Can't Stop Smiling • Pope Heyward

Three

"That bread had mold on it three days ago." Pope says as we all sit in John B's living room.

On the car ride back to the Chateau (as they called it) they taught me more about them.

I know Pope is the smart one, he try's to talk them out of doing all the stupid things.

Kie is the fun girl. She's the mom of the group. Wanting to keep the planet safe, likes bob Marley. Cool girl.

JJ is the dumb one. I knew pretty much all the things I need to about him.

John B is the glue. He calls the shots, like the leader. He keeps them together.

"I'll just pull off the bad parts. Plus, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism." JJ states not caring about the nasty sandwich he's about to eat.

"That's not true." I say disagreeing as he sticks out his tongue at me.

Kie calls him over to the couch so we can open the envelope.

John B pulls out the first thing as JJ throws up the sandwich that he took a bite out of. I laugh at him mouthing 'told you so'.

"X marks the spot." Pope says as John B's finger traces the lines on the map. He pulls out the second thing.

"What's that?" JJ asks not knowing what the thing in John B's hand was.

"It's a tape recorder, dumbass." Kie says rolling her eyes.

John B hits play as a older man's voice goes through. It talks about where the merchant was and how if John B is listening to it then Big John probably failed.

I felt bad for the boy. Having your dad go missing and nobody thinking he's alive.

Part of me thought maybe this man was alive. Maybe some crazy miracle happened and he was infact alive.

The tape ended and John B got up wiping his tears and walking away to get some air.

"Holy shit, he did it! Big John... He found the Merchant!" JJ says in shock.

"Can you... can you please?" Kie says as we all look over at the crying John B.

"Sorry." JJ quickly says as Kie walks over to the boy.

•

"How much was it again?" JJ asks as we all sit on John B's dock out back.

Kie is playing her instrument. JJ is sitting on the ledge smoking. Pope and I were sitting by the fire and John B was throwing rocks into the water.

"Four hundred mil." John B says speaking up.

"All right, 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 those groupers who were after us." JJ says holding up the gun. "Protection? Not cheap, okay?"

"You haven't trained. You've done zero training." Pope states annoyed with the boy.

"YouTube, bro! That's at least a five percent bump right there." JJ says as I roll my eyes at the boy.

"You haven't..." Pope starts before JJ cuts him off.

"Any objections?" JJ asks as the three of us raise our hands to object. "Didn't think so."

"What are you gonna do with your 100 mil, Pope?" Kie asks to start conversation.

"Pay for college in advance. And also, textbooks. Those are expensive." Pope says after thinking about his answer for a bit.

"What about you, Kie?" JJ asks looking at her.

Now I don't know my brother to well I mean we barely hangout but I know one thing. He is in love with Kie. It's the way his eyes light up when he looks at her. I want someone to look at me the way JJ looks at Kie.