LXXII.   pretty little bird

      Dylan could've leaped for joy when Pope finally answered her phone calls. "Jesus, P, I thought you'd gone awol on me," she exaggerated. "Where the hell are you?"

"I know, I know, baby, I'm sorry. But you gotta hear this. I was sitting in class earlier and the teacher taught us three median triangles, and it got me thinking: Denmark found all the gold on the Royal Merchant, but where's did the gold come from? Where did it originate from?"

She stood there listening to him, her brows pinched into her concentrated face. Slowly, it dawned on her. "El Dorado."

"Bingo!"

"Oh, my gosh, P, you genius!" She squealed and covered her mouth. "Holy shit, what does this mean now?"

"I-I-I don't know yet. I'm headed to my family's archives right so see if I can find anything about Denmark and El Dorado."

"Well, d-do you want me to come?"

"No, no, I got this one. You just have fun. Are you having fun?"

"I'd have more fun if you were here," Dylan said and smiled again. "I wore my best dress just for you." She told him and grew a smirk.

It was silent. ". . .the pink one?"

She slipped out a giggle. Dylan saw Kiara coming her way. "I'll let you do your thing, hot shot. Be safe."

"Always. I love you." Pope said before hanging up the phone.

"What's the frown for, pretty girl?" She asked Kiara after noticing her downturned expression.

"Uhh," she mumbled and gulped, seemingly spacing out.

Dylan frowned that time and stepped closer to her. "Hey, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Have you ever got that feeling, like—" Kiara made a fist with her hand. "—your hearts hurting so bad that it's quite literally shriveling up."

"I think," Dylan answered uneasily, her eyes softening. "Why? You're feeling that way right now?" She didn't get an immediate answer. She watched tighten her lips like she was about to cry. "Is it JJ?"

She quickly met her eyes. "What?"

"You've never been the kind of girl to get your heart broken, Kie, but I know only one boy in the world who's able to give you your first heart break," she spoke gently. Dylan placed her hands on the girl's cheeks. "JJ loves you, Kie—"

"No, no he doesn't," Kiara immediately said, shaking her head. "He's made that abundantly clear."

"Just cause he can't physically say it doesn't mean he doesn't love you, KiKi. Trust me, he loves you. I would never lie to you if I didn't believe that." Dylan continued to assure her. She dropped her hands from her face and grabbed her hands, holding them tightly. "And you love him. You always have. Just don't ever let him forget that you do."

Kiara licked her lips and scoffed a laugh. "Jesus," she muttered and took back one of her hands to fan her face. "I don't like feeling this way."

"I know you don't. But it's nice to know we can." She responded and smiled, dimples on display.

"Thank you," Kiara mumbled and hugged her tightly.

It grew dark after a while and the party was still going strong. Cleo grew more comfortable the longer they were there which Dylan was happy about. "And then I told Mr. Heyward about this amazing jerk chicken recipe I have. Get him some more business."

"That sounds so good," Dylan hummed. "I love his food so much. He makes these really good shrimp po boys. Ooh, a jerk shrimp po boy."

Cleo's eyes lit up. "Nice you're talking, princess." She said and they high fived. "I got a whole book of recipes in my head."

"You'll definitely become the head Heyward marketing manager. I need more lemonade. You want one?"

"I'll take another," Cleo confirmed and gave her the glass.

"I'll be back," Dylan said in sing song voice. She made her way to the drink table, smiling at her parents who were dancing in the middle of the crowd. She spotted John B walking across the lawn and her eyes widened. "B!" She shouted, causing him to stop and look her way. "Is your phone dead or something, cause I've been calling you all night!"

"DJ, I really can't talk right now," he told her, his eyes not even meeting hers.

She briskly walked up to him. "What do you mean you can't talk right now?" She repeated his statement.

"Dylan!" John B snapped, making her flinch. "I can't.talk.right.now."

The look in his eyes and on his face scared her. His pupils were black, his face dark, like he could hurt someone. She only saw that expression he wore a handful of times. Big John got angry like that a lot. It was the same exact look.

Dylan watched his eyes trail over her head, the look on his face remaining. So she turned around and followed his line of view, and she saw Sarah and Topper hugging. Her head was rested on his shoulder. She blinked rapidly, feeling sick at the scenario that popped in her head. "Wha – B. John B!" She exclaimed when he marched towards them.

"Not right here, bro. Not here—" Topper tried to say as B made a beeline to him.

"John B!" Sarah said and tried stopping him but he shoved past her.

"John B, don't do this!" Dylan yelled at the high pressure situation.

"We're not doing this—"

John B shoved him. "You feel good about yourself, Topper?"

"B!"

"You need to chill out, bro."

"John B!"

At that point, the uproar caught the attention of the people around them, including Logan and Ainsley. "Is that John B?"

"What's going on?" She wondered out loud.

"I don't know. Go get Braxton."

"You like messing up my relationship?" John B continued and shoved him again.

Dylan turned to Sarah, her eyes glossing over. "Is it true?" She questioned, betrayal in her voice.

The girl quickly shook her head. "No, DJ, please—"

"I let you into my house and you cheat on my best friend?"

"I'm not ruining this party right now." Topper yelled at him.

"Oh, that's what you're worried about?"

"I would just walk—"

"Feel good about yourself?" They talked over each other.

Sarah grabbed John B and turned him around. "For once in your life, would you please just turn around and walk away?" She begged him, crying herself.

Cleo rushed to her side. "What's happening?" She asked as she watched the scene.

"Too much at one time," Dylan answered, still in disbelief.

"John B," John B heard Logan's voice.

"Logan, what's going on?" Mike asked the man, stalking forward.

"I-I-I don't know."

"Hey, no hard feelings, bro?" Topper uttered, breaking the straw on the camel's back.

Dylan found herself glaring daggers at the boy. Please beat his ass, John B.

Like he read her thoughts, John B turned around and faced him. He slowly drew back his arm, Sarah quickly objecting, and he punched Topper in the face, hard if she might add.

Multiple gasps came from the people around them. Logan sprinted forward. "Hey, hey, hey, John B!" The man objected and grabbed the boy's shoulder.

Dylan covered her mouth as she watched Topper wither on the ground in pain, immediately dripping blood.

John B shook Logan off of him and he grabbed the front of Topper's shirt, pinching him again.

"John B!" Sarah and Kiara objected.

"No, no, John B! Hey, stop!" Logan shouted and grabbed the boy, trying to pull him back.

"Mr. Jennings, get him off!" Kiara yelled at Logan as Sarah yelled for Kiara's dad.

"John B, please!" Logan continued to beg. Just then, Mike came running and tried to grab the boy. "Hey, Mike, stop! Let him go!"

Mike successfully pulled John B off. "Get out of here! Get out of here!" He screamed at him.

Logan held up his hand, his heart beating rapidly. "Mike, stop it. He's just a kid!" He pleaded.

In a flash, JJ appeared and pushed John B back, glaring at Mike. "Get off of him!" He shouted.

"JJ!" Dylan found her voice and she turned to Kiara, the girl in shock. "It's okay. Don't worry."

Ainsley came and gathered the girls up. "It's alright, girls. It's okay." She tried to keep them calm while freaking out herself. "Logan, step back, please!"

"That's what I'm talking about. Both of you get out of here!" Mike yelled at the boys.

"You happy, Sarah?" John B called out as JJ pushed him backward.

"John B," Dylan cried out and the emotions suddenly hit her. She placed a hand over her beating chest.

Anna and Topper's mother gathered around a bleeding and bruised Topper. "We need a doctor!" The woman yelled.

"He wasn't defending himself." Sarah cried stressfully.

"We need a medic. Call 911!"

Logan moved his feet and followed after the boys. "John B! JJ!" He shouted.

"Logan!" Ainsley yelled but the man didn't listen and he ran out of the party. She huffed and wrapped her arms around her daughter and son. "It's okay, babies."

Dylan stared at Sarah with hard, betrayed, and confused eyes. She shook her head, showing her disappointment. She felt sick. She trusted her. They were best friends. She loved John B. Dylan knew her past. Sarah cheated on past boyfriends but she never thought she would cheat on John B. Never.

"DJ, please." Sarah begged, tears streaming down her face.

She locked her jaw and shook off her mom's arm. "I wanna go home," she said loudly and walked away from everyone, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

"Dylan!" Her mom yelled.

"Hey, DJ!" Cleo called out and jogged after her. She reached her and put her hand on her back. "It's alright, girlie. It'll all be okay."

"Hey, John B! John!" Logan yelled while jogging down the dock toward the boats.

JJ paused and put his hand on his chest. "Hey, go talk to him, alright?" He told John B firmly, knowing if he could talk to anybody, it was Logan.

John B avoided eye contact but he inhaled a breath. People thought talking to Logan Jennings was the easiest thing ever, as easy as breathing, but right, it was the hardest thing for him to do, especially after the fight between him and his father. But he sucked it up. He turned around and saw Logan standing there, breathing deeply with his hands on his hips. "Wanna tell me what the hell that way?" He exhaled.

"Sarah hooked up with Topper and he tried provoking me," he answered nonchalantly, the look of anger still on his face.

Logan briefly closed his eyes and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I once broke a guy's nose who tried hitting on Ainsley." John B didn't respond. He could barely look him in the eye. Logan sighed again and stepped forward. "John B, son, what happened the other day between me and your pops, it was my fault, okay? And I'm so sorry you had to be there to see it. It shouldn't have happened."

John B remained silent but the anger he felt began to slip away. He finally looked him in the eyes.

"I love you so much, John. I always have and I will forever. You're my boy. And I really need you to tell me what's going on," Logan continued, walking closer to him until they were close. "If you're in danger, I really need to know because I want to protect you."

He was afraid to come to terms with himself if he admitted that his love for the man was stronger than his own father. John B was terrified of the person it would make him. Was he a bad son? A bad person? Would it be betraying his father? But there was a lot of differences between a father and a dad. Someone who made you and someone who took care of you. It wasn't a secret which one was who. "My father was taken, Mr. J, by some bad people," he slowly explained and John B watched his face drop. "They're after the same thing we've been after. They're talking him to South America and if he doesn't do what they say, they're gonna kill him."

Logan stood there, stunned, his mouth gaped open. "Big John was taken?" He uttered first and John B nodded. "To South America?" Another nod. He inhaled and exhaled deeply and his hands returned to his hips. "Okay. . .well, uh, how the hell are we gonna get to South America?"

Dylan was still rattled from the events that happened last night. Sarah had been blowing up her phone but she didn't answer. She slept over at Kiara's, Dylan finding it weird if she still chose to stay at her house. Her dad had been hell on wheels about the possibility of John B being arrested after what he did to Topper, so he stayed up all night doing work in his office.

She read the letter that Pope found in his family archives over and over again, feeling amazed. "Pope Heyward, you've once again struck gold," she said with a small laugh.

"I'll strike gold once we figure out what the hell these symbols mean," Pope said while eyeing the page of hieroglyphs.

Dylan walked over and held out her hand, the boy giving her the paper. She looked between the glyphs and the letter, piecing them together in her brain. "Okay, it's basically like just trying to break a code," she spoke. She squatted down next to him. "Look, this symbol means sun, right? This one means gold. So all we have to do is match the words from the letter and put them in the order that makes the most sense."

The fact that she could figure it out so fast astonished him. "You never seize to amaze me, Dylan Celeste."

She smiled.

Pope took the paper back from her and examined it. "I've seen this before," he told her and stood from the cooler he was seated on. "Sun, sun, sun, sun," he relayed to himself, trying to remember. He kept his back to her while he thought. "D, I know where we need to go."

"Lead the way, handsome," she declared and stood to her feet. "Where are we going, exactly?"

He grabbed her hand. "We're going to The Wreck."

She furrowed her brows. "Kiara? W-What does Kie have to do with this?" She asked as he dragged her away.

"She was kidnapped by Singh, remember? She most likely has information that'll help us," Pope explained.

"Oh," Dylan uttered, nodding slightly. "Right, yeah. That could work."

The pair walked down the street with their hands held. "You never told me how the party was," he brought up after thinking about it.

Her body tensed up. "Oh, uh, it was fine. . ." She mumbled, not exactly wanting to talk about it."

"Fine? That's all—"

"Sarah cheated on John B."

Her bluntness stunned him. "What?" Pope said and stopped walking.

Dylan winced. "I was meant to keep that in my head. But yeah, with Topper."

His eyes grew wide. "Topper?" She nodded. "What the fuck? Why?"

"I wish I could tell you," she said and they kept walking. "I mean, things have been rocky between them since we got here back to the island but I never thought she'd cheat on him. I mean, it's Sarah and John B."

Pope nodded rapidly. "Yeah, that's insane. With her ex of all people."

"It's disgusting."

"What else happened that I don't know about?"

"He punched Topper at the party."

Once again, he looked at her with his eyes widened out of his head. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, more than one," she explained and cringed when she saw the scene in her head.

Pope exhaled. "Jesus, can't believe I missed it. Why'd you let me miss it?"

Dylan looked at him and gasped. "Oh, yeah, right." She used her free hand to slap his arm, making him laugh.

The two reached the restaurant and they climbed up the steps to the back door. Dylan could hear the family's argument from where she stood. Pope knocked on the wall, gaining their attention, and he smiled and waved at them. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Carrera."

Dylan showed herself and she smiled as well. "Hi, Mike and Anna," she greeted lightly, waving to them. "We just need to borrow Kie for a few seconds."

Kiara looked surprised to see them there at the moment. She hesitantly stood from the table.

"Kiara, come back," Anna warned.

"Guys, what's up?" Kiara asked quietly and met them outside. "Now's not a good time. My parents are m a literal warpath about my future."

"Really? They're still on that?" Dylan questioned.

"Oh yeah, but it's worse this time."

"Look, this'll only take a second," Pope lead. "Do you still have that picture you took at Singh's? The one of the painting?"

"Yeah, obviously," Kiara answered and took out her phone.

He snatched it from her. "Thank you," Pope said and quickly went down the stairs.

"That was rude."

Dylan chuckled and followed behind him.

"What are you even looking for?" She asked as he looked through her phone.

"Something DJ found."

"We found," Dylan corrected but smiled anyway.

"Okay," Kiara said skeptically and they sat at one of the outside tables.

"Okay, here it is. It's a letter Denmark Tanny wrote to his daughter," Pope explained, handing Kiara the letter.

"Pope found it on his family archives," Dylan added on. "Then he found a paper full of hieroglyphs that's linked to the letter,"

"Look, check this out," he continued and showed it to her. "See the king sun glyph right there?"

"Yeah."

"It matches the one at Singh's house."

Kiara's brows furrowed together. "That just means that it's pretty common?" She guessed.

"No," Dylan denied. She pointed to the hieroglyphics. "The glyphs are Kalinago, a language that's never been deciphered. The Kalinago people originated from South America but the language died out around 3000 B.C." They stared at her. She shrugged. "I read a history book about it once."

Kiara blinked multiple times. "It's never ever been translated?"

"Never ever," the couple said in unison. "Some people believe that the captain of the San Jose actually found somebody who knew how to translate these glyphs because he found El Dorado," Pope continued.

She began to catch on and her moth formed an o shape. "The priest that talked to Denmark Tanny, that was on the Royal Metchant."

"Exactly."

"Every one of these glyphs is in that artifact. It's our key to El Dorado." Dylan interpreted, growing an excited smile.

"Guys, we have to get this to John B, like, yesterday."

"Hey, hey," Mike called out as the teens began to leave. "Where you going?" He asked his daughter.

"Uh, to the break. We're gonna go check out the surf. Can we finish this later?"

Mike's face remained still. "Yeah. Have fun."

Dylan grabbed her wrist. "We'll bring her back in one piece, Mr. Carrera." She promised the man and dragged her away.

As they walked, Kiara grabbed her hand and slowed down their pace. "Hey. Have you talked to Sarah? Y'know, since last night?" She asked quietly.

"No. No, I haven't." Dylan answered, brushing the question off her shoulders.

"DJ, she's really sorry—"

"It shouldn't be us she's sorry towards. It's John B." She stated roughly, looking her way. "He didn't deserve. It doesn't matter what they fight about, cheating is never an option. You know how many times we've argued—" she pointed between her and Pope, who was walking ahead of them. "—and has cheating on him ever been on my mind? Not once. Not ever."

Kiara frowned a little but she nodded. "No, yeah. I get it. I completely get it. . .i'm not saying what she did was right, but, Sarah's going through something really complicated. Something you and I can't relate to. She just really needs her friends right now. Especially you."

She scoffed. "Especially me?"

"Yes, you. You're one of the most understanding people in this world, Dylan. You listen to people. You're there for people even when they don't deserve it. Your heart is gold. If anybody can stop and understand Sarah's situation and find forgiveness, it's you, DJ."

Dylan went silent. She looked ahead of her, watching Pope walk, and she shifted her jaw side to side.