pogue life

eleven

we get back to john b's and jj goes to make food. "that bread had mold on it three days ago, jj" I chuckle. "i'll just pull off the bad parts. plus, mold is good for you. it's a natural organism" he replies as we walk to john b who's about to open the envelope. "hurry up you two!" kie shouts. "yes yes, we're here" jj replies biting into the bread then gagging it up. I try hold in my laugh as he death stares me.

john b opens the envelope revealing a map. "wow" he says. "x marks the spot" pope points at the x on the map. "wait, there's something else in here" john b says lifting out a tape recorder. "what's that?" jj asks. "a tape recorder, dumbass" I laugh as he rolls his eyes.

john b plays the tape and his father speaks, "dear bird, I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. and you doubted your old man. I didn't expect to find the royal merchant either kid. hopefully, we're listening to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, livin off passive investment last 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 somethin' 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. i'll see you on the other side"

the tape recorder clicks off and john b gets up starting to sob. "holy shit, he did it! big john found the merchant!" jj shouts. "can you..can you not right now?" kie says seriously to him. "sorry" jj mumbles. I walk over to john b and hold him in my arms as he sobs uncontrollably. "you're okay, you're okay" I say rubbing his back.

after john b recovers from the shock we all go outside and sit at the dock. kiara plays her ukulele softly as we drink our beers. "how much was it again?" jj asks. "five hundred mil" pope replies. "all right, let's talk the split" jj says. "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" jj smiles. "yes, with the gun you put at my brothers head" I roll my eyes. "he was gonna drown john b" jj argues.

trying to change the topic I ask pope, "what are you gonna do with your 100 mil?". he looks up to the sky, deep in thought and finally answers. "pay for college in advance and also textbooks, those are expensive" he says completely serious making me and kie laugh. "what about you, bells?" jj asks me. "yeah, what does a kook do with another few mil?" pope asks. "I just wanna pursue my surfing, or go travelling. there's so many places I wanna see and visit" I say as jj and I make eye contact. "what about you, kie?" I ask. "just wanna make a double album. about obx, the pogues" she giggles.

"i'm gonna get a big ass house off figure eight and go full kook" jj tells us. "you're gonna go full kook?" pope asks. "yup, right beside bells house" he smirks at me. "what you gonna do, jb?" pope asks. it's silent for a minute and then john b speaks. "to going full kook" john b replies. "to going full kook!" we all cheer.

....

after last night pope left me off outside my house. I had to go home due to a charity event me and topper have to attend today, along with rafe and kelce.

"bella! come on, we're gonna be late" topper shouts from his car. "i'm coming, i'm coming" I say running down the stairs. when we get to the beach I run up to rafe. "hey loser, ready to do some litter picking" I laugh. "i'm only doing this because you and top are here" he groans and kelce comes over to us.

"yo, you guys look thirsty!" he says holding a container. "ohh, what do we got here?" topper says taking the container. "oh, my god. that's strong stuff" topper says smelling it as the boys laugh. he takes a drink of it and immediately regrets it, "oh, man. your turn, rafe" topper says handing the drink to rafe. he takes a huge amount and swallows it like it was nothing. "come on, bella" he smirks handing it to me next. "no, bella don't-" topper tries to stop me but I already chug it down. "what did you do to this" I laugh in disgust wiping my mouth, now feeling a bit sick.

"you guys got everything under control?" the event leader asks walking past us. "yes, sir! it's looking good, sir!" topper replies trying to not look suspicious as kelce hides the drink. "just hydrating!" I giggle as the boys laugh. "great job. keep it up!" the man says walking off.

ten minutes later we find ourselves in a circle all holding hands with the other volunteers. on my left is rafe and on my right is topper. "just a moment, friends, to acknowledge our blessings. to the big kahuna..." the man in the middle says, making me and rafe snort. "shh" topper whispers. "thank you for the opportunity for us to come out here and clean our beach to its virgin glory" the man continues. rafe and I burst out laughing as the man finishes his speech, "amen". rafe and I leave the circle laughing our heads off. "he doesn't like us, that guy" rafe chuckles putting his arm around me. "wonder why" I grin. 

rafe walks me in to town buying me little gifts as we pass each shop. "they're selling cupcakes over there, stay here i'll be back in a second" he smiles walking over to the stall. out of nowhere I feel hands around my waist. "hello, princess" the familiar voice says. I turn around to see jj with a smirk.

"what are you doing here?" I laugh forgetting rafe is about three metres away from us. "long story short, we are going to the salvage yard. let's go" he replies grabbing my arm. "jj, I can't. i'm with rafe right now" I say quietly. "what? why are you with him? are you together? he can't be trusted-" he says getting annoyed. "wow, wow. jj, calm down. we're just friends. nothing more" I tell him as a look of relief appears on his face. "oh. but still, we need you bella. please, i'm begging you" jj says giving me puppy dog eyes. they always win me over. "fine, i'll be right back, stay here" I sigh.

I walk over to rafe at the cupcake stall. "hey, rafe. I uh-, I really don't feel well after drinking that stuff, I think i'm just gonna head home" I lie as his smile fades. "you sure? I can drop you off if you want" he replies. "no it's okay, the fresh air might help" I say giving him a kind smile, truly feeling terrible for lying to him. "oh, okay. i'll see you at toppers party tonight then" he responds kissing my cheek. "yeah, thank you for the gifts!" I shout walking away to find jj.

"look at you being a professional liar" jj smirks. "shut up, jj" I roll my eyes getting into the van. "hey, how was litter picking with the kooks?" john b asks. "it was good" I tell them. "so glad I talked my way out of that" kie laughs as I playfully hit her. "they aren't that bad, kie" I chuckle. "that, is a whole other conversation. but we are on a mission, time to get your flirt on girl" she winks. "great, what do i've to do?" I ask smiling. "we need you and kie to distract" pope answers. "that'll be easy" I grin.

"we're here" jj says five minutes later as me and kie get out of the van. "hey, don't worry. you both got this" john b says from the van. "it's not us that we're worried about" kie says referring to pope and jj, making me chuckle.

"let's do this" I say smirking to kie. "hello?" kie shouts as we walk towards the man in security. "excuse me?" I say making him come out from his security hut. "can I help you?" the guard asks looking us both up and down. "hi! we have a flat tire and we were wondering if maybe you could help us out?" I smile. "yeah, please" kie says flickering her eyes. "of course, yeah. no problem, ladies" he smirks walking back into the hut to grab his tools. "it's too easy" kie whispers. "works every time" I whisper back.

the guard comes back out with his tools and we bring him to our boat. "don't know how it happened" I sigh. "probably been sitting in the yard too long, not to worry, i'll have it fixed in no time" he smiles at us. "thank you so much" kie replies as I see the boys running in the corner of my eye. a few minutes later the guard dog starts barking, kie and I look at each other. "do you hear that?" the guard asks us. "hear what?" we both reply. "tebows got something" the man says standing up. "it's probably just a raccoon, maybe. you know?" kie replies in the worst way possible. "nothing to worry about" I smile. "yeah" the guard says crouching down to fix the tire again.

I give kie a look for her to puncture another tire to give us more time. she goes around the corner and uses her hair clip to puncture it but the guard stands up and sees her. "what are you doing?" the man asks before running towards the guard dog. "wait! wait!" kie shouts. "shit!" I reply as the barking continues. "bella! get in the car!" kie shouts as we both jump inside. "go! go! go!" I shout as she drives off.