summertime sadness| jj maybank

❖ seven ❖

'that bread had mold on it three days ago.' pope said. liv and kie's eyes turned to jj, who was hurrying to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so he wouldn't miss what was in the envelope.

'i'll just pull off the bad parts. plus, mold is good for you. it's just a natural organism.' jj said.

'that's not how it works but ok.' liv said. 'but come on we're waiting on you.'

'yep yep yep.' jj ran over with his sandwich in one hand and a drink in the other. 'hot damn! let's do it.' he said.

as john b ripped open the envelope, jj started to gag on the sandwich, spitting it into his hand, then throwing the handful in the trash.

john b pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope, unfolding it to reveal a map with a bunch of marks on it.

'holy shit.' john b said.

pope looked down at the map. 'oh, x marks the spot.'

john b ran his finger along the map 'longitude. latitude.' he said. he reached back into the envelope. 'wait there's something else in here.'

john b pulled out a tape recorder and stared at it.

jj leaned to liv. 'what is that?' he said.

'it's a tape recorder dumbass.' liv said.

john b pressed the button and the audio started to play, liv's eyes widened when she heard big john's voice.

'dear bird.'

'who's bird?' jj asked.

'that's what my dad called me.' john b said.

the audio continued. '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 yourself just yet kid. i didn't expect to find the merchant either.' everyone exchanged glances as big john stopped talking for a few seconds.

'you were probably right to call me out. wasn't exactly father of the decade. but 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, living 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.' there was another pause in the audio. 'i'll see you on the other side.'

john b clicked the off button on the tape recorder, then stood up, making it to the doorway, then he started crying. 

'holy shit, he did it!' jj said. 'big john, he found the merchant!'

liv put her hand on jj's shoulder, he looked at her, then she pointed to john b.

'sorry.' he whispered.

liv and jj sat down at the table with pope while kie walked over and wrapped her arms around john b.

a few minutes went by and kie lifted her head. 'do you wanna go outside?' she mumbled. john b's head slowly nodded.

they all started to walk outside to the dock, kie grabbing her ukulele on the way out.

kie sat down and started to play her ukulele, while pope sat down facing her, liv and jj sat on the rails of the dock, and john b sat facing towards the water.

'how much was it again?' jj asked.

'four hundred mil.' pope said.

jj sighed and stood up. 'alright, 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 the groupers who were after us. protection? not cheap, ok?'