chapter 9.
dead calm.

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"He says it looks kinda like this," max calls out, waving a piece of scrap paper as she jogs toward the parked twinkie. she climbs in beside the girls waiting in the backseats, handing the blueprints over to kiara.

kie runs her finger along the sketch. "that's fifty feet down, and they're using a hundred feet rope."

"i guess this wagon-thing will go straight down to the gold room," maxine quips, leaning over kiara's shoulder to get a better look at the map.

sarah laughs at the poorly drawn sketch. "who drew this?"

"who do you think?" max raises a brow, turning her head to glance out the vehicles front windshield. pope turns back from his seat in the yard with john b, waving.

"this better work, pigtails." jj calls, joining the three girls. "we can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it." he tosses two gold bars over to max, who catches them with ease.

maxine leans forward, retrieving a blow torch from the vans floor. "it's gonna work."

"max, where the hell did you get a torch from anyways?" pope asks the younger girl.

maxine only shrugs. "know a place." truth be told, maxine pierce knew of a lot of places. as a skilled liar, she was also quite the skilled thief; it comes with the territory.

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"Ready, aim, fire!"

"we sure she should be the one doin' this?" jj voices his skepticism as he nervously stands beside maxine; the girl exitedly holding a blow torch over the piece of gold, "she's, like, eight."

"honestly jj, i'd trust an eight year old over you any day." john b quips, sitting with his back against a tree next to sarah.

"thanks...i guess?" max isn't sure to classify that as a compliment or an insult. she pulls her focus back to the torch.

"also, should we be concerned with how comfortable max is with a blow torch?" pope adds.

"probably." kiara decides, eyeing how little fazed the fourteen year old is as she waves around fire.

"okay, done!" maxine clicks off the blow torch, proudly showing off the melted gold bar that remains in the pot. "onward!"

the crew scurries into the twinkie; john b driving off to the islands local pawn shop.

once arrived, jj hops out first. "hell of a job melting it down, dr. frankenstein."

"like you could've done any better." kie defends max's welding skills.

"i could have done much better, actually." jj insists. "i took a welding class."

"when?" kie presses, rightfully unconvinced.

"woah, woah, hey!" john b steps in in between the two, "chill out, okay?"

"easy for you to say." jj holds up the melted gold bar, "you're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off." he shoulders his bag, "how did i get this job anyway?"

"'cause you're the best liar." pope shrugs.

"um, hello." max objects. "ironically, that is a lie."

"no one's gonna pawn gold off of a little kid with pigtails," jj yanks one of max's braids as he walks past, "lets be real here." he pulls open the door to the shop, its bell ringing to signify customers.

"afternoon, ma'am." jj greets the lady behind the register.

"afternoon."

he approaches the counter. "i see you buy gold."

"that's what the sign say, don't it?" the pawnbroker is wildely unamused.

jj shrugs off his backpack and sets it on the counter. "well, i sure hope you buy a lot of it, because i'm about to blow your mind."

the lady behind the register doesn't seem very interested. "well i ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it."

jj pulls out the bar of gold and sets it on the counter top, "how 'bout them gold apples?"

"that ain't real." the pawnbroker chuckles, shaking her head. "it can't be."

"feel how heavy it is." the teen tells her.

she does so, holding the bar in one hand while using the other to shine a light on it. "spray painted tungsten."

"spray painted tungsten? really? okay," jj crosses his arms, "why don't you see how soft it is?"

the older lady picks up her tools and hammers into the gold, not making so much as a dent.

"wow. would you look at that?" jj gestures proudly.

"hold your horses." the pawnbroker tells him, "we ain't got to the acid test yet."

"ooh! the acid test!" jj calls back to his friends who wait in a corner of the shop, "my favorite."

the pawnbroker squirts a small amount of acid onto the bar, "well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted."

"ma'am, i'm telling ya," jj insists, "this is as real as the day is long."

the lady studies the bar in front of her, "it looks like somebody tried to melt it down."

max slinks further behind kiara.

"my mom." jj quickly makes up, "she had all this jewelry laying around the house, and she thought it was best to melt it down. to 'consolidate' it."

the lady behind the counter sets the gold onto a scale. "seven pounds? that's a lot of earrings."

"okay, to be honest, ma'am." jj clears his throat. "it's really hard to see my mom fall apart with alzheimer's." he pronounces it incorrectly, enunciating the 'h'.

max makes a face, whispering, "alzheimer's?"

"mhm." the pawnbroker hums. "give me a minute."

"take your time, ma'am." jj pretends to be holding back tears.

"and he's the best liar?" maxine juts her thumb at the blonde. pope just shrugs.

the woman clears her throat as she appears back behind the counter. "i talked to my boss, and this is what i can do." she slides a piece of paper across to jj.

he reads the number and glances back up. "fifty thousand? you think i walked in here not knowin' the spot price? ma'am, i know for a fact this is worth one forty, at least." he stresses his words
by tapping a finger against the counter as he speaks.

"well, sweetie, you in a pawnshop. this ain't zurich. do i look swiss to you?"

jj sighs and rubs a hand across his face. "ninety, or i walk."

"seventy. half price..." she negotiates, adding quietly, "and, um, i don't ask questions about where you got this."

jj thinks for a moment before responding, "i'm gonna need that in large denominations, please."

"well, here's the snag." the lady takes a breath, "i don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. i can write you a cashiers check."

"cash—no, ma'am." jj argues, "i want cold hard. that's what that sign says." he points at the wooden sign hung above the shops front door. "cash for gold. and that's what i expect. i'm gonna get it in cold hard."

"well, i have to send you to the warehouse. i have the money there." the lady continues to insist. "is that alright?"

jj pauses briefly before giving in. "where is this warehouse?"

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"I dunno, guys. this seems pretty sus." max quips as the van rattles along to this 'warehouse.'

"i have to agree." pope nods in agreement with maxine. "they keep money out here?"

"that's what she said." jj chuckles, "hah, that's what she said."

"stop." pope cuts his eyes over to the blonde.

"i've never even heard of resurrection drive," maxine speaks up from beside pope.

"that's cause you, like, crawled out of the bushes and shit," jj shrugs, polishing the nugget of gold with his t-shirt.

"you've never heard of it either." kie tells him.

"thank you." max gestures.

kiara nods, sitting up straighter to glance out the vans window. "there's nothing but weeds back here."

"all right, just cause it's just weeds doesn't mean it's, like..." jj trails off, unsure where he was going with his sentence.

suddenly, sirens sound from behind the vehicle, pulling the teens over to the side of the road. kie turns in her seat, "cops? out here?"

"ah, shit." maxine curses. seeing as she was technically a runaway, cops were never a good sign; especially while harboring stolen gold bars acquired from breaking into an elderly woman's home.

"what did we do?" sarah asks from the passenger seat.

pope stresses, "why are we getting pulled over?"

max bites her lip, nervously fidgeting in her seat. she was so sure she had been found and was about to be dragged kicking and screaming back to the mainland. just like veronica pierce, maxine was technically on the run—plenty of people form the mainland began to absolutely loathe the remaining pierces, some even going as far as to blame the teen for the deaths of mark and eleanor. of course, max blamed herself anyways, but having the entire city of charleston agreeing with her wasn't exactly ideal.

then again, if veronica pierce had somehow returned, maxine wouldn't put it past her to hire someone to find her daughter and drag her home — not that it was home anymore anyway.

"stash that!" john b hisses to jj, turning off the van.

"ugh, i hate cops." max nervously breathes out. she fidgets with the ends of her long double braids.

the last time she had been in charleston, maxine had stick straight, dark red hair that just barely brushed past her shoulders. it was now midway down her back, a brighter red, and when worn down was often wavy seeing as how frequently its worn in braids. maxine also sports quite a few freckles dotted across her face, courteous of the obx sun from countless hours spent outside; when living with her mother, the girl had a rather plain face as she was rarely outdoors, spending all of her free time hiding in her bedroom. maxine took comfort in this, knowing that even if this 'cop' was hired by her mother, it was likely her appearance would not match the description given by veronica.

"did you bring the gun?" john b worriedly asks jj.

"no, okay?" the blonde wraps the gold back inside its towel, "everybody told me to leave it back at the place."

"thank god." kiara expresses her relief. "please, just—put everything else in your bag."

"i am! i am, alright?" jj stresses, frantically stashing everything in his backpack.

"how much weed is on you, dude?" max asks.

"he's walking up right now!" pope warns.

jj shoves his backpack under the seats just as barry pproaches, cocking a gun and sticking it though the drivers side window.

"why don't i just go ahead and see them hands in the air right now?" he orders. when no one complies he raises his voice, shouting, "all y'all's hands up in the air right now! you out of the car, let's go!" he demands john b.

with his hands raised, john b slowly opens the front door and steps out onto the dirt road.

"let them out!" barry points to the other side of the van.

hands still raised, john b slowly crosses in front of the vehicle, further angering the man with the gun. "what you waitin' on? what you waitin' on? let them out!"

john b slides open the back doors. sarah is first to climb out, followed by pope, kiara, maxine, and lastly jj.

both hands up, jj stands in front of the gunnman. "look, we're broke—"

"shut the hell up!"

"all right, all right!" jj yells back, "just relax!"

"shut the hell up!" barry repeats, "shut up! i'll blow your damn head off!" he gestures with the gun, "lay down in the ditch! lay down in the ditch! on your goddamn hands and knees, down!"

the six teens do so. max keeps her head slightly tilted up, attempting to gauge whether or not she recognizes the gunnman from her mothers circle.

he notices her looking, "put your head down!" he harshly grabs the back of max's head and shoves it down, pressing his gun to her temple. "don't let me see you look up! all right? that's all you gotta do."

maxine is slightly relived when the man heads back to the twinkie instead of hauling her off to the mainland; not as much when she hears kiara's voice from beside her call out, "it's a setup, guys."

"that old bat shanked us." jj realizes, violently slamming his fist into the ground between him and maxine. "fuck! goddamn it!"

on the other end of the row, john b slowly begins to rise to his knees. sarah feels him move and worriedly turns her head, "no, no, no. john b...no." she repeats to no avail.

laying on the ground on the other side of sarah, pope looks up at the sound of her voice. he notices john b now on his feet, "john b. don't be a hero, man!" he whispers urgently.

john b just puts a finger to his lips, "shh!"

max raises her head from her spot in between jj and kiara, "nice knowin' ya. can i have the château?" she whispers, unable to ever be serious.

kiara shoots the younger girl a look and max quickly puts her head back in the dirt. john b runs off to the gunmans car and hops inside.

pocketing the gold in its towel, barry climbs back out of the twinkie, "all right, y'all just stay just like that. unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads!"

the five teens remaining on the ground watch barry get back inside his car, jumping to
their feet when they notice john b ambushing the gunman from the backseats, calling out, "guys! i got the gun!"

jj is the first to reach the struggle, sending a punch to barry's side before getting hit in the jaw himself.

kiara lands a punch at barry's face, but he easily swipes her to the ground.

maxine races forward, standing slightly on her tiptoes to place both hands on the taller man's shoulders and sending her knee straight into his groin. he groans and doubles over, trying to crawl forward and grab at maxine's ankles.

john b hits him hard in the back with the butt of his own gun, causing him to collapse into the ground. sarah shrieks, grabbing the open drivers side door and repeatedly slamming it into the man on the ground.

kiara rises to her feet, her and the other two girls taking turns kicking barry in the side. he collapses against the car.

"you son of a bitch!" sarah curses.

john b steps forward and yanks the man's mask down, revealing his face.

"i know this piece of shit!" jj recognizes, "he's a basehead."

sarah runs a hand through her hair. "probably knows my brother."

"he sells coke to my dad." jj grabs the gun from john b.

"all right, listen, i could hurt any single one of
y'all—"

jj interrupts him by promptly sending the butt of the gun into his throat. barry doubles over, wheezing and coughing into the dirt.

"jj!" "dude, chill, man!" the group collectively all gasps. "c'mon, let's get outta here."

jj steps forward, lifting barry's wallet from the front pocket of his shirt. he removes his id and tosses the wallet back at the man on the ground. "we got one last stop." he begins walking back towards the van, "let's go see where this son of a bitch lives."

his friends slowly trail after him, leaving barry shouting, "i'm gonna remember this shit! you can't hide from me! i know exactly who y'all are!" he spits up blood, "huh? you gonna see me again! you hear me?"

john b pulls barry's car keys out of his pocket and chucks them far off into the woods before joining his friends back in the twinkie.

jj drives the van into a rundown trailer park.

"welcome to crackhead wasteland," sarah narrates.

"i don't know about this, man." pope expresses.

jj doesn't respond as he parks the van in front of a certain trailer.

"dude, why are we at barry's?" pope asks.

"this'll only take a second." jj pops open the drivers side door and climbs out. he jogs up the trailers front steps.

"where are you going?" john b calls out.

"yo soy justicia!" is jj's only explanation as he enters the residence.

"uh, did you glean anything from that?" pope asks as the five friends watch through the twinkie's open back doors.

"someone should probably—"

"yeah, i got it." john b interrupts max, opening the passenger side door and hopping out.

as soon as john b follows after jj inside of the trailer, maxine, sarah, kiara, and pope also climb out of the van while they anxiously wait for the two boys return.

jj emerges with a navy duffle bag. "all right, so, we're lookin' at five grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit." he begins counting out wads of cash.

"so, this is what we're doin' now?" maxine voices, "breakin' into the homes of drug dealers and stealing from 'em?"

sarah nods in agreement. "this barry guys gonna find out, and he's gonna come after us."

"yes, he will." pope agrees, "and this is not the time to start wilin' out."

"how'd you guys like having a gun pulled on you?" jj asks.

john b steps closer, "relax."

"he had it right here on you, bro." jj shoves a finger in john b's face. "you too, max."

"look, we've gotta go get the gold, okay?" john b reminds the blonde. "just give me that shit. we're putting it back."

he goes to grab the duffle bag from jj only to be slammed up against the side of the van. "do you feel like a tough guy? huh?" john b asks, lowering his voice and leaning closer to jj's face. "what are you gonna do when he comes for us?"

"we punch him in the throat." the blonde responds simply. standing behind the boys, maxine scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"yeah, good fuckin' idea, jj." john b is also unimpressed.

jj takes the duffle bag back. "i'm not putting it back." he climbs into the van and sits down on the backseats. no one else makes a move to join him. "you guys getting in or what?"

frustrated, he climbs back out. "what?"

"we're sick of your shit." maxine speaks up boldly.

"oh, my shit?" jj scoffs.

"yeah, your shit."

"yes," kiara adds, "your pulling guns on people shit."

"you acting like a frickin' maniac—"

"okay, pope, i took the fall for you, man!" jj interrupts him. "you know how much money i owe because of you?"

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

"i just did!" jj shouts, taking a step forward. "pay it back. right here, right now, by myself. you know what?" he grabs the duffel bag back from the van, "that's exactly what i'm gonna do. go off by myself." he zips up the bag and hoists it over his shoulder, walking away from the group.

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"Look, he'll come around. he's doing a jj thing."

"think he'll go home?" maxine asks john b, joining him, pope, and the other two girls at a table inside the wreck.

"there's about a zero percent chance that jj goes home." pope remarks, remaining standing as he gazes out at the marsh. "okay. 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, and put it in a safe or a vault or something, i don't know. just until we can find someone who won't rip us off. i can figure it out tonight, get it all done, and we can be out there as early as tomorrow morning."

maxine nods. "yeah, i'm in."

"all right, let's do it." john b agrees.

"what about that thing with my dad?" sarah reminds her boyfriend.

"shit." john b curses, hanging his head.

"what thing?" pope asks.

max chirps, "yeah, you got a date with ward?"

"kinda." john b shrugs. "i have to go fishing with him."

kiara raises her eyebrows. "you can't get four hundred mil 'cause you're gonna go kill fish?"

"look, i have to go—"

"blow it off! its four hundred million in gold!" maxine encourages.

kiara nods, "make something up!"

"i have to, okay?" john b insists. "if it weren't for ward, i'd be in foster care. so, i have to go. plus it'll be better to do it at night, right?"

there's a brief moment of silence before the other three agree. "fine. go fishing."

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

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Max rides in the backseat of popes pickup truck while kiara sits up front in the passenger seat. he turns onto john b's road, reminding, "so, we gotta be done before my scholarship interview in the morning."

"okay, well, we gotta focus." max chimes.

"i know, i know." pope pulls up to the château, "it's gonna be fine. we got john b and jj inside the well, and me up top." he turns to kie, "and you,
sarah, and max will be outside transporting."

"yeah, we got this." kie hops out of the truck, shutting the door behind her. max follows suit.

"cool." pope turns off the vehicle and climbs out as well, walking around the back. "uh, i got a winch." he stops at the back of the pickup, "that tin can hold over, like, two hundred, three hundred pounds.

all of a sudden, lights turn on all across the trees. a whirring sound is heard coming from the backyard of the château.

max furrows her eyebrows. "what the hell?"

"who the hell is that?" kie walks off towards the sound. curious, max and pope follow after her.

the trio find jj sitting in a hot tub behind the château, popping open a wine bottle. they stop
in front of the hot tub.

"what did you do, jj?" max asks the blonde.

"i got a jet going straight in my butt right now." is his only response.

"y'all should get in immediately, you hear me?" jj pours some of the wine into a glass floating on top of the water. "salud!"

pope glances around the yard at all of the various lights, "how much did this cost?"

"uh...well, with the generator, the petrol, and oh, hey, express delivery..." he lists, "pretty much all of it, yeah."

popes jaw drops open. "all of it?"

"yeah, all of it."

max shakes her head, "jesus, jj. you're goin' to prison for life!"

"max!" kiara hisses, elbowing the younger girl harshly.

"you spent all the money in one day?" pope confirms.

"yeah, burned a hole right through my pocket." jj pulls a pair of sunglasses down from the top of his head to rest upon his nose. "but, i mean, come on, guys, look at this! finest in jet based massage therapy, that's what they told me."

he notices kiara's concerned expression. "kie, what? can't a man have a little luxury in life?" jj removes the sunglasses and gestures around, "come on, all this scrimpin' and scrapin'..." the blonde begins to get emotional, "i mean, like...guys, you only live once, right? enough of this emotional shit. get in the cats ass, come on."

max resists the urge to laugh. "the what now?"

"the cats ass." jj smirks proudly, "that's what i named her. oh, i almost forgot." he leans over and presses a button, turning on the tubs jets lit with led lighting. "yeah, that's right, i know. disco mode. that's right, baby!"

"are you kidding me?" pope is incredulous, "you could've paid for restitution!"

"or literally given it to any charity!"

"or to me!" max offers, earning yet another elbow jab from kie, who mouths, 'not the time.'

"or better yet, you could have helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well!" pope offers.

"okay, well, you know what? i didn't do that!" jj stands up, revealing multiple large bruises littering his stomach and rib cage. "i got a hot tub! for my friends. i got a hot tub for my friends. you know what, no. screw friends. i got a hot tub for my family!"

"jj, what the hell?" kiara asks sadly.

"holy fuck." max breathes, for once those words filled with concern.

"i got this for you—guys, look what i did for you! all right?" jj is still defending himself, "look at this!" he gestures around the yard before noticing kiara starting to cry. "no, stop being emotional. it's fine, okay?" he starts to cry as well, taking large breaths in an attempt to stop it. "i mean it's sweet, right? everything—" kiara suddenly walks forward, climbing into the hot tub. she wraps her arms around jj and pulls him into a hug as he starts to sob.

"i was gonna do it," jj admits, "i can't take him anymore! i was gonna kill him." after a beat, max steps forward and joins the two in the hot tub. pope follows, joining the hug as the three friends comfort their distraught friend.