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"SO, LIKE, MY DAD'S ALREADY GONNA KILL ME." Pope starts. "What's this mandatory meeting about?"
"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed." JJ responds to John B's finger guns. Much to Judy's disappointment, he's changed back into his normal clothes. Of course, she loves him as himself, but the white shirt was an unexpected game changer.
"You ready for this?" John B looks around at the group.
"Yeah." Kiara breaks the silence.
"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant."
"Oh my God. Here we go again with this." says Pope.
"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ buts in.
"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island." says John B.
"Seriously?" Judy snorts, warming her hands in front of the fire.
"I'd like to voice my skepticism."
"I'm sure you would, Pope. But can I please present you with my evidence, sir?"
"Proceed."
"So!" John B ascends from his seat. "In my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."
"Who the hell's that?" Kie asks.
"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." He stumbles to unfold the paper in his hand and pass it out to Kiara. "Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery,"
The creased letter is handed down to Judy, but truthfully she's too drunk to comprehend it, so she immediately passes it over to Pope.
"So, Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom. After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please. Because that farm is..."
Everybody beats their palms against their laps.
"...Tannyhill Plantation."
"Tannyhill?" Kie exclaims.
"Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him."
