happy place || jj maybank ON HOLD

chapter twenty one

-not edited-

The boat ride back to Rixon's is awkward. JJ and Pope refuse to look at me, John in deep in thought, and Kie isn't speaking either, but she gives me sorry looks. I can tell they're all upset with me, but don't know what to say. Kie seems to not be as mad, but doesn't want to start anything. The first person to talk will probably start an entire argument, and no one wants to. Pope just looks offended, John seems like he just doesn't know what to say, and JJ just looks mad.

We all get out of the boat, JJ and John go to start the bonfire and the rest of us gather around. I take a seat next to Kie, who gives me a tight lipped smile and pulls me into a side hug. "Don't think I'm mad at you, V." Kie says quietly, while the others are in conversation. "They just take it to heart, they'll forgive you. You were doing the right thing, I know you were. It's not your fault they can't see that." She says, then pulls out of the hug.

"You're the best, Kie." I respond, "seriously."

She returns my smile, nodding.

"Alright, I know this is a bad vibe right now." Pope says, breaking the silence in the group. "But like, my dad's already going to kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?"

John looks to JJ, pointing finger guns at him.

JJ speaks up, "Might as well tell them, man, before were gaffed."

Kie and I share a look, confused and worried what the boys are getting us into now.

"You ready for this?" John asks, looking to Kie and I.

"Yeah." We speak at the same time.

"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." John starts.

"Oh my god" Pope sighs, "here we go again with this."

"No, all right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ defends.

"It's been here the whole time." John says, smiling. "It's on the island."

"Are you serious?" Kie asks.

"How do you know?" I ask. Wondering where John went all day and how he suddenly had new information. A little hurt I was not included, knowing our fathers wanted us to be in this together.

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope says, still unsure of the whole thing.

"I'm sure you would Pope." John says, "but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?"

"Proceed." Pope says, sighing again.

"All right! So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."

"Who the hell's that?"

"Denmark Tanny was a slave. Only survivor of the Royal Merchant Crash. See, slaves weren't mentioned on the list of crew members. However, V and I's fathers found the complete manifest, that was their big discovery."

"Shit.." I say, realizing what this means. They were a lot closer than we thought.

"So, Tanny used the gold to buy his freedom. Then, he bought his farm. Which is guess what?" John asks rhetorically, taking a pause. "Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill?" Kie asks in disbelief

"After that, he used his money to continue to free slaves, and sold a shit ton of rice, which pissed off the white planters. And then, they decide to lynch him." John continues, all of us watching him tell the story, intrigued and finding a new sense of hope in our treasure hunt.