savannah, jj maybank

mid-what now?

the chateau had just come into view when john b felt a hand clamp over his mouth. he immediately jerked his arm back to elbow the unknown person in the gut, earning a low grunt from both of them. taking advantage of their moment of weakness, john b threw the figure onto the ground and attempted to restrain them when he realized it was jj who had jumped him.

"it's me, jj. stop, stop, stop, stop."

jj finally looked up to recognize his friend. "fuck."

"what are you doing?"

jj quickly covered his mouth again and slammed his body into the side of the shed. once he had the boy's attention, jj dragged him behind the hood of an old truck and pointed at the sleek black car hiding in the trees. "see that?" jj asked. "they're watching us, okay?"

"who?"

jj hesitated for a moment. "i don't know. let's go. sneak around to the dock," jj said as he made his way over to the edge of the water. "gotta go this way."

the two boys waded through the murky water with their backpacks resting atop their heads.

"wait, wait, wait, wait," jj halted, "you got the keys to the pogue?"

john b nodded. "yeah."

jj let out a sigh of relief as the two continued their trek to the boat. once they were close enough, the two flung themselves on board and swiftly drove away from the dock.

"first, i almost get strangled to death by kooks, and now i'm on the hook for 30 grand?" jj scoffed. "we should just dip."

john b rolled his eyes. "okay, where do you wanna go? hm?"

jj thought it over. "yucatan," he said, as if it were obvious.

"yucatan," john b laughed in disbelief.

"no, i'm dead serious right now," jj stated. "surf all day, and then we can just live off shrimp or shit- we catch with our bare hands."

"savannah's allergic to those."

"i'll catch her fish," jj shrugged.

john b shook his head. "you just wanna leave 'cause you got your ass beat?"

"you didn't see the photos," jj whimpered.

"think about it!" john b exclaimed as he made his way over to the blonde. "they're willing to kill for the gold, then it's gotta be out there!"

jj ripped his hat off. "have you lost your mind?" he yelled. "one hundred years, man. one hundred years, people have been trying to find this royal merchant, and no one succeeded. and you think you are gonna be the one that actually finds it?" john b looked away. "when will you get it in your thick skull? if you keep going down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad!"

"i can't give up, jj!" john b said, angrily shoving him away. "the last time i saw that dude, we got in an argument, and then he took all of our rent money and dipped for this royal mercsavt," johnn b paused. "and then i told him he was a shit father, and you know how the rest of the story goes."

"bro, that wasn't your fault."

"it doesn't matter whose fault it is, jj! do you not understand that?" john b said, his voice practically pleading for jj to understand where he was coming from. "i can't give up on the hunt, man. i don't care who's out there, who's gonna try to kill us. do you understand that?" jj's gaze fell to the floor. "you know that."

"look, i've got a plan. you coming or what?" john b turned to see jj hadn't moved from his spot. "four hundred million, jj. how much do you owe in restitution?"