chapter 16
"you really think it's out there? like, no bullshit?"
the group lays on hammocks as the night passes, all of them tired as the crickets chirp.
jj and india lay in one, their arms around eachother comfortably.
pope lays on a hammock by himself while kie and john b lay on the other one.
john b nods, "my father thought it was".
"but do you?" india asks quietly. one of her hands is behind jj's neck, running a hand through his wet hair while the other rests on his chest.
"after hearing his voice on that tape..." john b pauses "i think i do"
pope shrugs. "only one way to find out" he replies.
kie looks at the team's silouhettes, her hopes high. "look, we're gonna find it, you know?" she assures.
india chuckles, poking at jj's cheek. "even jj believes" she pitches in.
"oh my god jj, do you really believe?" john b asks, his tone mocking.
"totally" jj answers, going on with the joke "wait. are we talking about four mil?" he asks, completely forgetting the amount of money for a moment.
"four hundred mil" india and kie correct at the same time.
jj stays silent before cuddling in close to india and breathing in her scent as he closes his eyes.
"i'm gonna dream about shipwrecks" he mutters to the team. "good night, bird" he calls out to john b, using the nickname his father had given him.
india laughs silently as she turns to look at jj, who is cuddled in her arms.
the whole 'revealing' about india and jj being boyfriend and girlfriend hadn't gone as bad as they had thought. at first the group had been angry, but they had understood why they had done it, and that had been it as they put the matter to rest.
"goodnight bird shit" pope remarks jokingly. the team chuckles at his comment, enjoying the fresh air as they all zoned out in their own worlds.
that night india dreams that she's with jj walking down a street in italy.
___
the group stays quiet, staring at the video that the drone is displaying underwater.
they had been over the shipwreck more than three times and they still hadn't found anything but rusted metal and the occasional fish swimming in the deep waters.
just like that, their attitudes had gone from being positve and hoping to doing a complete one eighty. the feeling on the boat was tense, and it made india feel uncomfotable.
all their dreams of being rich and getting what they wanted had been crushed in a matter of seconds, and they were all feeling that heartbreak.
"look, just-- just pull the drone up" john b orders, his tone emotionless.
thunder rumbles in the distance, and the boat starts to move more and more as the waves become bigger and more agressive.
india was a water girl, but when it came to being on boats, she failed. she grabs her stomach, trying to hold in what she had eaten for lunch earlier in the afternoon as the boat continues to move left and right.
"we can do another pass" pope presses. "recharge the battery" he leads on.
from the steering wheel jj turns to look at them, starting to get tired of searching for the gold. "guys, we've done it three times. there's nothing there" he snaps.
"shut up!" kiara yells at him, clearly angry.
"what? it's true!" jj yells back, equally as frustrated as her.
"the gold could be buried, we don't know" india tries to keep a positive note on the somber mood, but it seems to be failing.
"if it was there it would've been found in the metal detector already" john b responds, shutting down her option.
india sighs, leaning over the railing of the boat and closing her eyes as she tries to get the motion sickness to go away.
behind her the group continues to argue, each of them offering their own opinions on the subject before deciding that the best thing to do is to go back.
none of them talk on the way to the docks, each of them deep in their own thoughts and suspisions about what had happened to the gold.
____
"i'm so glad that they're still doing this" kiara wonders happily, looking around the open grass.
india, pope and jj follow her, watching around at the giant screen in the distance and the kooks laid around the grass, all of them enjoying their afternoon.
india smiles, happy that there's finally something to take off their minds from the shipwreck.
she carries a bag, turning to look at jj with an innocent smile. jj returns it, but only breifly. these types of gatherings didn't really fit with him, but he'd made a sacrifice for india.
"aren't you guys glad i made you come?" kiara asks, setting up her stuff on the floor.
"ecstatic" pope replies sarcastically.
"india's bed was pretty comfy, i'll be honest" jj grumbles like a little boy, taking a seat on the floor after placing a towel.
"jj!" india remarks, hitting him on the chest. he looks at her, not knowing what he did wrong.
"what?" he asks, dumbfounded.
pope shakes his head at jj's past comment. "that's-- you know what i don't even care anymore" he mumbles.
india looks around, finally liking the fact that she's able to relax as she places her towel beside jj's.
pope turns to jj, leaning in "we're out of the green zone, man" he talks nervously, looking around.
"dude, tranquilo, okay?" jj assures as he tries to get comfortable to watch the movie.
"we're in the middle of kooklandia. this is the last place i want to be" pope presses on, clearly bothered by the fact that rafe and topper could be anywhere.
jj turns to him, watching as india walks back closer to them "shut up, pope" he mutters over gritted teeth, not wanting india to find out.
"i'm going to get a drink, do you guys want anything?" india asks, turning to the group.
"i'll have a pepsi" pope asks. jj shakes his head, not wanting anything.
india walks towards the stand, looking up at the menu.
"hey, uh... can i get two pepsis, please?" she asks the man, handing him a 10 dollar bill. the man nods, turning to fill out her drinks.
"hey india" someone calls out. india turns towards the voice.
"hey whats up" rafe tries to act cool as he approaches her, topper and kelce following him.
india ignores him as she takes her change and her drinks before turning to him.
"how are you?" he presses on, closing in on her.
"i'm fine" india answers after a second. she's surprised by the amount of civility and self restraint that rafe is having towards her. she guessed it might have been becuase his buddies were behind him and he had a 'good boy' reputation to live up to.
"good, good. look, i know we broke up, but i was wondering if you could give your buddies a message, since you seem to be hanging a lot with them." rafe starts, slight accusation on his tone. "tell your boy that we know what he did,"
india looks at him confused. "sorry, what boy are you talking about?" she asks. she couldn't let him find out that her and jj were official, not when rafe and her had only been broken up for two weeks.
rafe nods "uh, he'll know" is all he says.
india stands there, uncomfotable before nodding and walking away.
"bye!" rafe calls out from behind her.
india gulps nervously as she gets back to their seats. she hands pope his pepsi before turning to jj, an insecure look on her face.
"um, rafe just approached me, and he told me to tell you that he knows what you did" she whispers to him.
jj's jaw tightens at her words, and he turns to pope.
india turns to look at the both of them, a scared look on her face.
"jj, what is he talking about. please tell me you didn't do something to make him angry" she pleads. she knew how rafe could be. once someone got to him, there was no way that he was going to let it go without revenge.
pope goes to say something when jj interrupts.
"where is he?" he asks, reffering to rafe.
kiara joins into the conversation, motioning to the back of the lawn "rafe's right there" she points out behind her.
pope and jj turn to look, their gaze meeting topper, kelce and rafe's.
"great, the whole death squad" pope exclaims as he stares, clearly stressed and worried about the situation.
jj grabs pope's head, making him turn around to face the giant screen. "don't stare, bro" he whispers sternly
india watches what's going on in silence, hearing the pair's conversation.
"if they corner me, bro, i'm coming out swinging, ok?" jj adjusts his cap, looking around the place "slice and dicing. i'm on edge right now" he tells pope.
he grabs his backpack, holding it up as he looks at pope. "if that doesn't work, i got this right here"
india's eyes go wide with realization. "jj, please tell me you didn't bring a gun here" she whisper-shouts "there's fucking children!"
"no!" jj reponds, turning to look at india with a smile "india, i didn't bring the gun. everything's fine, okay?" he assures, nodding at his words.
indis stays silent, sharing a look with kiara. the both know that there's something going on that they are hiding.
"that's really convincing, thank you. i love it" kiara replies sarcastically to jj, her face scolding.
there's a moment of silence before kiara talks again.
"founding principle, you guys. no secrets amongst pogues" she warns, staring at the two friends.
"what is rafe talking about?" india presses on, turning to look at jj with concern.
"it might go down tonight" is all that pope says to the girls.
india turns to look at jj, expecting an answer. when she doesn't get one she huffs, running a hand through her hair.
"fine. don't want to tell me, that's fine," she declares angrily before scooting away from him and focusing her attention on the movie.
jj wants nothing but to grab her and tell her everything, but he knows that he can't. telling her would make her an accomplice and he didn't want to throw her into his own problems.
it's an hour later and the sun had gone down, leaving the movie playing for the people in the dark. india watches intently, liking what the movie is about when jj and pope stand up.
"hey, where are you going?" she asks, looking at the pair.
the boys stop walking, turning to the girls.
"we gotta wring it out" they explain, before starting to walk away.
"you're gonna hold it for eachother?" kiara questions, clearly knowing something's up.
india watches as the boys walk behind a tree. she waits for them to come back for a few minutes, and when nothing happens she turns to kiara.
"hey, i think something's wrong" she tells her as she stands up to go check on them. she grabs the bag, not knowing if it had the gun, but if they need it in case.
she runs up to the tree, kiara hot on her heels. when she turns to her left her eyebrows rise, shocked at what she's seeing.
rafe and kelce hold jj in their hold, beating him up while topper is beating pope up.
india runs towards them, passing the bag to kiara as she goes on to help jj.
she jumps on rafe's back, wrapping her arms around his neck to choke him.
"let him go, rafe!" she yells out as rafe tries to get her off his back. rafe yells out as india hits him on the shoulder. finally he lets go of jj, trying to deal with india.
he drops her on the floor before kicking her in the stomach. india's breath is knocked out of her, and she watches as rafe leaves her lying there and runs to help topper, who has kiara on his back.
"india! are you okay?" jj strains out hoarsely as he watches rafe kick her. he tries to get to her but kelce pushes him back, hitting him repeatedly in the face as he tackles jj into the ground.
india tries to hold in her cries of pain as she stands up and runs to help jj again. she nears kelce through the side, this time kicking his face so that he falls on the floor.
that makes kelce let go of jj as he clutches his nose.
"you bitch!" he yells out in pain. india continues to hit him with all her might, about to drop another kick when someone grabs her from behind and lifts her up in the air.
"let me go!" she struggles out, trying to get rid of rafe's hold. he drops her to the ground once again, and is about to kick her when the giant screen in front of them lights up on fire.
rafe stops, looking at the screen as it casts a glow over the group.
the rest of the group stop fighting, taking a look at the screen.
india stands up, running to jj and pushing kelce back.
"get off off him!" she shouts as she tries to push him away, her voice hoarse.
surpisingly he does. he puses jj forward and india runs to him, leaning to his level as he coughs and heaves in for breath.
she looks up at the rest, watching as they run off in an instant.
"you alright?" she asks, rubbing circles on jj's back.
jj nods, still coughing for breath. she sighs, her side hurting as she puts jj's arm around her shoulders so that he has support.
"you're an idiot india. if he'd done something to you i-" jj begins hoarsly after he's catched his breath.
india rolls her eyes, helping him walk towards the main street.
"but he didn't, and i saved your ass" she intejects, looking at him.
she stops walking, turning to look back at kie and pope before waving at them goodbye and starting towards her house.
"what did you do, jj?" she finally asks when they get to her house. she makes him sit on the couch as she gets the survival kit.
"we sunk toppers boat" he finally admits. india stops in her tracks, her eyebrows rising.
"you did what?" she repeats.
jj sighs, shaking his head "they beat up pope on the country club and we had to get them back for it" he explains.
india sighs, shaking her head as she takes the disinfectant and a cotton to clean up his face. she takes a seat beside him, motioning him to face her.
"i can take care of that myself" jj objects.
india shakes her head. "you took care of me when rafe hit me, so now i'm taking care of you" she responds.
jj doesn't argue, he just scans her face. he waits for the scolding to come, he waits for india to tell him that he did the wrong thing and that he could have ended up dead.
instead, she looks at him in the eye. "did you at least check for cameras?" she finally asks as she cleans his wound.
it's jj's turn to be surprised.
"what?" he asks, not knowing if he heard her correctly.
india shrugs, zipping up the kit after she cleans him up. "look, what you did was wrong, but you know that already." she faces him. "i could sit here and tell you off like a six year old boy, but you're old enough to know what you're getting into, so i'm not going to get in the way." she pauses.
"but if you're going to do something like that you need to be careful. you can't be risking jail or something worse like you don't have anything to lose because if something happens to you then i'm the one who's going to be destroyed on the inside, you get that?" she asks, looking at jj.
in his mind, this was much more strong than a scolding. he had put himself on the line in order to defend himself and pope without thinking about how india had been feeling.
he wanted to think that he was better, he wanted to be able to change, but making calculated decisions and jj didn't mix.
"i'm sorry" he finally mumbles.
india sighs, shaking her head "you don't have to be sorry- just, please don't get yourself killed. it's all i ask" she finalizes, staring at him with wide eyes.
"i'll try"