✯ North Star ✯

5 - Doing Nothing Kinda Works

"I said it. I said it again and again. I said don't touch the last of our nugget. That was it. That was the last of our savings. Do you not care?" Pope shook his head like the word physically hurt to say.

We were all standing outside, the air thick and humid, tension sharper than knives.

"Pope, you saw what happened man. He stole it, okay? He cheated and he stole it. That's not my fault Pope," JJ said, hands flying everywhere.

"Do you know how selfish you sound?" Pope snapped back.

"I sound selfish? I was trying to help us." He said

"You helped us? You just cost us everything. Thank you."

The words hit all of us, but they landed hardest on JJ. His jaw twitched, and I watched something in his face crack, small and fast, before he covered it back over.

"JJ why are you making it sound like you had nothing to do with it?" Kie asks.

"Okay, Kie, Kie, you know me okay? I was gonna bet it all, that's who I am." JJ said

"You should've talked to us first. It's too risky this time." Kie said

"And what were you doing? You knew he had it and you just let him race?" Pope suddenly snapped at John B.

"He told me last minute all right?" John B said, frustrated.

"John B look man, you were supposed to cover—" JJ started.

"I did cover!" John B yelled.

"You were supposed to not take our savings."

"Oh my God— enough!" I yelled, louder than I meant to. My ears were still sensitive; anger and noise hit me harder now, each raised voice landing like something physical against my skull. "Hey! Enough everyone!"

Everyone goes silent for once.

Cleo stepped forward, hands up.
"How bad is it Pope?"

Pope's chest rose and fell sharply.
"How bad is it? We have 13,000 property tax payment due in seven days. And we have zero working capital. There is nothing. And you took the last of our savings. So thank you."

Then walked off.
And just like that, the fight was over.

The damage wasn't, and I felt the weight of it settle heavy over all of us, nobody quite meeting anyone else's eyes.

And that was that.
We had zero working capital as Pope said.

But that's when our luck turned.

"Wait. You guys," Kie said, squinting at her laptop.

"What?" Sarah asks.

"Holy shit. They... they wrote about us."