𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

036. For Gold.

THE NEXT day at the Chateau, Pope shares his plan with the others and later as they're getting everything ready, after Sarah and John B came by. Kie, Sarah and Josie now sit together inside the Twinkie. "He said it looked something like this." Kie says as she shows Sarah. "So..." Sarah says, leaning over.

"That's 50 feet down. And they're using 100 feet rope. So I guess this little wagon will go..." Kie pointed with her pinkie and Sarah laughs. "Straight to the gold room." Kiara says as she laughs as well. "Who drew this?" Sarah asked and Josie chuckled. "Who do you think?" Kie looked at Sarah before looking over at Pope and John B. Pope is already looking.

Josie glanced at Kie then over at Pope. Another person to compete with. Great. And judging by the smile on Kie's face, she feels sort of jealous. "Kie! Josie! This better work. We can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it." JJ said as he tossed the gold bars down beside Josie where she's sitting.

Kie grabs the blow torch, "it's gonna work." She says and Josie nods. "Trust me, I took shop classes in my Freshman year. Well... they never gave us blow torches but I know how they work!" Josie raised her thumbs up.

"Hot." JJ nods and Josie rolls her eyes. "It basically will be." Is all Josie says before they get the stovetop and pot ready, melting down the gold until the wheat symbol was gone. After that, they let the gold set for a while and it was all clumpy. So, of course, JJ critiques.

"Hell of a job melting it down, Josie." He said, glancing back at her as they got out of the van. "Oh, whatever. I tried my best. I told you they didn't give us blow torches!" She says and he rolls his eyes. "I took a wielding class, you know, I could ha--" "yeah? When? When?" Kie asked, butting in and John B interrupts, "woah, woah, hey, chill out... Okay?l

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off." JJ raised the gold melted down together and Josie's jaw drops, offended as Kie pats her back. "How did I get this job anyway?" JJ adjusted his backpack. "It's okay, Jo, he doesn't mean it..." Kie says. "Cause you're the best liar." Pope answers JJ's question. "JJ, you're usually not so mean to me, I feel actually hurt." Josie said as they head to the door. "Oh, yeah, princess? Sorry." JJ said and Josie snorts as they head inside.

The shop's bell rings as JJ opens the door, looking over to the counter. "Afternoon, ma'am." He says when the woman looks at him. "Afternoon." She says as JJ walks over. "I see you buy gold." He tells her and Josie's face scrunched up. "That's what the sign say, don't it?" The lady asked sassily.

"Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, because I'm about to blow your mind." He set his backpack onto the countertop. "I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it." She says as JJ takes out the gold, setting it down. "How about them gold apples?" He asked her.

She took one second to look at it and looked up, chuckling as she shakes her head. "That ain't real." She stated, her hand still on her hip. "That ain't real?" JJ asked the pawnbroker. "It can't be." She simply says, sounding amused. "Feel how heavy it is." The boy tells her.

"Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm!" He hums when the woman just proves his point, picking it up. "Here, let's get some light on that." JJ hands her a magnifying glass with a light on it. She switched it on. "Spray-painted tungsten." She says as her final answer, flipping it over.

"Spray-painted tungsten? Really? Okay. Why don't you see how, uh, soft it is?" JJ asked as the others pretended to browse around the shop. "You mind?" The woman asked, he shakes his head. "No, go for it." He tells her. She hits a pick with a hammer and then touched the gold. "Wow. Would you look at that?" JJ says, sounding cocky.

"Hold your horses. We ain't got to the acid test yet." The pawnbroker says, turning away as he looks over at the others. "Ooh! The acid test." He says, looking over at Josie, Pope and Kie next. "My favourite, guys." He says and Josie just glanced away, smiling as she rolls her eyes. The woman carries on with the acid test. "Well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted."

"Ma'am, I'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long." He said and she tilts her head to the side a bit. "It looks like somebody tried to melt it down." She looks up and he's quiet for a moment. "My mom." He said and she gives a curious look. "She had all this jewelry laying around the house, and she thought it was best to-- to melt it down. To "consolidate" it." He uses his fingers for air quotes around the word.

"Seven pounds?" The woman said as she weighed it. "That's a lot of earrings." She looks back at the gold. "Okay, to be honest, ma'am," he clears his throat, "it's really hard to see my mom fall apart with Alzheimer's."

The woman's face show that she doesn't buy it as she hums. "Alzheimer's?" Kie says as she looks at Josie and Pope. The other girl just shrugs softly. "Give me a minute." The pawnbroker says before walking away. "Take your time, man." JJ's voice cracks.

Pope and Kie walk over to JJ so Josie follows, then Pope quietly speaks with JJ then the woman comes back out. Pope turns away as Josie looked at Kie, raising her brows. "So, I, uh..." The woman clears her throat as she walks over to the counter. "I talked to my boss." She says. "And?" JJ says instantly.

"And, uh, this is what I can do." She sets down a paper making Josie look over JJ's shoulder curiously. "Fifty thousand?" The blond boy merely asked the woman. "You think I walked in here not knowing the spot price? Ma'am, I know for a fact this is worth 140, at least." He says as he pointed to the seven pounds of gold.

"Well, sweetie, you in a pawnshop. This ain't Zurich." She says as JJ, annoyed, scratches above his eye. "Do I look Swiss to you?" The lady then asked him sarcastically. "Ninety, or I walk." He glanced up at her.

"Seventy. Half price... and, um... I don't ask questions about where you got this." She whispers the last part to him, almost like a threat. JJ simply glanced over at John B. "I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please." He says as Sarah chuckles softly, looking at JJ and Kie smiles as well, glancing at Josie who glanced over at her right away.

"Well, here's the snag. I don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. I can write you a cashier's check." She says and JJ looks away. "Cash... No, ma'am. I want the cold hard. It's what that sign says." He pointed at the sign above the room the woman had gone to earlier. "Cash for gold. And that's what I expect. And I'm gonna get it in cold hard."

"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there. Is that alright?" She asked him and JJ stares at her in wonder. "Where's this warehouse?" He merely asks.

 

  

  

 

  

  

  

  

  

   

   

AUTHORS NOTE
i've been playing resident evil village a lot lately and i'm obsessed with it 😭