Adore You ☼ JJ Maybank

10

[ TO GOING FULL KOOK ]

"jj, that bread had mold on it three days ago." maya said as the boy tried to make a sandwich.

"i'll just pull off the bad parts.. plus, mold is good for you. it's just a natural organism."

"jj, maya." kei said, calling the two over.

"yup, yup, yup." jj said, grabbing maya's wrist and dragging him behind her as he ran over. "hot damn. let's do it." he then took a bite of the sand which, instantly gagging and spitting it out.

"jj, stop." maya said, ripping the moldy sand which from his hand that he tried to tear the mold off. "you're gonna get sick."

"holy shit." john b said, laying out the piece of paper.

"oh, x marks the spot." pope says, pointing at the x written onto the map.

"longitude... latitude..." john b says, "wait, there's something else in there."

john b took out a tape recorder, looking at it with uneasy eyes.

"what's that?" jj asked.

"it's a tape recorder, dumbass." maya said, muttering the last part before jj gave her a hurt look.

"dear bird," the tape recorder said.

"who's bird?" jj asked, more cautious this time.. not wanting to be called a dumbass by maya again.

"that's what my dad called me." john b said.

"i hate to say i told you so, but i told you so. and you doubted your old man. i suspect are 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. you were probably right to call me out... wasn't exactly father of the decade. what can i say, kid? i could smell the barn. and hopefully we're listenin' to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in costa rica livin' off passive investments and pulling on 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. go for the gold, kid. i love you, bird... even if i didn't always act like it. i'll see you on the other side."

join b stood up and walked away as tears brimmed his eyes.

"oh, my god. he did it. big john found the merchant." jj says.

"can you please?" kei snapped.

"sorry." jj said quickly.

☀︎

"how much was it again?" jj asked as they sat around their beach campfire.

"four hundred mil." pope says.

"alright, let's talk the split." jj says. "now, before you say evenly, may i remind you that i am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who are after us." he held up the gun. "protection? not cheap, okay?"

"you haven't trained." pope says, "you've done zero training."

"youtube, bro! that's at least a five percent bump right there." jj says.

"you haven't had any—"

"any objections? didn't think so." jj said quickly.

"yeah." pope says.

"i don't hear any."

"us having to deal with your dumbass is a automatic -5% for you, putting it even." maya said, taking the gun from jj.

"hey—"

"shut up."

jj only rolled his eyes in return, not wanting to fight with the girl.

"what are you gonna do with your 80 mil, pope?" kei asks.

"pay for college in advance. and, also textbooks. those are expensive."

"what about you, kei?" jj asked.

"yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?"

"i just wanna make a double album." kei shrugged with a small smile, "about obx, the pogues. you know, the way catch a fire is about kingston. record it at marley studio, peter tosh producing."

"peter tosh is dead." pope said.

"peter tosh is dead, i know that." kei said. "the spirit of peter tosh will never die."

"actually, i know what i'm gonna do." jj says. "i'm gonna get a big ass house on figure eight and go full kook."

"you're gonna go full kook?"

"yup." jj said, "i'm gonna get a marble statue of myself, and a koi pond. put a bunch of those fish—"

"that's terrifying." maya said.

"i'm never visiting." kei laughed.

"what about you, maya?"

maya looked away, thinking. "i don't know."

"you don't know?" kei asks. "not one dream you've had that you knew you could never do with pogue money?"

"i'd buy the marina." maya said, leaning back in her chair.

"really?"

"yeah." maya said. "the only place i want to be is here, i couldn't see myself anywhere but the outer banks."

"what about you, jb?" pope asked.

"to going full kook." john b says after being silent for a while.

"to going full kook!" they said, clinking their beer cans.