Sea Breeze ⚓ JJ Maybanks

CHAPTER THRITY

The next day they pulled up to the pawn shop, ready to get their money for the gold they had found. "Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein," JJ said to Kie as he examined the gold.

"Like you could've done better," Kie said defensively.

"I could have done much better," JJ bragged. "I took a welding class."

"When?" Kie asked, not believing his story.

"Whoa, whoa, hey shhhhh!" John B exclaimed, stepping in between the two of them. "Chill out, okay?"

"Easy for you to say," JJ rolled his eyes. "You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off."

"Yeah, how did JJ and I get this job?" Gina asked.

"Cause you're the best liar, JJ," Pope told him. "And Gina, you can make any story sound believable."

Gina groaned but put on a more pleasant facial expression as they marched into the pawn shop.

"Afternoon, ma'am," JJ said politely.

"Afternoon," she said back, giving the whole group a once over. It was strange for a large group of teenagers to come into a pawn shop. Gina realized that the rest of the crew should have waited in the car, all of them here caused too much suspicion.

"I see you buy gold," JJ said, nodding at the sign on the wall.

"That's what the sign say, isn't it?" the lady said, still suspicious.

JJ took his backpack off and started to rummage through it. "Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, because I'm about to blow your mind."

"I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it," the lady replied.

"How about them gold apples," JJ laughed as he placed the gold on the counter.

The woman's eyes got big for a second before she began to laugh. "That ain't real."

"That ain't real?" JJ asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It can't be," the woman replied, still chuckling.

"Feel how heavy it is," Gina suggested, nudging the gold closer to her. The woman struggled to lift it and Gina smirked. Still not totally convinced, the woman pulled out a magnifying glass with a light on it.

"Yeah, let's get some light on that." If Gina acted confident that it was real gold that came from a legal place, everything was going to turn out fine. Confidence was key.

The woman shook her head, still not believing them. "Spray-painted tungsten."

JJ rolled his eyes. "Spray-painted tungsten? Really? Okay, why don't you see how, uh, soft it is?"

She pulled out a hammer like tool and tapped on the gold, trying to find a problem with it. Gina could tell she was slowly starting to believe them. "Hold your horses," she said, as if she could read Gina's mind. "We ain't got to the acid test yet."

"Ooh!" JJ whistled. "The acid test. My favorite, guys."

The lady continued to examine it. "Well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted," she muttered.

"Ma'am, I'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long," JJ said confidently.

"It looks like somebody tried to melt it down," she said, suspicion creeping back into her voice.

The wheels in Gina's head turned frantically. This was what she was good at, coming up with stories. "His mom," she said, looking at the lady with what she hoped was convincing sadness.

"She had all this jewelry laying around my house, and she thought it was best to-to melt it down," JJ tried to explain. Gina wanted to stomp on his foot and tell him to leave this part up to her because no one had this much jewelry just laying around. "You know, to consolidate it."

The broker put the gold on a scale. "Seven pounds?" she asked in disbelief. "That's a lot of earrings."

"Okay, to be honest, ma'am," Gina said thinking fast. "It's really hard for him to talk about, but you see his mom has just fallen apart with Alzheimer's. Do you know anyone with Alzheimers?" Gina asked. The woman just looked at her blankly, studying her and not answering the question. "Well, I mean if you do you know how hard it is to watch them deal with it. She doesn't even remember his name anymore, ma'am."

She sighed, finally seeming to have accepted the story. "Give me a minute."

"Take your time ma'am," Gina said, her voice cracking with fake sadness.

"That was really good, G," JJ whispered in her ear. "Seriously, I even bought it and I knew you were lying."

Gina smirked as the woman came back out of the back room.

"So, I talked to my boss. And this is what I can do." She handed them a check for fifty thousand dollars.

For a second Gina was about to grab it and run, it was more money than she had seen in her life. But after JJ's restitution money was taken out of it, there would be barely any money left.

JJ scoffed and Gina stayed quiet, knowing that this was the part of the deal he would be good at. "Fifty thousand? You think I walked in here not knowing' the spot price? Ma'am, I know for a fact this is worth 140, at least."

The lady smiled coldly. "We'll, sweetie you in a pawnshop. This ain't Zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?"

"Ninety, or we walk," JJ bartered.

"Seventy," the pawnbroker countered. "That's half price, and, um, I won't ask questions about where you got this."

Gina bit her cheek in frustration, feeling like it was her fault they weren't getting as much money as they could. I should have come up with a better story, I should have been more convincing.

JJ glanced over at John B who discreetly gave a thumbs up. "I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please."

The woman looked around at the rest of the Pouges in the shop. "Well, here's the snag. I don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. I can write you a cashier's check."

"No, ma'am. I want the cold hard cash. That's what the sign says," he gestured to the sign again. "Cash for gold. And that's what I expect. I'm gonna get it in cold hard."

"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there. Is that all right?"

JJ glared at her for a minute before asking, "Where's this warehouse?"