THIRTY-TWO A PLAN'S A PLAN

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Even as night crawled into the morning, John B was nowhere to be found. Norman, JJ, and Kiara had resorted to sitting on the docks and staring out at the ripples on the water as they tried to figure out where to go from here. Trading ideas back and forth wasn't going well since none of them were really prepared to handle this sort of situation.

"What if he hopped on the ferry and ran to the mainland?" Norman asked as he leaned against the wooden railing of the dock, his eyes glued to the way the sunlight reflected off of the small ripples.

"Uh, I don't think we have to worry about that," Kiara exclaimed, causing Norman to turn around and see none other than John B running straight for them. For the first time all day, he felt like he could breathe again.

As the boy met them on the docks, Norman grabbed him in a tight hug as he breathed the boy in, just glad that he was alive and safe and nothing bad had happened to him. It felt almost too good to be true when he felt the way the boy held him back. JJ and Kie joined in on the hug, all of them relieved that he was okay more than anything else.

"Guys, happy reunion is gonna have to wait, I have bad news," John B sighed as they all pulled apart. The boy got settled on the dock, laying down with a life raft beneath his head as he began to explain, "I went back to the Crain house. Ward Cameron bought it, essentially. I went down into the well --"

"Alone?" Norman exclaimed, "Do you know how dangerous that was?"

"I don't care, I needed to know," the boy shook his head, his eyes glued to the wooden cover of the dock. "It's gone. He took all of it."

Kie sighed, "You sure he got everything?"

He nodded, "Every bar. The whole enchilada."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Norman sighed to himself as he leaned against the railing once again, except this time he was facing John B. He didn't want to take his eyes off of him for fear he was going to disappear again.

With a grunt, John B pulled his ragged cast off of his wrist as he flexed the limb. Tossing it aside, he said, "Look, it's not like I expected a happy ending or some shit."

"John B--" Kie began, but was cut off.

"What, Kie? It's a hairline fracture, who cares?"

"You should care, your arm's gonna be messed up for life," the girl sighed.

"Eh, the right doctor can fix it--" Norman began, but when he saw the girl's death glare he shut up quickly. After last night, he could determine that he did not want to be on the receiving end of Kiara's wrath in any sense of the word.

John B propped his hand up by his elbow, muttering, "It's fine. See?"

Before they could argue further, there was the distinct sound of footsteps approaching. Running towards them was Pope, still in the clothes from his scholarship interview minus the sports jacket.

"Guys!" he exclaimed, getting their attention, "Oh! Oh! Oh, God, I ran all the way here! You all right?"

"How was the interview, Pope?" JJ finally piped up, having been uncharacteristically silent for the previous conversation.

The boy, who was still leaned over catching his breath, shook his head, "Don't ask. JB, look, I'm sorry dude. About everything."

"It's fine," John B sighed.

"But I-I don't have a lot of time and, and-- I have information that is tactically relevant. So, before I had my interview, my dad said he was going down to the private airstrip to cut palms for Cameron's big plane. Because it was too heavy. It needed a longer landing strip to take off! So, I'm sitting there in my interview, thinking to myself, "Hm, why would Cameron need a longer airstrip to take off? What could be so heavy to weigh it down?""

They all seemed to make the connection as John B slowly sat up. JJ pulled the blunt from his lips to say, "Gold."

"That's right!" John B exclaimed.

"Exactly!" shouted Pope, "Guys, this is our chance, but it leaves tonight, and we have to go!"

Everyone seemed to have a new lease on the situation now that Pope brought this news. Norman knew how much the boy had sacrificed just to tell them that and he couldn't be more grateful.

Even Kie had a smile on her face as she exclaimed, "Guys, we can't give up now!"

JJ looked to John B with the ghost of a grin on his face as he asked, "So, what's the plan, big man?"

"We're gonna steal that shit back."

"I call shotgun," Norman joined in on the fun as they ran off the docks. However, the boy noticed that John B stayed back for a moment. Norman stopped, walking back to where the boys practically met in the middle. "Hey, don't ever pull some shit like that again, okay? I-I was worried sick."

John B nodded, "I'm sorry, Norman. I just, I didn't know where my head was and shit got out of control way too fast."

"It's okay because you're here now and we have a plan," Norman said with a smile, "Well, we have like the bone of a plan, but hey, a plan's a plan."

"Good enough for me," the boy said with a small chuckle before he reached out and pulled Norman in for a kiss. For just a moment, the world around them melted and Norman was more than okay with that. When he was kissing John B, he could pretend that everything was okay and that they weren't about to go hunt down some gold that was stolen by them from the killer of John B's father. God, things had gotten so fucked up in such a small amount of time. That didn't matter, though, because now he had his John B back. It wasn't everything, but it was a start. A sign that maybe things could start getting better.

They were interrupted by a wolf-whistle from JJ getting their attention as the three others waited around John B's van while Pope yelled at them, "Guys! What part of the plane leaves tonight did you guys not understand? Swap spit later!"

The two boys laughed to themselves as they took off towards the van, hand in hand. All was certainly not right with the world, but at least he was by John B's side. Maybe he was a fool for resting so much security on his feelings for John B, but a fool he was. John B unlocked the vehicle as they all hopped in, Norman taking his place on the passenger side. For the first time in the past few days, they had hope.

As they drove, JJ was loading up the gun John B had brought back, saying, "So, we go in there, guns-a-blazing, make Ward Cameron beg for mercy, abscond with as much gold as possible, and vamanos, get the hell out of there."

Norman scoffed, "I'm surprised you even know what 'abscond' means, if I'm being honest."

"So, we go down the intercoastal," John B continued explaining.

Kiara nodded, "Wait for weather."

"Exit to Cuba," Pope finished.

"You guys know I have a private jet, too, right? Like, I can just call my dad and he'll set us up on our way to Cuba," Norman shrugged, a smug smile plastered on his face.

JJ groaned, "Stop reminding us how rich you are it disgusts me. At least Kiara keeps herself humble."

"Aw, thanks, JJ."

"Norman, all due respect, how are you gonna explain to your dad that you're running away to Cuba with a bunch of stolen gold?" John B asked with a small laugh to which the boy only shrugged.

"I'm sure it'll totally work."

"Okay, but why Cuba?" JJ asked, interrupting the conversation between the two boys. "No, man, Xcalak, the jewel of the Yucatan. Lobsters so thick, mangoes, and no word for money."

Maybe it was silly, but if Norman had to run away to a foreign country, he was glad it was with these people. He loved his friends, yes, more than anything, but if he was stuck on some remote island in a foreign country with them he would probably die. Looking at John B and looking at the others in the van, he was surprisingly okay with this. Especially with the idea of leaving his life behind -- starting over with his friends by his side. He hadn't realized it before, but he was probably the happiest he had been since he could remember. For the first time in a long time, they had hope that maybe, just maybe, things would go their way. Norman really hoped things were going to go their way. Hope was all he had and he was okay with that.

With a smile plastered on his face as he looked at Norman, John B exclaimed, "Let's do this shit!"

i cant believe this story is almost over omg the next chapter is gonna be the end of episode eight and the lead in to episode nine i cant wait imma be so emo when this story is over