the weed house
MARTHA DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK. Everyone has been telling her that John B's father is dead, drowned, somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic and that the poor kid is in some serious denial.
And, yet, there was his dad's compass... with the same Celtic knot that she knows she has seen somewhere before. Maybe it was just her broken mind playing tricks on her, but she felt some pinging sensation in her heart, some tinge in familiarity. She knew no matter what, she must help John B.
"What's wrong, McFly?" JJ says, groggily in her ear. He is laying on top of her, his strong arms wrapped around her body, his head resting nicely in the crook of her neck. His sweat sticks to his old worker's tee, his warm breath flushed against her dewey neck. She hums, letting her fingers comb through his peanut-butter-colored hair.
The power was still out so they went to bed cold and woke up sweating hot. The two teenagers were at her house, in her room, on Martha's bed. They fell asleep last night, watching some My Hero Academia episodes that Martha downloaded on her computer.
"I was just thinking about that compass." She says softly. "Didn't mean to wake you, Doc." She feels him smile from the nickname.
"You didn't, I woke up from my sweat. I didn't want to wake you." He chuckles, lifting his head to meet her eyes. She tilts her head, confused. "I could feel you tense up in thought," he explains further.
"Oh, I'm just that easy to read, huh?" She grins, biting her lip.
"Yes, but so am I. Nothin' wrong with it, baby," JJ reassures, lowering himself to hover over her. "You're not gonna kiss me? I'm holding a fucking pushup."
She shakes her head playfully. "Congrats on doing the bare minimum, I guess." Marty shrinks down the bed, playfully avoiding JJ's lips. The back of her shirt jumbles up, revealing her slightly burned stomach and underboob. He smirks, taken back by the sight but appreciates it nonetheless.
"That's it, come here!" He yells, picking her up and rolling over so that he's beneath her. His rings send chills on her exposed skin as they make it up to her rib cage, his fingernails tapping on the sides of her torso.
She laughs, "stop! That tickles!" Which only edges him on to tickle her more. "Stop!" She laughs as she tries to pry his hands off. "J! I'm gonna pee, no! Stop!" He doesn't stop, tackling her back into her pillows. "Stop, please! Okay! Okay, I'll kiss you! You win!" JJ finally pulls his hands away, smiling in triumph.
"I'm waiting. Time's a-ticking, baby." He states, urging her to kiss him.
She leans up, pressing a wet and chaste kiss on his lips, before pulling away. "Put your hands back on me."
"As you wish, milady," placing his callous hands behind the back of her neck and head and grinning into a second kiss, then a third, and maybe even a fourth.
➵ ➵ ➵
"DCS! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" JJ yells as he pounds on the Château front door. Martha rolls her eyes as she tries to continue reading the SUMMONS NOTICE taped to the wooden door. JJ drops down to the front window, scaring the bejesus out of John B.
"Gotcha, slick." He cackles a hyena-type laugh, "you should have seen your face. Your face was like... eughh."
"Come on, I'll be in the van." JJ states outside the window once he calmed himself down. "Let's go, baby."
It took around a minute for John B to start the old Volkswagen van. Martha sat in JJ's lap, she was too uncomfortable to sit in the back, considering the last time she was in the vehicle was the morning after her rape.
"I'm just saying, I don't understand why you don't at least try with Kiara." JJ offers up a conversation. His hands are on Martha's thighs, and she nervously twists the ring on his finger. "She clearly likes you. She's like, "Oh, John B!"' He mimics in a high-pitched moaning voice.
"Is that what she does?" John B scoffs.
"JJ, please be quiet," Martha states, turning her attention to John B. "Listen, Johnnycakes, Kie was sketched about your diving, and then she kissed you. If that's not a sign of a crush, I don't know what is."
"First off, she kissed me on the cheek."
"So?" Martha states.
"So, it's not like we were makin' out or somethin'."
"Low-hanging fruit, bro," JJ adds. "Don't pretend you don't notice. I see it in your eyes. You're like, "I kinda like that," and then you start blushing and shit."
"I blush?"
"Yes!" Both Marty and JJ yell, like it was completely obvious.
Martha laughs at her friend's oblivion, but soon drops it when she looks at the brass compass. "I gotta admit, your father's compass in Scooter's boat, that's freaky."
"Yeah. And that's why we're going to talk to Ms. Lana, figure this whole thing out." John B answers, turning his head quickly to look at the road.
"I'm sure she would just love to talk to us. You know, with her husband just found dead and all." JJ says sarcastically as the van turns into a beaten-up and sandy driveway.
The music shuts off as the teens circle out of the van. Marty trails behind the two boys, feeling uneasy about how quiet everything is.
"Know what this house looks like?" JJ asks. Martha shrugs, looking at the pink and blue house. It's covered with untamed greenery. "Whoever lives here smokes too much weed."
All of a sudden, sounds of glass shattering and furniture clattering penetrate the teenagers' eardrums. Marty reaches out and grabs JJ's hand, scared of what's going on inside. He's startled for a second but looks down to meet her eyes with a reassuring smile.
"Uh, maybe we shouldn't," he hesitates trying to get John B to change his mind. "It's a little too soon."
"No, no, shut up. Shut up, JJ." John B dismisses, waving at him.
"Tell me where it is, or I'll fuck you up!" A man can be heard from the open windows as Lana is sobbing and gasping uncontrollably. "I'll sink you in the fucking—"
Another loud crash is heard, startling the three teens as they duck simultaneously. Martha hears Miss Lana screaming in pain, "you're hurting me!"
"Marty!" JJ whisper-yells as she tears away from his hand and runs towards the sound. She crouches down below the window as another man yells about something, the vibrations hurdling small debris. She grimaces for a split-second, before turning her head and slowly peeking in the window to see the two guys abusing Ms. Lana.
"Is it here in this house? Where is it?! I know you have it." The taller man with a dirty-lookin' beard yells at the woman, grabbing her tightly by the arm as she begs and cries to let her go. "Please! I- I didn't— I don't know!" She cries, sobs cutting her off every breath she takes. The man scoffs at her, harshly throwing her back into the floorboards.
A pair of hands grip down on Martha's shoulders, pulling her down and out of sight. They turn her around so that she's face to face with JJ. "Never do that again."
"I'm not going to sit around while the poor woman is being beaten, J." She states firmly, grabbing his shaky hands and holding them in her own.
John B makes his way to the left of them, checking above the window sill briefly and jolting back down again.
"You still think we should stay?" JJ turns to his best friend.
"The compass wasn't in the boat! Where is it, Lana? Huh?" Another terrorizing yell can be heard. Martha shuts her eyes, automatically grabbing both JJ's and John B's hands.
"Don't listen," JJ says softly, biting his lip as his nervousness kicks in. As if he's reminding himself. He sees pieces of chipped paint flying over his head and landing on his and Martha's hair. "Is that paint?"
"Yes, it's paint." John B whispers, causing Marty to peek open her eyes. She hears JJ breathing heavily, so she starts to rub his hand with her thumb. John B pulls away from her, quickly walking around the couple and peaking around the corner of the house.
"We should just go. He's got, smuggler..." JJ says to JB, still holding Martha's hand.
"Shut up."
"...Smuggler is written all over him." He finishes. John B whips back around, watching the two men saunter out of the ransacked house.
"Guys, those were the men that shot at us," Marty says, watching the two burly men jump on their boat and make their way somewhere else.
Once they're far off in the distance, Martha makes a beeline straight inside. She walks into the living room, the bohemian decorations broken in pieces or barely hanging on the walls. She quickly tiptoes around the broken glass and sharp shards of ceramic pots. The boys follow her path, turning down a dark hallway as the lights seem to be broken.
"Ms. Lana?" She asks, spotting the older woman. She's laying down, her head resting on the bathroom doorway, her eye is bruised and there is a deep cut on her forehead. She runs to her aid, cautiously touching her. Ms. Lana flinches at the abrasion and continues to sob as if she's ashamed. "It's okay, no one's gonna hurt you anymore."
John B crouches down next to Marty, nodding sympathetically. "Do you need a doctor?" He asks, turning to JJ, "Let's call the sheriff's department."
"No! No cops, please." Ms. Lana yells as she holds her arm. "Please."
Martha nods, wiping down the woman's teary face with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "Okay, we won't. But you need that arm looked after."
She smiles at the young girl, gratefully. "I'm good, darling. You gotta get out of here." Marty smiles back, nodding as she heaves herself off the dirty floor and back to where JJ was standing behind them. Ms. Lana turns to John B, her cries involuntarily come up again. "You shouldn't be here."
"That's enough for me, let's go," JJ says, grabbing John B by the shoulder and pulling him to exit.
"Wait, wait. What do you know about these guys?" He asks, curious about what the two men want.
"They were looking for something," she whimpers.
Marty and JJ eye each other knowingly as John B pulls out the brass compass. "Does it have anything to do with this?" He motions his hand to Lana but she immediately freaks out and starts to back away from it. "This is my father's, and Scooter had it. Do you know anything about it?" He continues to pester the poor widow.
"John B, stop. You're scaring her!" Marty yells, pulling him back.
"No! I want to know why," he yells back at Martha, causing JJ to involuntarily step in front of his girl protectively. It's becoming a habit of his.
John B turns back around and asks the woman again. "Why?"
"Scooter didn't have it, okay?" She chokes out. "Don't tell anyone that you have that." She rambles on.
"Come on. Let's go, let's get outta here man." JJ pleads, grabbing his friend's shirt collar and pulling him back.
"Why?!" It's not working, nothing JJ or Marty is doing is working.
"They can't know that you have that! You've gotta get out of here!"
"What do you know about the compass?!" John B screams at her as JJ finally grabs him by the shirt and pulls him off of the ground. "Come on, we gotta go," JJ states, pushing him out of the room. "McFly! Let's go!" JJ reminds Marty as they book it out of the house and into the rusty van.