PARADISE ON EARTH | jj maybank (DISCONTINUED)

1.09

IT HAD GOTTEN QUIET, making the graveyard scarier than it already was. Laura was still skeptical, looking around at everything with concern written all over her face. She had chills, although it was summer and was constantly hot in the Outer Banks.

"That's not gold." Pope said when Kiara had handed John B some type of FedEx package. Kiara climbs out from inside, while they all gathered around John B.

"Holy shit. This is from my dad." John B said, looking around at his friends.

"Code red. Code red. Square groupers! Square groupers!" They all immediately start running the opposite way of the approaching vehicle. "It's the guys that robbed your house."

Laura hid behind a large wall, the others following right behind her. They all started turning their lights off, except John B who was struggling to do so. "Dude, do you really not know how to turn a light off?" She said angrily, taking it from him and turning it off.

"Do you think it's them?" Kiara asked.

"Homie's got a gun." JJ said, disregarding the girl's question. They all started running back towards the van, not wanting to be seen by the men.

The Pogue's continued running and started climbing the fences and gates at the entrance of the graveyard. Laura had made it all the way up before her foot slipped which caused her to badly scrape her knee and weirdly a part of her stomach.

As this happened, Pope got stuck in the fence, which made a setback for both of the twins. While Kiara helped with Pope, Laura had firmly made it over, looking at her stomach to see blood. "How the hell does that happen?"

"Nice. Come on dude. It's a little Tootsie Roll!" JJ said while they all climbed into the van, laughing at his remark. Pope, Kiara, and Laura were in the back, while JJ and John B sat in the two front seats.

Laura rested her head on the window, trying to contain her laughs but she couldn't. "Why are you still laughing?" Kiara asked, now starting to laugh because of the girl.

"I don't know."

"You're using moldy bread on a sandwich. Really?" Laura said, laughing at the blonde boy standing next to her, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"I'll just pull off the bad parts." He said, looking up at her and giving a goofy grin. She smiled back, before turning to go back to the table.

"Come on." The two made their way back over, Laura standing next to her brother who was seated.

"Hot damn! Let's do it." JJ said, taking a bite out of the sandwich. He then gagged and walked over to the trash can, spitting out the piece he had in his mouth. Laura chuckled at him, then directed her attention back at the packaging.

"Holy shit." Said John B, opening up the map. Laura looked at it amazed, her mouth agape. "Longitude, Latitude." He continued, pointing towards the two spots.

"Wait, there's something else in there." Laura said, grabbing the packaging and taking out the object. "A tape recorder."

"Oh, that's what that is." JJ replied. John B clicked it, and immediately they heard the voice of Big John Routledge.

"Dear Bird."

"Who's Bird?" JJ asked.

"That's what my dad called me. Didn't give Laura a nickname." John B replied, his gaze glued onto the tape recorder.

"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."

JJ put his arm around the short girl's shoulder, being able to tell her emotions were about to take over. Clattering sounded on the tape, and John B immediately looked up at his sister. The two shared a look over the last part of his statement.

"You were probably right to call me out. Wasn't exactly Father of the Decade. I know your sister agrees with me. What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn. And hopefully, we're all listenin' to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, livin' 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." Everybody shared a look. "If anything 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. Tell your sister I love her, as well. She deserves to know that much. I'll see you on the other side." Then, the tape recorder clicked.

John B immediately stands up and walks to turn away from his friends. Laura looked down at the table, tears forming in her eyes. She thought she already faced the fact her father was dead, but obviously not.

"Holy shit, he did it!" JJ said excitedly. Laura ignored him, hearing Kiara tell him off for saying such a thing when their friends were currently in distress. "Sorry."

Immediately Laura's quiet sobs began, her body lightly jerking from the emotion. JJ wrapped his arms around the girl, knowing she needed comfort at the moment. It was weird for them to see JJ act like this, but they all knew about how whipped he was for the girl.

After a few moments, they were all seated outside on the small dock. Laura was sitting on the ground, her back against the fencing of the dock. Kiara was playing the ukulele, calming the other girl.

"How much was it again?" JJ spoke up. Kiara stopped playing the ukulele, and Laura immediately came back to reality.

"Four hundred mill." Pope responded.

JJ sighs, "All right, 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." Responded Pope. "You have zero training." Laura ran her hands through her hair, before taking a long sip of her beer.

"YouTube, bro! That's at least a five percent bump right there." Pope began to say something, before getting cut off by JJ. "Any objections? Didn't think so." Kiara raised her hand, but JJ acted as if he didn't see it.

"I don't hear any, so..."

Laura tuned out once more as they began talking about what they were going to do with their 100 mill. She was still slightly listening, but not completely, her mind drifting off as she stared out over the water. Laura heard JJ begin talking about going full Kook, so she began coming back into the conversation.

"I could never go full Kook. That means I might have to deal with Briar Thornton. Never again." Laura said, looking up at the people sitting on the fences.

"Oh shit, I forgot about her. Friends with Sarah Cameron? Blonde? Bitchy?" JJ asked, looking down at the girl. Laura nodded, so he knew they were talking about the same girl. "Can't forget Topper's sister. But you have to admit, it was funny seeing her yell at him." Laura smiled at the memory.

"That was funny. He deserved it."

"JB, what are you gonna do?" Pope said, disregarding the previous conversation to include their other friend. Laura looked over at him, smiling. He looked back, having a slight smile resting on his face.

"To going full Kook." He said, raising his beer. They all repeated, "To going full Kook!" raising their beers and clinking them.

"Leave me out of it." Laura said, smiling. JJ jumped down and grabbed her hand, pulling her up off the ground. He grabbed her hand that was holding her beer and put it with everybody else's. "To going full Kook, I guess." They all cheered, then started laughing.