I sit in the wreck with the Pogues, however I sat at a different table than them. I sit a table over, staring into my hands. I felt awful about what had happened outside of Barry's house. And I felt bad about not sticking up for him more.
"Look, he'll come around, all right? It's... He's doing a JJ thing."
"You think he'll go home?" Kiara asks.
I pick my head up, looking at the Pogues.
"There's about a zero percent chance that JJ goes home." Pope speaks up.
I notice John B look over at Sarah. "You okay?"
She nods slowly. "Yeah. Are you?"
"I mean, I'm in one piece, so..."
"Okay." Pope says walking toward the other Pogues. "It's too dangerous to pawn this thing off piecemeal. So our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it. Bring it all up at once. Put in a safe or a vault or something. I—I don't know. Just until we can find someone who won't rip us off. Okay, I can figure it out tonight, get it done, and we can be out there tomorrow morning."
"All right, let's do it." John B agrees.
"Easy." Pope agrees.
"Let's go."
"What about the thing with my dad?" Sarah asks the brunet.
"Shit."
"What thing?" Pope questions.
"I have to go fishing with Ward."
"You can't get 400 mil 'cause you're gonna go kill fish?" Kiara questions.
"Look, I have to go."
"Blow it off." Pope says. "It's 400 mil in gold."
"Make something up!" Kiara adds.
"I— I have to, okay? He... he saved me, all right? If it weren't for Ward, I'd be in foster care. So... I have to go. Plus it'll be better to do it at night. Right?"
"Fine, fine, go fishing."
"And at least, JJ will probably have washed up by then."
I roll my eyes, getting up from the table I was sat at.
"Red?" John B eyes me as I stand. I look at him before beginning to walk toward the door. "Franklin, where are you going?"
"Well, while you're planning your little fishing trip and Pope plans this little treasure hunt, I'm gonna go find JJ."
"You don't have to do that."
"No one else seems to care enough to check on him, right?" I snap. I walk out the front door and begin my walk to any of the places JJ may be.
***
As soon as I saw bright lights in front of the Chateau I knew I had found JJ. I walk around my car to see the boy, sitting in a large hot tub. Champagne glasses and a bottle of champagne sit in little flamingo floats. A wide smile crosses his face when he sees me.
"JJ?"
"Hi, Frank." His voice comes out slurred, he was drunk.
"What's going on?" I ask walking toward him.
"I got a jet going straight in my butt right now." JJ let's put a light giggle. "You should get in, immediately. You hear me?" JJ pours another glass of Champagne before drinking straight from the bottle.
"Did you spend all the money on this?" I question carefully. I was so confused as to what was going on.
"Uh... yeah. Burned a whole straight through my pocket. But, I mean, come on, like, look at this. Finest in jet-based massage therapy, that's what they told me." I stay silent, unsure how to react. "What, Franklin? Can't a man have a little luxury in life? Of course you wouldn't understand. You're loaded."
My heart aches at the sight of the disheveled boy. I knew something had happened to him while he was gone. Guilt flooded me. I had so much money here but I couldn't help him, I knew he wouldn't let me. When I blink I feel tears slip down my cheeks. I hadn't even noticed I was crying.
"Enough of this emotional shit. Get in the Cat's Ass."
"The what?" My voice cracks in response.
"The Cat's Ass. That's what I named her." JJ informs me. "Oh! I almost forgot." He presses a button as his face lights up with drunk excitement. "Yeah that's right, I know. Disco Mode."
"JJ... what about restitution? You could have paid it off."
"Whatever."
"JJ, you would have gotten yourself out of trouble."
"Okay, well, you know what? I didn't do that! I got a hot tub!" JJ stands, revealing deep, dark bruises that spread across his torso. A loud gasp escapes my lips, I stumble backwards, tripping over my feet. I land on my butt with a loud thud. My elbows hit the ground next, I wince as pain shoots up my arms.
"I got a hot tub for my friends! You know what? No, you know what? Screw friends. I got a hot tub for my family! For you, Franklin! I got this for you!"
I stand up from the ground, rubbing at my tailbone. I walk toward the edge of the hot tub. "JJ, what's going on? Talk to me." I beg, gripping the wall of the tub.
"Look what I did for you!" He shouts again, turning to me.
"JJ.." More tears run down my face. I shake my head at myself, wiping at my tears.
"You stop being emotional. It's fine, okay?" JJ looks down, trying to conceal his tears. "I mean, it's sweet, right? Everything."
"JJ.." I climb over the edge of the hot tub.
"Just come here." He begs with a sob.
"Oh, J." I cry, stepping toward him. He collapses into my arms, wrapping his arms around my waist. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, holding him against me. I run my hand up and down his back as he buries his head in the crook of my neck. I could feel him trembling under my touch.
"I just couldn't do it." JJ sobs. I pull him tighter against me. Sobs wrack his whole body as he cries against me. "I was gonna kill him."
"It's okay, JJ. It's okay."
"I just wanna do the right thing."
"I know." I press a light kiss against his cheek, pulling him tight against me. He continues to sob into my shoulder. "Hey, look at me." I pull away and cup his cheek in my right hand. "I got you, I have you, all right? You're not alone." He nods, tears travel down his face. I run my thumb along his cheek bone, wiping the tears. My own tears travel down my face. "Let me help you." I whisper. "I can help you."
"I can't." JJ whispers shaking his head. He looks down into the colorful water.
"Please, JJ." I beg. "Let me help you. I can."
JJ looks into my eyes, his fixated on my own. He slowly leans in close to me, ready to kiss me. His soft lips slowly separate my own. His hands pulling me tighter against him by my hips.
"JJ.."
"I'm sorry." JJ pulls away slightly.
"Hey, we're okay. You're okay. Stay at my house. Stay with me." I cup his cheeks, looking into his sad eyes. JJ nods, hugging me again.
"Let's go inside?" JJ offers after a couple seconds.
"Yeah, okay."
He lifts me out of the hot tub, keeping an arm around me. I walk with him up to the house.
"Wait here." I tell him. "Let me get you a towel." I head into the house and grab a towel from underneath the bathroom sink. I walk back out to JJ and hand it to him. He walks past me, into John B's bedroom. I fix the bed on the pullout, giving us a spot to sleep. He comes back a couple minutes later.
"I, uh- I made the bed for you." I inform him.
"Thank you." JJ says. He looks away from me, diverting his eyes to the floor.
"JJ?" He looks back up at me. "I pulled away because I don't want you to think I'm using you. I would never do that."
"I know you're not using me." He walks up to me, cupping my face in both of his hands. He presses his lips against mine. I reach up and grab his forearms. "I think I'm gonna sleep in the spare. I just need some space. I'm sorry."
I shake my head. "It's okay. I understand." He presses a light kiss to my cheek before disappearing back into John B's room.
I sit on the edge of the bed with a sigh. I cared about JJ more than anything, but I had no idea how to help him. It tore me up inside.