CHAPTER TEN
dreams happen through determination
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     ON JOHN B'S DOCK, the five teens were lounging listening to kiara playing her ukelele. dakota laid on the floor of the dock gazing into the water, the moonlight reflecting onto it. they began discussing the four hundred million that they can potentially find.

     jj sighed, "all right, let's talk the split." he moved his feet so he could sit up straight and focus his attention onto his friends. "now before we say evenly," he continued, "may i remind you that i am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us. protection? not cheap, okay?" he waved his gun in the air to 'prove' his point.

dakota scoffed from her position laying on the floor of the dock. looking up to meet jj's eyes, she objected. "if by protecting us means never having the gun when we need it than yeah, you should get more money."

"you haven't trained." pope deadpanned. "you've done zero training."

"youtube, bro!" jj exclaimed in defense. "that's at least a five percent bump right there. any objections? didn't think so."

dakota raised her hand high in the air in injection as did kiara, however, jj didn't acknowledge them. "i don't hear any, so..."

kiara turned her attention toward pope. "what are you gonna do with your eighty mil, pope?"

pope stayed in thought for a couple seconds before answering, "pay for college in advance. and also, textbooks. those are expensive."

"what about you, kie?" jj questioned.

"yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?" pope taunted kiara.

kiara chuckled, "just wanna make a double album. about obx, the pogues. you know, the way catch a fire is about kingston. record it at marley studio, peter tosh producing."

"peter tosh is dead." pope interrupted.

     "peter tosh is dead i know," she nodded. "spirit of peter tosh will never die."

     looking up at kiara, dakota pointed at her with a serious look on her face. "i better be the first one to hear the album."

     kiara smiled at her, "i'll make sure you are."

     "i know what i'll do." jj announced. "i'm gonna get a big ass house on figure eight and go full kook." he grinned in thought.

     "you're gonna go full kook?" pope laughed.

     "yup," jj smiled widely. "gonna get a marble statue of myself, and then i'm gonna get a koi pond. put a bunch of those fish—"

     "i'm never visiting." kiara declared.

     "i second that." dakota grunted out taking a long sip of her iced tea.

     "what about you, kota?" kiara asked, all the teens now looking toward her.

     dakota smiled thinking about her dream life ever since she was a kid. "i'm gonna file for emancipation, get a nice homey house on the cut, get a dog and start a family." ever since her dad died and things starting going terribly wrong in her own home, all the girl wanted was to not end up like her own family. she wanted to have a nice family and make sure that when she has kids, they'll grow up with a loving family and appreciate all that they're given.

     "why would you want to stay on the cut?" jj asked furrowing his eyebrows.

     dakota shook her head, "i've seen what happens with most kids who grow up as kooks, and i don't want my children to be spoiled and only care about money and expensive products. kiara i hope you know you're not included in that statement."

     kiara smiled at her, "i think that sounds really nice." she laughs, "now you, you, i'll visit."

     "what are you gonna do, jb?" pope asked john b who had been quiet the whole time.

     "to going full kook." they all raised their beers as they all chanted the mantra, except for dakota who still laid on the floor of the dock smiling in thought of her possible future. she was content.

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THE PLAN FOR THE NEXT DAY involved the five pogues going to the hotel jj worked at to use the internet service available there so they could search for the coordinates that were written on the map that big john had given john b. because, of course kooks can afford to have back up generators.

     "all right, keep a look out. we're behind enemy lines." jj warned as he reached into the glovebox and pulled out the gun he stashed in there earlier.

     "yo, come on, man. just put it back." john b tells jj who only shakes his head in defiance.

     "jj, we are going into a hotel. a hotel for crying out loud. we're not going to need it. trust me." dakota pleaded in annoyance.

     "you can never be too careful." jj said.

     pope hopped out of the van and walked over to the window of the passenger seat where jj was currently sitting. "hey, i predict that bringing a weapon to a four-star hotel will likely cause more problems than they solve."

     "thank you, pope."

     kiara leaned forward to the middle of john b and jj's seats. "i swear to god, i'm gonna throw that thing in the ocean, jj. put it back."

     jj sighed as john b pulled the gun harshly away from jj and threw it back into the glovebox.

     "you can't grab a gun like that." jj then re-opened the glovebox to take out his badge. "can't forget my badge. professional busboy."

     pope looked around, "so, where are we going now?"

     dakota jogged up next to jj who was ahead of the group who answered pope. "we're getting on the internet because only rich people have electricity right now.

     following jj into the hotel, he led them through the kitchen where he greeted many familiar faces. dakota knew most because she often hung around while jj was working because they usually would hang out after his shifts. the workers never seemed to mind her company since the manager was rarely ever around.

     jj tried to steal some food but his hand was slapped away with a wooden spoon from mama l. however, she allowed dakota to take the food seeing as the girl was loved by the many employees. she smiled triumphantly at jj who gawked at mama l bewildered that she was picking favorites. but, after a quick shove from kiara, they were back on task.

     finally, jj and dakota led the to the room where few computers were. "sweet lord, the internet!" pope gasped out before rushing to the first computer he saw. "i've missed you."

     "let me get in there," jj rushed over next to pope. "gotta check out my insta models."

     dakota nodded in agreement, "while you're at it look up, timothée chalamet? i haven't seen his pretty face in days. i'm timothée deprived." she pouted.

jj looked at her in bewilderment. "he's ugly."

dakota gasped, "you did not just say that!"

their banter was about to continue before they were broken apart by kiara. "we don't have time for this argument you can continue in the car." she glared at them both before everyone now turned their attention toward pope's computer screen.

"coordinates please?" pope asked john b.

john b pulled the map out of his bag and placed it next to pope while he read off the coordinates to him.

     after pope typed in the coordinates, the location was marked on the screen. john b pointed at the mark, "boom, continental shelf right there."

     "well, if it's off the deep end, it's not gonna be much of a treasure hunt, is it?" pope told john b.

     pope zoomed in on the screen to see how deep the wreck was. john b perked up seeing how deep it was, "shit, it's on the high side. it's only nine hundred feet."

     "that's not too deep." jj pointed at the screen.

     "is that doable or something?" kiara asked.

     jj nodded his head, "yeah, totally doable."

     dakota's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. how the hell were they going to accomplish this? "am i missing something?" she questioned, looking around in confusion.

     "will we be taking your personal submarine?" pope mocked. neither he knew how the hell the were gonna do this.

     "how do you know this, mr. dive master?" john b asked.

     "the salvage years." jj informed, "they got a drone that can drop one thousand. it has a three-sixty camera and everything. it's for, like, deep dives and stuff. it's exactly what we need."

     "and can your dad get his grimy little hands on that." john b asked jj.

     jj sighed, "well, my dad's grimy little hands got his ass fired. i guess the salvage captain frowns on showing up shitfaced, turns out."

     dakota frowned while rubbing jj's back. she knew he didn't like to talk about his dad much.

     "but, the drone's there. it's in the impound yard out back."

     "how much did you say was on the royal merchant again?" kiara asked, wondering if this was worth it.

     "four hundred million."

     pope dropped his head in annoyance before rushing over to the door to block it before the friends exited knowing now they'd want to go to the salvage yard.

     they all rushed toward the door to find pope blocking the doors like a star fish. "no. absolutely not. absolutely not. no!"

     kiara moved pope from the door. "come on."

     "can't we do anything legal for money?" he grunted out.

     "no pope, unfortunately we can not." dakota batted his shoulder in support before following the others out the door.

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do you guys prefer longer or
shorter chapters? i want to
know for future reference.