summertime sadness| jj maybank

❖ fourteen ❖

liv, kie, and sarah sat in the van, laughing at a drawing john b had made of the well.

'kie! this better work.' jj said, he threw the three bars of gold onto the floor of the van. 'we can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it.'

kie picked up the blow torch and showed it to jj, 'it's gonna work.'

jj, liv, pope, and kie stood over the pot that held the gold. kie slowly melted it down until it was nothing but a big chunk of gold.

kie let the gold cool down, then wrapped it up in a towel. 'let's go get some cash.' she smiled.

john b parked the van out in front of the pawn shop, 'hell of a job melting it down, dr frankenstein.' jj said.

'like you could've done any better.' kie scoffed.

'i could've done much better. i took a welding class.' jj said.

'when?' kie asked.

john b got in between kie and jj before an argument could happen, 'chill out, ok?'

'that's easy for you to say that, you're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off. how did i get this job anyway?' jj held onto his backpack strap with one hand, and kept the gold in the other.

'cause you're the best liar.' pope said.

jj opened the door of the pawn shop, 'afternoon ma'am.'

'afternoon.' the woman responded.

'i see you buy gold.' jj said.

'that's what the sign say, don't it?' the woman asked.

'well, i sure hope you buy a lot of it, because i'm about to blow your mind.' he said.

'i ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it.' the woman shook her head.

everyone started to walk around the pawn shop, close enough so they could hear jj, but far enough away so the woman wouldn't suspect them of anything.

liv and kie heard the sound of jj sitting the gold on the counter, 'how about them gold apples?'

the woman laughed at jj, 'that ain't real.' she said.

'that ain't real?' jj repeated.

'it can't be.' the woman laughed.

'feel how heavy it is.' jj protested. 'mhm. mhm. here let's get some light on that.'

'spray painted tungsten.' the woman said.

'spray painted tungsten? really? ok. why don't you see how soft it is.' jj said.

the woman picked up a pick and hammer and looked up at jj, 'you mind?'

'not, go for it.' jj said.

the woman hit the gold a few times, 'wow, would you look at that.' jj said.

'hold your horses. we ain't got to the acid test yet.' the woman turned around and searched for something behind the counter.

'ooh! the acid test. my favorite, guys.' jj turned around and smiled at everyone.

'well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted.' the woman said.

'ma'am, i'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long.' jj said.

'it looks like somebody tried to melt it down.' the woman looked up at jj.

'my mom. she had all this jewelry laying around the house, and she thought it was best to- to melt it down. to consolidate it.' jj said.