𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 • 𝐣𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐛 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞

𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬

"hey, mom." dove said as she entered the bedroom that mary was staying in.

"hey, peanut. where are ya friends?" she asked.

dove shrugged.

"here, come sit." she pat a spot on the bed beside her.

"why aren't ya with 'em?" she questioned.

"i dunno. there's just a lot going on." dove shrugged.

"well where are they? hm?" mary asked again.

"why do you care so much?" dove furrowed her eyebrows, annoyance on her face.

"well i just wanna keep up with your life, peanut. come on now, you can tell me anythin'." mary replied, half-lying.

although she wanted to be there for her daughter, she also had an ulterior motive.

dove sighed. "we've been searching for the royal merchant and...well we ended up finding it and now they're collecting the gold. i wanted to go with them, but i just can't seem to get along with sarah. i mean, she's a nice girl, don't get me wrong, but...i love john b and she's with him and i hate the though of them being together and doing things that i should be doing with him."

"i see. well that's impressive that y'all really found it. ya thinkin' 'bout sharin' some of your cut with your momma?" mary nudged dovem a sirk on her face

dove just gave her a look.

mary sighed. "listen, dove, john b will come around. he'll realize that you're the better choice and he shouldn't be with sarah. for now, just go with your friends and get that gold then celebrate gettin' the gold. that's what you should be doing. not lettin' sarah cameron get you down. you're way prettier than her anyway. don't let ward hear me say that he won't want to have--he'll get all defensive." 

dove nodded. for once, she actually believed her mother was trying to help her.

but alas, she was wrong.

"thanks, mom."

"anytime, pickle. i love you, my sweet girl."

mary kissed her cheek, then left the girl alone in the room.

🕊️

"why aren't you sitting with the girls? and where were you last night?" pope asked.

"at the cameron's. with my mom." dove replied, shortly.

john b rolled his eyes as he was preparing to melt down the bars of gold they had collected the night before.

"is your mom...clean?" pope asked.

"i guess so. that's why she's staying at the cameron's. ward's an old friend of hers' so he offered to help her get clean." dove shrugged.

"oh. and--."