——

"You sure he got everything?" Kiara asked, dangling her feet on the railing that belonged to the gazebo. John B, whose back laid flat on the wooden ground, nodded. "Every bar. The whole enchilada."

Emelina sighed, burying her head in her hands. She sat near John B, her back pressed against one of the supporting beams. He had revealed that Ward figured out their plan and took the gold from the well. Everything they worked hard for was all for nothing.

John B grunted as he pulled off his cast that was previously on his arm. He leaned his head back on the lifebuoy. "Look, it's not like I expected a happy ending or some shit," he replied and tossed his cast to the side.

"Your arm needs to heal, John B." Emelina spoke up, watching the cast clatter to the floor. "It's a hairline fracture, Lina. Who cares?" he said.

"You should care." Kiara told him, "Your arm's gonna be messed up for life."

"It's fine. See?" John B held up his arms and started to wiggle his fingers.

A joint was suddenly in her view. She looked up and saw JJ handing her one from above. He was sitting on the railing, not peeping a word since John B divulged everything. She declined the offer, shaking her head.

Loud footsteps were heard down the dock. "Guys!" Pope shouted. "Oh! Oh! Oh, God. I ran all the way here." he said out of breath. Sweat stains were all over his white buttoned-up shirt. He was supposed to be at his interview.

He placed his hands on his knees, taking deep gulps of air to regulate his breathing. "You okay?" Emelina asked. He frantically nodded.

"How was the interview, Pope?" JJ asked him. "Don't ask," Pope replied immediately. Emelina frowned. After spending weeks on end hearing about this interview, she had hoped it would go well for him.

"JB..." Pope stood up, still breathing hard. "Look, I'm sorry, dude. About everything."

"It's fine." John B replied.

"But... but 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 there sitting 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?'"

John B was sitting up now, taking in every information that Pope said. Emelina widened her eyes and JJ answered him, "Gold."

"That's right." John B said, stunned. Pope nodded and pointed his finger at him. "Exactly. Guys, this is our chance, but it leaves tonight, and we have to go." Pope told them.

"Guys, we can't give up now." Kiara jumped off the railing, a smile plastered on her face as optimism beamed through her.

"What's the plan, big man?" JJ looked over to John B.

"We're gonna steal that shit back."

§

"We go in there, guns a-blazin', make Ward Cameron beg for mercy, abscond with as much gold as possible and vámonos, get the hell out of there," JJ said while placing bullets in his gun.

John B drove down the road in Twinkie with Kiara by his side. Emelina and Pope sat in the back with JJ, who was sitting on the floor, continuing his task.

"Send that shit straight down the Intracoastal." John B replied. "Wait for the weather." Kiara continued.

"Exit to Cuba." Pope said and Emelina furrowed her eyebrows at him, "Cuba?" she questioned.

"Nah, man, Xcalak, Jewel of the Yucatán. Lobsters so thick, mangoes, and no word for money." JJ said, straightening out his gun.

"Let's do this shit." John B said, a smile on his lips.

A little while after, John B parked the van outside the airstrip. The group piled out of the vehicle, rushing over to the fence to get a glimpse of the plane.

"What's the plan?" Emelina asked them, more specifically toward John B since he always has a plan up his sleeve.

"Broad strokes," Kiara said. "I don't think we got that far." John B replied as they got closer to the fence. Pope used his binoculars to get answers, "They're loading up the gold." he said.

John B snatched the binoculars from his hands to get a look. It was hard to see without them and Emelina kept squinting her eyes to see if she could depict the people surrounding the aircraft.

"There's Ward," he said as a car pulled up near the plane.

Emelina took her chance to steal the binoculars when he released them from his eyes. She saw Sarah getting out of the car and she slowly dropped down the device, a loss for words.

"What, E?" Kiara asked, noticing her reaction. Emelina didn't want to tell him that Sarah could potentially be betraying him, but she knew she had to. "It's Sarah."

John B took it back from her to refresh his vision, and a sad expression washed all over his face shortly after.

"She's with him?" JJ said from beside. John B looked again, "Wait a minute. He's hurting her."

"What?" Kiara and Emelina said in unison, bringing their fingers up to the fence.

"They're fighting." John B answered. Kiara went to take a glance, so did Emelina and John B cursed to himself, "Holy shit," and backed away from the fence and toward the van.

"Wait, so she—What? I had no—" JJ started rambling and Pope ran after John B, "Hey! What are you doing?"

"John B?!" Emelina asked when the driver's door slammed shut. "Hey! Hey!" All of them shouted after him and run in the direction of their friend.

The van drove toward the fence and before Emelina could think about moving out of the way, a pair of arms pulled her away. Her body fell backward at the sudden movement and landed on top of a body. "JJ?" she asked when her eyes found her savior.

"You all right?" he asked, unwrapping his arms from her body. She nodded and gulped, watching the van break through the fence and approach the runway. "John B's insane." she breathed out, but a smile was on her lips.

"Shit," JJ got up from his feet and ran after him, and so did the rest of them. "Hey! Come back!"

The plane moved, spinning around to get ready for its take-off. Emelina's heart started to beat rapidly, unable to think straight especially when John B's van kept next to the plane.

"What is he doing?" Emelina asked, bringing her hand to her head. The further they got, the harder it was to see what was happening. She lost sight of the van and that alone made her heart sink.

The sound of police sirens erupted in the area. "Shit," Emelina sighed. "Guys, I can't get arrested," Pope said.

"I'm on probation," JJ added on. Emelina nodded and thought about her consequences. "My mom will kill me," she said.

"Look, we're no good if we're all in jail," Kiara responded and the rest of them agree. JJ picked up his gun and his red hat before sprinting away with the rest of them.

§

"There goes the gold." JJ deadpanned as his eyes fixated on the sky above. The sound of a plane flying by went through their ears and Emelina bit her lips to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

"Fuck," she muttered, rubbing her eyes in frustration.

"Shit!" Pope yelled, bringing his hands to his head and walking back into the shed of a junkyard. It was the closest shelter they could find near the airstrip.

JJ kicked a nearby plastic white chair, but Pope started banging on the wall and cursing loudly.

"Pope!" Kiara called out and he ignored her, grabbing a baseball bat and smashing a table. "God damn it! Shit! Fuck!" he said with every hit, and dust particles bounced at the impact.

Emelina's body shook with every smash he threw. The baseball bat swung against the wall, and any items that were on a shelf were now crashing to the floor. Tears welled up at the corner of her eyes, watching his breakdown.

"Pope!" He dropped the bat and picked up a metal trash can, and with a loud grunt, he threw it across the place. He took a seat on one of the chairs, breathing heavily as he neared another emotional breakdown.

"Pope," Kiara repeated but with a soothing tone.

"You good, Hulk?" Emelina asked, but that earned a glare from him. She folded her arms against her stomach, stepping back carefully next to Kiara.

"Yeah, dude." JJ nodded, understanding his full method to release anger. He inched closer, "I was wondering when this was gonna happen." JJ handed him a vape pen, "Here you go, chief. A little weed never hurt no one."

"JJ," Kiara warned. He turned his head to glance at her, "Relax, Kie."

"You know he doesn't smoke," Kiara said and Emelina nodded. JJ looked at her, "What? You suddenly anti-marijuana?"

"We shouldn't pressure him, JJ," Emelina told him and his lips turn flat. "We're not! Just letting him ease up a bit, yeah?" he said and Pope accepted the offer.

"See, maybe he doesn't smoke, not until today." JJ grinned and took a seat next to his friend, putting his red hat on backward again.

"Pope," Kiara sighed, "Yeah, what is that gonna help?"

"It helps a lot, actually... brings great memories too," JJ said, his grin never leaving his lips as his eyes travel back to Emelina. The thought of their kiss from the other night flashed through her mind, and she had to fight the urge to not smile.

"I lost my scholarship. Walked out in the middle of the interview. Every... it's gone. It's not gonna happen." Pope revealed and Emelina frowned, taking this in. "I'm sorry, Pope."

Kiara sadly furrowed her eyebrows, "You did that for us?"

"No, not for us," he replied and got up from his seat and faced her, "For nothing."

JJ got up and grabbed Pope's arm and put his own around his shoulder, "I'm here for you, Pope. Welcome to my world, okay?"

"JJ..." Kiara warned again.

"What, Kie? He's right." JJ raised his voice as Pope stepped away. "It doesn't matter anymore." he continued.

"You don't have to do that." Kiara rolled her eyes once Pope took his first hit off the vape pen. He turned toward her, "What do you care?"

Emelina sighed and turned her whole body around. She wanted to scream, and wondered if she should've joined Pope in his smashing session. She opened her eyes and found her friend in the corner, covered in blood. "John B..."

All eyes turn at the sound of her voice to witness what she had said. "Dude! Dude, you good?" JJ asked, and everyone rushed over to their solemn friend.

"Is this yours?" JJ asked, picking up John B's blood-covered hand. Emelina swallowed thickly and locked eyes with him, "Are you hurt?"

"Whose blood is that?" Kiara asked and they continued to question his well-being.

Police sirens were heard once again. "God, I'll never get used to that sound." Emelina panicked and all of them hid from open view. She had no idea what the future has planned.