SEASON ONE,
CHAPTER 28:
A SET-UP
"That old bat shanked us."
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THE TEENAGERS THAT previously snuck into the Crain House and retrieved the gold have now come up with another plan. Everyone agreed to melt the bars of gold together and take it to the pawnshop so that they can get money out of it — it's only an extremely small percentage of how much they could get in total. JJ hopes that he'll be able to pay off his restitution with a cut of the money.
The three boys are working together to keep the fire going as they use it's heat to melt the gold down into one solid block, arguing between themselves about who should be the one to do it. The girls are sitting in the back of the campervan with the door slid open so that they're able to watch from afar. Delilah rests her head on Kiara's thigh, her legs resting in Sarah's lap. What's surprised the redhead is how much she's grown to like Sarah from their time together since the boat, feeling as though the blonde can become her best friend at some point in the next few days.
"Lila, this is kinda shit." Kie comments, looking down at a drawing in her hands.
The friends had made Delilah draw an image of the inside of the well. This is to help them come up with the next plan to go down and retrieve the remainder of the gold. Unfortunately, since the girl isn't very skilled on the artistic side, the pencil sketching have came out to be looking very rough, but it still gives a decent visualisation.
"Well, damn, if you're wanted a better drawing I would've brought Da Vinci back from the dead and hired him." Delilah comments.
"This is it?" Sarah questions.
"That's it." Delilah replies.
"Okay, that's 50 feet down and there using 100 feet rope. So I guess this little wagon will go straight to the gold room." Kie says as her eyes stay locked on the drawing.
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Arriving at their destination (the pawn shop), the six pile out of the car one after the other. JJ continues to complain about how the gold isn't melted down to his standards, arguing about how he should've been the one to melt it above the fire. However, the blond quickly falls silently as Delilah pushes him through the front door of the pawnshop.
The only reason why the friends gave the couple the job of having to pawn the gold off is because they're best liars in the group. That means that the pair will be able to easily convince the shop keeper, and even make up an excuse to hide the truth. So, the others watch as the two head over to the front desk while acting like they're just looking around the shop.
"Afternoon, ma'am." Delilah politely greets.
"Afternoon." The woman greets back.
"I see you buy gold." JJ states.
"That's what they sign says, don't it?" The woman fires back since he pointed out the obvious.
"Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it because we're about to blow your mind." JJ informs.
"I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it." The woman tells him.
The boy swings the backpack off of his shoulder and places it down onto the desk. He unzips the bag and begins to fumble through it in search for the block of gold that they melted together. Soon enough, the heavy object is placed down in front of her with a small thud echoing from the action.
"How about them gold apples?" JJ asks.
"That ain't real." The woman protests, chuckling to herself at the sight.
"That ain't real?" JJ repeats.
"It can't be." The woman argues.
"Here, feel how heavy it is." Delilah tells her.
The shop keeper reaches forwards to wherethe gold rests upon the table, attempting to pick up the badly melted block of gold. It comes as a surprise to the woman when it feels heavier than she had expected, which only means that the teenagers are right. But with a bit of struggle, she eventually manages to get it to sit in the palm of her hands. A light then shines over the block of gold as the woman inspects it to make sure that it's all real.
"Spray-painted tungsten." The woman says.
"Spray-painted tungsten?" Delilah repeats, scoffing in frustration. "Really? Okay."
"Why don't you see how soft it is?" JJ suggests.
"That's what he said." Delilah mumbles.
JJ had managed to hear what she had said to herself, causing a grin to tug at the corners of his lips. The shop keeper ignores them both. She grabs a nail and a small hammer from the drawer in the desk, hitting away at the gold with it. The woman then pulls her hand away and checks to see if any damage has been created upon the nail. However, coming as a surprise again, it doesn't seem to have even made an indent and remains perfectly fine.
"Wow. Would you look at that?" JJ says.
"Hold your horses. We ain't even got to the acid test yet." The woman informs.
"Ooh! The acid test. My favourite." JJ comments as he glances over at the rest of his friends.
Next, the woman grabs a tiny bottle of liquid from the same drawer after placing the tools that she was once holding back inside. She pours a tiny bit of the acid on top the block of gold, conducting another test to prove whether it's real or fake. But her brows knit together slightly at the sight of it not reacting.
"Well, it ain't plated and it ain't painted." The woman states.
"Ma'am, I'm telling you, this is as real as the day is long." JJ informs.
"It looks like somebody tried to melt it down." The woman states.
"My mom." Delilah quickly replies, the blond boys gaze snapping over to her. "She had all this jewellery laying around the house and she thought it was best to melt it down. To 'consolidate' it."
The shop keeper nods in response, understanding the brief explanation being told. She picks the gold back up before placing it down onto a scale located upon the table. The metal plate of the object makes a loud clanging sound at the mere contact of the gold.
"Seven pounds? That's a lot of earrings." The woman informs.
"Okay, to be honest, ma'am." JJ begins, pulling the girl closer and kissing her temple. "It's just really hard for my girlfriend to see her mom fall apart from alzheimer's."
"Give me a minute." The woman instructs.
"Take your time, ma'am." Delilah replies, voice quiet with sadness to make the story more believable.
The woman glances between the two teenagers for a split second before walking out from behind the counter and disappearing into the back room. They all wait around for a minute or so until she walks back out, making her way over to them both. Cash is then placed down onto the table.
"So, uh, I talked to my boss. And that's what I can do." The woman informs.
"Fifty thousand?" JJ questions, scoffing. "You think we 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." The woman reminds. "This ain't zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?"
"Ninety, or we walk." JJ demands.
"Seventy." The woman insists. "Half price and, um... I don't ask questions about where you got this."
JJ looks down at Delilah to see her reaction to the cut of money they're being offered, then glances over his shoulder to meet John B's gaze. The brunet boy sticks his thumb and pinky up, silently telling the pair to go ahead and continue with the seventy.
"I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please." JJ tells the shopkeeper.
"Well, here's the snag." The woman begins. "I don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. I can write you a cashiers check."
"Cash? No, ma'am. I want the cold hard. That's what the sign says. Cash for gold. And that's what I expect. I'm gonna get it in cold hard." JJ demands.
"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there." The woman informs. "Is that alright?"
"Fine." Delilah replies, sighing. "Where's this warehouse?"
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Driving along the long roads, the group of friends find themselves on their way to the warehouse that the woman has directed them all towards. The roads are extremely narrow and all that's surrounds the area is tall trees that tower massively above the cars that travel through. It doesn't look like there's any civilisation judging by the fact that no houses, and they'd only be abandoned if there were any.
Delilah is sitting on the floor of the vehicle, her back resting against JJ's legs. The blond attempts to braid her ginger hair once again while she fiddles with the gold block that's in her hand. The girl is still in slight disbelief that she's even holding something worth millions and could make them rich.
"So they keep money out here?" Pope questions.
"That's what she said." JJ replies.
"That's what she said." JJ and Delilah chorus, laughing to themselves.
"Stop!" Pope demands.
"I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive." Sarah states from the passengers seat beside John B.
"That's because you're rich." JJ fires back.
"You've never heard of it either." Kie argues to defend the blonde.
"Thank you!" Sarah exclaims.
"There's nothing but weeds back here." Delilah states with a sigh.
None of the friends get to reply to the redhead due to the fact that the sound of police sirens whirring are suddenly heard right behind them. This grabs all of the teenagers attention as they spin around in their seats to see that an undercover cop car is trailing behind their vehicle. Red and blue flashing lights are being emitted off of the top of the car where it then bounces off of the trees.
"Cops? Out here?"
"God! Are you kidding me?"
"What did we do?"
"Why are we getting pulled over?"
"For fuck sake, seriously?"
"Chill, guys." Kie demands.
"I hate cops." JJ mutters under his breath.
"ACAB." Delilah replies.
"JJ, did you bring the gun?" John B asks.
"No. Everybody apart from Ly told me to leave it back at the place." JJ states.
John B pulls the campervan over on the side of the road so that the police car is able to stop and talk to them about what they've done wrong. Delilah helps JJ shove everything worth hiding inside of his bag, everyone else bombarding the pair with questions that they choose to simply ignore. Then, JJ rises up to his feet and allows Delilah to open the hidden compartment that he seated on, shoving the bag inside before closing it up again.
The sound of a gun being cocked snaps through the tense air, everyone turning towards the sound to see that John B is now staring down the barrel of a gun being pointed at his face. The person that's holding the weapon has a bandana covering the lower half of their face to hide their identity, but it's not hard to recognise who it is; the long greasy black hair and the bloodshot eyes is enough to tell that it's Barry.
"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! You, out of the car." Barry orders. "Lets go!"
John B listens to the instructions being shouted in his face, wanting this to go smoothly to ensure that no one can get hurt from this. He shakily reaches for the car door before hopping out and standing beside Barry. A gun is still being pointed at him.
"Let them out!" Barry demands. "What are you waiting on? Let them out!"
The long haired boy walks around to the other side of the campervan, his shaky hands reaching out to the door. He slides it open for his friends to get out of the car like the man holding the deadly weapon is ordering them to do. One after the other, the rest of the teenagers step out of the vehicle with their hands help in the air to show they're defenceless.
"Lay down in the ditch! On your goddamn hands and knees! Down! Put your face in the ground! Don't let me see you look up! Alright?" Barry yells.
The six immediately do as they're told in order to avoid the gun being shot at them. They all lay down in the ditch on the side of the road with their hearts pounding against their ribcages, feeling both fear and panic flooding through their bodies. Delilah just holds her head in her hands as she tries her best not to lash out in anger, not wanting to get them deeper into this situation and risk her friends being harmed. JJ does the same as the girl, gripping his hat tightly while clenching his jaw.
Barry leaves their sides where he climbs into the campervan that belongs to the Pogues, keeping the gun loaded as a precaution. He searches around for something, aggressively throwing around different objects that are just lying around the vehicle. It's clear to the group that the man is searching for the gold that they've stashed away in the compartment.
"It's a fucking setup." Delilah hisses.
"That old bat shanked us." JJ adds, hitting the ground beneath him. "Fuck."
With his eyes trained on Barry inside of the vehicle, John B slowly begins rise his place in the ditch next to everyone else. He ignores the desperate demands and whispers of his girlfriend and friends telling him not to do anything, especially if it'll provoke Barry. But John B rushes over to the fake cop car and dives into the backseats to hide, waiting for the man to enter the car once again. Delilah's heartbeat speeds up at the sight of his actions, even more fear flooding through her body at this point. What will happen if Barry notices one missing?
"Y'all stay just like that. Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads, okay?" Barry shouts as he steps out the vehicle with the gold block in his hands. "Actually, redhead, stand up."
"Ly—" JJ begins.
"Shut up!" Barry yells.
Delilah's head shifts to where JJ lays beside her, his worried gaze already resting on her. She gives him a soft look in hopes to provide reassurance, which is a silent way of telling the blond boy that everything will be okay. Then, the redhead girl rises to her feet with her hands still in the air.
"I know your momma. Came to me for drugs to help distract her problems back home. She said I'd like you 'cause you're rebellious." Barry explains, pulling his mask down to reveal the rest of his face.
"Don't talk about her to me." Delilah demands, anger laced in her voice.
"Why don't you just hop in the car, princess? Maybe we can have some fun later." Barry continues with a smirk on his lips, ignoring what she had to say.
"Don't fucking talk to my girl like that!" JJ shouts.
"Shut the hell up!" Barry snaps. "Get in the car, princess, or your boyfriend here will have his brains blown out."
"Fine." Delilah gives in.
There's only two reasons as to why the redhead is complying to Barry's orders. One, because she doesn't want to ever see JJ get hurt — let alone if it's because she doesn't listen. Two, because John B is currently waiting in the back seats of the car and is waiting for his moment to attack the armed man. With these two points, the group of friends are able to fight together and get out of the area with their lives spared and the gold back in their possession.
Barry forcefully shoves Delilah into the passengers seat before walking around and sliding himself into the drivers seat. However, he doesn't even get the chance to start the car due to the fact that John B lunges forwards and attacks the man, urging Delilah to get out of the car. The girl gladly listens to her friend, but doesn't leave him completely alone. She runs around and opens the drivers side of the door where she then yanks Barry out of the car. The man drops onto the floor with a loud thud, but gets back on his feet within seconds though.
At the sight of the fight taking place, JJ is quick to rise to his feet and run over to the two teenagers and the attacker. He repeatedly throws punches at Barry for even trying to threaten all of his friends and for trying to hit on his girlfriend. Barry spins around in anger, managing to land a punch straight in the face and cause JJ to tumble to the ground.
Next, Kiara runs forwards in a desperate attempt to help her friends. She lands a couple punches too, but that's before Barry harshly grabs her by the jacket. He throws the curly haired girl onto a ground where a grunt of pain slips past her lips. John B just hits the man in the back of the head with the gun that he had successfully managed to steal.
"I got the gold!" Pope informs.
Delilah tackles Barry down onto the concrete floor after catching sight of him attempting to stand back up on his own two feet and continue the fight with the six teenagers. Then, after this happens, Sarah swiftly pulls the redhead away before she reaches out and slams the car door against the attackers head multiple times.
"You son of a bitch!" Sarah shouts.
JJ, now on his feet once again, reaches down and hauls Delilah back up from off of the hard ground. The group of friends all crowd around Barry with anger in the pit of their stomachs for even trying to do that shit with them. The man's body is slumped against the side of his car with fresh blood coming out of the wounds that have been inflicted onto him.
"Aye, listen, okay? I couldn't hurt any single one of y'all—" Barry begins.
The sentence is abruptly cut off as JJ smashes the end of the gun against his face, only happening since he had snatched the weapon out of John B's hands. Barry groans loudly from even more pain flooding through his body, almost regretting taking on the six on his own. Blood is then spit out of his mouth.
"Chill, man!" John B yells.
"That's for trying to take my girl." JJ spits.
The blond boy doesn't leave it at that, proceeding to fumble through the pockets of Barry's clothing in search of something in particular. A wallet is soon snatched and opened up, revealing an I.D that tells them all the exact location of where the man lives.
"We've got one last stop." JJ informs.
"I'm gonna remember this shit! You can't hide from me!" Barry shouts.
The group all choose to ignore the guys attempts to try scare them away from ever trying to pull that shit with him away. But Delilah stays frozen in place as she stares down at Barry, noticing how his hard gaze is already trained onto her.
"You wait till your momma finds out what you did to me. She's gonna wanna disown you more than she does already." Barry tells her.
Delilah was already on the brink of tears from the painful words that he keeps throwing her way about her mother, but this only throws her over the edge. The girl lunges forwards and grabs fistfuls of the mans clothing, forcefully slamming his body against the car once again. Pain shoots up Barry's back and causes him to wince at the action, which she ignores.
"Del!" Pope calls from the vehicle.
"Shut up about her!" Delilah demands, slamming him against the car again. "You don't know shit about me or my family."
"Oh, I do, princess." Barry replies with a smirk on his lips. "I know that you think she's gone away. But she hasn't. She's here in OBX, and she just doesn't want to see you."
Freezing at the sudden new information, Delilah's grip on the man is released as she takes a shaky step backwards while trying not to stumble over her own two feet. The mother and daughter never exactly got along, but why lie about a location?
"Red, leave him!" John B shouts.
"Liar." Delilah mumbles, shaking her head as she looks down at the man. "You're lying."
"I ain't." Barry replies.
The redhead stares at their attacker for a moment, tongue poking against the inside of her cheek as she contemplates whether her next actions are a good idea or not. But she decides to go forward with it; Lila grabs ahold of Barry and aggressively throws him down onto the concrete as she continuously throws punches at his body. Tears stream down her cheeks, many emotions flooding through her body.
However, the violence comes to a halt when a pair of arms wrap around the middle of the girls body and pulls her off of Barry. She's slung over the top of their broad shoulder where she's carried away from the scene, deciding not to squirm in their grip as she falls weak with emotions. Then, JJ sets Delilah in the backseats of the vehicle where his blue eyes meet her green ones.
"We'll get back at him, okay?" JJ whispers.
Ly only nods as she's unable to give a verbal reply to him as she struggles for air, hiccuping slightly due to the tears. JJ reaches out and cups her cheek in his hands where the pads of his thumb brush against her smooth skin. He wipes away the salty tears before pressing a reassuring kiss onto her forehead.
Hesitating for a moment, JJ pulls away and shuts the door before walking around the car and climbing into the drivers seat. The ignition is turned on and the campervan starts rolling across the narrow roads once again. Meanwhile, Kiara and Sarah instantly shuffle closer to their crying friend in hopes to try and provide comfort. They just want to be there for Delilah and let her know that everything is okay.