body language - JJ Maybank

FOUR.

— THE group met up at the marsh a little while later. John B had successfully managed to grab the scuba gear off Ward Cameron's boat.
Evelyn was able to point him in the right direction of the scuba gear, although John B worked on the boat Evelyn had definitely spent more time on it.

   "This is empty you took empty tanks?" Kie looked at John B confused. "Okay, this one's a quarter full" She sighed. "It's enough for one of us." They all looked at each other.
  "Love it when a plan comes together." Pope teased.
  "Does anybody know how to dive?" Kiara then asked. Everyone was silent for a moment. "Anybody?" She was becoming agitated.
"It's kind of a kook sport." Pope admitted. "I- read about it." He then said.
  "Great, Pope read about it. So someone's gonna die." Kiara teased.
  "Look, you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" JJ said defensively.

  "If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends." Evelyn shivered slightly at Pope's comment.
  "Bends like, bend over and-" JJ teased, sticking his ass out.
  "The bends kill you." Pope responded and JJ went silent.

  "I can dive." John B finally said.
  "You can dive. I'm cool with that." By JJ's voice it was clear he was glad he didn't have to be the one to do it.
  "Since when can you dive?" Kie asked.
  "I'll do it, it's fine." John B shrugged, not thinking it was a big deal.
  "Let me do some calculations real quick." Pope said, this earnt a laugh from Evelyn and JJ; who both looked at each other for a moment, they shared a glance before awkwardly looking away again.

  "You serious?" Kiara asked John B, a hint of worry in her voice. Pope grabbed a notebook and began to do the math. Evelyn took a seat on the edge of the boat as they all prepared. She wasn't really sure how to help.

   "Will he be okay?" Evelyn asked once John B had gone underwater, the plan wasn't very well thought out and she was worried.
  "As long as he does what we said, he'll be fine." Kie responded.

Sirens sounded from a little while away and Pope shot his head around to look.
  "Shit. JJ." He said grabbing his attention.
  "Guys, that's the police." JJ then said.
  "No shit sherlock." Evelyn responded sarcastically.
  "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Pope sighed.

  "Yep, that's the police." JJ said, sounding slightly stressed.
  "Just act frickin' normal." Kiara said annoyed, Evelyn nodding in agreement. The sirens sounded again, as the boat headed closer.

   "Evening officers." Pope said as the boat arrived next to theirs. You could tell by his voice that he was nervous.
   "Evening." JJ gave them a warm smile.
   "How you kids doing?" The officer asked. They all nodded in response to signal that they were good. The officer proceeded to take off his sunglasses.
  "You know the marsh is closed?" He then asked.
They all looked at him shocked, replying with a handful of "no's".

  "Why is it closed?" Pope asked.
  "Well, we're conducting a search out here. Boat went down." The officer told the group something they all already knew. "See anything?" It was clear the officer was suppose of the group.
   "No, we haven't seen anything." Evelyn managed to stay calm and keep a straight face as she spoke to the officer. She didn't let it show that she was worried about John B down below.
    "Where's your friend you always hang with?" The officer proceeded to ask. "He here?" The group began to panic.

   "He's working" Kiara said quickly. She had always been a quick thinker which was perfect in situations like this. They all sat in silence for a moment, they group were hesitant to speak incase they said the wrong thing.
  "I'm gonna check your little boat out." The officer hopped from his boat onto theirs before any of them could protest.
  "Yeah, hop aboard." Pope stood up, allowing for the officer to look around the boat.

The officer continued to ask questions about the boat, the group managed to stay some what calm as they answered them. The officer moved to the edge of the boat looking out onto the water, the group began to panic; knowing that if the officer saw the bubbles in the water, they were done for.

   "All right." The officer finally said. They all knew John B's air must be running out soon so they were eager to get the officer off the boat.
  "Beautiful day." He then said, making his way back over to his boat.
  "Sure is." Poor and JJ responded.
  "Let us know if you see anything on your way out." The officer said to them.
  "Yep, will do." Evelyn gave the officer a friendly smile.

  With that, the officer left. They all raced to the edge of the boat waiting for John B to come up.
  "He's definitely out of air." Pope had said what they were all thinking. John B came up from under the water and they all sighed.
   "There he is!" JJ called.
   "Oh, God! Jesus Christ." Pope said, relieved. "Don't scare us like that."
   "How'd it go down there?" JJ asked as John B made his way back onto the boat. "Did you find anything?"

   "Did I find anything?" John B laughed as he threw a bag onto the boat.
  "Yeah, that's my boy!" JJ cheered grabbing the bag from him. The others helped John B onto the boat as JJ took the bag.
  "You scared the shit out of me." Kie said to John B. Evelyn wasn't sure what had happened after she left but there definitely seemed to be some chemistry between the two.

  "Hey guys, guys. Bogey, two o'clock." Kiara said and the group all turn their heads. There was a boat coming towards them, two people said on it that Evelyn couldn't quite make out.
  "Do you recognise that boat?" Pope asked, concerned.
  "I've never seen it." Kiara responded. "What are they doing here? The marsh is closed."

  The boat continue to get closer.
    "Let's not stick around to find out." JJ said, not liking the look of the people on the other boat. John B began to steer the boat away as the other one headed closer.

  Evelyn watched the boat as it continued to follow them. The group tried to speed up but they weren't quick enough.
   "Guys, he's got a gun!" Evelyn called out, she was the only one still looking at the boat so the others were yet to notice. Shots were fired towards them. JJ grabbed Evelyn, pulling her down with him so they wouldn't get hit.
   "John B, get down!" JJ shouted, he cradled Evelyn's head to soften her landing.

They continued to fire shots into the boat, the group were all down to prevent being shot.
    "We're gonna die!" Pope shouted. John B tried to speed up as much as possible, attempting to get away from them. Kiara got up, doing something at the front of the boat.
   "Get down Kie!" John B shouted as they fired another shot at the boat.

Whatever Kie had done worked as the boat behind them had stopped, giving them the opportunity to speed off. They fired a couple more shorts before the group were out of reach.

    "What the fuck just happened?" Evelyn finally sat up once she knew the boat was gone. She had been too afraid to move incase she was shot.
    "I have no idea man." JJ let out a gasp of relief and cheered. "Pogue life man!"

They finally made it back to the dock, all getting off the boat. John B set the bag down, opening up the zipper.
   "What do you guys think it is?" Kiara asked as the group surrounded John B.
   "Gotta be money, right?" He said.
   "That or a couple of keys with street value to the low- to mid-mils!" JJ responded.
   "Can we please just open the bag?" Pope said frustrated.

   "Wow, Pope." John B looked up at him shocked. "That's a rare outburst of emotion." He teased, the group laughing.
  "Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation." Pope replied.
  "I'm with Pope on this one. I'm dying to know what's inside there." Evelyn added.
  "We almost died over this."

Inside the bag was some sort of capsule. John B tried to open it, struggling. Once he had finally opened the capsule, he shook it onto his hand; something falling out. He stared at it briefly for a moment, it seemed to be some kind of compass.

"Oh wow. Yup. That's about right." Pope sighed as he looked at the compass. "Good job everybody. We found a compass." He said sarcastically. JJ took his hat off in annoyance.
"Dude, what? It's not worth anything." He looked down at John B, confused.
"This was my father's." A smile grew on John B's face as he inspected the compass.