"What! What!" Everyone is yelling as I climb back out of the tomb. I hand John B the FedEx envelope.
"That's not gold," Kie observes.
"Holy shit," John B says, examining the envelope. "This is from my dad!"
In the distance, we hear the crunch of tires on gravel.
"Code red. Code red. Square groupers! Square groupers!" Pope says, scrambling to hide. We quickly duck down on the other side of the tomb.
"Everybody turn your lights off!" I whisper.
"It's the guys who robbed your house," JJ says after looking around the corner.
"I see something!" a man's voice says in the distance.
"Do you really think it's them?" Kie asks.
I try to lean over JJ to look but he pushes me back, shaking his head. "Homie's got a gun."
"Screw this," Kie says. She darts out from our hiding spot and takes off in a full sprint.
"God damnit, Kie!" I say under my breath as I shoot out behind her.
I take off running as fast as my short little legs will carry me. JJ catches up to me and grabs my hand, pulling me with him. Pope and John B are right on my tail, urging us to go faster.
"Hurry!" John B says, taking the lead in our pack.
We make it to the fence and climb it. I nearly lose my balance as I crest the top of the fence, but I somehow land on my feet. I look back at Pope, hanging on the middle of the fence.
"Guys, I'm stuck!" Pope says, trying to pull his shorts free.
"Pope, come on!" JJ shouts desperately.
Kie goes back to the fence. "I got you," she tells him, examining where he's caught. He wiggles again. "No. Pope, don't move, okay?"
"You're gonna rip me." Pope watches as Kie begins to pull at his shorts. "Wait. You're gonna rip me!"
The sound of tearing fabric fills my ears. Pope drops to the ground in his boxers, his shorts still hanging on the fence.
"You're fine. Come on!" I say, yanking at his arm to get him going.
"It's a little Tootsie Roll!" JJ says. Kie laughs. "Come on!"
"Get in! Get in!" John B shouts at us as we pile into the van. The tires screech as he takes off back to the cut.
***************
Back the chateau Kie and Pope sit in the living room as John B gets ready to open the envelope to survey it's contents.
JJ and I, having smoked a joint on the way back, are starving. We go into the kitchen to rummage for food. JJ produces a questionable looking loaf of bread, plus peanut butter and jelly.
"That bread had mold on it three days ago," I tell him as he removes a couple slices.
"I'll just pull off the bad parts. Plus, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism," he says, unscrewing the lid of the peanut butter. "You're sure you don't want one?" he asks.
"Fuck no, I'm not eating mold," I tell him. He shrugs and I walk to the living room, giving up on the idea of food for now.
"Hot damn! Let's do it." JJ walks into the living room with his moldy sandwich in hand. He takes one bite and gags, spitting the food into his hand.
"Holy shit." John B pulls out a map with pencil markings on it. A giant X is on it.
"Oh. X marks the spot," Pope says.
YOU ARE READING
Kook by Birth, Pogue by Association // JJ
RomanceAlexandria Delfine was a trouble maker. So much so, that her parents shipped her off to Kildare Island in the Outer Banks to live with her uncle to "calm down and get her life together". As soon as Alexandria Delfine stepped foot in Kildare Academy...
