After taking the drive debating who was going to pawn the gold, the Pogues arrived at the Pawn Shop. The pawner had to be the best liar — JJ. Though JJ didn't agree to it, he was the best liar. Maggie couldn't disagree, though she'd loved to be the one selling it. However, it was better for her reputation if they continued to think she wasn't like that.

            JJ entered the small Pawn Shop first. Everywhere you looked hung or laid around secondhand stuff for sale. Behind the counter stood an older lady.

            "Afternoon, ma'am." JJ greeted as the bell above the door rang when he stepped through. Maggie noticed instantly the Pawn Shop was very dimly lit, it relied solely on the light from outside, however since the windows looked like they hadn't been washed in a very long time, that wasn't much. Now that she looked around, it wasn't just the light— the entire Shop gave her a strange feeling, one she couldn't quite place.

            The woman behind the counter looked up. "Afternoon." She reluctantly replied. She didn't give the impression she was happy to be there.

            The Pogues stopped behind her counter. "I see you buy gold." JJ said. Maggie mentally facepalmed herself when he said that. JJ had his moments where he seemed so smart, but then he went ahead and say something incredibly fucking stupid !

            "That's what the sign says, don't it?" The short haired woman replied. She wasn't impressed by him, her tone more implied annoyed.

            JJ placed his backpack on the counter, starting to unzip it as he spoke. "Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, because I'm about to blow your mind."

            "I ain't got much left to blow, so have at it." She placed her hand on her hip. The rest of the Pogues watched the interaction silently, yet eagerly. Kiara and Adriana were still at the château, and Maggie noticed she did miss their presence. Especially after Adriana went missing for a full 24 hours.

            JJ placed the gold on the counter with a loud thud, proudly stating. "How 'bout them gold apples?" He leaned his hands on the counter.

            The cashier gave him merely a weak chuckle, almost mockingly. "That ain't real."

            "No, because those things in your ears are." Maggie blurted out— an amount of passion in her words coming out with it. Pope made a ssh–ing sound, pushing her back in order to keep her from saying more.

            The woman turned her gaze towards the brunette, who was now crumbling under her glance. "Just because I work in a Pawn Shop, doesn't mean I'm rich, young lady." Her tone was laced with venom.

            JJ turned her attention back to the gold. "Feel how heavy it is," He said, letting her pick one of the melted bars up. The woman quickly realised it was heavier than anticipated, but she wasn't convinced yet. "Mm-hm. Mm-hm! You know, let's get some light on that."

            She did as he said and got her small flashlight out, turning on its light. "Spray-painted tungsten." The dark skinned woman stated.

            Pope led Maggie away from the conversation and further into the shop. They pretended to look at some of the stuff hung on the walls. Maggie followed the conversation thoroughly, though.

            The woman continued to test the piece of gold with everything she could. When she realised it was indeed gold, she wondered where JJ got the melted down nugget of seven pounds. JJ gave her a story of his mom's jewellery and how she was falling apart with Alzheimer's, which made Maggie question him a little. She had to admit, he was a good liar, but she wasn't sure if it was enough. The woman didn't seem a hundred percent convinced.

            "Give me a minute." The woman said as she walked through a door that led to another room in the back.

            JJ pretended to sniffle away his tears. "Take your time, ma'am."

            "Really? Alzheimer's?" Maggie asked him in a hushed tone, a slight shake of her head visible.

            JJ only shrugged, but John B had more to say. "Says you, you almost pissed that woman off."

            She made a tsk–ing sound. "She was already pissed off when we came in, man. Not my fault her earrings are fake as fuck."

            The door swung open and the older woman came back out. "So, I, uh," She started. She cleared her throat. "I talked to my boss."

            "And?"

            "And, uh, this is what I can do." She handed JJ a piece of paper, presumably containing a cheque.

              JJ looked at it momentarily, then looked back up at her again, unimpressed. "Fifty thousand? You think I walked in here not knowin' the spot price? Ma'am, I know for a fact this is worth 140, at least."

            "Well, sweetie, you in a pawnshop," The woman retorted with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "This ain't Zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?"

            "Ninety, or I walk."

            "Seventy. Half price... and, um..." She eyed the chunk of gold suspiciously. "I don't ask questions about where you got this."

            JJ sneaked a peek to his friends. Maggie made a face that said 'Don't do it', she had a bad feeling about this woman. However, John B made a motion to go for it. So JJ did. "I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please." He gave in.

            The woman gave him a snag, saying she didn't have that much cash stashed in this facility. She gave JJ a cheque and an address of a warehouse it supposedly was. The Pogues went on their way to the warehouse. But Maggie's gut told her there was something to it. She still didn't trust the woman, and anything coming out of her mouth sounded suspicious.

            The Pogues got in the Twinkie, driving towards this warehouse. The music played loudly from the stereo. Maggie had her arm out the window, the wind picking up. They'd been talking about the money, but not about the practicalities of it being in the warehouse. That was until Pope spoke. "So they keep money out here?"

            "That's what she said," JJ said. He then realised what he said and chuckled. "That's what she said." He repeated, this time in a lower and more flirtatious voice. Maggie laughed a little at him. This was the most JJ thing JJ could say.

            "Stop."

            "I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive." Sarah turned around from the passenger seat, changing the topic.

            "'Cause you're rich." JJ immediately answered.

            Maggie made a face. "Don't pretend you have heard of it."

            "Thank you." Sarah thanked her for sticking up for her.

            Maggie took a minute to stare at the seemingly never ending weeds who'd been long overdue for a cut. "How long till we get there? I can't see anything other than weeds." She spoke directly towards John B.

            However John B wasn't the one to respond. "All right, just 'cause it's just weeds, doesn't mean it's, like..." JJ trailed. Maggie was sure he was at a loss for words because he didn't actually have a reasoning. He didn't have to find a reasoning though, since a siren erupted from behind. The five looked back, seeing a police car coming closer.

            "God! Are you kidding me?" JJ exclaimed, his hands flying up simultaneously.

            "What did we do?" Sarah asked angrily, turning around in her seat to look at the police car.

            Pope seconded that. "Why are we getting pulled over?"

            Their minds immediately went to the gold in the car. John B ordered JJ to stash the gold somewhere safe, in case the cops would see and find it suspicious that a bunch of teenagers were driving around with a chunk of gold in their car.

            "Did you bring the gun?" John B asked his blond friend. To which JJ replied that he hadn't, because everyone had said to leave it at home. Finally JJ made a decision that turned out to be a good one.

            "What about the weed? Isn't that illegal, too?" Maggie asked him. The commotion got louder as everyone started talking more simultaneously with every step the officer took.

            But that commotion died when John B turned his face around and was met with the shotgun the so–called cop pointed at him. It was safe to say he was not a cop.

            The guy had long, greasy hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. The only visible part of his face were his eyes, because of the skull–mask covering his nose and mouth.

            He cocked the gun. "Why don't I go ahead and see them hands up in the air?" The Pogues needed a minute to process what was happening, so no one moved. But that was not what he asked. "All y'all's hands up in the air right now! You, out of the car! Let's go!"

            With his hands raised up to the sides of his face, John B opened the door of the van. Sarah in the front seat, along with the other three in the back, breathed heavily. They'd never been in a situation like this, how were they supposed to respond?

            As John B slammed the door shut after getting out, the man ordered him to let the others out. John B took two steps forward. "What are you waitin' on?" The man yelled. "What are you waitin' on? Let them out!"

            He walked over to the other side of the van, smoothly sliding the door open. Sarah got out first, since she was in the passenger seat. "There you go, pretty girl." The man said aggressively.

            Maggie could feel the wound in her arm starting to throb. But she couldn't bring herself to take her eyes off of the man with the shotgun. She could pull a move when she got out of the car, but putting the Pogues in that kind of danger? She wasn't too big of a fan of that.

            "It's okay." JJ whispered from behind. He'd noticed the tense–up in her shoulders. If Maggie was actually tense, JJ knew to not look at her face, because there wasn't much difference anyway. Her shoulders were what gave it away. Always.

            Maggie jumped out of the vehicle. "There you go! Shut the hell up!" The man responded to the mere two words JJ had said. "Shut the hell up! Shut up!"

            "Chill!"

            "Blow your damn head off!" He threatened. "Lay down in the ditch! Lay down in the ditch! On your goddamn hands and knees! Down! Put your face on the ground!" Everyone did as he said, but he never stopped yelling. The man tapped JJ on his shoulder as he laid down in the dirt. "Stay there just like that! Put your head down! Don't let me see you look up! All right? That's all y'all gotta do."

            The man made his way through the Twinkie. The more gloves departments and backpacks he checked, the clearer it got that he must've been part of the Pawn Shop. Why else would he obviously be looking for the gold?

            "That old bat shanked us," JJ started hitting the leafs on the ground. "Fuck! Goddamn it!"

            Sarah's whimpers had made their way to Maggie's ears, making her, along with the others, look over to her. John B had gotten up quietly and was planning on sneaking up on the robber.

            "John B," Pope tried to be as quiet as possible. "Don't be a hero, man." John B only put his finger against his mouth as response. Luckily, the man in the van was aware of any interaction.

            The door of the police car was still open, so getting in wasn't the hard part for John B. At the same time, a stomping sound came from the van. He's found it. After the man got what he was looking for, he exited the van. "All right, y'all stay like that. Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads, okay?"

            Maggie thought about how low this guy's IQ must've been. Or how bad his memory must've been. Either one. There were only five of them. Most people would've noticed they were missing one hostage. Especially the one you were face–to–face with first. However, this guy hadn't. And Maggie thanked the gods for making him so stupid.

            The man sat back in his car, fully ready to drive away. He only realised his keys were gone when he sat down and the door was shut. From her position on the ground, Maggie couldn't see much. She could only hear the landing of punches, the groaning and, eventually, John B shouting for someone to take the gun.

            The Pogues teamed up on him, taking him down easily. To be fair, three against one wasn't a fair fight, but he owed them. Pope had gone the other way to get the gold. The man panted on the ground, sitting up against the car door. John B pulled his mask down.

            "I know this piece of shit!" JJ exclaimed angrily. "He's a basehead."

            "Probably knows my brother." Sarah added, running a hand through her hair.

            JJ picked up the gun. "He sells coke to my dad."

            "Listen, I couldn't hurt any single one of y'all—" Barry ( that was his name apparently ) was interrupted mid–sentence by JJ landing the end of the shotgun in his face. The rest of the Pogues didn't find that idea too great. Barry was now wheezing on the ground, still taking in the blow.

            "Come on, let's get outta here." Pope offered.

            But JJ had already taken Barry's wallet. He wasn't looking for money though, which should've been the first sign that something was wrong. He stole a card. Maggie couldn't see actually which card. But she could imagine. And with how well she knew JJ, imagining wasn't hard.

            "We got one last stop," JJ pushed past everyone to the van. "Let's go see where this son of a bitch lives."

i hated this chapted ngl. i hate any chapter where its just angsty sentences and theres not much room to add anything in. but theyre necessary.

i did have to change A LOT. and will next chapter as well. because kiara isnt here now. shes with ana 🤭🤭 anyway that means taking someone out, putting someone in without stealing lines

i also spent a lot of time last week redoing the grammar on this thing which was overdue