CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: RESSURECTION DRIVE?

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"he said it looked something like this," kiara pointed at the paper she was holding. us three girls were sitting in the volkswagen, examining the drawing of the gold well. "that's fifty feet down, and they're using this 100 foot rope. so i guess this little wagon will go, straight to the gold room," she proceeded to explain before we all died laughing.

"who drew this?" sarah scoffed sarcastically.

"who do you think?" kie responded as we looked over at pope and john b.

"i think," i snatched the paper out of the girl's hands, "that this was drawn by jj, while he was trashed." once again, we started giggling.

"ladies, this better work," the boy i just mentioned walked up to us and dropped the gold into the van. "we can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it."

"it's gonna work," kie reassured. it was decided that we'd melt it down to get rid of the symbol; to not raise any eyebrows.

-

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"hell of a job melting it down, dr. frankenstein," jj looked down at the gold, which was obviously horribly-done.

"like you could've done any better," kie noted as the rest of us hopped out of the vehicle.

"i could've done much better. i took a welding class," jj countered.

"when?" kiara interrogated, before the two's dispute was broken up by john b.

"chill out, okay?"

"easy for you to say. you're not the one who has to pawn this piece of shit off," jj held up the mound of gold, "how did elsie and i get this job anyway?"

"cause you two are the best liars," pope stated as we opened the door to the pawn shop.

"afternoon, ma'am," jj smiled, taking a few steps into the tiny store.

"hi!" i put on a cheery exterior, which any outsider believed when they saw me.

"afternoon."

"we happened to see that you buy gold."

"that's what the sign says, don't it?" the worker answered.

"well, i sure hope you buy a lot of it because this is gonna blow your mind," the boyfriend of mine took the gold out of his backpack.

"i ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it."

"how about them gold apples?" he placed the gold onto the counter.

the lady looked up at us in disbelief and chuckled, "that ain't real."

"that ain't real?" jj challenged the lady.

"it can't be," the pawnbroker explained. if only she knew how ridiculous she had sounded in that moment.

"feel how heavy it is," i intervened.

"mhm, mhm," jj hummed, a look of confidence on his face as the woman was surprised by the weight of the gold, "let's get some light on that."

"spray-painted tungsten," she concluded, as jj and i looked at each other with mischief written all over both of our faces.

"spray-painted tungsten. really? okay. why don't you see how, uh, soft it is?"

"you mind?" she asked for permission before putting a mallet to our discovery.

"no, go for it," the two of us said in synchronicity. sure enough, it did not budge.

"wow, would you look at that?" jj turned to me.

"crazy," i shook my head, agreeing with him.

"hold your horses, you two. we haven't gotten to the acid test yet," the lady declared.

"ooh! the acid test. my favorite, guys," the boy turned around to look at our other four friends.

"well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted," the pawnbroker sighed, strongly believing that she was gonna figure out that it was fake.

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

"it looks like somebody tried to melt it down," she replied as my eyes met with kie's.

"my mom," jj thought quickly, "she had all this jewelry laying around the house. she thought it was best to- melt it down. to 'consolidate it'." he held his fingers up for the last part, pretending to quote what she "said."

the woman turned around and placed the gold onto the weight. "seven pounds? that's a lot of earrings." we needed a good excuse, and quick. surely, jj was ready.

"okay, to be honest ma'am," he cleared his throat, "it's really hard to see my mom fall apart with alzheimer's."

"gimme a minute," the lady held up a finger as she left for a moment.

"take your time," the act continued as jj's expression hardened again the moment she walked away.

a few moments later, the lady came back. "so i uh, i talked to my boss. and uh, this is what i can do."

"fifty-thousand?" the two of us gazed up at her, repeating the ridiculous amount. "you think we walked in here not knowing the spot-price? ma'am i know for a fact that is worth 140 at least."

"well, sweetie, yall are in a pawn shop. this ain't zurich. do i look swiss to you?"

"ninety, or we walk," i chimed in.

"seventy. half price, and um, i don't ask questions about where you got this," she leaned in, lowering her voice a tad.

"that should be enough for a ring, right angel?" the boy smiled at me as my eyes lit up in surprise and delight. sure, we talked about having a future together in private, but the fact that he said it publicly to someone was something entirely new and wonderful.

"i'd say so. and perhaps yucatan?" i added teasingly.

"i'm gonna need that in large denominations, please," jj proposed to her.

"well, here's the snag. i don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. i can write you a cashier's check," she offered, but we were just not having it.

"no ma'am. i want the cold hard. that's what the sign says," he pointed at the sign near the 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, is that all right?"

jj looked at her, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. to be fair, i wasn't sure i trusted this lady either.

"where's this warehouse?"

-

-

"so, they keep money out here?" pope commented as we all looked at the sketchy surroundings. with everything around it, it seemed like the last place that would be have a warehouse filled with money.

"that's what she said," jj replied, to which we both looked at each other.

"that's what she said!" we repeated together, chuckling at how the two of us thought of the same childish remark.

"stop," pope scolded, causing us both to frown.

"i've never even heard of ressurection drive," sarah chimed in, turning around to look at us from the front seat.

"cause you're rich," jj implied.

"you've never heard of it either," kiara responded.

"thank you."

"seriously though, what if this was the pawnbroker's excuse to lure us out here and steal our shit?" i put out there, to which nobody knew what to say.

"there's nothing but weeds back here," kiara sat up.

"all right, just cause it's just weeds doesn't mean it's like-" the blonde boy started before we heard the familiar sound of sirens behind us.

"cops? out here?"

"god, are you kidding me!" jj threw his hands in the air frustratedly.

"i bet i was right," i mumbled to myself, scraping off the chipped nail polish on my thumb.

"what did we do?"

"why are we getting pulled over?"

"stash that," john b told jj, referring to the gold.

"chill guys," kie stated calmly.

john b tapped jj's shoulder, "did you bring the gun?"

"no, okay? everybody told me to leave it back at the place," jj clarified, wrapping the gold up and hiding it in his bag.

"here, lemme help," i grabbed some of our other belongings, stuffing them into jj's backpack.

"thank god," kiara sighed, "please, put everything else in your bag."

"i am! i am, all right?"

"how much weed do you two have on you?" kiara looked in our direction.

"not much," i admitted before we hid everything in a seat.

"sir," we heard a voice and saw a gun pointed at john b's head, "why don't i just go ahead and see them hands in the air right now? all ya'll hands up in the air, right now! you out of the car, let's go!" the six of us did as he said, in fear that our heads would be blown off otherwise. john b opened up the car door and stepped out of the van.

"out of the car, let's go. hurry! let them out! what are you waitin' on? what are you waitin' on? let them out!"

"he's not a real cop," i said in merely a whisper.

"what?" pope asked.

"i said, that man is not a cop. i know him from somewhere."

"all ya'll," the masked guy persisted as they made their way around the volkswagon, "go on! go on! let's get out of the car, let's go!" sarah made her way out first, trembling. but us on the other hand, we have dealt with this type of shit more than enough times. "there you go, pretty girl. here we go. get out of the car, let's go. hurry up!" everyone else made their way out of the car, leaving me last.

"we're broke," jj attempted to reason, standing in front of the rest of us, only to be shut down.

"shut up!" the familiar-looking guy placed the gun lightly on my boyfriend's chest.

"all right, all right! just relax!" jj screamed as pope pulled him back away.

"shut the hell up! shut up!"

"chill!"

"i'll blow your damn head off!" the gun was redirected at jj's head.

"calm down!" i yelled, catching the guys attention.

"elsie? shut up!" the man faltered and then said my name, and i immediately knew who he was under the mask. it was barry, and i instantly regretted exposing myself. i knew i'd be asked about how he knew my name later.

all of the pogues glanced at me in confusion, to which i just put my head down, ashamed. "lay down in the ditch! lay down in the ditch!" he changed the aim of the gun to me as i tried to ignore the nerves growing inside of me. good thing i wasn't entirely sober. otherwise, i'd be flipping out.

we all knelt down, feeling slightly humilated by the situation. john b all the way on the right, then sarah, then kie, then pope, then jj, and finally me on the opposite end. "on your goddamn hands and knees. down! put your face on the ground!" barry tapped on jj's head, "stay here, just like that! put your head down!"

looking around, i took notice of all my friends, who were mostly all visibly nervous. for some reason though, i wasn't. was i getting used to this? or was i beginning to not care anymore?

"don't let me see you look up! all right?" in my peripheral vision, i saw jj looking at me sympathetically. i gave him a slight nod, signaling that i was alright. in return, he nodded back.

"that's all ya'll gotta do," barry made his way to the van. when he wasn't looking, i sat up, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"get down," jj murmured.

"someone's gotta do something," i whispered back to him.

"it's a setup, guys," kiara noted, which was obvious by this point.

"the old bat shanked us," jj gritted his teeth, "fuck! goddamn it!" he punched the ground out of anger. it was a real i told you so moment, but now was not the time.

out of the corner of my eye, i saw john b slowly standing up, and a whimpering sarah trying to persuade him to stay down.

"john b, don't be a hero man," pope eyes wandered up to him, while jj's head remained fixated on the ground. sneakily looking at barry, the realization of him getting to the gold dawned on me. he laughed lightly, the melted-down gold falling from jj's bag.

"j, he's got it, look," i pointed cautiously.

"all right, ya'll stay just like that. unless you want your brains blown out all over this road. don't move your goddamn heads, okay?"

"theif," i spoke lowly, hopefully causing a distraction for john b.

"what did you say, crippled?" he crouched down next to me.

"you act like we're stupid," i sat up and smirked at him.

"and why's that?" he threatened, cocking the gun at me.

"cause you didn't even realize that one of us isn't here," i laughed menacingly as barry looked down the line of us. just then, john b came from behind and tackled him to the ground. while they were tussling, i grabbed the gun out of barry's hands.

"i got the gun," i raised my voice as the other pogues and i stood up to take down barry.

"go get the g," i pointed to pope, causing him to nod. when barry saw that one of us was heading towards the car, he left john b in the dust and ran to stop him.

"take this," i gave the gun to john b, preferring for one of the boys to have it instead of me.  we all ran after him, and then began to fight him.

"i got the gold!" pope cheered as we all got up and continuously started kicking the man.

"son of a bitch!" sarah complained. jj took the mask off of barry, revealing his identity to the rest of them.

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

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

"he sells coke to my dad," jj looked at him in distaste.

"sells coke to me," i added and confessed, earning surprised expressions from everyone. a look of heartache, or maybe even just utter disappointment, came across jj's face when our eyes met each other. nobody knew that i did drugs worse than weed; they didn't know how much i relied on them. but jj knew that i masked my pain with it. the fact that i used the same shit as his dad really made him realize just how screwed up i was; or that's what i thought.

"listen, i coulda hurt every single one of ya'll-"

jj then rammed the gun into the side of his body. the thing is, it had nothing to do with barry trying to take the gold from us. it was jj releasing a tiny fragment of his built-up anger; the drugs were what made his dad so intolerable. he would've went at barry more, but the other pogues stopped him.

"jj!"

"dude, chill man," pope tried pulling him back, only for jj to go back up to the guy.

"come on, let's get out of here," john b reasoned as jj pulled barry's license from his wallet.

"we got one last stop. let's go see where this son of a bitch lives."

and with that, we were off to get ourselves into more trouble then we were already in.

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{2537 words}

this scene in the show is one of my faves for literally no reason

i kinda switched up the fight a bit because i needed to add a bit of badass elsie into this chapter.

ally <33