Chasing Sunshine | JJ Maybank

12 // The Forbidden Zone

A shiny white envelope appeared from the hole only moments after Kiara's whispered revelation, with her triumphant face peeking through soon after that. "What is it?" I asked John B when he took it from her, then stepped back with the rest of us to allow room for her to jump back down to the ground. He turned the package over in his hands while the four of us gathered around.

"That's not gold," Pope said, rather unhelpfully. 

I directed the beam of my flashlight over the front, reading over the messy, scrawled handwriting that read 'For Bird.' John B stared at it for only a few seconds before looking up and exchanging a giddy grin with all of us. "Holy shit," he whispered, tracing a finger over the ink slowly, "This is from my dad."

Our eyes flashed upwards, moving from him to one another in sheer surprise as the newest discovery began to sink in. JJ lifted the joint from earlier to his lips for another drag, exhaling a second later and I waved the vapor away from where it was pooling around our heads. 

"So...should we op-" I began to suggest, only to be cut off by JJ shaking frantically at my shoulders.

"Hey, code red, code red!" he whisper-shouted, pulling at the hem of my t-shirt, "Square groupers, square groupers!"

The five of us scuttled around the corner of the maulsoleum, with Kie pushing at my back and encouraging us to go faster. I could hear distant voices communicating to one another in the darkness and caught sight of their own lights bobbing among the headstones. "Guys, lights," Kie instructed, clicking her flashlight off while Pope and I followed suit soon after.

"JJ!" I hissed, watching him fumble with the joint held between his teeth and the torch in his hand. I finally plucked it from his mouth, tossed it to the ground, and shoved it into the dirt with the toe of my shoe, ignoring the insulted look he shot me as his light eventually went dark. 

Kiara was berating John B next to me, as the voices grew closer but his flashlight remained stubbornly on, until he desperating shoved it underneath his shirt which only resulted in a dull orange glow from the center of his chest. Which was no less obvious than before. JJ risked a glance around the corner and Kie asked, "Do you think it's them?"

"Homie's got a gun," he muttered and I inhaled sharply through my teeth.

"Why is it always a gun?" I asked the night sky above us, of course getting no answer from the twinkling stars in the distance. Nobody offered any brilliant suggestions and it was when I started to feel like a cornered animal, that I noticed Kie shift to her feet beside me.

"Screw this," she said, flipping her light back on and standing up without warning, "Let's go!"

She took off running towards the direction of the van, without giving any of us the option of arguing with her impromptu plan. With no alternative in mind, we were also forced to our feet and followed behind her, feet pounding in the grass while the shouts of the men behind us echoed in the air. John B, JJ, and Kiara met the front gate first, launching themselves over the structure hurriedly while Pope and I brought up the rear, per usual. 

I got a foothold against the wall and pushed myself upwards with a grunt, as Pope began to scale the vertical bars of the wrought-iron gate instead. I glanced behind me when I didn't hear his feet thump in the dirt after mine, only to see him struggling to free his short's pocket from the curled decoration at the top of the gate. 

"Guys, guys help! I'm stuck!" he shouted out desperately, making the other three backtrack quietly. Kie and I approached underneath him, each sticking out a hand for him to take. 

"Pope, you're gonna have to jump," I called up at him, but he still insisted on freeing his pants first. Kiara also gave encouragement, as John B and JJ danced nervously behind us while the voices of the presumed-to-be groupers grew closer.