"HE SAID IT LOOKED SOMETHING LIKE THIS," KIE TOLD SARAH AND BREE. They were all in the Twinkie, analyzing the sheet that had the plan to get the rest of the gold while the boys, John B and Pope, were figuring out the best way to build the machine. So, I guess this little wagon will go...straight to the gold room."
They giggled as she explained it, pointing at the pictures as Sarah laughed out, "Who drew this?"
"Who do you think?" the raven-haired girl responded, and they all looked through the window to see Pope staring back at them. Bree just smiled and waved at him, causing him to do the same to her.
"Kie! This better work," JJ called to the girl as he walked over to the vehicle that they were in. He dropped the gold bars onto the ground in front of them and leaned against the open door. "We can't pawn this if there's a giant what symbol on it."
She picked up the blowtorch and held it up. "It's gonna work."
Bree watched curiously next to the Maybank boy as Kie melted down the gold in a pot. Sarah, who was leaning against a tree and holding onto John B's arm, smiled excitedly at them, and they returned the gesture.
"Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein," JJ commented sarcastically, staring down at the gold in his hands as they pulled up to the pawn shop and he climbed out of the van, Kie on his tail.
She glared at him. "Like you could've done any better."
"I could have done much better," he replied smugly while the rest of the group got out of the Twinkie and watched them argue with entertained looks. "I took a welding class."
"When?" she quizzed with an annoyed expression on her face.
John B approached them, putting a hand out to calm them down as he stepped in between the two bickering teenagers that were his friends. "Chill out, okay?"
"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off," the blonde boy told him, holding up the blob of gold, and Kie threw her hands up in the air. "How did I get this job anyway?"
"'Cause you're the best liar," Pope answered as they followed him into the pawn shop. The bell rung as they opened the door, alerting the woman that someone had just walked him.
JJ greeted her, making a bit of small talk as the rest of the Pogues spread throughout the store so that they could listen in on the conversation without giving anything away. "I see you buy gold."
"That's what the sign say, don't it?" the lady questioned, staring at him with raised eyebrows.
He nodded, approaching the desk with his backpack in his hands. He placed it on the counter and began to open it. "Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it because I'm about to blow your mind."
"I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it," she responded.
He placed the gold in front of her with a smirk, and her eyes widened in shock. "How about them gold apples?"
"That ain't real," she murmured after chuckling at him. Bree had to admit, it was hard to believe especially since JJ of all people was giving it to her.
"That ain't real? Feel how heavy it is," he exclaimed with raised eyebrows before gesturing down to the chunk of gold in front of him. He glanced to Bree who gave him a supportive nod before turning back to the pawnbroker. She tried to pick it up, and it seemed like she underestimated the weight because it took her a couple of tries. "Here, let's get some light on that."
She brought a magnifying glass that has a light and examined it closer. "Spray-painted tungsten."
"Spray-painted tungsten? Really? Okay. Why don't you see how, uh, soft it is? Go for it," he told her after repeating what she said once again. She hit the gold with a hammer, but nothing happened. "Would you look at that?"
"Hold your horses. We ain't got to the acid test yet," she informed him, turning around to grab the acid behind her.
The group watched nervously, but the Maybank boy didn't seem phased at all. He looked at his friends with a smile. "Ooh! The acid test. My favorite, guys." She poured a bit of the fluid on it, but again, nothing happened.
"Well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted," she muttered, realizing that it had to actually be real.
JJ nodded at her, confirming her theories and proving what he had been saying the entire time they were there. "Ma'am, I'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long."
"It looks like somebody tried to melt it down," she said as she took another look at the gold, and Bree's eyes widened, worried about what answer he was going to come up with.
"My mom," he answered quickly, and they all breathed out a sigh of relief. "She had all this jewelry lying around the house, and she thought it was best to melt it down. To 'consolidate' it."
Sarah smirked while the pawnbroker dropped the gold on the scale next to her. "Seven pounds? That's a lot of earrings."
"Okay, to be honest, ma'am, it's really hard to see my mom fall apart with Alzheimer's," the blonde boy told the woman, dodging the question and looking down at the ground to sell it.
She raised her eyebrows, and Kie whispered to Bree in confusion, "Alzheimer's?"
"Give me a minute," the woman told him, and she began to walk out of the room and toward a curtain in the side of the store.
JJ nodded. "Take your time, ma'am." As soon as she left, Bree, Kie, and Pope ran up him while Sarah and her boyfriend hung back near some kitchen equipment.
"Oh, my God," the Callaway girl breathed out quietly since the woman could still hear them if they talked too loud. "You're doing great."
"Yeah, keep it up," Pope told him, but it wasn't long before the pawnbroker came back. They rushed back down the aisle, leaving JJ to deal with it by himself.
She cleared her throat as she walked to the front desk once again and handed him a slip of paper. "So, I, uh, I talked to my boss, and this is what I can do."
"Fifty thousand?" the Maybank boy questioned with furrowed eyebrows as he looked up at her. He scoffed, "You think I walked in here not knowing the spot price? Ma'am, I know for a fact this is worth 140, at least."
"Well, sweetie, you in a pawnshop. This ain't Zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?" she asked.
The blonde boy scratched his eyebrow and looked to John B, who just nodded at him. He bargained, "Ninety, or I walk."
"Seventy. Half price...and, uh..." she trailed off and leaned closer to him and continued quietly. "I don't ask questions about where you got this." JJ and the Routledge boy shared another look.
"I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please," the Maybank boy responded to the woman, giving in.
She sighed, "Well, here's the snag. I don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. I can write you a cashier's check."
"Cash...No, ma'am. I want the cold hard. That's what that sign says," he told her, pointing to the sign above the room she went into moments ago. "Cash for gold. And that's what I expect. I'm gonna get it in the cold hard."
"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there. Is that all right?" she quizzed, but Bree did not particularly like the sound of that.
"Where's this warehouse?"
《✵》
"SO, THEY KEEP MONEY OUT HERE?" POPE QUESTIONED. Both he and Bree were looking around the area with suspicious looks. They were quite literally out in the middle of nowhere.
"That's what she said," JJ replied, and the Callaway girl rolled her eyes as he chuckled, realizing what just came out of his mouth. "That's what she said."
"Stop," the Heyward boy ordered, interrupting him and shaking his head. The Maybank boy's mischievous smile dropped into a disappointed frown as his gaze shifted to the ground.
Sarah turned around from the passenger's seat and informed them, "I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive."
"That's 'cause you're rich," JJ explained, causing all of them to furrow their eyebrows at him and shoot him looks.
"You've never heard of it either," Bree pointed out, and he glared at her while Sarah shot her a grateful smile. The brunette stared out the window in confusion. "There's nothing but weeds back here."
The blonde boy turned to her, "All right, just 'cause it's just weeds, doesn't mean it's like..." He trailed off, leaving them all wonder what he was about to say, but the sound of sirens startled and confused them.
"Cops? Out here?" Kie quizzed. It was pretty strange.
"God!" JJ exclaimed while the rest of them panicked and asked why they were getting pulled over as if any of the rest of them knew why. "Are you kidding me?"
John B told JJ, gesturing to the gold in his hand, "Stash that. Did you bring the gun?" A panicked look passed over all of their faces when he said that. If the blonde boy brought the gun, they were all royally screwed.
"No. Okay? Everybody told me to leave it back at the place," the Maybank told them with an annoyed voice. He thought they were asking because they wanted him to have brought it.
"Thank God," Kie groaned as the rest of them let out sighs of relief. "Just, please, put everything else in your bag. How much weed do you have on you, bro?"
As Pope helped him shove the bag under the seat, he informed them, "He's walking up right now." Then, a gun cocked, and they all froze in fear, looking up to see a very big gun pointed at John B's head.
"Why don't I go ahead and see them hands up in the air right now?" the man said, his voice muffled through a mask that was around his mouth. When they hesitated, he repeated with more force, "All y'all's hands up in the air now! You, out of the car, let's go! Out of the car, let's go! Hurry!"
John B opened the door slowly and climbed out as the man kept yelling orders at them. He told the Routledge boy to let the others out, and they all climbed out of the vehicle, Sarah first. "There you go, pretty girl. Here we go! Get out of the car, let's go! Hurry up! Lay down in the ditch! Lay down in the ditch! On your goddamn hands and knees! Put your head down!"
They did as they were told, JJ glaring up at him but laying down next to Bree nonetheless so that they didn't get shot. He kept yelling at them as they covered their heads with their hands and looked down at the ground.
"It's a setup, guys," Kie pointed out as the man began to search the car.
JJ nodded, "That old bat shanked us. Fuck! Goddamn it!" When he saw Bree's hands shaking, he carefully reached over and grasped it, holding it in place. She glanced at him once she felt his touch, and he sent a small, comforting smile her way. Somehow, she knew it was all going to be okay after that.
"No, no, no, no," Sarah muttered, and when they heard her, they glanced up to see the brunette boy standing up slowly right next to her. She was shaking her head vigorously. "John B, no..."
"John B. Don't be a hero, man," Pope told him once he saw him get up. He just put a finger to his lips before rushing over to the man's car as silently as he could.
The gun-bearer came back out after a moment, and luckily, he didn't seem to notice that one of them was missing yet. Unluckily, he had found the gold. "All right, y'all stay just like that. Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads, okay?
He ran and got into his car as Sarah whimpered. All of a sudden, there was some grunting, and they could see some fighting going on in the car. JJ jumped to his feet to help his friend.
"Guys, I got the gun!" John B called to them. They were out of the car now, and the blonde boy lunged for the man. He got hit in the face and went plunging to the ground. Kie tried as well, but the same thing happened to her.
Sarah was able to knock him down a bit, so Bree grabbed the door to the car and slammed his head into it as Pope yelled, "I got the gold." Then, they took turns kicking him until he was panting on the ground. JJ ripped his mask off.
"I know this piece of shit!" the Maybank informed them angrily. "He's a basehead! He sells coke to my dad."
"He probably knows my brother," the Cameron girl muttered bitterly. The man on the ground started to say something, but he was cut off by JJ hitting him with the gun they had stolen from him.
They all grabbed the angry blonde boy, holding him back. "Dude, chill, man. Come on. Come on, let's get out of here." As the man was wheezing on the ground, JJ reached into his pocket and found his wallet. He pulled out his driver's license and examined it.
"We got one last stop," he said, pushing John B away and heading toward the Twinkie as they all followed hesitantly after him. "Let's go see where this son of a bitch lives."
The Routledge boy chucked the keys he had stolen from the car into the forest before coming along.
"Welcome to Crackhead Wasteland," Sarah announced as they pulled toward the trailer that the drug dealer lived in apparently. JJ had not said a word all ride. He just drove angrily.
John B sighed as his friend put the car in park. "Dude, why are we at Barry's?"
"This'll only take a second," the blonde informed them, and then he headed toward the house. They all stared at each other expectantly, not sure what to do.
Bree spoke up. "Where are you going?"
"Yo soy justicia," the Maybank boy replied before swinging the door open and stepping inside.
Pope looked at his friends with raised eyebrows. "Did you glean anything from that."
"You know, somebody should probably—"
John B was the one that got up and followed him into the building, cutting his girlfriend off as her opened the door reluctantly. "Yeah, I got it."
None of them said anything. They just waited impatiently outside of the vehicle for the boys to come back. They heard a little bit of yelling, but they couldn't make out what they were saying. So, they didn't know if it was good or bad.
"All right, so we're looking at five grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit," the blonde boy announced as he walked out of the trailer with John B on his tail. "Sorry about that, y'all."
"So that's what we're doing now? We're robbing drug dealers? This Barry guy's gonna find out, and he's gonna come after us," Kie pointed out, throwing her hands in the air to show them that she was fed up.
Pope agreed. "Yes, he will. This is not the time to start wilin' out."
"How'd you guys like having a gun pulled on you?" JJ questioned, and when John B tried to calm him down, he pointed at his face. "And he had it right here on you, bro."
"Look, we've gotta get the gold, okay? Just give me that shit. We're putting it back," the Routledge boy said, but when he tried to grab the bag of money from his best friend, he got pinned against the van.
Bree almost gasped. "JJ!"
"Do you feel like a tough guy? Huh?" the brunette boy asked the blonde one, not really phased by the attack. "What are you gonna do when he comes for us?"
"We punch him in the throat," JJ gritted out.
John B replied angrily, putting emphasis in random places. "Yeah, good fucking idea, JJ."
"I'm not putting it back," the Maybank insisted before climbing into the Twinkie and looking up at the rest of the group with raised eyebrows. "You guys getting in or what?" When none of them moved, he got back out again with his hands on his hips. "What?"
"We're sick of your shit," the Routledge boy answered, taking a couple steps toward him.
JJ scoffed. "Oh, my shit?"
"Yes," Kie piped in, stepping into the conversation. "Your pulling guns on people shit."
"You acting like a maniac," Pope added.
"Okay, Pope, I took the fall for you, man!" the blonde boy shouted at him in disbelief, and Bree winced. That was a low blow. "You know how much money I owe because of you?"
The Heyward boy sighed, "I'm gonna pay you back, and I didn't even ask you to do that!"
"I just did!" the Maybank yelled back before lowering his voice. "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 his bag of money and stormed off.
"JJ," Bree called, taking a couple steps toward the boy, but she was grabbed by Kie and Sarah.
"Just let him go."