golden wings melt like blue slushies // JJ Maybank

-but you're not in love no more, did it frighten you-

Yooo chapter 69 <3

"Okay, this is arguably the worst idea we have ever had," John B said nervously, looking around the dark harbor. He shut the door of the truck and followed her. Like he could talk about bad ideas.

Sarah stepped over a torn fishing net, careful not to slip off the jetty and into the ocean. It was nearly empty. The harbor, that is. Just bobbing boats and the occasional group of sailors playing cards on their decks.

The air was warm and a little bit windy. Anything was better than the scorching heat of the day. She waved for him to follow her, once she spotted a white boat, with a big hanging bell and extra wires and poles sticking every which way. She also spotted Cleo sitting on top of it, long legs swinging.

"Look what the cat done dragged in," Terrance said with a smirk, his silver tooth glittering.

"I have a proposition."

"If it involves giving you that rock back, that nugget, forget it," he said, taking a swig of his beer. "You're lucky I'm not on the phone with the cops right now."

Sarah folded her arms as she stepped onto the boat, steadying herself. "I'm not worried about that, because you saw what was in that safe, did you not? ...And it was exactly what we told you it was gonna be. Right?"

"Yeah, well, that thing's locked down tighter than a clamshell now," Cleo said, spinning something around in her hands. Her accent was thicker than the muggy air.

Sarah looked away from the little keychain thing and leveled her gaze at Terrance. She couldn't look scared, despite the terror sitting in her throat asking if they could go find something for dinner. Hot chips. "No sh¡t. But the gold's not staying there. My dad's gonna come down and move it. He'll have to."

The spiced ones she'd seen on the corner when there was still light. Her stomach hurt.

Terrance raised an eyebrow. "So what are you proposing, a Brink's job?"

She had no idea what that was, but she assumed they were thinking the same thing. Once you'd done enough insane things, you started to think like an insane person. "Think about it. You have a boat that can get us away. You know people and the island, and I can find out exactly when that gold is moving... And I'll give you two million."

"Let me get this straight," Terrance scoffed, pretending to count on his fingers as he listed all the things that could go wrong. Like Pope did. "We take the risk of going to jail and getting shot for a fraction of what's in that safe."

"After you abandoned us? Stole my boat? I don't owe you shit," Sarah spat. She held her chin up. "But I'll give you ten."

"Ten million apiece. I like that."

John B stepped forward, reaching for her arm. It still stung from the scratches she'd gotten escaping her own property and guards. She used the pain to level herself. He frowned ."Okay. You know what? We're getting..."

"John B. Ten million apiece," she said, and didn't look at him. He was gonna have to get her those hot chips if he wanted forgiveness. And a smoothie. A mango one, with the raspberries in it and those little black seeds.

"Ten million dollars. We're just throwing money away," he whispered, his voice cracking.

"You have yourself a deal, sweetheart," Terrance said, holding out a hand.

She shook it.

"How you go from living in Paradise Island to living in the street dodging coppers?"

"Liked a boy," Sarah said, following Cleo through the streets. There were no tourists in floppy hats and fruit markets anymore, just colorful buildings and locals walking around barefoot. It was a lot less busy. Everyone looked a lot nicer, too.

She fiddled with the edge of the shirt she'd borrowed, a big one with a hole under the armpit and that old band logo, the one with the red lips and the tongue sticking out.

"Big mistake," Cleo said. The beads and silver metal rings in her black dreadlocks sounded like a money box when she turned her head. "Only got yourself to blame for that one."

"Yeah, but I'm over him now," Sarah said. It had been quite a pleasant break up, really. They'd had stale biscuits and gone back to sleep afterwards. Now she didn't even have love to blame for her problems, just herself. She shook the thought off. "What about you? How did you hook up with Captain T?"

"Father left. Granny died. Was kicked out on the street. I had to find a way to take care of myself. So I was sleeping on a local dinghy when the mooring broke. I wake up, and I hear someone yelling, "You know how to tie a bowline?" It was Captain Terrance. I go on deck. I've been with him ever since," Cleo said with a shrug, putting her hands in the pockets of her green cargo shorts. "It's not the best of times, but I gotta do what I gotta do, right?"

Sarah nodded vaguely, pretending she understood what Cleo was talking about. Her idea of 'I gotta do what I gotta do' was dating Topper because otherwise she was singled out, quite literally, and pretending she wanted to be at parties because it was the only way to climb the ladder and build a future as a kook.

So yeah. Very different.

Cleo sniffed, and motioned with her head towards the other boy. He was laughing with a crowd of younger kids who'd been messing around on a colourful monkey bar set. They clapped their hands and swung off his arms.

"Stubby's security. Not the brightest bulb, but you ain't gotta watch your back with him," Cleo said, taking her machete out of its leather sheath and spinning it around her fingers. Her expression darkened. "Terrance, on the other hand. He's a ram goat. Anything that's in his way, ram it over."

They stepped over the curb in sync, and watched all of the little kids playing.

"Always stay two steps ahead of him and never really trust him," she said to Sarah, seriously. Then she strolled over to the gang of children surrounding Stubby. "Who wanna make some money?"

"Me!"

"But wait. I need a favour first. Listen up."

So this was the plan. Well, one of the parts of the plan. They'd gone over it before they'd split up to sort out their own roles in what was hopefully a masterplan. The gold was at her dad's house, obviously, but it was going to be driven to the air freight company on the other side of the island.

There was only two roads from the house to the tarmac, and they were going to catch the truck out on the cane fields to the south.

And now the eager children were the distraction. 

short I know, but theres so many short boring scenes im cutting out so we can get to the actual plot lol.