I heard the door slam open, startling me out of my sleep. I yawned loudly and looked down to JJ, who was peacefully sleeping. He still had his arm around me, which I pulled off slowly and steadily to not wake him. He shifted slightly in bed, reaching out for me.
"Come back." He whined.
"Someone's here."
"What?" His eyes dart open.
"It's probably just the others."
"Oh yeah, right."
I place my feet on the ground, slowly lifting my legs off the bed. I stood for a moment.
"Are you gonna fall over again?"
"No. I think I'm good. How long were we out?"
He looks down to his phone.
"Well, it's 5am. Basically through the night then. Are you sure you're good?"
"Yeah, I feel like I'm walking on water." I held out my arms, gliding across the floor.
"That's probably the weed."
"Maybe it cured me! I'm cured! Hooray!" I put on a whole show for him, dancing around the room.
He just rolls his eyes and shakes his head, with a huge grin across his face that he was trying to hide from me.
"I know I'm funny, no need to hide your laughter."
"I am going to be taking care of you tonight, huh?"
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"JJ? Rach?"
"In here." I call from the bedroom, reaching to open the door. "You won't-" The door opens abruptly and hits me in the head, sending me sliding down the wall.
"Rach? Oh shit." John B appears in the doorway.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me, John B!" I held up my middle finger at him as I stood up. JJ just stood in the corner laughing at me once again. "You need to stay away from all doors!"
"I'm sorry! Sorry! You won't believe what we found."
"What? Money? Gold? Another dead body?" JJ sounded like a little kid on Christmas.
John B held up a compass with a large smile across his face.
"You found a compass?" JJ scoffed. "What's so cool about that?"
"It's my fathers. I think it's some sort of clue."
I knew that with saying that John B was about to take us on an adventure of a lifetime. He'd be searching high and low for his dad for almost a year now, when he got lost at sea. The man was a wreck for a long time and we all were here for him, but it had been really hard. He refused to believe his dad was dead, and this compass was going to prove to him that he was still out there.
"He could still be alive!" He said when no one said anything back to him.
"Yeah, he definitely could be. I'm so happy for you, man." JJ pulls him in for a hug.
"Also, we've got some problems. We were shot at after I came back up from the wreck."
"You were what?" I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
"Yeah, what I said. Shot at. These guys were on our tails. Kie stopped them, thankfully."
"My god. You didn't come and wake us up?" I pushed his shoulder lightly.
"No, you guys were sleeping, together. It was too cute for me to ruin." He said in a little kids voice.
"Oh, shut it. Why are you up so early?"
"I returned the tanks. How about you?"
"Well, been asleep for like 9 hours. That's more than I normally get." I said, walking out into the living room.
"Alright, so I wanna go talk to Ms.Lana about the compass. Scooters wife."
"Yeah. JJ filled me in. By the way, there's something I forgot to tell you."
The boys followed me out in the living room, just standing around.
"What?" He looks to JJ and then to me. "Please tell me he didn't get you pregnant."
"John B. I will literally kill you. Back at the motel, I took some of the money from the safe."
"You did what?"
"I planned on sharing it with all of you guys. Don't worry. But I left it at my moms." I felt the room get hot as I mentioned her.
"We'll go with you to get your things today. Don't worry about it, okay?" I felt JJ's hand on the side of my face.
I nod.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys."
"It's okay. But, let's go."
-
"Cmon man, why won't you even just try it with Kie? She literally likes you. She kissed you. I see the way she looks at you. She's all like John B." JJ moaned in the front seat.
"JJ, I swear to god. Shut up." John B replies, laughing.
"You're missing out man. I'd hit for sure if she'd let me."
Again, my heart shattered into a million pieces. But I knew what he was doing, he was trying to making me jealous. JJ leaned up in his seat to grab the compass and John B is hesitant.
"Woah man, I'm just looking."
John B leans back into his seat, watching JJ's every move.
"It is kinda freaky that you found this in Scooters boat."
"Yeah, that's why I wanna go talk to Ms.Lana and sort things out."
We arrive to the house and we all get out of the car, pulling the van door shut.
"You can just tell the people that live in this kinda house smoke a lot of weed."
I just slowly walk behind them until I hear crashing coming from the house.
"Maybe it's a little too soon." JJ motions for us to go back to the car.
"Are you afraid of a little danger, Maybank?"
"Guys! Shut it." John B tries to get a closer look.
"You're hurting me!" I heard Lana scream, along with a voice of an older man asking her where something was.
John B motions for us to get closer to the house. JJ rushes up to the window beside John B sitting under the window. I ducked below the window beside JJ, hearing the clattering and crashing of dishes in the kitchen above us. Something falls on to our hair.
"Is that paint?" JJ questions.
"Yes, it's paint." John B answers back, telling him to be quiet.
"We should really go. He's got smuggler written all over him." JJ whispers as John B stands up to walk to the other side of the house.
"Shut up. Shut up." John B turns to us abruptly as I see the men walking out of the house.
JJ holds his arm out in front of me. Lana was inside crying,
"Those are the two that shot at us on the water last night." John B looks to us. "Miss.Lana? Miss.Lana."
John B found her in the corner and I rush to her to help her.
"Can I take you to the hospital? You're gonna need stitches." I held my hand to her face that had a huge gash in it.
"No, no cops. No hospital."
"That's enough for me." JJ says nervously behind us.
"Dude. Not the time." I look up to him, trying to comfort her.
"What did they want?" John B says softly.
"They we're looking for something. But I swear I don't have it."
John B digs in his pocket and pulls out the compass. Lana's facial expression changes.
"Don't tell anyone that you have that."
"What? Why?" I question her, wiping the blood from her face with my sleeve.
"They can't know that you have that, you gotta get out of here." She screamed.
"What do you know about this?" John B was getting furious but she refused to answer.
"Get out! I said get out!"
We all leave her house, going back into the Twinkie.
"What the hell was that all about?" I put my elbows down on the center console, seeing all the blood that was now stained on my hoodie.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. One way or another."