JOHN B CALLED THAT NIGHT.

he called emery around six, just before the sun went down telling her to let the others know to be ready outside her house, that he'd be there in five and wasn't waiting for anyone. emery, jj, mara, and levi were all standing at the end of the driveway when john b barely stopped to let them in before driving off before they could shut the doors.

"you guys mind if i sit this one out?" jj speaks up from the back. "it's been a weird day, a lot of shits gone down, i just want to lay low."

"we should be making you guys do this yourselves as payback for leaving us at that lighthouse." emery told the boy flatly, looking over at john b, who hadn't said a word since they got in the van. she gently grabbed his right hand and ran her thumb over his knuckles to get his attention.

"you good?" she mouthed, the brunette next to her nodding.

"you want some?" jj was asking pope in the back seat, emery turning to see the blonde offering his friend a joint.

"i'd keep the signal clear." pope deadpanned, having so interest in trying drugs with his interview for his scholarship being so close.

"you see, your problem is is that your never let lose." jj started, beginning to ramble about how pope was always too uptight.

"look, i was wrong about the lighthouse, okay?" john b shouted suddenly. "i was wrong about a lot of things. but i'm right about one thing. my dad is trying to tell me something."

"dude, what the hell happened in the two hours we left you unattended?" mara asked from the back seat, john b glancing at her in the rear view mirror.

"i burnt like half the shit in my house and realized that i might actually be smart." john b announced.

"half of that sounds right." ainsley retorted from the back seat as the twinkie stopped in front of the wrought iron fence of the local cemetery.

"this isn't sketchy at all." emery deadpanned.

"yeah, what was all that about being smart?" levi added as he and his sister were the first ones to climb out of the van, john b reaching into the back and passing everyone a flashlight or headlamp.

"john b, i don't like this." mara stated as the group walked through the cemetery- levi had picked the lock on the gate- the brunette turning to her, looking irritated.

"just- shut up for a second." he snapped.

"tell me why i'm here or i'm going back to the van." emery spat, beginning to get frustrated with the boy's actions.

"so, have you ever heard a song and you can't remember who sings it?" he asked.

"what the hell does that have to do with anything?" levi said angrily from behind them.

"redfield, right? this whole time i thought it was a place, but it's not." john b said, shining his flashlight at the top of a tomb, the word 'redfield' carved in the top. "it's a person. she's my great great grandmother, olivia."

"how the hell did you even figure that out?" emery breathed, jj exhaling a cloud of smoke from his joint.

"voi-effing-la." he exclaimed, mara shaking her head at him.

"nope, try again." she deadpanned, looking up at the tomb then around at the boys. "so are you guys gonna open the door or are we gonna have to girlboss the shit out of you?"

"right, right." levi mumbled, he, pope, jj, and john b beginning to attempt and pull the door open.

"come on, sweetie, you're doing great!" emery called sarcastically after a minute.

"this door weighs like a million pounds." levi breathed, the sudden hissing of a snake making all of them leap back into the girls.

"holy shit!" emery yelled as john b crashed into her, making her stumble backwards a bit but not fall. the brunette quickly clamped his hand over the girl's mouth, his other arm going around her waist in a protective matter.

"that's a moccasin alright!" jj called. "ye olde dr. cottonmouth! it's death in tall grass." jj finished before- much to everyone's surprise- he began barking like a dog.

"jj, shut up!" mara snapped, grabbing his bicep and pulling him backwards.

"jj, stop! shut up!" emery scolded.

"shut up, shut up!" pope whisper-shouted stressfully.

"they're afraid of dogs! everyone knows that!" jj explained.

"no they're not!" mara replied, her eyes wide in shock at the boy's stupidity.

"i'm taking your weed privileges." emery scoffed, rolling her eyes at the boy.

"hang on- hang on." jj said. "if there's one, there probably dozens." he said unhelpfully.

"can you shut the hell up?" ainsley deadpanned, jj turning to the tomb door and starting to bark again, john b grabbing his shoulders and pulling him back.

"stop barking at the snakes!" he exclaimed through gritted teeth. pope grabbed john b's shoulder and turned him to face him.

"john, we're not opening that door." he exclaimed, emery looked up at the hole as the two continued to argue, only briefly stopping herself from speaking while she thought of how bad of an idea this was.

"i can fit." she said confidently, john b turning to her.

"what?" mara asked, emery nodding towards the hole.

"you guys get me up there, i can fit." she confirmed.

"through the hole?" john b asked. "you're gonna fit through that hole?"

"yes, i'll fit through that hole." emery replied hastily. "now get me up there."

"okay, okay, fine." john b said, jj walking over to stand somewhat in front of the tomb.

"im gonna give you a boost." he explained, sitting against the wall and cupping his hands for emery to step into. "i've seen it in the movies several times."

"same as the lighthouse?" emery asked john b, who nodded and took her flashlight. the girl walked over to jj, who was talking abojt waiting until the count of three, but emery just stepped into his hand and climbed onto the ledge of the hole.

"hey, how exactly does she get out?" levi wondered out loud, emery turning to the boy with an unamused look on her face as john b passed her her flashlight back.

"i'm gonna beat you ass." she deadpanned before slipping through the hole and hitting the stone floor with a thud as she stumbled slightly.

"shit- you good?" john b asked, and emery saw his face barely poke over the hole.

"yeah, i'm good." she assured, shining the dim light around the tomb. "your flashlight sucks ass, i need more light." john b put his lantern on the edge of the hole, the light immediately filling the small room and illuminating a white object sitting on the stone table.

"you found anything?" john b called as emery walked closer, turning what she could now see was a fedex package over to reveal a scrawl written in sharpie- for: bird, to be exact- in all capital letters.

"ems?" levi called.

" i found something!"

EMERY FELT GROSS.

"i just crawled around in your grandma's grave." she said disgustedly as she dusted dirt and cobwebs off herself.

"that's... not gold." pope said disappointedly as john b held the fedex package emery had passed through the hole.

"wow, no shit?" ainsley said sarcastically, jj exhaling a cloud of smoke and staring at something on the other side of the cemetery.

"guys." he said cautiously. "square groupers."

"shit, shit, shit, over here!" emery instructed, grabbing john b and levi by the backs of their shirts and pulling them to the other side of the tomb, all of them sitting with their backs flat against the stone.

"shut your lights off, shut them off!" mara whisper-shouted, frantically attempting to get everyone's lanterns turned off- specially the boys- who were having a hell of a time with the incredibly simple task.

"do we even know if it's them?" levi asked, jj looking at the silhouette of a man standing in the distance.

"homie's got a gun." the blonde breathed before kiara stood up.

"screw this." she muttered before taking off running across the cemetery back to the gate, everyone else following in close pursuit behind her.

"lee, lock the gate!" emery yelled at her brother over her shoulder as she pulled open the back door of the twinkie for the others before climbing into the passenger side, john b reversing down the road as soon as levi and ainsley were both inside the van, but as per usual, not before the door was closed.

"please tell me someone grabbed that envelope." mara breathed from the backseat, ainsley pulling the package out from where it was wrapped in her black hoodie, everyone beaming at the blonde.

"i love you so much, ains." emery told the girl, still attempting to catch her breath from running before turning to john b. "maybe there's hope for you after all."

"JJ, GET IN HERE!"

emery yelled into the kitchen, the blonde boy emerging with a piece of visibly moldy bread in his hand.

"hot damn! let's do this!" he exclaimed as he stood behind mara's chain and took a bite of the bread.

"that explains so much." ainsley commented right before jj gagged and spit the bread into his hand.
john b didn't wait for the boy to return before tearing the fedex package open, and dumping the contents onto the table, revealing a map and a tape recorder.

"what's the map?" emery asked from over john b's shoulder, looking down as the brunette unfolded the paper across the table, an x marked on it in sharpie.

"x marks the spot." pope clarified, john b picking up the tape recorder hesitantly.

"what's that?" jj asked.

"it's a tape recorder. dumbass." kiara replied, mumbling the last bit as john b clicked the button on the device, static echoing on the other side for a split second, before the familiar voice of big john began playing.

"dear bird."

"who's bird?" jj asked.

"it's what my dad called me." john b explained.

"i hate to say i told you so, but i told you so. and you doubted your old man. i suppose 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."

emery's breath hitched in her throat. he had done it. big john had found the royal merchant.

"you were probably right to call me out." the recording continued. "i wasn't exactly father of the decade. but, what could i say, kid? i could smell the barn. now, hopefully we're listening to this in our brand new sugar shack down in costa rica living on past investments and pulling permits- hell, maybe mills and emmy are will us- but if not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for." the man stated, emery's heart sitting in her throat at her name- no one but big john had ever called her emmy. "there she is, the wreck of the merchant. if something happens to me, finish what i started. i love you, bird, even if i didn't always act like it. i'll see you on the other side."

radio static played on the tape, everyone sitting in silence for a moment, waiting for a reaction out of john b. emery could see the boy's body begin to tremble as he stood up, jj putting his hands in the air, clearly not reading the room.

"holy shit- big john, he did it!" jj exclaimed as john b collapsed against the doorway, gripping onto the doorframe helplessly as he sobbed. "he found the merchant!"

"can you shut up?" mara asked, jj nodding and immediately apologizing once he realized what was happening with john b.

emery had been there ever since big john disappeared. in fact, she was the only person who could say with full confidence she had been there a hundred and ten percent of the time for john b, every late night phone call or text, when he would show up at her house in the middle of the night. emery was always there and ready to help her friend, and that included now.

emery strode over to where john b was sobbing and pried his body off the doorframe, the brunette only sobbing harder as he fell into emery's body, balling her shirt in his hands as he buried his head in the crook of her neck.

"it's okay." emery murmured as she ran one hand up and down his back and the other massaged his head and played with his hair, a ritual the melville girl was far too familiar with.

"i miss him so much." john b sobbed, emery nodding and pulling him impossibly closer to her as the rest of the pogues exited the room out the back door to give the two space, emery sending mara a grateful glance as she ushered everyone out.

"i know you do, i know." she murmured, her right hand rubbing circles in his back as he slowly began to calm down.

"i called him a shitty dad." john b added, barely above a whisper.

emery had heard all about the fight when it happened, john b showed up, explaining everything to the melville girl, about how he was so pissed at his dad, how he just needed to be away from him for a couple days or until he came back again. a couple days turned into a week. a week turned into three. weeks turned into months when the routledge man was declared missing.

and emery was still there.

she slowly pulled away from john b, cupping his face in her hands and wiping the tears from under his eyes.

"it's not your fault." she assured him. "john b- hey, look at me." she said, turning his head so he could face her. "the last time i saw my dad, he told me i was the reason my mom didn't love him anymore. i thought their divorce and my dad leaving the state entirely- pretending me and lee didn't exist- was my fault. you have to realize that we're children. these things aren't in our control. yeah, you and your dad got into a fight, but him going missing isn't your fault, okay?" emery assured, john b hugging the girl tightly again, burying his face in her shoulder.

"i love you." he mumbled tiredly, emery smiling.

"i love you too." she said, they stayed like that for a couple minutes, emery just holding john b and letting him feel how he needed to feel.

"thank you." john b added, barely audible.

"any time." emery assured. "day or night, you know i'm always here."

"i know."

kens speaks 🪐

melledge is sailing like never before

if you can't tell i hate slowburns

harringtonssss with the wheels and deals yet again this chapter, go read her book summertime sadness!!