CHAPTER NINETEEN: POPE IS A LEGEND

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"welcome to crackhead wasteland," sarah cringed at the worn-down area. the girl wasn't used to being on the pogue's turf.

"i don't know about this man," pope cautioned as we pulled up to the matching address that was printed onto barry's license.

"dude, why are we at barry's?" john b asked, his feet up carelessly up on the dash.

jj stepped out of the driver's seat and closed the door behind him. "this will only take a second."

"where are you going?" the casted boy called out in response.

"yo soy justicia," jj declared, opening the door to the place.

"did you glean anything from that?" my best friend asked from beside me.

"you know, somebody should probably-"

before i had the chance, john b made the call that he'd go into the home to check on the boy.

"right."

-

-

"all right, so we're looking at four grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit. sorry about that ya'll," jj emerged from the house, a duffle bag in his hands that was filled with money.

"so that's what we're doing now? we're robbing from drug dealers?" kie announced, clearly upset.

"this barry guy's gonna find out. and he's gonna come after us," sarah added, siding with kiara.

"yes, he will," pope contributed, "this is not the time to start willin' out."

"how'd you guys like having a gun pulled on you?" jj blurted, earning the attention of john b.

john b stepped up to jj, "relax."

"he had it right here on you bro," the blonde pointed at his friend's face threateningly, right where barry had pointed the gun at john b earlier. 

"look, we've gotta go get the gold, okay? just give me that shit. we're putting it back," john b attempted to grab the bag, only to be slammed against the van. "you feel like a tough guy, huh? what are you gonna do when he comes for us?"

"we punch him in the throat," jj replied; i wasn't sure if he was being serious or not.

"yeah, good fuckin' idea, jj."

"i'm not putting it back," the blonde took the bag and sat in the volkswagon, "you guys getting in or what?"

without hesitation, i went to step inside the van, but i felt hands holding me back.

"let. me go!" i hissed, "what the fuck!"

"not gonna happen," john b muttered, his grip remaining tight.

"yo, get off her," jj scowled, hopping out of the car and holding his hands up to fight threatningly.

"she's gonna side with you for anything jj, you realize that? she's practically brainwashed," john b jeered.

"you're really one to talk. fuck you, john b," i spat at his feet as he let me go, earning disgusted glances from the other girls.

"what's your problem" jj inquired.

"we're sick of your shit," john b answered.

jj scoffed, "oh, my shit?"

"yeah, yeah. your shit."

"yes. your pulling guns on people shit."

"you acting like a maniac-" pope began.

jj bit his lip, feeling betrayed, "okay, pope. i took the fall for you, man! know how much money i owe because of you?"

"i'm gonna pay you back, and i didn't even ask you to do that!"

"i just did!" the blonde's voice faltered, "pay it back. right here, right now, by myself. you know what? that's exactly what i'm gonna do. go off, by myself."

"jj," i walked quickly to meet up with him as i spoke in a sad tone.

"just stay with them for now, angel. i need to take care of this by myself," he continued to walk as i stopped in my tracks, knowing i wouldn't possibly get to go with him.

"jj," i heard pope from behind me as i turned around to see a look of concern over the boy's face.

"hey wait man," john b grabbed pope.

"just let him go," sarah agreed.

hearing that, i attempted to run, but the force of pope and john b holding me back was enough to keep me from doing so.

"just let him go?" i raised my voice and stomped up to the other girls, starting to rage.

"elsie," kiara said.

"no, don't pull that shit," i pointed a shaking finger at the curly-haired girl, "you guys have no idea what could happen. he could lash out! he could do something that he can't take back! he could-"

"what did you say?" pope hushed me as i took a second to really realize what i had just said.

"n-nothing," i gulped, tucking a strand of loose hair behind my ear, "forget it! i'm not thinking straight, i've been drinking," my voice quavered as i lied, knowing that jj on-edge could be reckless and harmful. "all i'm saying is, you don't know him like i do. it's always been that way, alright?"

-

-

"look, he'll come around, all right? it's.. he's doing a jj thing," john b advised us while sitting at the wreck in silence. my head down, i tried to not think too hard about the situation. was john b right? was i brainwashed to think that jj could do no wrong?

"you think he'll go home?" kie wondered as i sat up and rested my chin in my hands.

"there's about a zero chance that jj goes home," pope peered outside.

"you okay?" john b questioned his kook girlfriend, who seemed to be in a bad mood.

"yeah," she merely nodded in response, "are you?"

"i mean, i'm in one piece so," he smirked at her. in reply to his corniness, i rolled my eyes and slammed my head back down onto the table dramatically.

"okay," pope suddenly spoke up, "it's too dangerous to pawn this thing off piecemeal. so, our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it. bring it all up at once. put it in, in, a safe, or a vault, or something. i-i don't know. just until we can find someone who won't rip us off. i can go figure it all out tonight, get it done, and we can be out there as early as tomorrow morning."

"all right, let's do it," a wave of adrenaline flashed over john b as he responded.

"easy," pope concluded.

"let's go."

"pope, have i ever told you that you're the best? and i'm actually being dead serious," my eyes shot up as i grinned at the boy, genuinely happy that someone could think straight and take a step forward with this treasure hunt; it seemed like we were at a halt since everything with jj. it's not surprising that pope was taking the lead, he was best suited for it.

finally, we were gonna get this gold and nothing was going to stop us.

"what about that thing with my dad?" sarah alarmed john b, causing us all to be concerned about what the boy agreed to now.

"shit," john b muttered, looking down.

pope eyed the boy with a curious expression, "what thing?"

"i have to go fishing with ward," john b explained to us, which was utterly ridiculous. any other day would be open for him, but tomorrow was a no-no. kiara, pope, and i all sighed, having the same thoughts in each of our brains.

"you can't get 400 mil cause you're gonna go kill fish?" kie's teeth clenched and her face twisted in distaste as the brunette shook his head.

"look, i have to go."

"blow it off! it's 400 million in gold!" an unexpected counter from pope came out of his mouth.

"make something up!"

"just say it's someone's- birthday, or something," i gestured, attempting to give him ideas on how to get out of the trip that he surely didn't want to go on to begin with.

"look, i- i have to. he saved me, all right? if it weren't for ward than i'd be in foster care. so, i have to go. plus, it'd be better to do it at night. right?" john b reasoned. the three of us glanced at one another, coming to the understanding that he wasn't changing his mind on this.

"fine," pope leaned against a restaurant chair, "fine, go fishing."

"and at least jj will probably have washed up by then."

"geez," i rubbed my temples, secretly stressing about the blonde boy.

i had a foreboding feeling that he wasn't going to just wash up like the others said he would.

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{1419 words}

for the record, i live by the title of this chapter. i've said it once and i'll say it again.

pope. is. underrated. as. hell

ally