Carefree || JJ Maybank

Chapter Nineteen

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me." Pope says, throwing a stick into the fire, "So what's this mandatory meeting about?"

"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed." JJ says.

Everleigh looks at him, he had his hand on her thigh, and constantly kept looking her way, almost as if he was checking on her.

"You ready for this?" John B asks.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Everleigh chimes in.

John B looks at his twin sister. "So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant."

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

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

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

"Are you serious?" Kiara asks with a wide smile. "Oh, my God."

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope says, looking at John B.

"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B asks. He pulls out a piece of paper with writing on it.

"Proceed." Pope says, rolling his eyes.

"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B starts, showing the letter to the group.

"Who the hell's that?" Everleigh asks, furrowing her brows.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." John B answers, giving Kie the letter.[Kie]

"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."

Kiara whistles, giving the letter to JJ who shows Everleigh. She notices it's in a different language and doesn't even bother to try and read it. She takes the letter out of JJ's hand and just gives it to Pope.

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

Everleigh and Kiara start to drum their knees.

"Tannyhill Plantation." He smiles.

"Tannyhill?" Everleigh asks, her jaw dropping.

"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." He takes a break, smiling. "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."

Kiara looks at him smiling, "Where?" She whispers.

"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." He turns the papers around, and everyone's jaw drops.

"Ain't no way my twin brother figured this out." Everleigh jokes, a wide smile on her face.

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold." John B says, letting out a breathy laugh.

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

JJ stands up and walks over to John B.

"Dude, it's like King Tut." Kiara says.

"I am a genius." John B says, before being cut of by JJ lifting him off of the ground. "Hey, whoa! Hello! Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn."

JJ puts him back down, before looking John B very deeply into his eyes. "I'm so proud of you right now." He jokes.

John B puts a hand on the side of JJ's neck, "Thank you. That's really sweet of you."

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

"Good question." John B starts, walking over to his sister. Everleigh stands up and he wraps an arm around her. She leans her head on him. "Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map..."

Kiara's eyes shoot in at him, "Hold on. Sarah? Wh-why Sarah?" She asks.

"This is gonna be good." JJ says, taking his cap off and running his hand through his hair.

"Sarah, um, she... she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter." John B stutters. Everleigh notices him getting tense.

"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?" Kiara asks, sounding astounded.

"Yeah, um..." John B hums.

"He was mackin' on her." JJ blurts out.

"I wasn't macking." John B says. Everleigh could hear the lie in the way he was talking

"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron." JJ says again.

"I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access." John B says, making an excuse.

"There was access, all right." JJ mumbles, making Everleigh slightly giggle.

"Maybe too much access." Everleigh adds, making JJ crack a smile.

"Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kiara yells, ignoring JJ and Everleigh.

"I was trying to get into the archives." John B says, hesitant.

"Is that a yes?" She asks.

"I... I left out key details." John B replies, pulling his arm away from Everleigh.

"Yo, what? You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?" Kiara says, pissed off at John B.

Everleigh cringes, walking to JJ, yawning.

"I was just using her for information." John B lies again.

"Why don't I believe you?" Kiara says, making her hands do a bunch of movements.

"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here. Okay, so that we can pay off a boat, or... or, uh... send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies." He says, making more excuses. "Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?"

Everleigh let's out a tired laugh, putting a hand on JJ's shoulder.

"Uh... Do you want us to answer that, or..." Pope asks.

"Come on now John B, think about it. Sarah Routledge." She says, just wanted to get under John B's skin.

"Just... just stop." He says, frustrated.

"Look, you don't know her yet. I do!" Kiara exclaims. "You can't trust her."

"Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club. Oh, and Ev."

Everleigh nods. Her smile fades, remembering what Rafe had done to her earlier.

"He hit Everleigh too?" John B seethes, but tried to regain focus. "Rafe and Sarah are different human beings."

"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ asks

"She's like a... like a spitting cobra. First, she... she blinds you, and then..." Kiara starts explaining.

"This is a bad analogy." Pope mumbles.

"Listen to me! Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take." Kiara yells, ending the conversation.