I don't know what John B says to fix the situation but a few minutes later he comes out with Kie in tow. We start the drive to the cemetery.
JJ is lying down in the back smoking a joint. "You mind if I just relax on this one? It's been a long day, and a lot of weird stuff's gone down. I'm just gonna lay low." He looks at Pope. "Oh, did you want a hit of this?"
Pope holds his hand up. "I keep the signal clear."
I grab the blunt and take a hit. "Dude, okay. Do you understand that your problem is that you don't get creative? If you got creative, then..."
John B interrupts, "Look, I... I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, all right? And wrong about everything else going on. But I... I was right about one thing. Okay? My dad is trying to tell me something."
It's not much longer till we get to the cemetery. John B leads the way. "Come on, hey. Hey, come on."
"I'm coming," Kie states.
"This place is scary," I say.
"I'll protect you." JJ pulls me close to him.
I push him away playfully. "Hands off, JJ."
"John B, what are we doing?" Kie asks.
"Shut up. Okay so, you know how you're trying to remember a song and can't remember who sings it?" John B says.
"Yeah," Kie says.
"So, Redfield. This whole time, I thought it was a place, right? But it's not a place." John B holds up the lantern to a mausoleum. "It's a person."
"Voi-effing-là," JJ remarks.
"See, my great-great-grandmother Olivia Redfield. That was her maiden name. Help me with the door. Come on," John B says.
Pope steps forward. "All right."
"One, two, three..." John B and Pope try to push the tomb open.
Kie turns to JJ. "Go."
"Are you pushing?" Pope asks.
"Yeah, I'm pushing," John B assures him.
JJ squeezes in next to Pope. "Hold on. I got it."
"This door is like 700 pounds. It's not gonna budge," Pope states.
"We didn't come this far to get this far, all right? We got this," JJ insists. Suddenly a snake hisses by him. "A snake!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Pope shouts.
We all jump back away from the snake.
"That's a moccasin, all right. Ye olde Dr. Cottonmouth. Death in tall grass." JJ starts barking at the snake.
"JJ, shut up. Shut up!" Kie shouts.
"You're gonna wake the dead, man," Pope states.
"They're afraid of dogs. Everyone knows that, man." JJ states. He grabs John B. "Wait, hold on."
"What?" John B asks.
"If there's one, there's probably dozens," JJ warns.
"What?" Pope asks.
"All around," JJ adds.
"Can you stop, JJ. You're scaring me," I tell him.
JJ keeps barking at the snake.
"Stop barking at the snakes," John B instructs.
"Look, John..." Pope starts.
"Just making sure it's clear," JJ states.
"Shut up. John, look. We're not gonna get in there, all right? It's not budging. We should probably just go," Pope advises.
I look at the mausoleum. There is a small crack towards the top of the door. "I can get through."
"What? No, no, no, no. You think you're gonna fit through the hole? That hole?" John B asks.
"Look, this is about your dad. And honestly, I really don't believe in it, but you deserve to know the truth. I'll do it." I tell him. I walk towards the door. "Come on."
"I'll get those..." JJ says as he moves branches out of the way.
"Can you help me with that?" I ask.
"Ready? Come on," Pope says. Him and John B hold the branches out of the way.
"Come on. I got it," John B tells me.
"You got it?" I ask.
"Yeah, we got it," JJ tells me.
"Give her a boost," John B tells him.
"I'm gonna boost you, all right." JJ puts his back against the mausoleum. "I've seen it in the movies several times. Ready?"
"Remind me what we're looking for," I tell John B.
"You'll know when you see it," John B tells me.
"Hold my flashlight," I tell him.
"All right, so put your hands right there," JJ tells me.
I nod. "Yep. Foot..."
"Your foot. All right, on three," JJ tells me.
"All right," I push myself up using JJ's as a step stool.
"Okay, never mind. Just forget about three," JJ remarks.
"I got it. Oh." I step on JJ's head.
JJ groans. "Ow."
"Oops." I crawl inside the tomb and land on my feet. "Okay, flashlight?"
"Yeah, here." Pope hands it to me through the crack.
"You alive? You got, like, a... a heartbeat and everything?" John B asks.
I use my flashlight to look around. "So far."
"That's good. That's good," John B tells me.
"Uh... I need some more light," I tell them.
"Yeah, yeah, here. Yeah, I gotcha." John B holds his lantern through the crack.
I see a hole in the wall and walk towards it.
"Did you find something?" JJ asks. "Is there gold?"
"Oh, my God."
I pull out a FedEx envelope from the hole. On the front the words For Bird are written in black marker. I pass it through the crack in the door out to John B.
"That's not gold," Pope states.
I grunt as I start to drag myself out of the tomb.
"Holy shit. This is from my dad," John B tells us.
JJ lights a cigarette. He sees headlights coming towards us. "Code red. Code red. Square groupers! Square groupers!"
"Go," Kie says.
"It's the guys who robbed your house," JJ warns.
"Light!" I say.
We had behind tombs trying to stay out of sight.
Pope starts to fiddle with JJ's light. "Turn your light off, man!"
John B doesn't move to turn his own light off.
"John B? Your light!" Kie tells him.
"I see something!" a man shouts.
"Do you think it's them?" I ask.
"Homie's got a gun," JJ warns us.
"Screw this." I take off running and everyone follows after me. We climb over the cemetery gate.
"Hurry up!" JJ shouts.
"Go!" I shout. I can hear the golf cart coming towards us.
"Guys! Guys! Guys, I'm stuck," Pope tells us. I turn around and see him hanging on the gate by his pants.
"Pope, come on!" JJ shouts.
"All right, guys..." John B says.
"I got you," Kie says as she runs towards him to help.
JJ holds up the gun. "No. Pope, don't move, okay?"
I give JJ a look. "How is the gun gonna help?"
"You're gonna rip me," Pope protests as Kie tries to get him off the gate. "Wait. You're gonna rip me!"
"You're fine. Come on!" Kiara shouts.
"Pope, come on!" I yell at him.
Kie gets Pope off the fence but his pants get ripped off in the process.
"Nice! Come on, dude. It's a little Tootsie Roll," JJ taunts.
Kie laughs. "Come on!" We all run to the van. "Get in! Stupid!"
Everyone is barely in the van when John B takes off.
We head back to John B's place. JJ is in the kitchen making a sandwich.
"That bread had mold on it three days ago," John B tells him.
"I'll just pull off the bad parts," JJ states. "Plus, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism."
I call out to him, "JJ!"
He comes running into the room sandwich and beer in hand. "Yup, yup, yup! Hot damn! Let's do it." JJ bites into the sandwich and then spits it out.
I give him a look.
John B rips open the envelope. He unfolds a map with markings on it. "Holy shit."
Pope points to a spot. "Oh. X marks the spot."
John B moves his finger over the map. "Longitude, latitude. Wait, there's somethin' else in there."
"What's that?" JJ asks.
"It's a tape recorder, dumbass," I state.
John B plays the tape. "Dear Bird."
"Who's Bird?" JJ asks.
"That's what my dad called me," John B explains.
The tape goes on, "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." There are clattering sounds in the background. "You were probably right to call me out. Wasn't exactly Father of the Decade." He sighs. "What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn. And hopefully, we're listenin' to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, livin' off passive investments and pulling on permits." He sighs again. "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 somethin' 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 is a vehicle in the background. "I'll see you on the other side." There is static on the tape and then it ends.
John B gets up from the table and walks away. He leans against the doorframe and I can hear him crying.
"Holy shit, he did it! Big John... He found the Merchant..." JJ starts.
I cut him off, "Can you... can you please?"
"Sorry," JJ says.
I can hear John B sobbing. I walk over to him and wrap him in a hug. He holds onto my arm as he sobs.
Once John B calms down we sit out back on the dock. Thunder rumbles in the distance. Kie strums on the guitar.
"How much was it again?" JJ asks.
"Four hundred mil," John B states.
JJ sighs. "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 waves the gun. "Protection? Not cheap, okay?"
"You haven't trained. You've done zero training," Pope points out.
"YouTube, bro! That's at least a five percent bump right there," JJ argues.
"You haven't..." Pope starts.
"Any objections?" JJ shakes his head. "Didn't think so."
Kie and I raise our hands.
"Yeah," Pope says.
"I don't hear any, so..." JJ trails off.
"What are you gonna do with your share, Pope?" Kiara asks.
"Pay for college in advance. And also, textbooks. Those are expensive," Pope tells us.
"What about you, Kie?" JJ asks.
"Yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?" Pope questions.
Kie chuckles. "Just wanna make a double album. About OBX, the Pogues." Pope chuckles. "You know, the way Catch a Fire is about Kingston. Record it at Marley Studio, Peter Tosh producing."
"Peter Tosh is dead," Pope reminds her.
"Peter Tosh is dead. I know that Pope. Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die," Kie states.
Pope looks at me. "What about you Ash?"
I shrug my shoulders. "I haven't really put much thought into it."
"That's cause Daddy buys you everything you want," JJ taunts.
I narrow my eyes at him. "Well what's the great JJ going to do with the money?"
"I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figure Eight and go full Kook," JJ tells us.
I scoff. "You're gonna go full Kook?"
JJ nods. "Yup. Gonna get a marble statue of myself and then I'm gonna get a koi pond. Put a bunch of those fish..."
"I'm never visiting," Kie tells me.
"What are you gonna do, JB?" Pope asks.
"To going full Kook," John B says.
We all raise our drinks. "To going full Kook!"