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"Hey guys so like my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks and across the fire I see John b make finger guns, pointing to JJ as I lay on the side of JJ's arm. "Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed." he reaches for the beer sitting by his feet, taking a swig of it as John B clears his throat.
"Are you ready for this?" He glances at both me and Ki and we both nod. "So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." Pope immediately sighs disappointedly just as he finishes. "Oh my god. Here we go agin with this."
"This time I actually agree with Pope. We already tried so what's the sense to spend more time on something that might not even exist." I glance between JJ and John B as JJ brushes his hand against my arm, goosebumps erupting onto my skin. "No. All right, wait. Hear hie out, all right?" I nod before setting my head back onto his arm.
All of our attention turns back to John B as a smile crosses his face."It's been here the whole time. It's on the island." Ki straightens her back, looking at John b, "Are you serious?! Oh my god."
"You have to be kidding, like seriously no bullshit." I tilt my chin up to make direct eye contact with JJ and he nods. "No bullshit I promise." And that's all I need to have full faith in John B's words. Pope on the other hand scoffs, leaning forward."I'd like to voice my skepticism."
"I'm sure you would pope but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B raises an eyebrow as I try my best to suppress a laugh that started to creep up my throat. Pope waves his hand in a gesture for him to continue, "Proceed."
"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." He pulls out a piece of paper enthusiastically and confusion washes over my features, Ki's face reflecting the same. "Who the hell's that?"
"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Mer chant wreck. Check this out." He passes her the paper and we both scan it as he continues to talk. "Okay slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the merchant to buy his freedom." His face lighting up as he talks about his dad as JJ whistles, signaling that he wants to see the paper and I lean over, pressing it into the palm of his hand.
"After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll please, because that farm is..." he pauses as all of us, well mostly Kiara and I, slap our knees in an enthusiastic manor with playful smiles on our faces. "Tannyhill Plantation." He finishes and I feel my eyebrows furrow. "Tannyhill?"
"Yeah. So, after that, he used his ones to free even more slaves. And then he sold a shit ton of rive, which passes off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him." He starts to pace, talking more with his hands as he gets more deep into the story and you could tell all of us were leaning forward in our seats, intrigued as to what was coming next.
