John B POV:
"To life, living, and the pursuit of treasure." Dad toasted as we cheers.
"That's a good one." I tell him as I drink down my shot.
"Yeah, see, that'll put hair on your chest there."
"So, what's the deal with this whole big kahuna thing?" I asked him as I looked at the stone, "I mean, how did you end up on Barbados?
"Well, same way you did and for the same reason too. The treasure and Carlos Singh." He told me, starting the story, "Yeah, I was marooned out the Shoals for what felt like months living in seaweed, sweat, rainwater, and fixed myself up to be crab food. Thought I was a goner."
I nod and continued to listening, "Singh must have tracked my boat, then his men showed up. He must have known I was onto something because the found me. At first, I thought I was being rescued. Turns out it was less of a rescue mission, more of a captivity-type deal. Yeah. I didn't got without a fight. We left one of his men behind as I'm sure you've heard."
Well I do and don't feel sorry about the body they found.
"Next thing I know, I'm being shipped off to Barbados. Singh's place. They locked me up in some audacious estate surrounded by cane fields and armed guards. I meet this particular little man, Singh. He wants to cut a deal with me. He wants me to tell him everything I know in exchange for him keeping me alive. But it didn't take long before I caught on to the game. So as soon as I got a chance, I took it. Got a little roughed up along the way but I made it out. And not empty-handed. Here I am back with my boy."
"So where does this stone lead to?" I asked still confused on how this rock can have so much trouble behind it.
"The glory of all treasures."
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Pope POV:
Me and Cleo were on getting more provisions for the rest of our trip. We did offer up the chance if anyone else to come but Kie said no and Sarah wanted to keep her company since. Nala said she didn't feel like it and kept watching the stars, JJ went below deck to sleep.
"Let's go find a corner shop. Gotta be one nearby." She said as we walked down the pier. We were able to find a corner shop.
"All right. Time to gain some provisions, yeah?"
"So you're just gonna walk in there and shoplift?" I asked her as we stood outside the store.
"Yo got a pocketful of cash?"
I didn't say anything.
"So what? No snappy comebacks? Come on. Come on, Grey Pipe." she said trying to get me to make one
"Look, I ain't got nothing. Okay? Go do your thing." I tell her. Which was a lie I did have one, I was gonna say 'no but my other pair of pants do'.
"Okay." she took that and left it alone, "Stay quiet. Watch my back. Maybe this will cheer you up."
I nodded and followed behind her. We walked in and I just kept a low profile just looking around the store. She did some weird signal thing with her hands but I didn't get it at all. I was standing and looking at the drinks and I saw Cleo stuffing the bag full.
The cashier noticed her bag was now bigger than before. He was starting to get closer to her and I had to think of something quick. I think of something quick, I reach down and grab a mango out of the mans basket.
"Yo, man, you trying to sell my man bad mangoes?" I say in a really bad Jamaican accent.
"This mango was just picked, man." He tells me.
"You know that got the blight on it. I've been picking mangoes since I was a youth, and you know that'll kill my man." I said and yeah this accent is super bad but he's believing it.
"You eat this mango, it eat you. You end up like a sick hamster on your back, dirt on your shirt." I place it back down in his basket and we bolted out of there.
"Can't believe you think I sound like that!" Cleo yelled at me. The cashier was yelling at us to come back and clearly that's not happening.
"You know, I don't know what's worse, the sick hamster or that accent!"
"Well at least now we can add shoplifting and interpretation onto my resume!" I tell her and we both laugh as we run down the pier back to the boat. Cleo was right this did cheer me up.
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John B POV:
"Enough about me. I want to hear about you. Who are you sweet on these days, huh?" Dad asked me, "I know there must be someone."
"Yeah. Yeah. There's uh...there's been some development on that front." I went quiet before telling him, "I'm married, Dad."
"You're joking right, right?"
"No. Not at all." I tell him
"What, is she pregnant?"
"No, no. God, no, no." I exclaimed scratching my face, "Yeah, I haven't really had time for the extracurricular activities."
"You're a little young, ain't ya?"
"Have you met JJ?"
"Good point."
"Besides, I mean, you said it best. If it's right, it's right."
"Do I know her? Uh, who is she?"
I clear my throat. This is the hard part, telling him, that I got married to Sarah Cameron. After everything this might actually give him a heart attack.
"Yeah. Yeah, you know her. Um..."
"Is it bean? Don't tell me you got with her?" He asked me
"What? No of course not, besides she's been JJ's girl since we were kids."
"Yeah good point" He said laughing
I drink down my shot before saying anything. I was definitely going to need more after this.
"It's Sarah...Cameron."
He didn't say anything, he just took off his glasses giving me a look.
"Ward's daughter? The queen of Kildare"
"Yeah" I can tell he's a bit disappointed.
"You just can't do things the easy way, can you?"
"Are you mad?" I asked him not seeing any emotions on his face.
"That you went for the big prize. Nah. How could I be mad about that."
I nod happily knowing that he was happy with it. We cheers once more. And we continue drinking and chatting just catching up, I was telling him everything that's he's been missing.
"So what about Bean, JJ, Pope and Kie. How they doing?"
"Well I can tell you Pope is still the smartest one out of us and Kie is still fighting for the environment."
"Ah well I see much hasn't changed then." He pours us another drink
"Well actually, JJ and Popstar are engaged" I tell him and he looks at me in disbelief
"Your kidding? Them two actually gotten together?"
"Yep, we were sort of shocked too, when he said he wanted to marry her we didn't think he ment it. But later he asked me and Pope to be his best mans, so"
"Wow. Good for them. Man you kids sure have been doing some growing."
"Yeah we have"
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Nala POV:
I was standing off to the side with JJ. Resting on him, looking up at the star. Watching the stars is one of my favorite things to do, they show that even in the dark there will always be light. I was humming a soft tune to myself, it's been a while since I've sang.
JJ took my hand looking at the ring he gave me. Just messing with it and such. He placed a kiss on it and then one on my lips whispering a soft, 'I love you' which i returned. I look over my shoulder and see Pope and Cleo chatting away which I'm so glad he has found someone even if doesn't know it yet.
I didn't see Kie or Sarah, they are probably sitting off alone probably thinking about John B and OBX. Honestly pushing aside everything, at this exact moment life is pretty good.
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John B POV:
"Hey, Birdy boy." Dad said calling me over. I walked over to him sitting down and looking at the map with him. I grab a beer out the cooler and listen to his story.
"See, most people think the Golden City is here up above the Orinoco Basin." He said pointing it out on the map.
"That Spanish ship, the one with the cross and the gold."
"Yeah. The San Jose"
"They are rumored to have found El Dorado. That's where all the gold came from. And this stone piece of supposedly what led them to El Dorado. Now the captain of the San Jose, wanted to be the only one who knew how to get there, so he dug this up out of the jungle, kept it with him. At least that's the story."
"So this will lead us to something bigger than everything?"
"So the idea is, if you translate this stone piece, then boom, it tells you how to get there."
"Um, that little stone piece is broken." I informed him
"Singh thinks that the diary holds a clue to the missing piece. I think he's probably right."
"Yep"
"Only one way to find out. This is the big one kid. I've been obsessed with this since I was your age, going down into the blank spaces, hunting for treasure and finding it."
"Right Pops."
"But as I got older, I began to think that all those spaces had been filled in, that there was nothing left to discover. Till I got on this. I've been dreaming about this my whole life. We find that diary, boy, we decipher those scribblings...we're on our way to El Dorado."
We hear some movement in the water behind us and turn to see what it is.
"Oh" "Whoa look at that."
We see that it was a beautiful whale. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. The amazing things that this treasure hunt has made me seen.
"Sure is! It's a sign, Bird. We're gonna find it....together."
"Together"
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Jamari Zato
I lost count of how many weeks or I guess now months have passed since she's been gone. I haven't slept good since in I don't know how long. I went to ask Shoupe if he had any news on finding her but he said no.
I should've been more strict with her while being here but I wanted her to find her joy again. And for that, my baby is gone. I talked with her music producer about what will happen to her career and he said that it's on a pause till I confirmation on her.
I'm so grateful that he still wants her. I sitting on my working and looking through Nala's old photo box. My phone began to ring, I saw that it was a unfamiliar number which it's probably just a client,
"Hello?" I said
"Hello brother"
"Singh. What the hell do you want?"
"Just calling to see if you change your mind about joining me?"
"Hell no." I said quickly and I hung up on him and tossed my phone down. I did feel a little bit guilty about this seeing as he is my little brother but I can't let Nala get involved with him. Not like how I was back then.
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Word Count: 1925