( chapter six )
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"Come on, hey," John B whispered as they all walked into the cemetery, "hey, come on."
"I'm coming," Kie hissed back at being rushed, "this place is creepy."
"John B, what are we doing—"
"Shut up," he cut Lia off as they continued to walk, the girl flipping off her best friend in the process, "okay, so, you know how you're trying to remember a song and you can't remember who sings it?"
"Yeah."
"So, Redfield. This whole time, I thought it was a place, right? But it's not a place. It's a person."
The group arrived at a huge tombstone with the name REDFIELD on display at the top.
"Voi-effing-là."
"See, my great-great-grandmother Olivia Redfield," John B told them, "it was her maiden name."
The teens observed the tomb some
more before trying to pry the door of the tomb open, only to find what's inside.
"Oh, shit!"
"A snake!"
"Woah, woah, woah!"
"That's a moccasin, all right," JJ exclaimed, "ye olde Dr. Cottonmouth. Death in tall grass," the boy then proceeds to bark at the animal.
"JJ, shut up," Lia hissed as she tried to push the boy away from the animal, "shut the fuck up!"
"You're gonna wake the freaking dead, man!"
JJ shrugged, "they're afraid of dogs. Everyone knows that, man. Wait, hold on."
"What?"
"If there's one, there's probably dozens."
"Oh, my God. Stop it, you're scaring me," Kie exclaimed as she looked for a way into the tomb.
"Everyone shut up," Pope turned to John B, "we're not gonna get in there, all right? It's not budging. We should probably just go."
"I could get through."
The gang looked over at Lia as she shone her light over the hole in the door.
"What?"
"No, no, no, no. You think you're gonna fit through the hole," John B asked after JJ, "that hole?"
"JB, this is about your dad," Lia sighed as she looked at the boy, "and for a while—he was kinda like mine too. And honestly, I want to believe he's out there somewhere. I know he's trying to tell you something. You deserve to know the truth. I'll do it."
"I don't like this," JJ muttered as he watched everyone prepare to help the girl in the hole, "I really, really don't like this."
"JJ," Lia called for him, not paying attention to his muttering, "help me with a boost."
The guys and Kie move the branches and vines away from the hole as JJ helped her up, "I'm gonna boost you, all right? I've seen it in movies several times. Ready?"
"Remind me what we're looking for?"
"You'll know when you see it."
Lia nodded at John B skeptically, "okay.."
"All right, so put your hands right there," JJ instructed, "and your foot. On the count of three," Lia used her momentum to get into the hole, "okay, never mind. Just forget about three."
Once her feet hit the ground, she spoke loudly so her friends could hear her, "okay, flashlight?"
"Yeah, here."
She looked around, not saying anything, making the group nervous, "you alive? You got, like, a—a heartbeat and everything?"
"You good, Lia?"
"Yeah, I'm good," she smiled slightly, looking around the tomb, "don't worry about me too much, JJ."
"Y-Yup. Yup."
"Can I get some more light?"
"Yeah, yeah, here," John B gave her the lantern, "yeah, I gotcha."
The gang saw Lia through the hole as she stumbled upon something that looked eerily familiar to her. She walked closer, prompting her figure to become non-visible to her friends, who were watching her from outside the tomb.
"You find something?"
Instead of answering JJ's question, she simply muttered, "holy shit."
The Bennett girl pulled out the sealed package that said FOR BIRD on the front and passed it off to John B.
"That's not gold," Pope sighed in dissapointment.
Lia grunted as she successfully got out of the hole, with help from JJ and Kie, as John B simply stared at the package. The brunette sighed and walked over next to him, "why does bird ring a bell?"
He looked at her for a moment then went to the package again, "this is from my dad."
Before anyone could respond, the sound of a vehicle approaching caught their attention, "code red. Code red," JJ announced, "square groupers! square groupers! It's the guys who robbed your house."
The teens ran behind the tombstone and hid, turning off their flashlights. They heard the people talk about seeing something and Lia knew instantly it wasn't the two who hurt her and Ms. Lana, she scoffed, "it's not them. Fuck this."
She gets up and runs to the gate, hearing the footsteps of her friends behind her. They all climb over the gate as the golf carts get closer to them. Everyone gets over the gate with ease except for Pope, who gets stuck.
"Guys. Guys, I'm stuck."
"Pope, come on," JJ pulled out his gun and aimed it for the gate, "alright. Pope, don't move, okay."
Lia came up to him and pulled his arm down, "are you stupid? you must be stupid. Let's go," and grabbed him by the arm to help Kie get Pope down.
"Wait. You're gonna rip me!"
"You're fine. Come on!"
They finally manage to get Pope down, his shorts ripping as they stay hung on the gate. The teens run to the van, laughing, as JJ joked, "it's a little Tootsie Roll."
Lia laughed, "come on, idiots."
"So stupid," Kie chuckled as they drove away.
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Back at the Chateau, the Pogues settled down. Lia looked up from a book she found in Big John's office to see JJ scraping the edges of a peanut butter jar as he smeared it on moldy bread, "J, that's disgusting."
"What," he turned to her for a second before going back to making the sandwich.
"That bread had mold on it, like, three days ago," Pope spoke up and informed like it was obvious.
"I'll just pull off the bad parts," JJ shrugged, "plus, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism."
"JJ," Lia called as she made her way to the office, "focus, please."
"Yup, yup, yup! Hot damn! Let's do it."
Ophelia watched John B ripped open the sealed package when she heard the sound of JJ gagging up the sandwich he made, "idiot," she muttered and gave him a little push with her elbow.
Everyone watched with curious eyes as John B unfolded a map, "holy shit," he muttered.
"Oh. X marks the spot," Pope pointed on the map.
"Longitude—latitude," John B nodded, "wait, there's somethin' else in there," he reached in to find a device.
"What's that?"
"It's a tape recorder," Kie rolled her eyes at the blonde, "dumbass."
"Dear Bird—"
"Who's bird?"
"That's what my dad called me."
"—I hate to say, 'I told you so,' but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment, you're filled with guilt and self-loathing over our last fight, but don't kill yourself just yet, kid. I didn't expect to find the Merchant either. You were probably right to call me out. Wasn't exactly Father of the Decade. What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn. And hopefully, we're listenin' to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica livin' off passive investments and pulling on permits. If not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for. There she is, the wreck of the Merchant. If somethin' happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold, kid. I love you, Bird, even If i didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side."
The tape recorder shuts off, leaving the group in shocked silence. John B shot up from his seat, moving away from my group. Lia, sporting tears in her eyes, went over to him, "JB—"
She was cut off when John B turned into her arms, sobbing uncontrollably. His cries made her own tears stream down her face silently as she held her best friend—her brother. She could hear the others quietly arguing, but she couldn't deal with that at the moment. All that mattered was taking care of John B. He did it for her when her parents died—and now it was her turn. And she wasn't going to let him down.
edited: 4 august 2021