twenty-three | closure

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AFTER CARSON HAD LEFT THE CAMERONS', she felt lost. She didn't want to go home. She didn't even want to see JJ, Kie, or Pope. She realized the only person that she needed to see right now was John B. She needed to know that he was okay.

When she walked into his house, she was nervous. He had been so angry when she last saw him. She didn't know what to expect from him now. She walked in to find him crying as held a picture of his dad. In some sense, maybe sadness was better than anger at this point. She felt the same way after her outburst against Ward.

"Hey," she said quietly, not wanting to startle him. He looked over at her to find her face red with tears in her eyes too. She walked over and sat next to him on the bed when he didn't respond. "I miss him," she said as she glanced at the picture of Big John.

"Me too," he said.

"John B," she said. She still couldn't really wrap her head around the truth, so she wasn't exactly sure what she even wanted to say to him. Or for that matter, what she could say to him. Nothing she could say would make things okay. "I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine what you're going through. And Ward... I just- I hate him so much. I-"

"Car," John B cut her off. He could tell how much she was struggling with the truth, just like he was, but she also found out it was her father who had been the one that did it. It didn't matter that she had no relationship with Ward, just knowing it was him hurt enough. He had already betrayed her by abandoning her, but this was a whole different level of betrayal. "My dad loved you like you were his own daughter, so you have every right to be as angry and upset by this as I am. And I don't blame you for it at all. Ward was never a father to you, but my dad was. So, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that I moved into his house when I knew that it would hurt you."

She nodded her head in forgiveness. She couldn't lose John B. He was her family. John B, JJ, Pope, Kiara, all of them were her family. They were Pogues for life and nothing would ever change that. They all needed each other.

"Come on, I want to do something," he said. She followed him out onto the dock. She sat with her knees pulled into her chest as she watched him light the small wooden raft with Big John's picture on fire. They stared at it for a while in silence before John B finally spoke. "Goodbye, Dad." He leaned over and gently placed it into the water before sitting back up. Carson sighed as she leaned her head onto his shoulder. Watching the raft slowly float away was painful because it meant there was no more hope to hold onto that he was still alive. But at the same time, it was the closure that they needed.


Hearing that Ward had taken all of the gold was the last thing Carson wanted to hear when John B gathered them all for a meeting. It was like there was just one thing after another. They could never catch a break.

"You sure he got everything?" Kiara asked.

"Every bar. The whole enchilada," John B said. He ripped his cast off of his arm and through it across the dock. "Look, it's not like I expected a happy ending or some shit."

"John B."

"What, Kie? It's a hairline fracture. Who cares?" he said. After finding out the truth about his dad and about Ward stealing the gold, his arm was the least of his worries.

"You should care. Your arm's gonna be messed up for life," she said.

"It's fine. See?" He wiggled his fingers carelessly as he laid with his eyes closed. Carson ran a hand through her knotted hair.

"This is bullshit," she mumbled. Ward really was putting them through hell.

"Guys!" Pope's voice screamed. She looked back to see him sprinting down the dock in his interview clothes. "Guys! Oh. Oh, God. I ran all the way here."

"You alright?" John B said.

"How was the interview, Pope?" JJ asked.

"Don't ask," he replied shortly. "JB, look, I'm sorry, dude. About everything."

"It's fine," he said. It wasn't really fine, but what could he say anymore?

"But I don't have a lot of time and I have information that is tactically relevant," Pope said. "So, before I had my interview, my dad said he was going down to the private airstrip to cut palms for Cameron's big plane! Because it was too heavy, it needed a longer landing strip to take off. So, I'm there sitting in my interview, thinking to myself, 'hm, why would Cameron need a longer airstrip to take off? What could be so heavy it weigh it down?'" John B sat up in realization.

"Gold," JJ said.

"That's right," John B said.

"Exactly!" Pope said. "Guys, this is our chance. But, it leaves tonight, and we have to go." Carson and Kiara jumped off the railing in excitement. This meant that it wasn't over yet, that it didn't have to be.

"Guys, we can't give up now," Kiara said.

"What's the plan, big man?" JJ asked.

"We're gonna steal that shit back," John B said.

"Hell yeah! Let's show that asshole that he can't fuck with us!" Carson yelled.


They climbed out of the van to run up to the fence. No one knew where Ward was planning to take the gold and he left before they could try to stop him then it was all over. All their work would be for nothing.

"What's the plan?" Kiara asked. "Broad strokes."

"I don't think we got that far," John B said. Pope looked through the binoculars to get a better look.

"They're loading up the gold," he said. John B took the binoculars to see.

"There's Ward," he said when a car pulled up near the plane. A few seconds later he lowered the binoculars and had a surprised look on his face.

"What?" Kiara asked.

"What is it?" Carson said when he didn't respond.

"It's Sarah," he said.

"She's with him?" Pope said. After they had finally resolved their issues and had actually gotten on good terms, Carson had to hope that Sarah wasn't a part of stealing the gold. She had to hope that Ward just brought her there without telling her what it was about. Apparently that seemed the case based on what John B said next.

"Wait a minute. He's hurting her," he said.

"What?" They all said. Sarah was still not officially part of their group yet, but the more that she hung around them the more they found that she wasn't so bad after all. She was starting to grow on them and that meant they would protect her too. It was what they did.

"What do you mean he's hurting her?" Carson said.

"They're fighting," John B said. "Holy shit." Before anyone could realize what John B was doing, he jumped into the van and drove straight through the fence.

"Don't be a hero, dude!" JJ said. But it was too late. They ran through the new opening in the fence. "What are you doing, man?"

"John B!" Kiara screamed.

"Are you crazy?" Carson screamed. "Come back!" They were all trying to comprehend what was going on when sirens sounded in the distance. "Shit, it's the cops."

"Guys, I can't get arrested," Pope said. He had already blown off his scholarship interview. Getting arrested would only make things worse.

"I'm on probation," JJ said.

"And you have a gun," Carson pointed out.

"Look, we're no good if we're all in jail," Kiara said.

"Come on." As they ran from the scene, they could only hope that John B would get out of it okay.

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