Where is the love?// JJ Maybank

Chapter 12

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me, so what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asked.

"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed." JJ said sitting down next Emilie who put her flower crown on his head.

"You ready for this?" John B asked.

"Yeah."

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

"Swag, so I still get my Tesla?" Emilie asked.

"Oh, my God. Here we go again with this." Pope says.

"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ told them.

"It's been here the whole time, it's on the island." John B said.

"Are you serious?" Kie asked.

"Oh, my God."

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope says.

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

"Proceed."

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

"Backpack, backpack. I'm the backpack loaded up with things and knickknacks too
Anything that you might need I've got inside for you." Emilie sang.

"Shut the hell up Emilie." John B snapped "So, Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out."

"What?" Kie asked.

"Here you go." John B passed Pope a map. "Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom."

Kie passed the map to Emilie and JJ.

"I don't know what this means." Emilie told JJ.

"After that, he bought his farm." John B continued, "Drumroll, please, because that farm is..."

They all slapped their knees.

"Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill?" Kie asked.

"Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him. So on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."

"Where?" Emilie asked.

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except... there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out. The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."

"Holy shit."

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope says.

"Dude, it's like King Tut."

JJ got up and lifted John B up while hugging him.

"I am a genius. Hey, whoa! Hello! Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn."
John B said.

"I'm so proud of you right now." JJ told him.

"Thank you."

"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?"