With the next few days free of pogues as they waited for the right day to head out in search of the Royal Merchant, Slater spent her free time with Maeve.
The girls frequented the Boneyard, the ice cream shop, and other favorite spots. Slater didn't hear much from the pogues — they were using the time to get other things done as well.
Kiara picked up extra shifts at the Wreck, giving Slater some much-needed time off. Pope was running errands for his father's delivery service, and JJ and John B ... well, they were off doing whatever JJ and John B did, especially now that John B was out of a job with the Camerons.
The sisters were on their way home, after staying at the beach after a day of surfing to watch the sunset go down. It was dark, and the sky was on the brink of rain.
They were headed for Figure Eight, jamming to Slater's Beach Boys CD, when Maeve spotted a figure ahead of them.
"Watch out for that guy," Maeve said, pointing to the man, who was stumbling along on the side of the road. "He looks drunk."
"Yeah, he does," Slater said, frowning. She squinted out at the man as they passed him, slamming on the brakes as she recognized him. "JJ?"
"Who J?" Maeve asked, craning her neck to look at him.
Slater put the car in park and immediately rolled down her window. "JJ!" She yelled out.
JJ stumbled backward as he turned around. A smile filled his face. "Hey, Slater! Long time no see," he said, walking back towards her.
If JJ was smiling at her, then he was most definitely drunk or high -- very drunk or high.
"What are you doing out here?" She asked. As he neared the car, Slater got a strong whiff of beer. "Are you drunk?"
JJ chuckled. "A little. I got in a fight with the ol' man and he kicked me out. I'm walking to John B's."
"It's going to start storming any minute," Slater said. "You've got at least ten miles yet to John B's."
JJ shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be fine."
"JJ, you'll never make it in this state," Slater replied. "Get in the car."
"I'm not getting in your car," JJ said, stumbling away from the Subaru.
"JJ, get in the car," Slater repeated. "You can come home with me." She turned to her sister. "Maeve, get in the backseat. JJ, get your drunk ass in my car."
Maeve got out of the car, waving to JJ. "Hi, I'm Maeve. Slater's sister."
"Hi, Maeve," JJ offered a drunken wave. "I'm JJ. Nobody's sister."
"Please get in our car, JJ," Maeve said, holding the passenger door open for him.
"You're a lot nicer than your sister, you know that?" JJ said as he reluctantly got in the car. Even drunk, he was still an asshole.
Maeve laughed and got in the backseat. "So I've been told."
After JJ was buckled in, Slater took off for the Shoupe-Cambry home.
"Maeve, do not tell Mom and Dad about this," Slater said, locking eyes with her sister in the rearview mirror.
"My lips are sealed."
"JJ, what happened?" Slater asked, glancing over at JJ, who was leaning his head against the window. His lip was cut and he had a growing shiner on his left eye.
"I told you. Got in a fight with my pops. He came home drunk and started a fight, and he kicked me out. I stole a six pack of his beer and drank it," he said.
"You drank it all? On the walk from your house to here?"
"Yup," JJ replied, letting out a low belch. "Dumped the cans along the way," he said, pulling out the plastic rings that had held the cans together. "If you don't mind, Slater, I would really like to not talk about it."
"Got it," she replied.
Slater parked her car in their driveway and sent Maeve up ahead to keep an eye out for their parents. They were probably in bed already, but just in case, it would be good to have a lookout. If her father knew that she was about to smuggle a drunk pogue boy into their home, he would lose it.
Maeve sent Slater a text that the coast was clear, so Slater got JJ out of his seatbelt and out of the car.
"This is where you live?" JJ said, studying the small home they lived in. It was nestled between two much larger, newer mansions that made it look very out of place.
"You were here the other day," Slater said, rolling her eyes.
"Oh yeah," JJ mused, looking around. "It's nice," JJ noted, a small smile filling his face. She got the feeling that he was actually being genuine.
"Okay, you have to be quiet," Slater said as she led JJ through the front door. "If my dad sees you, he will not threaten to kill both of us."
"I can handle ol' Shoupe," JJ chuckled.
"JJ, please. Quiet."
JJ made a motion like he was locking his lips, and Slater took his hand to lead him inside. She didn't want him wandering around, running into things. She brought him upstairs, tiptoeing past her parents bedroom so that they wouldn't notice two sets of footsteps heading for her room.
When they got to her bedroom, she locked the door behind them, just to prevent any early morning wake up calls from either of her parents. As she turned around from the door, she noticed JJ studying her walls.
"You have a lot of stuff," he whispered.
He was right — her walls were littered with photographs, posters and other mementos that made her happy.
"I like to be reminded of the things I love when I look around my room," Slater said, smiling faintly at a picture of her family.
"That must be nice," JJ said, settling into her bed. "To have things you love."
Slater knew JJ was drunk, so she didn't push him on what he meant by that -- especially after a fight with his dad.
"JJ, you can't sleep in my bed," she said as he kicked off his boots and slid under her covers. "I can give you my sleeping bag. Plus, your clothes are filthy!"
"This is a nice bed," JJ said, ignoring her.
"JJ, out."
"JJ, in," he said with a laugh.
Slater rolled her eyes. "Fine, you can sleep in my bed. Can you at least change your clothes first? I have a thing about people being on my bed in their street clothes."
"I don't have any other clothes," JJ said.
"Get out of the bed, and I can get you some."
She dug through her closet, finding an oversized t-shirt that she usually used for sleeping. She tossed it at JJ, and he inspected it with a smirk.
"Disney World?"
"What's wrong with Disney World?" she asked.
"Nothing, I've just never been."
"What kind of underwear do you wear?" Slater asked as she sorted through her shorts. She doubted she had any pants big enough to fit him.
"Whoa, Slater," JJ laughed. "You haven't even taken me on a date yet."
"JJ, I don't have any pants that will fit you, and I don't want to sleep next to you if you wear tighty whiteys or something."
"Oh," JJ said, still smirking. "Well, in that case, I wear boxers. Happy?"
"Not especially. Now put that on," she said, pointing to the shirt.
JJ began to strip immediately, not caring that Slater was right in front of him.
"Jesus, J," she muttered.
"It's no different than what you see at the beach," he noted, pulling the Disney shirt over his head. "Hey, this smells good. Can I keep it?"
"No," Slater replied.
"It smells like flowers," he said, giving it a sniff. He leaned over, giving Slater a sniff as well.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"You smell like flowers, too."
"Thank you, I guess," Slater said, scooping up her pajamas. "I'm going to change in the bathroom. You stay here."
JJ shot her a thumbs up as he climbed back into her bed.
She changed and got ready for bed in the bathroom, taking her contacts out and brushing her teeth. She slipped her glasses on before heading back to her room, where JJ was still in bed, running his hand back and forth over a fuzzy blanket.
"Hey," he said, locking eyes on her as she entered the room. "You wear glasses?"
She nodded. "I usually wear contacts."
"Huh," JJ said, his brows twisted together. "The things you learn about people." He studied her pajamas, an old Tar Heels t-shirt and a pair of striped cotton shorts. As she climbed into bed, her shorts lifted up, revealing a butterfly tattoo on her left buttock that she'd gotten at the beginning of summer. "You have a tattoo," he said, pointing his finger dangerously close to Slater's butt.
She slapped his hand away and pulled her shorts down, then shimmied under the covers. "I do."
A goofy smile overtook JJ's face. "Slater Cambry has a secret tattoo. Does your dad know about it?"
"No, he doesn't," she said. "And don't tell him."
"That's okay, me and Deputy Shoupe don't really run in the same circles. I doubt it will ever come up in conversation. 'Hey Shoupe, did you know your daughter has a butterfly on her ass? How did I see it, you ask? I was in her bed.'" JJ chuckled to himself, as if it was the funniest thing ever. "How did I end up there, you ask? Well, I --"
"J, go to bed," Slater said, turning on her side to face away from him.
"I'm not really tired," JJ said, blowing loud raspberries into the air.
"Shh," Slater hissed, clamping a hand over JJ's mouth.
"Hey, stop it," he whispered, before licking her hand.
"JJ!" She hissed, wiping her hand on the sleeve of his shirt. "That is disgusting!"
JJ snickered quietly, as if it were the funniest thing he'd ever done. "Afraid of my pogue germs, Slater?"
"My disgust has nothing to do with you being a pogue, JJ. It has to do with you being you," she hissed. "You need to be quiet."
"Okay," he said. "I'll be quiet."
They both stared up at the ceiling for a while before Slater felt JJ shift beside her. She turned to look at him, seeing that he was already watching her.
"What's it like?" he asked. "Having a functional family?"
The words brought tears to Slater's eyes as she watched him. He was drunk, and he was a belligerent asshole most of the time, but she could tell he was serious. She didn't know anything about the boy's mother, but she knew more than enough about his deadbeat dad.
"It's nice," she admitted. "I'm sorry, JJ. You shouldn't have to deal with what your dad puts you through," she said, reaching for his hand. She figured he would pull away, but he didn't. He just squeezed it tightly.
"I know," he said quietly. "I know I deserve better than him, but sometimes ... sometimes I think he's exactly what I deserve."
"He's not," Slater said. "You deserve so much more, JJ."
JJ nodded before releasing her hand and turning away. "Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked, staring at her ceiling.
"What do you mean?" Slater asked.
"I mean, we don't get along. All we do is get angry and yell at each other. Why stop and help me?" he asked.
"Because that's what friends do," Slater replied.
"Are we friends?" JJ asked.
Slater chuckled. "You would say differently sober, I think, but yeah, JJ. We're friends."
"Who would have thought I'd be friends with a kook," JJ joked, a smirk on his face as he turned to look at Slater. "Just kidding."
Slater rolled her eyes. "Well on that note, I'm going to bed. Good night, JJ."
"Good night."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.
this is by far my most favorite chapter so far. i don't think i need to explain why.
thoughts on this chapter? i don't really have much to say, but i'd love to hear from y'all!
question: what's your favorite board game? mine is either life or clue.
thanks for reading and pleases leave a vote and some comments!
xx,
madi