All That Glitters

Full Kook

Back at the Chateau, Kie was going on and on about how she was sure that they weren't gonna find anything.

John B was unamused and rather enamored by the package she had in fact found. He crinkled the paper between his fingers, tracing the letters written for him.

"Wait wait. Lemme make a sandwich first." JJ said.

"Jesus, okay. Don't use the bread laying out, it's got mold on it." Pope said.

"Where's the good bread?"

"You ate it all two days ago." John B replied.

"Welp, guess I'll just have to pick off the bits then."

JJ somehow managed to make a sandwich out of four slices of bread. After he'd finished picking at the first slice he realized there wasn't enough bread to cover with peanut butter. So he used two.

It still didn't taste very good.

"Idiot." Kie rolled her eyes.

"Y'all just let me do that, huh." He spat it out into the trash and threw it away. "Alright. Sorry for the hold up. Let's get this party started."

John B sat down and opened the package. He pulled out a folded sheet of paper. He quickly unfolded it to reveal a map of the island. Specifically the point or north end. His breath hitched for a moment.

"Well, X marks the spot." Pope pointed to the only X on the map. Laying directly next to the island above what seemed to be the artist's rendition of a hurricane.

John B glanced back at the package. "There's something else in here." He reached inside.

His fingers shook as they pulled out a tape recorder. His eyes welled up. He wasn't sure he was ready to hear his father again. If it had to be like this.

JJ and Kie stood on either side of him.

"What's that?"

"It's a tape recorder, dumbass."

" Dear Bird,"

"Who's Bird?" JJ asked

"It's what my dad called me." John B's mind flooded with his father's face again. Like before. But this time, he was smiling.

" 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."

John B's eyes were tearful. JJ glanced over at Kie who just shrugged.

" You were probably right to call me out. After the whole magic property thing I was trying to convince you of. I don't blame you for not believing, son. I wasn't exactly pulling father of the year trophies. And I didn't have any proof until now. "

John B shivered.

" I guess you could say I could smell the barn. Feel our luck shift once I figured out what happened to the Merchant. God, I don't know if I would've believed it myself had it not been written the way that it was."

" And hopefully, we're listening to this while sipping margaritas in our new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, livin off passive investments and pulling 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. I'm sorry as well. For putting you through all this. I never wanted to leave for as long as I probably have. And hopefully I'm still alive somewhere when you find this, Bird. But if not, know that I love you. Even if I didn't always act like it."