Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
( chapter seven )
━━━ ☼ ━━━
The Pogues sat outside while Kie played her ukulele softly. Lia hadn't left John B's side as the boy laid his head on her shoulder. She could feel someone's gaze burning a hole in her head but she decided to ignore it as they all sat around each other on the deck.
"How much was it again," JJ spoke up, moving his gaze from Lia and John B to the water.
"Four hundred mil," Pope answered.
The blonde sighed, "all right, let's talk the split. Now, before we say 'evenly', may I remind you that I am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us," he held up his gun for the rest to see, "protection? Not cheap, okay?"
"JJ, that gun has only caused us problems in the past," Lia pointed out, shaking her head while John B sat up to sit next to her properly, "plus you're not even trained."
"Yeah, you haven't trained," Pope stressed, "you've done zero training."
"Youtube, bro! That's at least a five percent bump right there."
"You haven't—"
"Any objections? Didn't think so."
Kie rolled her eyes, "what are you gonna do with your 80 mil, Pope?"
"Pay for college in advance," the boy nodded, "and also, textbooks. Those are expensive."
"What about you, Kie," Lia asked.
"Yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?"
Kie chuckled lightly at Pope's question and shrugged, "just wanna make a double album. About OBX, the Pogues. You know, the way Catch a Fire is about Kingston. Record it at Marley Studio, Peter Tosh producing."
"Peter Tosh—"
"—Is dead. I know. Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die."
"I know what I'll do," JJ added, "I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figure 8 and go full Kook."
Lia laughed at the idea, "you? JJ Maybank going full Kook? That's a sight to see."
"Yup," he smiled at her, "gonna get a marble statue of myself, and then I'm gonna get a koi pond. Put a bunch of those fish."
"I'm never visiting," Kie joked and turned to Lia, "what about you, Phe."
Ophelia paused in thought as she finally came up with an answer, "I wanna donate it all to charity," she nodded, "maybe to a women's shelter, help women in bad situations get back on their feet. Or to cancer research, I don't know," she chuckled nervously at the idea of all that money. She played with her hands, turning to her best friend, "what are you gonna do, JB?"
