𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊, 𝗃𝗈𝗁𝗇 𝖻 𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗍𝗅𝖾𝖽𝗀𝖾

13: 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚘𝚘𝚔

After their little incident, the five teenagers found themselves in John B's house that him and Y/n had cleaned up together. Y/n stood by the Routledge boy's side, hand on his shoulder, his hand on top of hers as he stared at the envelope.

Pope was able to dig through the boy's closet, finding himself a pair of shorts instead of staying in his boxers the whole time and having to cover his crotch.

JJ stood by himself in the kitchen, leaning over the counter as he applied peanut butter to moly bread with a plastic butter knife.

"That bread had mold on it three days ago." Pope states as he walks past the blonde.

"I'll just pull off the bad parts." JJ replies. "Plus, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism."

As he walks into the main room where all his friends and sister stood, he takes a bite of his made sandwich, only to start gagging, instantly taking the piece he ate out of his mouth and into the bin before returning, standing by his sister's side as they all watch John B open the envelope, laying out a map on the table.

"Oh. X marks the spot." Pope points to an X on the map.

"Longitude, latitude." John B mumbles, pointing at the map. "Wait, there's something else in there."

The four teenagers all watch their friend reach his hand back into the white FedEx envelope, then bringing out a tape recorder. The brunette stares at it curiously.

"What's that?" JJ asks.

"It's a tape recorder, dumbass." Kie replies.

"Dear Bird." A deep voice starts on the recorder.

"Who's Bird?" JJ questions.

"That's what my dad called me." John B replies.

"I hate to say, "I told you so", but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect at 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 listening to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, living 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 something 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." The deep voice of John B's father, Big John, explains. "I'll see you on the other side."

The four friends watch their one friend turn off the tape recorder before rising to his feet. John B doesn't get very far as he stumbles against the door way, tears falling down his cheeks, sobs leaving past his lips.

"Holy shit, he did it! Big John found the Merchant--" JJ starts.

"Can you... Can you please?" Y/n stammers slightly, motioning for her brother to be quiet.

"Sorry." JJ mumbles.

Arms falling down to her side, the Maybank girl walked over to John B, wrapping her arms around him. Instantly, John B buries his head into the crook of her neck, tightly wrapping his arms around her waist as he continues to sob.

***

The group of five now found themselves sitting outside on the docks, the sound of Kie playing her ukulele. Y/n sat beside her brother, resting her head against his shoulder as she continued to occasionally glance over at John B, who had calmed down from earlier.

"How much was it again?" JJ suddenly questions.

"Five hundred mil." Pope responds.

JJ sighs. "Alright, let's talk the split. Now, before we say "evenly", may I remind you that I am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us. Protection? Not cheap, okay?"

"You haven't trained." Pope states. "You've done zero training."

"YouTube, bro! That's at least a five percent bump right there." JJ replies. "Any objections? Didn't think so."

"What are you gonna do with your 100 mil, Pope?" Kie asks.

"Pay for college in advance. And also, textbooks." Pope replies. "Those are expensive."

"What about you, Kie?" JJ questions.

"Yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?" Pope adds.

"Just wanna make a double album. About OBX, the Pogues. You know, the way Catch a Fire is about Kingston. Record it at Marley Studio, Peter Tosh producing." Kie replies.

"Peter Tosh is dead." Pope reminds.

"I know. Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die." Kie responds. "How about you, Y/n?"

Y/n shrugs with a small chuckle, not noticing that John B turned to listen to her. "I wanna write a book. Write about my life here. About the Pogues, about OBX, about our rivals. About our relationships. And then, hopefully, sell it someday. Go to meet and greets, sign people's books."

John B rests his head against the wooden pole, still staring at the Maybank girl with a small smile, replaying her words in his mind.

"I know what I'm gonna do." JJ speaks up, everyone looking at him. "I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figure Eight and go full Kook."

"You're gonna go full Kook?" Pope repeats in question.

JJ hums and nods. "Gonna get a marble statue of myself, and then I'm gonna get a koi pond."

"I'm never visiting." Kie informs.

Y/n nods in agreement. "I love you, JJ, but neither am I."

"What are you gonna do, JB?" Pope suddenly asks, everyone now looking at John B.

"To going full Kook." John B replies, still staring at Y/n.

The group of five all smile at one another as they lift their beer cans up into the air, clanking them together.

"To going full Kook!"