Ocean Eyes

Chapter 30

JJ said" We're gonna be landing about a couple hours out of Tres Rocas, at a farm. It's right here."
Kie said" A couple of hours?"
" Yeah, but Barracuda Mike says there's a bus into town we should be able to catch, so..."
I said" Jayj, what if they're not there?"
" If they're not there... free vacation. We're on an adventure, baby. Come on now." I smiled, nodding my head.

We were watching them unload and load the plane,
JJ said" Damn. Barracuda Mike's got this import-export thing down. Yo, Barracuda, is that our executive coach to Tres Rocas right there?"
Barracuda said" It is, smart-ass. Hey. We have a deal, remember? You still owe me for that lost load."
" I remember, alright?"
" Hey, JJ."
" What?"
" Word of advice."
" What?"
" This ain't Kildare. Try and lay low."
" Sure thing, chief." We walked away from them all,
I said" What do you owe?"
" Nothing, it's fine. I got it handled."
" Okay..." I gulped, and nodded my head.

A man said" So right here, you have Tesoro. Up here, Orinoco, right? And they say up here, El Dorado." He drew out a map, with dust,
JJ said" Wait."
Kie said" Who says?"
The man said" All the world."
" If all the world says it, why hasn't it been found?"
" Some people say it doesn't exist. Some people say it's hidden, and only one very special person can find it."
JJ said" Uh-huh."
" But most people sat it's maldito."
Kie said" Maldito?"
" Cursed. Over the years, people that go up, they don't come back."
JJ said" Funny. Funny."

JJ said" Welcome to Tres Rocas. This place makes the cut look like the Taj Mahal."
Kie said" Alright, so how we gonna find them?"
" I'm working on it. Um, look, alright. Tres Rocas is fairly small, alright? Don't worry about it. We'll find them, okay?" Then I saw Pope and Cleo running for their lives," You gotta be kidding me. We haven't been here for two minutes!" He laughed and hung his body out," Cómo estás, amigos?"
Pope said" What the- Hey! Run!"
Cleo said" We gotta go!"
JJ said" What?"
" We gotta run!"
" You gotta be kidding me."
Kie said" Already? We just got here." We ran off the bus," What's happening?"
Pope said" Singh's men are right behind us. They're after us. We gotta think of a plan."
JJ said" Okay, why don't we just hijack the bus?"
Kie and I said" This bus? That only goes 10 miles an hour?"
" I'm just spitballing, Kie, Kai, okay?"
Cleo said" Guys!"
Pope said" They're coming now! Hide!"
" Fruit stands! Duck!" JJ grabbed my hand and we ran to the fruit stand, and hid behind it. We stood up as they drove off," Welcome to South America."

Mike said" Got anything to protect yourself?"
JJ said" Uh, kinda working on that part."
" Here." He handed JJ a bag,
" What's this?"
" Machetes. You'll need 'em. I'm adding the cost of this rig to what you already owe me. I don't expect to see it again anyway. Look, I asked around at the landing today. Your buds did leave this morning, but I was able to get directions to El Tesoro. Pretty loose. Only Jose knows the real way, but get you in the right zip code, maybe."
Kie said" It's a start."
Pope said" Thanks."
Mike said" No. Don't thank me. Start praying. And JJ." We walked onto the boat, JJ stopped though, so I stopped with him.
JJ said" Yeah?"
" You owe me, dude. Ten times. Good luck." Mike pushed us off and we were off, JJ driving.

JJ hit my leg, I looked at him,
He said" You okay?" I nodded,
I said" Yeah, yeah, I'm okay."
" Your body's a terrible liar." I grabbed my hand and stuffed it into my pocket, he scoffed.
" Shut up."
———
We were hidden off the river, the boat finally passed us,
Cleo said" JJ, you were right. That's Singh and his men. But they're not looking for us."
JJ said" Yeah, they're moving real quick. They're looking for John B and Sarah. They're gonna know where they're headed. We gotta go. They're gonna need us." We started moving again,
" Stay back. Don't get too close."
———
Kie said" Okay, guys, I think this is El Tesoro. The trailhead to the mountain is supposed to start here."
JJ said" Oh shit. That's one of Singh's guys. What're we gonna do? We gotta get past them somehow."