"He said it looked something like this," Kiara pointed to a sketch of the well that Pope drew later that day while in the Twinkie.
"So . . . ." I trailed off, shooting her a puzzled look.
"That's 50 feet down, and they're using a 100-feet rope. So I guess this little wagon will go," Kiara said, and Sarah and I laughed. "-Straight to the gold room," she finished.
"Who drew this?" Sarah teased.
"Who do you think?" Kie joked and glanced around her shoulder to see Pope talking with John B. He looked at her and smiled softly. I noticed a small blush crept onto her cheeks.
"Kie! This better work," JJ proclaimed and threw the three bars of gold on the floor of the Twinkie. "We can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it," he stated.
Kie grabbed the blow torch and smirked at him. "It's gonna work," Kie argued, and JJ rolled his eyes before walking over to a pot that sat on a metal burner. Kie and I followed him over, and I dropped the gold bars into the pot.
"Let's do this thing!" I exclaimed, and Kie lit the blow torch. It started melting the gold, and we grinned at each other widely.
"We did it!" She cried, and I hugged her side. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't wanna burn ya with a blow torch," she warned, and I stepped back with a chuckle. JJ did the Pogue handshake with Pope and wiggled his eyebrows at me, making me blush but cover it up with a smirk.
~:*:~
The Pogues and I were all in the Twinkie on our way to a pawn shop. JJ was inspecting the gold with me in between his legs. He had his eyebrows knitted together as he stared at the heavy nugget.
John B pulled up to the raggedy old pawnshop, and we all got out. JJ still had gold in his hands as he was the first to hop onto the ground. "Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein," he called to Kiara sarcastically.
"Like you could've done better," Kie argued.
"I could have. I took a welding class," JJ lied.
"When?" Kie snapped, and I held in a laugh at how they were fighting over the most stupid of things.
"Whoa, whoa. Hey. Sh! Chill out, okay?" John B said and stepped in between them.
JJ gritted his teeth and spat out, "easy for you to say. You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off. How did I get this job anyway?"
"'Cause you're the best liar," Pope said almost immediately after JJ asked.
We all walked inside the pawnshop with the shop bell ringing when we entered. "Afternoon, ma'am," JJ greeted the women at the front counter.
"Afternoon," she said with skepticism.
"I see you buy gold," JJ stated and wrapped his arm around my waist as we made our way over to the clerk.
"That's what the sign says, don't it?" She replied with a certain snarkiness that sent me on edge.
"Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it because I'm about to blow your mind," JJ smirked and removed his backpack from around his shoulder.
"I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it," the women said, and JJ pulled out the chunk of gold we had attempted to meltdown.
"How about them gold apples?" JJ said, a smile peaking up onto his lips.
The women laughed at us, and my jaw clenched, looking her up and down with a glare. JJ's grip around my waist tightened, and he started tapping his finger on my jean shorts to calm my irritation. "That ain't real," the women chuckled.
"That ain't real?" JJ repeated.
"It can't be."
"Feel how heavy it is," JJ smirked to himself, knowing he was correct for once in his life. The woman tried to lift the gold like it was no big deal and it was just a painted rock, but when she struggled more than she anticipated, she grunted loudly. Some of it probably being frustration and some being disbelief at how heavy it really was. I decided to let JJ do his magic and walked over to Pope, examining the odd objects scattered around the shop.
He picked up a glass cat figurine, and I meowed in his ear, making him jump and almost drop it. He whipped around and scowled at me, and I giggled. "Sorry, cat boy," I teased, and he was going to smack my shoulder when I scurried back over to JJ.
"Ma'am, I know for a fact that this is worth 140, at least," my boyfriend argued, and the woman put her hands on her hips, unamused.
"Well, sweetie, you in a pawnshop. This ain't Zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?" The woman snapped, and JJ gave her an irritated sigh.
"Ninety, or I walk," he said, starting to get angry.
"Seventy. Half price and, um . . . . I don't ask questions about where you got this," the clerk compromised and JJ glanced at John B. He nodded.
"I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please," JJ said, a smile creeping up on everyone's faces.
"Well, here's the snag," the women added, and our smirks dropped. "I don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. I can write you a cashier's check," she said.
"No, ma'am. I want the cold hard. That's what that sign says. Cash for gold. And that's what I expect. I'm gonna get it in cold hard," the blonde demanded, and I could tell he was getting frustrated again, so I intertwined our hands together, making his muscle relax, but he kept his determined expression.
"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there. Is that all right?" she asked.
"Where's this warehouse?"
~:*:~
"So they keep money out here?" I questioned with skepticism lacing my tone.
"That's what she said," JJ shrugged and started drawing shapes on my thigh. He laughed to himself, "that's what she said."
"Stop," Pope cut him off sharply.
"I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive," Sarah stated, and I nodded in agreement.
"'Cause, you two are rich," JJ replied bitterly, and I tapped his shoulder as a warning.
"You've never heard of it either," Kiara defended my best friend and me.
"Thank you," I smiled at the curly-haired girl.
"There's nothing but weeds back here," Kie gloomed.
"All right, just 'cause it's just weeds doesn't mean it's, like . . ." JJ trailed off, trying to sound optimistic. I chuckled in his ear. A loud whoop of a police siren then came from behind us.
"Cops? Out here?" Kie inquired, and we all shot our heads to the back to see a cop car on our tail.
"God! Are you kidding me?" JJ roared, and I got off his lap and sat next to Kie, not wanting to invade his personal rage time.
"What did we do? Why are we getting pulled over?" Sarah groaned. JJ started scrambling around to find all the weed and other illegal items so he could hide them.
John B pulled the Twinkie over and turned around to look at JJ. "Did you bring the gun?" he snapped.
"No. Okay? Everybody told me to leave it back at the place," JJ said.
"Thank god! Please, everything else in your bag," Kie told him.
"I am! I am, all right?"
"How much weed do you have on you, bro?" Kiara questioned, and JJ quickly shoved everything in his bag and hid it under the seat. We then heard the sound of a gun cock.
"Why don't I go ahead and see them hands up in the air?" A muffled voice ordered, and that's when I saw a man with a bandana over his mouth with a shotgun. "All y'all's hands up in the air now!" we all shot our hands up, and I looked at JJ, who gave me a reassuring nod that said we were going to be okay.
"You, out of the car! Let's go!" The man yelled to John B. John B got out slowly, and I gulped as he was ushered over to Sarah's side of the car. He slid the door open, and the man pointed the gun at us in the back. "Go on! Go on! Let's get out the car! Let's go!" he shouted, and Sarah was the first to get out with a whimper.
"There you go, pretty girl. Here we go!" he said to me once I followed Sarah.
"We're broke --" JJ tried to convince him.
"Shut the hell up!" the man aimed the gun directly at JJ's chest.
"All right! Just relax! Chill!" the boy screamed, and I pushed him back.
"Shut up! Blow your damn head off! Lay down in the ditch! On your goddamn hands and knees! Down! Put your face on the ground!" the mugger threatened, and everyone followed his orders, but I was more hesitant. "Down! Pretty girl, lay in the ditch like your stupid friends!" he barked, but I shook my head with tears welling up in my eyes.
"Nora!" Sarah hissed in fear, but all I did was quiver my lip.
"You won't hurt me," I whispered to the man, and he glared at me. He advanced towards me, and my breath hitched as he got closer.
"And why shouldn't I beat you up till you can't breathe then finally shoot you in the goddamn head," he hit me in the chest with the end of the shotgun, and I grunted.
"Eleanor," JJ warned, but I stood my ground, getting a boost of confidence that none of my friends seemed to have. The man glanced back at JJ, and his bandana lifted slightly from a smirk forming onto his lips.
"Thornton ay? Your brother is such a pussy," he chuckled darkly, and I bit the inside of my cheek. The shotgun's end collided with my cheek, and I fell to the ground next to JJ. My mouth filled with blood from biting down too hard on my cheek, and I spit it down on the ground.
"Babe-" JJ said softly but was cut off.
"Show me where it is, Thornton. Show me where that gold of yours is," the man demanded. I stayed down, and he was about to hit me again when I held up my hand.
"Fine!" I cried and slowly stood up with JJ trying to stop me, but the thief pushed his head back down. I walked into the Twinkie with the gun pointed at my back as I grabbed JJ's bag. I pulled out the melted gold, and he snatched it from my grip.
"You Thornton's are so weak," that was the last words before the man walked back to his car, not before he had in enforce my friends that they had to stay where they were.
All my friends looked up at me with wide eyes and baffled faces, but a smirk grew on my own. We then heard roughhousing coming from the mugger's car. We all looked over to see John B wrestling with the man.
"Guys, I got the gun!" John B yelled and opened the car door, shoving the man out. We all raced over, and JJ was the first to throw a punch. Everyone soon followed his actions and began beating the man up.
Sarah was hitting him with the car door when Pope shouted, "I got the gold!"
Once the man could not fight back, JJ ripped the bandana off, and we all glared at him.
"I know this piece of shit! He's a basehead!" JJ shouted.
"Probably knows my brother," Sarah huffed.
"He sells coke to my dad," JJ fumed and grabbed the shotgun.
"Listen, I could hurt any single one of y'all --" the man I knew as Barry because he sells drugs to Rafe said. JJ then hit him across the face with the end of the gun, and Kie gasped.
"JJ!" She scolded him.
JJ bent down and started rummaging in Barry's pockets until he pulled out an ID. "We got one last stop. Let's go see where this son of a bitch lives," JJ barked and rushed to the Twinkie. Everyone soon followed him, but I stayed behind and stared down at Barry.
"Nora!" Sarah yelled to me. My shoe came in contact with Barry's jaw, and he grunted.
"Don't ever call me weak again."