On Top//Topper Thornton

seventeen

The plans are being laid for retrieving the rest of the gold. Kie, Sarah, and I are sitting in John B's van looking at the sketch of the rig.

"He said it looked something like this," Kie states.

"So..." Sarah trails off.

I point to the drawing. "That's 50 feet down, and they're using 100-feet rope. So I guess this little wagon will go..." Sarah laughs. "...straight to the gold room."

"Who drew this?" Sarah asks.

Kie laughs. "Who do you think?"

We laugh as we watch Pope and John B getting the rig ready.

JJ comes out of the house. "Kie! This better work." JJ drops the gold in the van. "We can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it."

Kie picks up a blow torch. "It's gonna work."

We watch as Kie uses the blowtorch to melt down the gold. Pope and JJ high five. I laugh happily.

Once it's all melted we head to the pawn shop in town.

"Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein," JJ teases.

"Like you could've done better," Kiara states.

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

John B steeps between Kie and JJ. "Whoa, whoa. Hey. Sh! Chill out, okay?"

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off," JJ tells him. "How did I get this job anyway?"

"'Cause you are the best liar," Pope tells him.

We walk into the shop and the bell above the door rings. JJ smiles at the older woman at the counter. "Afternoon, ma'am."

The rest of us mill around the store. John B stays towards the front as I look through a few shelves with Sarah.

"Afternoon," she greets.

"I see you buy gold," JJ says.

"That's what the sign say, don't it?" the woman remarks.

"Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, because I'm about to blow your mind," JJ tells her.

"I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it," the woman tells him.

JJ takes the gold out of his backpack and plops it down on the counter. "How about them, gold apples?"

The woman chuckles. "That ain't real."

"That ain't real?" JJ asks.

The woman shakes her head. "It can't be."

"Feel how heavy it is," JJ tells her. "Mm-hm. Mm-hm!" The woman picks up the gold. "Let's get some light on that." JJ puts a lamp over the gold.

"Spray-painted tungsten," the woman states.

"Spray-painted tungsten? Really? Okay. Why don't you see how, uh, soft it is?" JJ offers.

"You mind?" the woman asks.

JJ shakes his head. "No, go for it." The woman hits the gold and it doesn't break. "Wow. Would you look at that?"

"Hold your horses. We ain't got to the acid test yet," the woman tells him.

"Ooh! The acid test." JJ looks around at us. "My favorite, guys."

"Well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted," the woman states.

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