𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 ᯓ outer banks

chapter eighty-eight

BROOKLYN'S MOM LEFT when she and John were three. For the whole time growing up, it was just her, her brother and her pops. In some ways, he was the best father you could imagine. Taught Brooklyn, taught John B how to work and what to do after work. Honestly, to Brooklyn, he was more of a friend than a father. He wasn't overprotective at all, maybe of Brooklyn at times but never overly protective.

However, like any family, they had their moments. The last day Brooklyn and John B ever saw their father they had an argument all because he wanted to sell the Twinkie. He promised he'd get his kids a brand new van with the Merchant gold but John B and Brooklyn didn't believe him so instead they got in the van and drove away after calling him the worst father.

Everyday she wishes she had never said it. She wishes she had never run off. It's one thing to lose a father. It's another thing to never get to say goodbye. However, now it's another thing to never get to reunite with him, if he's even up there in that church ringing those bells.

Brooklyn, who rarely ever gets mad at Sarah, is frustrated, annoyed even. She's pacing around the deck, calling her out and saying, "Is this what we're doing? We're just sailing out. We're just gonna forget about my brother?" She was angry, running her hands through her hair annoyed at the fact she wasn't there with him. "We should never have left him. We're turning back."

"No! We're all gonna get caught. What type of plan is that?" Cleo asks her, but Brooklyn doesn't have time for plans, she doesn't even time to think about being caught. All she knows is that she has to get back to her brother somehow.

"It's a plan to stick together, Cleo," Brooklyn replies.

"Then we are dead together," the girl snaps back.

"She's right. We had to leave, or we'd all be zip-tied in the back of a pickup," Kiara speaks, looking over at Brooklyn. "We did the right thing."

It didn't feel like the right thing whatsoever.

And just as Brooklyn is about to speak, the phone she stole rings in her pocket. She answers and puts the phone on speaker, relieved to hear his voice. "John B! Hey, do you need us to turn around?" she asks.

"No, don't worry about it," he replies. "Don't worry about me, okay? Look, it's way too hot here. You gotta get out of here. Go back to OBX."

"John, are you okay?" Brooklyn asks but she can barely hear his response.

His response is distorted, "Bee, I'm okay, I-"

"John B, I can't hear you. What are you saying?" she keeps trying to speak but the phone call disconnects and Brooklyn is just left confused.

"Do you think he found your dad?" Cleo asks but Brooklyn just shrugs.

"Guys, we need to keep going, okay? We need to get back to OBX. We'll figure something out once we're home," Brooklyn says before walking away from her friends and down to the bottom deck. She obviously didn't like to leave him behind, especially if he was alone, but she needs to, she needs to get everyone home safely.

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JJ and Brooke take control of the boat later on. He stands next to her, an arm around her waist while she holds the steering wheel. "You didn't tell him where the diary is, did you?"

She shakes her head, certain that she didn't, "I told him I had seen it, but I didn't tell him where."

"Why does Singh want it so much?" JJ asks her like she even understands that question.

She shrugs and replies with, "Singh said that he thinks the diary has some sort of clue to the location of some city of gold." She wasn't sure how much she believed in a city of gold but one can dream. "The gold of the Merchant was just a small part of it. Apparently."