Sea Breeze ⚓ JJ Maybanks

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"That bread had mold on it three days ago," Pope said in disgust as JJ made a sandwich back at the chateau.

"I'll just pull off the bad part," JJ shrugged. "Plus, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism."

"Yeah, one that makes you sick," Gina rolled her eyes as they all crowded around John B who was opening the package from his father.

JJ hugged Gina from behind and took a bite of his sandwich. He gagged and spit it back into his hand.

"You're disgusting," she said, backing away from the blond boy.

"Shut up, you guys," John B yelled at JJ and Gina as he unfolded a map from his dad. "Holy shit."

"X marks the spot," Pope pointed to a large x on the map.

"Longitude, latitude," John B whispered as he ran his fingers along the lines. "Wait, there's somethin' else in there."

"What's that?" JJ asked, looking at what John B had just pulled out of the package.

"It's a tape recorder, dumbass," Gina rolled her eyes as JJ once again wrapped his arms around her.

"Dear Bird," Big John's voice came out of the recorder and Gina couldn't help but smile as she thought of the memories.

"Who's Bird?" JJ asked, placing his chin on Gina's shoulder.

"That's what my dad called me."

"I hate to say, 'I told you so', but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment, you're filled with guilt and self-loathing over our last fight, but don't kill youslef just yet, kid. I didn't expect to find the Merchant either. You were probably right to call me out. Wasn't exactly father of the decade. What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn. And hopefully, we're listening to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, livin' off passive investments and pulling on permits. If not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for. There she is, the wreck of the Merchant. If something' happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold, kid. I love you, Bird, even if I didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side."

"Holy shit, he did it!" JJ exclaimed. "Big John, he found the merchant!"

John B got up and walked towards the door, obviously upset. Kie followed after him and the rest of the crew gave them their space.

"JJ, now isn't the time," Gina whispered, gesturing to John B. Kie had her arms wrapped around him and he was sobbing into her shoulder.

Gina couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose the one parent you had left. Just like John B's mom, Gina's dad had dipped. All her life, it had just been her and her mom and they were really close. Gina couldn't even comprehend what it would be like to loose her.

"Hey, you good?" JJ whispered in her ear. She had almost forgotten that his arms were still wrapped around her and a blush started to spread across her face.

"Yeah," Gina nodded. "I just can't imagine what John B's going through right now, you know?"

JJ nodded and pulled her closer to him.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

The night air rippled through Gina's wavy hair as they sat outside on the dock railing.

"How much was it again?" JJ asked, his arm wrapped around Gina's waist.

"Four hundred mil," Pope replied.

"Alright, let's talk the split," JJ said with a smile. "Now, before we say evenly, may I remind you that I am the only one that can properly defend us," he held up the gun, "from those groupers who were after us. Protection? Not cheap, okay."

"You haven't been trained," Pope raised his eyebrows. "You've done zero training."

"Youtube, bro!" JJ exclaimed.

"Wow, I feel so safe," Gina said sarcastically.

JJ ignored her and went on to say, "That's at least a five percent bump, right there. Any objections?"

"When have you ever actually defended us with that stupid gun?" Gina asked, turning to look at him.

"I don't hear anything," JJ said, trying not to smile at her. "Do you guys hear anything?"

"You're an ass hole," Gina laughed as Kie and Pope raised their hands to object as well.

"I still don't hear anything ," JJ continued.

Kie rolled her eyes and turned to Pope. "What are you gonna do with your cut, Pope?"

"Pay for college in advance. And also textbooks, those are expensive."

"What about you, Kie?" JJ asked, resting his chin on top of Gina's head.

"Yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?" Gina asked, a smirk forming on her heart shaped lips.

Kie laughed before saying, "I just wanna make a double album. About OBX, the pouges. You know, the way Catch a Fire is about Kingston. Record it at Marley Studio, Peter Tosh producing."

"Peter Tosh is dead," Pope reminded her.

"I know," she smiled, "Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die."

"I know what I'm gonna do," JJ piped up. "I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figue Eight and go full Kook with Gina."

"You're gonna go full Kook?" Pope asked him sceptically.

"Yep," the blond nodded. "I'm gonna get a marble statue of myself, and then I'm gonna get a koi pond. Oh, and a swimming pool so I can see Gina in a bikini all the time."

She laughed and smacked his arm. "You're so wierd."

"What would you do, Gina?" Kie asked. "Not what JJ wants, but what you want."

She thought about it for a minute, really taking her time to consider what she would do with her cut of the money. "Take a trip around the world. Settle down in a big house somewhere and make even more money writing books."

JJ looked down at her and felt a little sad. It wasn't that he didn't want her to have dreams, but he just didn't realize how badly she wanted to leave the Outer Banks. He wondered if she just wanted to leave of him. He couldn't blame her if that was the case; he thought he was a total screw up and she was way out of his league. He just felt like she was the only one in the world for him.

"What are you gonna do, JB?" Pope asked, pulling JJ out of his thoughts of self loathing.

John B looked up at his friends for the first time since they had come outside. "To going full Kook."

"To going full Kook," they all raised their beers and laughed.

"Hey," Gina whispered in JJ's ear. "You want to spend the night at my place tonight?"

"Yeah, sure," he said quietly, still feeling shitty about himself.