CHAPTER SEVEN: DEAR BIRD

____________________

for bird

those two words were written on an envelope in a crevice. i slipped it outside into john b's hands. i then crawled out to be met with the others.

"you good?" jj said to me quietly. i nodded in response.

i heard pope sigh, "that's not gold."

"holy shit. this is from my dad," john b replied, taking the words on it to account.

"code red, code red. square groupers! square groupers!" jj suddenly alarmed us. he took my hand out of instinct as we all ran to hide.

"go."

"it's the guys who robbed your house," jj announced.

"a-fucking-gain?" i groaned out of frustration.

"lights!" kie told all of us.

"light. turn your light off man," pope fiddled with the headlamp that jj was wearing.

"john b, your light," kie muttered.

"i see something!" a distant voice called as i closed my eyes and tightened my grip on jj's hand.

kie inquired, "do you think it's them?"

"homies got a gun," jj said as i shuddered with the thought of almost being held at gunpoint yet again.

"screw this," kie determined, and we all started to run and get out of there. we all hopped the fence, but pope got caught.

"guys, i'm stuck," jj and i heard pope from behind us.

"pope, come on! no, pope, don't move okay?" jj pointed the gun at him.

"seriously, jj?" i grabbed the gun from him. kie started to help pope get down, and his shorts were ripped right from his body.

"nice, come on dude. it's a little tootsie roll!" jj teased as we ran into the van.

"come on!"

"get in!"

"stupid," kie laughed, closing the door behind her. we got away again.

-

-

the five of us headed back to john b's house to open the envelope. jj was making a sandwich on bread that was covered in mold.

"that bread had mold on it three days ago," pope remarked.

"i'll just pull off the bad parts. plus, mold is good for you. it's like a natural organism," jj continued, "elsie, you want me to make you one?" he waved a piece of bread as if it would tempt me.

"no, and j, the entire thing's bad dumbass," i scoffed.

"jj, elsie," kie signaled us to come over; john b was going to open the envelope.

"hot damn, let's do this," jj practically ran. he took a bite of his sandwich and soon spit it out, immediately gagging.

"delicious, right?" i teased.

"holy shit," john b commented as he unfolded a large map.

"oh, x marks the spot," pope pointed at the exaggerated x drawn on the map.

"longitude, latitude, wait, there's something else in there," he pulled out a tape recorder.

"what's that?" jj inquired.

kie rolled her eyes, "it's a tape recorder, dumbass."

dear bird, the tape began.

"who's bird?" jj asked john b.

"that's what my dad called me."

i hate to say i told you so, but i told you so. and you doubted your old man. i suspect, at this moment, you're filled with guilt and self-loathing over our last fight, but don't kill yourself just yet kid. i didn't expect to find the merchant either. you were probably right to call me out. wasn't exactly father of the decade. what can i say kid? i can smell the barn. and hopefully, we're listenin' to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in costa rica, livin' off passive investments and pulling on permits. if not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for. there she is, the wreck of the merchant. if somethin' happens to me, finish what i started. go for the gold, kid. i love you bird, even if i didn't always act like it. i'll see you on the other side.

john b immediately left the table. he finally got some sort of closure.

"holy shit, he did it! big john, he found the merchant-"

"can you, can you please," kie stopped him, annoyed for jj being senseless at times. she walked over to john b to comfort him.

-

-

we all sat in the dock, in relative silence. kie strummed her ukulele as jj threw pebbles into the water.

"how much was it again?" jj spoke first.

pope shifted, slightly uncomfortably, "four hundred mil."

"all right, let's talk the split. now, before we say evenly, may i remind you that i'm the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers that were after us. protection? not cheap, okay," jj began.

"j, any one of us can shoot a gun," i looked at his gleaming light blue eyes.

"yeah, elsie's right. and you haven't trained. you've done zero training, bro," pope agreed with me. he seems to be the only one anymore.

"youtube, bro! that's at least a five percent bump right there. any objections? yeah i didn't think so," jj didn't acknowledge kie, who was raising her hand.

"what're you gonna do with your 80 mil, pope," kie suddenly shifted the conversation.

"pay for college in advance. and also textbooks. those are expensive."

"dude, you don't need to even go to college if you have that much cash," i disagreed, "but, if that's what you want, then, fulfill your fantasies of macking on corpses."

"what about you kie?" jj puzzled.

"yeah, what does a socialist do when she's rich?" pope contributed. we all chuckled in reply.

"just wanna make a double-album. about obx, the pogues. you know, the way catching fire is about kingston. record it at marley studio, peter tosh producing. peter tosh is dead, i know. but the spirit of peter tosh will never die. how about you, elsie?" i hadn't thought much about my future, so i just winged my answer to that.

" i wanna travel the world. maybe with the pogues, or maybe just with someone special," i glanced in jj's direction slyly. he seemed mesmorized, or in a daze, or something.

"i know what i'll do," jj looked up. "i'm gonna get a big-ass house on figure eight and go full kook."

"you're gonna go full kook?" pope queried as jj nodded proudly.

his vision wasn't complete yet, "gonna get a marble statue of myself, and then i'm gonna get a koi pond. put a bunch of those fish-" he paused as we all cracked up at that cheesy lifestyle he described.

"i'm never visiting," kie's face filled with a sour expression.

pope turned around, "what are you gonna do jb?"

"to going full kook," john b simply stated.

"to going full kook!" we all chimed in as we clunk our beer cans together.

-

-

jj and i headed back to my house, simply because it seemed like the most logical option. my aunt still wasn't going to be home for a bit, so we'd have the place to ourselves. we headed to my room. i gathered a way-oversized tshirt and underwear and turned on the shower.

"just stay here, i'm getting a shower," i looked over at jj, who was staring at the polaroids on my wall of the pogues and i. he frowned at my statement.

"awe, i can't shower with you, gorgeous?" he pouted.

"not yet. i'm not ready for that yet," i admitted, walking over to him and placing a kiss on the tip of his nose.

"okay, okay. i can wait. it'll be worth it," he winked.

i took a shower as fast as possible since i was excited to cuddle in bed with the person that made me the happiest. when i walked in my room, he was tossing a ball up in the air and catching it.

"angelll," he said in a high voice, making grabby hands signaling for me to come over. i wrapped my legs around his torso and my hands around his neck. our lips connected instantly.

"you're so hot," i said, catching my breath.

"you're one to talk," jj laid me down carefully on the bed next to him, "is that what you really wanna do?"

"huh?" i asked him, confused as to what he was talking about.

"travel the world?" he played with my hair.

"oh, that. yeah, i guess so," i rested my head on his chest.

"sounds nice," he looked at the ceiling mindlessly.

"i was thinking of a certain person when i said that, you know?" i sat up.

"oh really? and who is this?"

"you," i poked at his chest, "speaking of which, we never have determined this for sure. so," i paused as i took a deep breath, "do you officially want to be my boyfriend?"

"you dickhead," jj rolled his eyes.

"what?" i was shocked. huh?

"you popped the question before i finished planning something special!" he grabbed my shoulders and shook me dramatically.

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry! but you don't need to do something like that," i admitted, "i love being with you, just like this."

"hey elsie? can i ask you something?" jj stopped.

"of course love," i beamed.

"i don't care if you want to wait or whatever, i can wait for you. but why?" jj pondered.

"j..." i looked at the ground, nervous to open up for some reason. i grabbed both of his hands and put them up to my heart, "to be honest, ever since i was little and all the shit with my dad happened, like the abusing and assaulting, i've been scared. with what i was told growing up by my father, everything about me just seemed wrong. you know? what if i'm not good enough jj?" tears threatened to spill as i recollected on the distinct things he said to me at such a young age. jj removed his hands from my grasp as he enveloped me in a loving embrace. my head was buried into his bare chest.

"darlin', it's okay. your father is an asshole, okay? he filled your mind with concerns that shouldn't even be running through your head. you're beautiful, and i'm not just saying that because i'm your boyfriend. i've felt that way forever, okay? now please, don't ever talk badly about yourself ever again because you'll make me upset," jj rubbed my back in circular motions before i looked up and kissed him deeply.

"jj, soon. i just need a bit more time," i whispered, placing my forehead against his.

"okay gorgeous, whatever you need. you're my everything, you know?" jj gushed.

"j, i'm definitely not your everything."

"maybe not, but you sure do feel like it," he replied as i yawned, "and i think you need your beauty sleep."

"okayyy." i listened to him and began to get comfortable. i laid on my side as jj pulled me close and slung an arm over me. so warm, so safe, so perfect.

god i loved him.

and nothing better take that away.

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{1823 words}

i have two ending ideas right now, and i've been stuck trying to decide which one i want to go with. most likely, i will publish both, but it comes down to which one i want to initially publish. 

ally