The attic looked like a place that time forgot. It was delightful. Robin smiled and breathed in the musky scent. All the guys were going through all of Mr. Walsh's stuff, despite Mikey's pleas for them to stop touching everything. "Wow," Robin said. She turned to Mikey. "Mikey, this place is amazing." "Well, uh, wow, I mean, uh, you really think so?" Robin studied him for a moment. He was cute, sort of, with freckles across the bridge of his nose, and decent looking braces, and big brown eyes.
The moment was broken by Mouth. "Mi-key, come here and make me feel like a woman! Come on, give me a big, wet, lickery kiss!" Mouth waggled his tongue from a hole in the painting of a woman. Robin giggled as Mikey glared at him. "You ruined the painting," Mikey admonished. "You ruined my joke," Mouth retorted. The boys continued to argue as Robin looked around. "Hey, Mikey, Mikey, what's this," Chunk shouted. "Oh," Mikey said. "That's stuff from the, uh, retrospekum…" "Retrospective," Brand corrected. "Yeah, that's what I said. Anyway, it was about the history of Astoria and these were the rejects." "Like us," Robin said. "The Goonies." "Well, uh, yeah," Mikey said nodding. "I," said Mouth, "am not a reject."
Mikey picked up a dusty picture frame facing the wall. "What's that," Robin asked. "Wait a sec," Mikey said, pulling the frame. He handed it to Chunk, which was a surefire way to break the glass. Mikey emptied off the glass and found a gold dubloon behind the map. "Look, look," Chunk shouted. "Mikey found a map. It says '1632'. Is that a year or something?" "No," Mouth said. "It's your top score on Pole Position." He briefly glanced at Robin, and she blushed. "I like Pole Position. I'm real good at it," she blurted out. Mouth rolled his eyes. "You are such a bubblehead, Becky." She blushed.
"Mouth, shut up," Data said. He turned to Robin. "I think you're a genius." Chunk and Brand cover their hands over their mouths, and chuckled. Robin tried not to roll her eyes. She knew she was smart when it came to some things, and naïve when it came to others. She was a decent student, but not too good at sports, and sometimes stuff went over her head. She also knew 'genius' was an extreme exaggeration.
Mikey took a nervous puff from his inhaler and tapped Robin. "Look, Robin," he said. "It's a map of our coastline." "Wow," Mouth said. "You managed to pull off a whole sentence for Robin." Mikey blushed. "Shut up, Mouth." Brand pointed at a spot on the map. "What's all that Spanish junk?" "Mouth can read it," Robin said. "Right, Mouth? You're so cute when you speak Spanish." Robin blushed at what had slipped out of her mouth. "Oh, Mouth," Chunk said in a falsetto voice. "You're just so sexy when you speak Spanish, you Latin lover, you!" "Oh, Julia, oh, Julia," Mikey snapped back. "How I love you so! If only you wanted statuetary charges." Robin laughed. "It's statutory," Chunk muttered.
"Thanks, Mikey," Robin whispered. Mikey shrugged. "No problem. Now, can you read or what, Mouth?" Mouth rolled his eyes and looked at the Spanish text. "Ye intruders beware. Crushing death and grief, soaked with blood, of the trespassing thief." Robin shuddered. "You guys," Brand said. "This map is old news. Everybody went looking for treasure when our parents were our age. I mean, haven't you guys heard of One-Eyed Willy?" Mikey nodded and said, "One-Eyed Willy? He was the most famous pirate of his time. My dad told me all about him!"
Brand rolled his eyes. "Dad'll say anything to put you to sleep." Mikey shook his head. "No, see, One-eyed Willy stole a treasure once. It was full of rubies, and emeralds, and diamonds. The British King sent an armada after him, and there was this big war, and Willy fled 'cause he knew he'd get killed, so he got into this cave, and the British blew up the walls around him and he got trapped inside forever." "Forever," Robin asked in amazement. "Forever. Trapped." "Wow," exclaimed Chunk.
"You sound as corny as Dad," Brand said. "Everything Dad told me is true," Mikey said. "He told me that Willy and his bunch were down there for five, six years, and that they dug tunnels, and made boody traps…" "Booby traps," Data corrected. "Yeah that's what I said, setting booby traps, so that anyone who got in there would die. And then you know what he did? He killed all his men."
"Why'd he do that," Robin asked. "So they wouldn't get to his treasure." "How'd the map and story get out," Chunk asked. "I asked my dad and he said one of his men must have gotten out with the map…" "You're full of it," Mouth spat. "I believe him," Data said, putting his arm around Robin. "And so does Bec- I mean Robin." "You don't have to speak for her," Mikey muttered. Robin smiled to let him know it was OK. "Hey, guys," Chunk asked. "Ever heard of Chester Copperpot? This old newspaper says he got lost looking for One Eyed Willy's treasure." Mikey looked up in amazement. "Whoa, do you guys realize what we could do?" "Nothing," Brand snapped. "You realize if this was worth anything, the map would be a safe instead here in the attic." "Brand's right," Mouth agreed. Anyway, if Coppercot couldn't find it, who says we can?"
"But what if," Robin asked. "What if the map lead to One-Eyed Willy's rich stuff…" "And then we wouldn't have to leave Astoria," Mikey finished. "I don't wanna leave," Data said quietly. "Well, I don't want to be a part of any more of your crazy Goonies adventures," Chunk said. Just then, the doorbell rang, and they all headed for the stairs.
Robin stayed upstairs and continued looking around, and just thinking back to when she was still real short, instead of just skinny, back in fourth grade, when Mouth used to think it was funny to throw her over his shoulder. She used to totally freak. She wished Mouth still did that.
She wondered if some sort of treasure hunt could save the Goondocks. She figured that anything was possible. She heard the guys come back in the house. "Where the hell were you," Brand asked. "Thinking, and looking," Robin answered.
Chunk did the coo-coo symbol with his left hand, and then Mikey punched him in the stomach real fast. The guys talked candidly about the country club opening, while Robin frowned. She couldn't believe this was happening. It was bad. It was times like these when she wished things like fairy godmothers and wishing on stars were real. If they were, the Goonies would never die, she'd have boobs, Brand would get his license, and Mouth would be her date to the junior high prom. Even more, though, she'd wish to understand why sometimes, Mikey gave her a funny feeling in her stomach.