Riara in Morocco

Additional Part 3: Mergings

Hey guys!! New part! Just a small one, but like a filler part. I wasn’t supposed to be on here and add anything new for at least another week but I got distracted procrastinating on my assignment and ended up here anyway, adding this new part lol. Really, this time I will be a while before another update. Hope you enjoy!!  

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“Absofuckinglutely not!” JJ storms off, ready to jump into their car. They are all standing around, outside Malik’s mud-brick home, in the front courtyard.

“You don’t understand-” JohnB grumbles, tiredly, gesturing for him to come back as JJ whips the door open, and pauses outside the rusty old car-

“I don’t need to understand nothin’, ok? so let's get going, alright?-” JJ continues to complain.

“For once, I have to agree with JJ on this one, JB.” Pope interjects, crossing his arms, looking at JohnB with questions tensing his face. 

“No, no, you guys don’t understand-” JohnB grunts, then runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t like it either, but we can’t do this without Rafe-”

“What the hell do you mean?” JJ scoffs, exasperated. Done for, he turns back around impatiently, and disappears into the car, slamming the door shut loudly, waiting for the others.

JohnB clears his throat, and deeply exhales, pursuing his lips back in frustration. He turns to Cleo and Pope, knowing JJ wasn't ready to listen. His eyes dart around, frustrated, before coming back onto them and holding their gaze, making sure they were listening, he continues. “Listen… Rafe was the only one who was there with Farras, listening in.” He moves closer, gazing at them more closely. “The girl was there too. The one Malik had been talking about. The one who knows how to decode the native writings Malik had been saying was keeping him from reaching the treasure. Without her we are dead. Those snags will make sure it will be impossible for us to get anywhere near that treasure.”

“Can’t we just ask him to tell us what he heard?” Pope complains.

Sarah steps in closer toward JohnB. “We could, but we wouldn’t know if he’d be telling us the truth.”

“He could want it for himself.” JohnB murmurs, lowly. “And double-cross us.”

“If he comes along with us we can guarantee we will get to it safely.”

Cleo sighs, annoyed. “What should we do?” 

“I don’t know, guys, but this kinda sounds dumb- like a bad idea… what about the girl? Couldn’t we go to her?”

“We don’t know who she’s working for- it could be Farras or Malik. Nothing is clear.” Sarah heaves out a sigh.  

“I mean, yeah, she could be playing them at her own game… playing the two against each other.” JohnB adds, looking at the others with a serious expression. He thinks for a short moment longer. “All we know,” he breathes, snapping his attention back to what he’d been talking about “is we need to get back to Salmi and grab all our stuff, including that scroll we have hidden in the lower compartment of our cabinet. We need to disappear before Malik is back.”

“Thought you gave Malik the scroll.”
JohnB smirks, a smile tugging at his lips. “That's where you're wrong, Pope.” JohnB raises a brow at him, mischievously. “As to the reason why we need to scaddled- get the hell out of here.”    

At that time, Rafe stepped out from the house, and stood on the front porch, in a firm stance. He inhales sharply, mouth set in a firm line, watching the pogues with a hardened look. He wanders stiffly down the set of steps, and travels over toward the pogues, passing JohnB closely, his eyes narrowed his way, watching him closely.  His jaw clenches. “Talking about me?” 

JohnB frowns, and heaves out a sigh. “Why… does it matter?” 

Rafe rocks on a foot, folding his strong arms in front of him, rubbing his chin. “As long as you aren’t planning on fucking me over…” his gaze threatens… then a glint of resolve dissolves the anger buried behind his eyes. He cocks a brow up, watching him with a dull look. His lips turn up into a faint, hard smile. “I guess not.” He presses a hand to his temple and turns away, rubbing at his scalp. 

He knew they had the right to be suspicious of him, he can’t argue with that.

He lowers his head, rubbing into his neck. “Listen… I know you don’t trust me,” he says in a low strained tone. “But Kiara seems to see something in me, and I want to prove that to her… that I can do better. So, you don’t have to like it, but I’m not going anywhere.”

JohnB’s eyes lock with Rafes, seriousness held in both.  

Kie walks out next onto the porch and out onto the steps, shoving something deep into her pocket… something she’d thought the pogues may like. A page she’d ripped from Cleo’s book, scribbled with ink. She'd recognised the book- it had been something they'd seen records of before.   

Her eyes come up and across everyone. Her eyes darted between them. Her eyes run over to the car, seeing JJ sitting in the back seat already, infuriation painted all over his features. 

Pope rolls his eye. “Alright, let's get going. That treasure’s ain’t coming to us. Let’s do this.” he mumbles, walking over to one of the cars. The two cars were rusty and old, something they had borrowed in time, at the last minute, so they could get from A to B. They all begin to walk over to either one of the two cars, Rafe dawling slowly behind, waiting for Kie to catch up. He pulls out a cigarette from his pocket, pinching it up between his lips. Kie watches him, nipping it from his mouth before he could light it. 

Rafe gazes over to her, wide eyed, confused. “Where’d you get that?”

He scoffs, holds his shoulders up high in a shrug. “I don’t know- the lady left a stash- I’m not just gonna let it go to waste, Kie-” 

“Are you serious right now? They are already pissed with me.” she makes the words drag out so as to make it clear to him. His lips pinch together, annoyed. 

He groans. “Let ‘em be pissed.” 

“What?” 

He casually puts his arms around her, pulling her closer, trying to also get it back, but she moves away, shoving his arm off.

“Now’s not the time, ok?” she groans. “They hate me, Rafe? Don’t you get that?” 

“Well let the morons sulk-” he snorts.

She turns sharply to him. “I want you to take this seriously, ok?... You don’t get it.” she shakes her head and his eyes soften on her. “Do you want to see me hurt? Because the more they hate me the more I feel like my heart is slowly dieing… I want you to try, ok?... These are the people I love, the people I care about.. they are my family… I want them to like you,” she pleads with him. “I want them to see you’re trying... I want them to be ok with what we have.”

He puts up his hands in surrender, and understanding. “Ok, ok.” he clears his throat, and swallows thickly. “We’ll do it the way you like.” He nods his head. She gives him back the cigarette, and he shoves it back into his pocket slowly. 

She mouths a ‘thank you’, before she slips into a second car with Cleo and Sarah at the front seat. Rafe gets in next, taking a moment to breath in some fresh air, before he'd feel the tension build in the car, as he'd sit with some pogues that, undoubtably, greatly despised him. He takes in the terracotta building... the front porch where he'd again got to kiss Kie... warm sensations swell his chest... and gradually he steps in.