DEAD CALM;
part one
KIARA, SARAH AND RENNA WERE sitting in the back of the Twinkie as Pope, JJ, John B, and Atticus spoke outside, discussing their plans on how to retrieve the rest of the gold.
"He said it looked something like this," Kiara read, Sarah and Renna making eye-contact from either side of the girl inside the back of the van.
"So . . ."
"Care to elaborate?" Renna asked.
"That's fifty feet down, and they're using a hundred feet rope," Kiara explained as her finger trailed down the poorly-drawn diagram.
"Plenty to spare, then," Renna smiled from beside her, her shoulder lightly bumping into her friend's.
"Exactly," Kiara grinned back at her. "I guess this little wagon will go straight to the gold room."
The three girls began to laugh, giggles and bursts of loud chuckles erupting from them as they stared down at the mess of a map.
"Who drew this?" Sarah asked hysterically.
"Who do you think?" Kiara laughed. They looked out the windshield to see Pope staring back at them. Renna smirked, eyeing Kiara.
"Oh, Kiara, you look so good with that shirt, and your hair, and-" Renna teased as she brought her voice deep, running her hands down Kiara's face as the targeted girl smacked her hands away. Sarah laughed.
"Oh, shut up!"
After melting down the gold, the group collectively made their way to the pawn shop. JJ, try as he might, tried to push the price of the gold up to what he knew it was worth, but he only got to seventy-thousand dollars, with an added twist. They had to go to a warehouse far, far away to collect the money, if they wanted it in cash. Although Renna didn't trust it one bit, she didn't tell the others. She didn't trust much of anything anymore.
"There's nothing but weeds back here," Kiara observed, making Renna's leg bounce even higher.
"All right, just 'cause it's just weeds, doesn't-"
"Cops!" Renna shouted before the sirens even started. She was facing the back window, eyes wide as she surveyed the abnormal vehicle inching closer and closer.
"Cops? Out here?" Kiara questioned.
"God! Are you kidding me?" JJ shouted.
"What did we do?" Sarah asked as she watched everyone fly into a panic.
"This is bullshit!" Atticus yelled with annoyance, fighting the urge to throw a punch to the ceiling.
"Stash that!" John B whispered as he pulled the van to the side.
"Give it to me," Atticus mumbled as JJ fumbled with the piece of gold, hiding it beneath the seat.
"Did you bring the gun?" John B asked with urgency.
"No, okay? Everybody told me to leave it back at the place," JJ muttered with wide eyes.
Meanwhile, Renna had clutched Atticus' shoulder as she stared at the car pulling in behind them.
"That doesn't look like a cop car, does it?" She asked, the boy beside her turning to look into her wild, anxious eyes before following her train of sight. She was right, the vehicle was in no way fit to be a police officer, but they had the lights.
"It does look . . . too good to be a cop car. But, they had the lights, Renna," he reassured her, his sight still, however, latched onto the front of the obscure vehicle. His eyes were squinted, him slightly leaning forward on the edge of his seat, whilst he watched the driver's door open. As soon as he saw the man's face, or more so the visible half of his face, he widened his eyes. "Hold up."
"Oh my god, that's not a cop!" Renna whisper-shouted, eyes turning to everyone else in the vehicle. At the girl's sudden outburst, everyone went silent and looked at the pair. Atticus leant back, hand whacking John B's shoulder as he watched the man outside hurry closer and closer to the van.
"John, JB! Drive, man, go!" But it was too late. The gun cocked right beside their friend's head.
"Why don't I go ahead and see them hands in the air, right now? All y'all's hands up in the air, now!" The unknown man shouted as John B slowly raised his arms into the air, everyone else in the van following behind him. "You, out of the car, let's go."
"Stay behind me," Atticus whispered into Renna's ear as he subtly shuffled in front of her.
"Out of the car! Let's go! Hurry! Let them out!" John B cautiously walked around the van with his hands in the air, a gun still pointed at his chest. He opened the sliding door.
"There you go, pretty girl. Here we go! Get out the car, let's go! Hurry up!" The masked man shouted as Sarah stepped out. "There you go, c'mon. That's right, princess. That's right-" he waved Renna out, the tip of his gun pressed to her shoulder. She bit her lip to hide her cries as Atticus looked back at her. He immediately pushed himself between her and the gun.
"Hey-"
"Get back to where you were! Stay back!" He shouted in Atticus' face, the boy tilting his chin up high as he subtly nudged Renna back.
"We're broke-" JJ interrupted desperately.
"Shut the hell up!"
"All right! Just relax!" He retorted, anger-stricken.
"Shut the hell up! Shut up!" He pushed JJ back, who was the last to climb out of the vehicle. "Lay down in the ditch! Lay down in the ditch!" He instructed, so they followed his orders. They stayed there, lying in the dirt, while the man searched their van, turning it upside down. Suddenly, however, going against his rules, Atticus stood up.
"Wait- darlin', no. No, come back, no!" Atticus pressed a quick kiss to Renna's outstretched hand before running towards the car, John B not far behind him.
"Goddamn it!" She shouted beneath her breath as she angrily pushed her fist into the ground. Then the man came back out, with the gold in his hand. All Renna could think about whilst he shouted at them again was the two boys hidden in the backseat of his unofficial police car. When he got in the car, it moved and moved and moved, until the three boys fell out in a brawl.
"Guys, I got the gun!" John B shouted as Atticus punched him in the face. They all took turns at knocking him around - some getting pushed to the ground in the process whilst the rest were there to pull them back up. When JJ pulled the man's mask down, he bubbled over. He was fuming.
"I know this piece of shit! He's a basehead," JJ mumbled angrily.
"Probably knows my brother," Sarah uttered sadly as her eyes flickered down to the edge of the road.
"I know your brother," he grinned wickedly as he tilted his head against the side of the car, his eyes finding Renna's. She instantly moved forward, crouching in front of him as Atticus watched on sceptically.
"Where is he?" She seethed. At his silence, Atticus pushed past the others, grabbing onto the man's collar and lifting him up slightly. He struggled as his hands frantically moved around to find the floor, but alas, he couldn't find it.
"Answer her!" Atticus shouted.
"He's with us now," he grinned, but before Renna could question him any further, JJ hit him with the base of the gun.
"JJ, you son of a bitch!" Renna shouted as she angrily slammed the side of the car. He ignored her, reaching into his pocket to pull out the man's wallet, finding his card.
"We got one last stop. Let's go see where this son of a bitch lives."
"I'm gonna remember this!" The man shouted as the group moved back towards the van.
"Shut up!" Atticus shouted as he kicked the boy's head, moving back with the rest of his friends. Renna rolled her eyes, letting out a deep breath before following after them.
',~☼︎~,'
John B had been sent into the house of the man that'd attempted to steal their gold to stop JJ and Atticus, much to Renna's disbelief. She knew Atticus wouldn't listen to him, and JJ wouldn't listen to anyone.
"What are you doing?" John B asked as he stormed through the front door, listening from the front room as JJ and Atticus practically destroyed the room one wall over.
"Getting even!" JJ shouted back.
"This'll cover out restitution," Atticus grinned as he and JJ's eyes raked over the stacks upon stacks of dollars.
"Hell yeah it will. We just took care of business!" JJ shouted as he high-fived his curly-haired friend, the two walking out of the room with the black duffel bag in their hands.
"Hey, you two! If you keep going down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad, du-"
"Woah, Book-"
JJ grabbed his collar. "You better watch your mouth, man."
"And you," the Pogue kept going, ignoring the tight grip the blonde had on the clothing by his neck as he looked over at the other boy behind JJ's shoulder. "What's Alex, or your mum, or even Renna gonna think, huh? When you're all cooped up in jail, how's your mum gonna take that?"
"Ayo, shut up!" Atticus shouted as he pushed him back, JJ's hold on his collar dropping as he stumbled back into the wall.
"It's the truth!"
"It's not the goddamn truth!" Atticus retorted in a yell, eyes ablaze with all his recent pent-up anger.
"Let's get out of here," JJ mumbled as he pulled on the back of Atticus' shirt. He continued to pull the boy until they were outside, Atticus' gaze immediately dropping to the floor so he didn't have to see his friend's disappointed faces. "All right, we're looking at five grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit."
"So, that's what we're doing now? We're robbing drug dealers?" Kiara questioned with disbelief as John B walked out of the door behind the group.
"This Barry guy's gonna find out, and he's gonna come after us," Sarah added, annoyance hinting through her tone.
"Yes, he will. This is not the time to start wildin' out," Pope mumbled.
"How'd you guys like havin' a gun pulled on you?" JJ retorted angrily as he looked around his group of friends, Renna's eyes sinking to the ground as she subtly stepped back. She didn't want a part in it, she knew it would end badly. Everyone should've known JJ and Atticus' outburst was inevitable.
"Relax-"
"You don't get to talk, Routledge." Atticus turned him around and pushed him against the van.
"Look, we've gotta go get the gold, okay? Just give me that shit-" After he reached for the bag in JJ's hand, Atticus slammed him harder into the van as JJ swung it over his shoulder with a whistle. "Feel like a tough guy, huh?" John B's eyes trailed across Atticus' face as a smirk formed on his lower lips.
"I do, actually," he countered with raised brows.
"Well, what are you gonna do when he comes for us?"
"We punch him in the throat," JJ budded in with a tensed, set jaw.
"Yeah, good fuckin' idea, JJ."
"I'm not putting it back," the blonde muttered as he shook his head, the bag in question dangling from his fingertips over his shoulder.
"He shouldn't have to. We deserve that money." JJ got in the van whilst Atticus spoke, but furrowed his brows once he noticed no one following after him.
"You guys getting in or what?" Nobody moved. "What?"
"We're sick of your shit," John B muttered after he'd pushed himself out of Atticus' grip.
"Oh, my shit?"
"Yeah. Yeah, your shit," John B continued.
"Your pulling guns on people shit," Kiara added.
"You acting like a maniac-"
"Okay, Pope, I took the fall for you, man! You know how much money I owe because of you?" JJ yelled. Renna watched from the sidelines as she saw the subtle tears prickling the edges of his eyes before he blinked them away. She seemed to be the only one to see.
"I'm gonna pay you back, and I didn't ask you to do that!" Pope defended angrily.
"Guys, maybe-" Renna tried, but it fell on deaf ears.
"I just did! Pay it back. Right here, right now, by myself. You know what? That's exactly what I'm gonna do . . . go off by myself." He grabbed the bag, leaving half the money in Atticus' hands before walking away.
"JJ-"
"J, wait!" Renna shouted hopelessly.
"Hey! Wait, man-" John B began as he held Renna and Pope back by their shoulders.
"Nah, hold up. You're just gonna let him walk off like that? You're gonna stop Pope and Ren from goin' after him?" Atticus exasperated with furrowed brows.
"It's JJ. He'll come back eventually," John B muttered as he rolled his eyes.
"It's JJ, bro, that's your friend! That's your best man right there, and you're just gonna let him leave?" Atticus took his silence as an answer, so he scoffed as he shook his head. "Right, right-"
"Remember what I told you earlier?"
"Enough about my mum, alright! I'm sick of hearing about what she'll think, or what Renna will think, or what Alex will think. I'm still me, dude. No matter what I do, I'm still me. That shit hurts, man. You can't just say that." He paused to catch his breath as he took a step back.
"See, this- this is why people walk out on you. At the end of the day, everyone's gonna leave. It's just a matter of time." Atticus walked off in the opposite direction to JJ. He didn't stop until he heard Renna running up behind him. He knew it was her, no one else would've run after him but her.
"At-" He whipped around, with merely a hint of a smile.
"Renna, you know I love you, right?" He placed his hands on her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes, "but, right now, I just need to be-"
"Yeah, okay. Okay, that's fine. That's totally okay, just- just come and find me when you're ready, okay?"
"Okay," he smiled softly, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead before taking off again.
"You alright, babe?" Kiara asked as she came up behind her, pressing a hand to her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just gonna go home, okay? I wanna find Blake," she explained with a strained smile.
"Yeah, for sure. Call me if you need me, alright?" She mumbled, giving her a hug before the two parted ways.
That night, for the first time since they'd been together, the group had fallen apart.