.
"How did you get that?" I wondered. "My history teacher gave it to me." Pope says. "And I'm glad he did. The Cross of Santo Domingo was on the Royal Merchant." He explains.
The five us look between each other. Learning about Denmark and Pope's history was one of the most exciting things I've ever heard with history. I was honestly happy for Pope. It was important for him to know his history.
"Listen to this." Pope starts, reading from the diary. "August 15th, set sail from Port-au-Prince on calm seas. Came upon the Spanish ship San Jose on fire. The entire deck was aflame. And we could hear the screams of men trapped below. The Spanish captain cared about only one thing, his valuable cargo, the Cross of Santo Domingo and countless bars of gold. Once the cargo was on board, we went to help the crew, but Captain Limbrey ordered us to pull bayonets and not to let any of the Spanish crew on board. He robbed them and left them to die." Pope read.
JJ flicks open his lighter and closes it before repeating the same gesture. "So it didn't go down off Bermuda." JJ states. "And it was a Limbrey stealing shit again." Kiara adds.
"This diary proves that both the gold and the Cross of Santo Domingo were on the Royal Merchant" Pope says.
"Why didn't we find it in the well then?" JJ wondered. He pushes himself of the chair. "I mean, if Denmark was able to get this, like, bedazzled cross off of the Merchant to shore, why didn't he just hide it with the gold.?" He explained with question.
"Because it was too big." John B says. "You're right." Pope agrees. "He had to hide it someplace else."
"But where?" Kiara asked. "Right before he was hung, Denmark said he buried the treasure at the foot of the angel." Pope explains.
"Could he be talking about an angel statue, perhaps?" I wondered. "Wait, I thought this was about the key." JJ says. "Right. So what's the connection?" Kiara demands.
"The path to the tomb begins in the island room" Pope quotes. "But what is the island room?" Kiara and I groan, rolling our heads back in frustration.
"You know what helps me figure shit out?" JJ smiles. "Oh, boy. Here we go." John B sighs. "Smoking beers and drinking weed. The ideas just pour out of me. If we just sit here and try to figure this out, we're gonna get nowhere. But if we get creative and go to this bonfire tonight, maybe we get somewhere." JJ states, picking up a long can of beers taped together.
"Well, I just got disowned by my parents, and I'm an official member of the I-have-nothing-to-lose club." Kiara smiles, agreeing to JJ's idea.
"Pope?" JJ says, waiting for him to cave in and agree. I could tell Pope really wanted to figure the clue out. "We're so close." Pope says. "Look, look, think about how much you could think if you just gave your brain a rest." JJ implies.
"JJ's actually right. It's not good to let yourself study all the time. A well deserved rest helps get an A." I click my tongue, backing JJ up.
"Okay, fine." Pope sighs, giving in to JJ's idea.