𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐒 𝐒𝐎 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ➝ 𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

𝟗. 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐈𝐃𝐒

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐀𝐒 close to striking twelve and I was wiping down tables at the country club, waiting for my shift to be over. Kids ran past me, melted popsicles in their hands as they laughed together, hoping that they wouldn't get in trouble. I blew a strand of hair away from my face before tucking it behind my ear, frustrated.

"And nobody's available on such short notice," Ward told my boss as they walked towards the pool, "So I can't find anyone to watch Wheezie for the night," I immediately became interested in their conversation, knowing that I could make some more cash.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Cameron," I piped up and he turned around while my manager gave me a sharp look, "My name's y/n, and I didn't mean to overhear your conversation, but if you need someone to watch your daughter, I'd be happy to help,"

He looked at me for a second and I flashed him a smile, "How old are you?" He asked me, arms crossed over his chest.

"Just turned eighteen, sir," He nodded and looked at my boss.

"She works for you?" He asked and my boss nodded this time, both of us anxious about what will happen next. "Okay, then," He said after a second, reaching into his pocket to pull out a business card and a pen. "Here is my address and if you can stop by at 5:30, that would be great," He handed me his card with a smile.

"Thank you," I replied as I took the white card out of his hand, staring at the scribbled address on the back.

"You should give her a raise," Ward praised, "She's a lifesaver," My boss chuckled softly before leading Ward away. I have no clue if this was a great idea or a terrible one, but there's no going back, now.

✮

JJ paced around the porch while John B, Kie, Pope and I watched him explain what happened. "And we were right outside like this," He pressed his back against the brick fireplace and continued to act out what happened. "And all we hear is just, 'Bam! Bam! Bam!'" JJ exclaimed as he hit his fist against the wall, "Knocking paint off the wall, G! From the inside. All right? And I'm just looking at him, like--" He stopped and moved towards the four of us and started brushing out his hair. "Wait, first off, look at this shit,"

"That's dandruff, disgusting," Kie muttered as white paint chips fell out of his hair and onto the wooden porch. Pope pushed him away and JJ looked at the ground, pointing out that it was paint.

"At that point, I was just, like... I'm waiting for death." He over-exaggerated and I rolled my eyes.

"We weren't going to die, but it was crazy. They were throwing everything around and Ms. Lana was scared out of her mind," John B told the group in a less acted-out way.

"Oh, okay, so you saw the guys that shot at us, right?" Pope asked, "Did you get a good description of them? Anything we can bring to a police report?" Before anyone could try and remember what they looked like, JJ spoke up.

"Burly," Was all that he said and the group was confused. "You know, like-- okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad's garage," He explained but that didn't help, "I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers.

"Yeah. Yes. No, we know." Kie muttered, trying to understand the nonsense that JJ was saying.

"I can tell you with full confidence, these boys, these killers..." JJ proclaimed as he leaned back against the fireplace and I scoffed. He took a hit of his silver Juul and looked at us and finished, "they're square groupers,"

"They're square groupers, like narco square grouper? Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?" Pope asked with his hands on his head. I looked over at John B, while Kie made a comment about a movie, and I could tell that he was deep in thought. "What does this square grouper look like? Specifically?" Pope continued and JJ took another hit.

"You weren't there!" JJ said as Pope yelled at him and I rubbed my head, already getting a headache from the two of them. "I wasn't taking little mental Polaroids the entire time, man. I was under duress, okay?"

"JJ," I tried to say but he continued to freakout.

"But I can tell you... I can tell you by the way that Ms. Lana was screaming, that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man," JJ concluded and John B flipped open the compass and stared at it.

"Sit down and take a breath," I told JJ and he sat down next to me on the couch.

"It's a heavy vibe right now, okay? I'm not liking this very much," JJ explained as he took one last hit before slipping the Juul in his pocket. Kie looked towards John B still confused.

"Why do they want the compass?" She asked, and honestly, I couldn't tell you because I didn't know either.

"It's a piece of shit," Pope said, "You couldn't pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted to. No offence. I know it's in your family--"

"The office," John B said as he walked towards the door, with everyone still confused, "My dad. My dad's office. He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research," He walked through the door and the four of us followed him through his house. We used to laugh at him like he was gonna find it, but now that he's gone, I've just kinda... I just left it as he kept it," John B explained as he stopped at one of the doors.

I've been at his house almost a million times, and not once, have I ever been inside his dad's office. "Yeah, for when he gets back," Kie said as she stopped next to him, giving us a look, telling us not to crush his spirits.