✯ North Star ✯

Part 8

I put the fed-ex envelope through the hole then climb back out
"That's not gold" Pope says
"Holy shit. This is from my dad" John B says
"Code red. Code red. Square groupers! Square groupers!" JJ says
"Go" Kie tells us
"It's the guys who robbed your house" JJ warns us
"Lights!" I say turning off my flashlight
We hid behind the tomb hoping they go away
"Turn your light off man!" Pope tells John b
"John B? Your light!" Kie says
"I see something!" a man yells
"Do you think it's them?" I ask
"Homie's got a gun" JJ tells us
"Screw this." I say and take off running
"Hurry up!" JJ yells
"Go!" I yell hearing the golf cart coming
"Guys! Guys! Guys I'm stuck" Pope tells us and we turn to see his pants stuck on the gate
"Pope come on!" JJ groans
"All right guys" John B says
"I got you" Kie says
"No. Pope don't move okay?" JJ tells him
"You're gonna rip me. Wait. You're gonna rip me!" Pope says
"You're fine. Come on!" Kiara yells
"Pope come on!" I yell
Kie grabs pope pulling him down but his pants rip in the process
"Nice! Come on dude. It's a little Tootsie Roll"
JJ teases him
"Come on!" Kie yells as we run towards the van
"Get in stupids!" I yell

"That bread had mold on it three days ago"
John B tells JJ
"I'll just pull off the bad parts. Plus, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism." JJ tells him
"JJ come on!" I tell him
"Yup yup yup! Hot damn! Let's do it." JJ says biting into the sandwich then quickly spits it out
John b opens it and sees a map with a x on it
"Holy shit." He mumbles
"Oh. X marks the spot." Pope says
"Longitude, latitude. Wait there's somethin' else in there." John b says
"What's that?" JJ asks
"It's a tape recorder idiot" I tell him
John b presses play

"Dear Bird." His dads voice says
"Who's Bird?" JJ asks
"That's what my dad called me" John B explains to him
"I hate to say, 'I told you so' but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. 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. 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. And hopefully, we're listenin' to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, livin' off passive investments and pulling on permits. 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 somethin' happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold, kid. I love you, Bird, even if I didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side." Then the recording ends

John B gets up and walks away.
He leans against the doorframe crying.
"Holy shit he did it! Big John... He found the Merchant..." JJ starts to say
"Can you... can you please?" I tell JJ pointing at John b
"Sorry" JJ mumbles.
I walk over and hug John b from behind trying to give him some comfort

"How much was it again?" JJ asks as we all sit on the dock
"Four hundred mil" John B says
"All right let's talk the split. Now before we say 'evenly,' may I remind you that I am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us." JJ says as he waves the gun "Protection? Not cheap, okay?" He adds
"Excuse me? I literally scuba dived and climbed into a grave" I scoff
"You haven't trained. You've done zero training" Pope tells JJ
"YouTube bro! That's at least a five percent bump right there" JJ says
"You haven't..." Pope starts to say
"Any objections? Didn't think so." JJ says
Kie pope and I raise our hands.
"Yeah" Pope says.
"I don't hear any so..." JJ says trailing off.
"What are you gonna do with your share Pope?" Kiara asks
"Pay for college in advance. And also textbooks.
Those are expensive" Pope says
"What about you Kie?" JJ asks her
"Yeah what does a socialist do when she's rich?"
Pope asks
"Just wanna make a double album. About OBX, the Pogues." She says.
"You know the way Catch a Fire is about Kingston. Record it at Marley Studio, Peter Tosh producing." She adds
"Peter Tosh is dead" Pope reminds her
"Peter Tosh is dead. I know that Pope. Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die" Kie tells him
"I know what I'm gonna do with my share. I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figure Eight. And go full Kook" JJ tells us
"You're gonna go full Kook?" Pope asks
"Yup. Gonna get a marble statue of myself. Oh I'm gonna get a koi pond. Put a bunch of those fish..." JJ trails off
"I'm never visiting" Kie tells him
"What are you gonna do John b" I ask him
"To going full Kook" John B says
We all raise our drinks and cheer
"To going full Kook!" We all yell

After a while all of them went to bed except John b and I
"What are you going to do with your share?" John b asks me
"Huh?" I ask wanting to make sure I heard him right
"You never said what you were going to do with your share" he explains
"Oh umm. I don't know to be honest. My whole life has been laid out step by step I haven't really had a chance to think about what I want to do..... Maybe a surf shop, big ass house like JJ said, go surfing everyday." I laugh
"That sounds nice. Can I join you?" He asks me
"Oh definitely yeah" I chuckle
"What about you? What do you want to do?" I ask him
"Uhh carry on my dad's legacy I guess. Make it where he didn't die for nothing" he tells me
"I like that. Can I join you as well?" I smile
"It would be my pleasure to have you join" he smiles back

The moment I rolled out of bed topper was already pulling up wanting to "spend time with me" unfortunately.
He showed me his new bike and new boat that his family got, and I tried to act impressed.

"We can take it for a ride if you want" topper says
"Oh umm well I already have plans today" I tell him
"The crew" I tell him
"Stella-" he starts to say
"Stop I don't want to hear it" I tell him
"Ok ok but aren't you supposed to clean up the beach today with your sisters?" He asks me
"Yeah I'll still be there" I tell him
"I've gotta go I'll see you later" I tell him walking off
"Yeah. See ya" he sighs