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Emelina stepped out of the market with one cold water bottle in one hand and the other holding an unopened candy bar. She paused briefly, going through her bag to fetch her sunglasses. Instead of staying home on her day off from work, she took a stroll downtown, but the gleaming hot sun made her want to return to her air-conditioned house.

She heard a whistle that made her stop dead in her tracks after she retrieved her sunglasses. The sound of a loud engine had her turn her head, and she saw an unfamiliar beaten-up van.

She noticed JJ's head peaking out from the unrolled window and she had the urge to groan on the spot. "Can I go one day without seeing your face?" she called out.

"That's too bad, princess. You'd miss this face," he replied with a smirk. Emelina pursed her lips when he called her princess. She didn't like it.

She walked closer to the van and found John B in the driver's seat. "What are you guys doing all the way over here?"

"We're on our way to someone's house, and John B had to stop when he saw you," JJ replied, making sure his rolled eyes were noticeable. "Do you want to come?" John B asked with a smile.

"Dude..." JJ turned his head with a disapproving look. Emelina saw his reaction and that only made her want to aggravate him more. She smiled warmly, "I would love to join you two."

She slid the side door open, shutting it once she got in, and took a seat, trying to ignore the garbage near her feet. "This is, um, comforting." she chuckled lightly.

"Meet Twinkie."

"Twinkie?" Emelina laughed at the silly name, but they were dead on serious. "Don't laugh at Twinkie." JJ defended the van and she couldn't help but let out another laugh at the way he said it.

"Anyway, whose house are we going to?" she asked once her laughter died down. "Ms. Lana. You know her?" John B asked, moving his head slightly to the right to get a view of her before turning his gaze back on the road.

"I've heard of her. Never met, though. Why are we stopping by her house?" she inquired, opening her candy bar. "Anyone want a piece?"

JJ took the candy bar from her fingertips, breaking some pieces for himself and for John B. By the time it came back to her, she had only about a bite left. "Thanks." she quietly murmured with a straight face. She took a mental note to never share food with them again.

As John B took a bite of his piece of candy, he replied to her, "We want to know why her husband had my father's compass. She's the only lead we've got so far."

JJ grabbed the compass out of curiosity from the dashboard, and John B automatically reached over to snatch it from him. "Hey, don't—"

"I was just looking at it!" JJ pushed his friend's arm away to keep the compass in place securely. The compass glinted a bit from the sunlight, and JJ observed it. "I gotta admit, your father's compass in Scooter's boat, that's freaky."

unspoken thing » jj maybankWhere stories live. Discover now