MARLBORO NIGHTS [JJ MAYBANK]

the gold

"GREAT JOB MELTING IT DOWN, DR. FRANKENSTEIN," muttered JJ sarcastically, rolling the block of gold around in his hands.

Karolina rolled her eyes, jumping out of the car after JJ. "Like you could've done any better," Kiara defended herself. JJ nodded fervently: "I could've done much better- I took a welding class-"

John B interrupted their argument, taking JJ by the shoulder. "Chill out, okay?"

JJ huffed. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of crap off." They were standing down the street from one of the many many pawn shops in town, and the Pogues had tasked JJ and Karolina with selling the melted down hunk of gold. "It's not a piece of crap, JJ, its literally gold," Karolina stated, matter-of-factly. Despite their lip-to-lip interaction just hours before, neither Karolina nor JJ acted as if anything was different. Inside, though, she was dying to know what he was thinking. Had he wanted her to kiss him? Had he wanted to kiss her? Did he want to again? Was she just being overly optimistic and stupid and naive, and JJ actually hated her guts? Right then, she had no clue. It was most definitely not the time to ask, not with all of their friends around to likely hear him break her heart, and definitely not outside the old pawn shop that was about to help them get rich. She just hoped that he felt the same way she did, and that they were both great at hiding it.

JJ shrugged off the valid point, glancing around at the rest of them. "How'd we get this job anyway?"

"Cause you're the best liars." Pope patted his shoulder affectionately, and the group moved on into the store. The bell tinkled over their heads and Karolina's nose was immediately met with a weird, musty scent. "Afternoon, ma'am," JJ greeted the woman at the counter with a polite smile. She raised a suspicious eyebrow at the large group of teenagers entering her store. "Afternoon..."

"We saw your sign in the window," Karolina smiled, leaning against the counter next to JJ, "You buy gold?"

The woman looked annoyed. "That's what the sign say, don't it?" Her accent was thick, and so was her sarcasm. Karolina chuckled half-heartedly, watching JJ as he took his backpack off his back and laid it onto the countertop. "Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, 'cause we're about to blow your mind."

"I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it," the pawnbroker commented dryly. JJ brought out the gold, wrapped in a blue cloth, and set it down, uncovering it hastily. Karolina cocked an eyebrow, gauging the woman's reaction. "How 'bout them gold apples?" JJ jeered.

Without hesitation, the woman laughed. "That ain't real."

JJ and Karolina shared an amused glance; she stood up straight, tossing her thick blonde hair over one shoulder. "Not real? Give it a lift, see how heavy it is."

She eyed them suspiciously when she struggled to lift it from the counter, expecting something much lighter. "Let's get some light on that," beckoned JJ, handing her the light-up magnifying glass she had sitting in the pencil cup. The lady shook her head, turning it over in her palm. "Spray painted tungsten."

Glancing over her shoulder with a clipped laugh, Karolina caught Pope's eyes. He mouthed a few words, whirling around to face the wall when the woman looked up. "Try and see how soft it is," Karolina repeated the words Pope had mouthed. The pawnbroker was skeptical, but took out her little tools nonetheless, hitting the end of a small poker with a tiny hammer, leaving a small, easy dent in the top of the gold block. "Wow, would you look at that," JJ grinned in Karolina's direction, watching as the woman ran her finger over the indention.

"Hold your horses," she grumbled,  "We ain't got to the acid test yet."

"Oo, the acid test, my favorite." JJ winked at Karolina, and she smirked. The woman poured a drop of acid onto its surface, and when nothing happened, she blinked. "Well, it ain't plated and it ain't painted..." she mumbled, staring at it in bewilderment.