CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
SUGARCOAT — KID BLOOM
Can't keep myself from hitting the ceiling baby
Too stoned to do anything about it
THE NEXT DAY, Stella woke up to an empty bed. In the early hours of the morning, JJ had climbed through her window, stirring her from her slumber as he settled in beside her. But when the sun came up, he was gone, and the only trace of his presence was a flower from the neighbour's lawn on her bedside table and a good morning text in her phone.
She asked him what his plan for John B was, but was met with nothing more than a smiley face emoji. She thought about pressing the subject since JJ's ideas always ranged from harmless fun to federal crimes and it was hard to tell where his head was at, but ultimately decided against it when her alarm went off and she was forced to get ready for her shift at the hospital.
Stella had a love-hate relationship with her golden girl reputation. Sometimes, the idealized version of herself was something she almost resented. She was so much more than her grades and warm smile, but she supposed it could've been worse. At least people respected her, and this way, she could do whatever she wanted without fear of punishment since people would never believe she was capable of getting her hands dirty.
Returning to the hospital, she thought that her reputation would be shattered beyond repair. After all, she was the best friend of an alleged killer, and it was no secret that she tried to help him escape the clutches of the law. But to her surprise, people regarded her with pity.
Instead of judgemental sneers and whispers of "That's what you get for slumming it on the South Side", she was met with an overwhelming amount of sympathy. In the eyes of her coworkers, she was an impressionable young girl who was fooled by a boy she thought she knew. What a joke.
Halfway through her shift, she found the pitied stares of those around her suffocating. The idea that she was some naive girl who didn't know any better annoyed the hell out of her because she did know better. She knew who killed Peterkin and in no way was she taken advantage of. But with John B's arrest and preliminary hearing, arguing the fact would just make her look like she was stuck in denial.
Just after her break, she found herself hiding away in a supply closet, changing the bandage on her recently re-stitched wound. Her mother still didn't know about it and she didn't want any nosy coworkers to catch a glimpse and tell her.
With an disinfectant-soaked cotton pad in one hand, she dabbed away at the wound, wincing at the dull pain. Her phone started to ring as she reached for another and her brows furrowed at the caller ID.
"Ricky?" she questioned, accepting the call. "Why are you calling me?"
Ricky was someone she saw quite frequently. Aside from being JJ's cousin and weed dealer, he was also an EMT. It wasn't unusual to see him hanging out around the hospital. He even taught the first aid class she took last year. Their relationship was friendly, and he liked to tease her about JJ and scold her about cannabis use in youth, but calling her was out of the ordinary for him.
"Marx," he returned in greeting, his tone stern. "Guess who paid me a visit?"
"Uh..." Stella tucked her phone under her shoulder and opened another disinfectant pad. "The Queen of England?"
"Nope."
"The cops?" She gasped with the grand theatrics of a broadway star. "How scandalous, Ricky! 'Beloved Kildare EMT found selling illicit contraband to minors', I can see the headlines now."
Stella snickered at the silence on the other end of the call. She could practically hear him roll his eyes.
"It was your boyfriend," he revealed. "He was trying to get me to lend him my ambulance."
"And did you?"
"No! What kind of responsible adult do you think I am?
"The kind that sells illicit contraband to minors."
There was another pause of silence before Ricky muttered, "I don't even know why I called you."
"Wait, wait," Stella chuckled. "Why did JJ want your ambulance?"
"Why do you think?"
Stella's brows furrowed before she was struck with realization. "Ah, shit." If she knew JJ as well as she thought she did, the ambulance probably had something to do with breaking John B out of jail. "Alright, I'll find him."
"Don't let him do anything stupid," Ricky warned, knowing that the blond would do anything she told him to.
"No promises, buddy."
Having the final word, Stella hung up and sighed.
After replacing her bandages, she returned to her supervisor's office and strung together a very compelling sob story about how her coworkers' concern for her was a constant reminder that she was betrayed by a heartless cop killer she thought was her friend.
And thus came the appreciation for her golden girl reputation because her supervisor believed every single word that came out of her cunning mouth.
Leaving the hospital two hours early, Stella made her way over to the jail. She passed JJ's bike as she walked up to the entrance and pursed her lips when his voice echoed through the air upon opening the door.
Turning a corner, she saw him standing at the front desk with his sunglasses on and a toothpick hanging from his mouth.
"I can't hear what you're saying, man, alright?" He tapped his headphones as the cop behind the counter gave him a flat look. "These things are on full blast—Oh! Sunbaby! When'd you get here?"
Stella stood next to him and gave the cop a tight lipped smile. "Sorry about him," she said, pulling his headphones down.
JJ's eyebrows raised and he tilted his head. "Wait, music?" The cop nodded and JJ smirked, leaning forward and resting his arms on the counter. "I mean, I thought it was a free country and all, but, uh... I guess you don't like freedom very much, now do you, cupcake?"
A door to their left opened and Officer Plumb walked out. She regarded them with annoyance but approached them anyway.
"Good to see you again, Plumb," Stella mused, recalling the taken back look on her face when her mom scolded her like a child.
The older woman merely glanced at her before raising her brow at the toothpick in JJ's mouth.
He shrugged. "Nice to have something in your mouth. You know?"
"Take off your hat and empty your pockets," Plumb instructed.
"Yes, ma'am."
When they were checked in and given visitors passes, Plumb led them to the visitation area. She walked in front of them, leaving JJ to turn to the golden girl with a question stare.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, voice low and rushed. He knew he wasn't doing anything bad—not yet at least—but he still felt like he was in trouble.
"I could ask you the same thing," Stella retorted in a harsh whisper. "If you were going to do something stupid, you should've done it before seeing Ricky because he called me to keep your ass in line. Something to do with an ambulance?"
"I'm not gonna leave John B trapped in a cage like some rabid canine!"
"We're not leaving him, JJ. It's not like we're purposely keeping him in big boy time out. The justice system takes time."
"The justice system sucks," he argued, speeding his pace. He looked down at her over his shoulder. "I, however, don't."
Stella rolled her eyes and jogged to match his stride. "I can't wait to hear this train wreck of a plan."
"You know what?" His lips pursed and his eyes narrowed. "It would be really nice to have a little support from my wife."
"You did not just pull the marriage card on me."
"I wouldn't have to if you just trusted me on this, Stella-Anne!"
They approached the door to the visiting area and Plumb opened it for them. "Five minutes."
Stella gave JJ a look and raised a brow. "Fine. Lead the way, then."
John B was already sitting at a table when they entered. He was staring off into space, only looking up when they sat down across from him. He looked worse than he did the day before. His eyes were sunken in, surrounded by dark circles, and a frown was firmly planted on his face. It was almost as if the building was sucking the life out of him.
Stella knew that it wasn't funny. Her best friend was in jail for a crime he didn't commit, for God's sake! But she couldn't help but snicker as their eyes met. She didn't know what it was. Perhaps it was the ridiculousness of the situation or the fact that never in a million years would she have guessed that their lives would turn out this way, but something about sitting with her best friends in silence was just funny.
"I thought it was gonna be me," JJ said as the trio laughed. He eyes the orange jumpsuit John B was wearing with a grin.
"I did too," the boy chuckled.
"It was you."
John B tapped the metal table, his lips pulling into a lopsided smile. "Welcome to my humble abode."
"Yeah, when you said you had a new apartment, I had no idea."
"Yeah, it's, uh..."
"It's cozy!" Stella quipped, playing along.
"A little aluminum theme," JJ added, nudging the girl next to him.
John B shrugged. "Yeah. I like to go for the cold, dark... Alone kinda theme."
Stella's brows furrowed as their good moods dissipated. She hated that he had to go through this. He was only a kid, he should be worrying about SAT prep, not his criminal trial.
Before she could offer some words of reassurance, JJ spoke up. "Look, I would love to sit and chitchat, but we're on the clock and we're here for one reason only, okay?" He waited for encouragement to continue and leaned forward when John B nodded. "Operation liberation, baby."
"Oh, boy." A tired expression came over John B's face and he locked eyes with Stella. "Here we go."
She mirrored his expression and JJ almost felt offended by their lack of enthusiasm. "Hear me out, though," he pleaded. "Step one, piss off the cops so badly they don't see what's coming. Step two, at exactly 11 p.m. this evening, you're going to have an attack of acute appendicitis."
John B raised a skeptical brow at him. "Do you even know what appendicitis is?"
"Course, I do," the blond replied with a scoff. He nudged Stella with his elbow. "Look who I'm married to. The number of research papers she's told me about is in the double digits."
"Appendixes are interesting!" She defended, pushing his arm away with a pout. She thought he liked listening to her rambling. "They're evolutionary holdovers that have little to no purpose and double as a ticking time bomb. Who wouldn't want to read about that?"
"Okay, nerd." JJ shook his head, but the small smile on his face betrayed the possibility of judgement. Turning back to John B, he continued. "Remember eighth grade? Algebra final?"
Instantly, John B and Stella shared a look.
"Jesus Christ," the boy muttered.
Stella's face scrunched up. "Seriously, J? That's your plan?"
"Hey, you said it yourself, Stells. Ticking time bomb." Thanks to him, their entire class got to miss their algebra exam. "Worked like a charm, okay? Now, to sell it, you gotta actually look sick. You got some of that ghost face sunblock in here?"
"JJ, he's in jail," Stella deadpanned.
"Yeah..." John B trailed. "I have... a... a block of soap. That's it."
JJ thought for a moment. "Is it white?"
"Yes." There was hesitation in his voice, but his answer was enough for JJ to take a deep dive into his long winded explanation.
"Perfect. That'll work." He nodded. "Take some of that. Rub it into your face well, okay? You don't want that shit rubbing off when they check your vitals. After that, run your hands under cold water for five minutes. After that, you're ready. Showtime, baby. Stumble out and collapse."
Stella nudged his leg with her knee as his voice got louder with every passing word.
He glanced at her and returned to a whisper. "Once you're down on the ground squealing, they'll rush you to the infirmary. There, you just gotta convince the nurse that that sucker's about to burst. She's gonna take her hand, and she's gonna put it right here, okay?" He put his hand over his appendix for John B to see, but it was on the wrong side of his body and Stella had to correct him. "I mean, right there. When she does that, she pushes down, don't do anything. Just lay there. It's when she takes her hand off that you let it rip, man. Scream like your life depends on it, like a lobster hitting the pot, like you're passing a kidney stone the size of a bowling ball."
John B nodded. "I get it. Then what?"
A sigh fell from Stella's lips. "Don't tell me you're actually considering this."
He shrugged in response.
"They're gonna eject you to the hospital," JJ stated. "Remember Cousin Ricky?"
John B's brows furrowed. "Cousin Ricky, the weed dealer?"
"He's actually an EMT," Stella informed nonchalantly.
An incredulous look came over his face as his gaze darted between his two best friends. "He sold us our first dime bag."
"So?" JJ replied. "You can do both. Gig economy, bro. Anyways, Step three is extraction."
"This is the dumbest freaking idea you've ever had," John B stated with full certainty.
The blond scoffed. "Yeah, you're probably right, but you know what's even more dumb? You thinking you got any other way out of this."
"Stella had a good plan."
JJ turned to her. "And what would that be, Mrs. Maybank?"
She furrowed her brows in concern. "A good defence lawyer?"
He clicked his tongue and shook his head, returning his attention to John B. "Even with the best lawyer, there's still the possibility of the electric chair, bro. We're getting you out tonight."
"JJ, this is a fortress. What, you think you'll just stroll in here? They've got barbed wire, cinder blocks, guards on every corner—"
"Don't." He looked up and saw Plumb through the window walking towards the door. "You're not the detail guy, okay? Leave it to the professionals."
Plumb opened the door and gave the couple a look. "Hey!" She called. "Time's up."
JJ nodded and stood up, only moving when Stella was in front of him. They said their goodbyes and as they left, he leaned closer to John B and said, "You gotta trust me on this one. Nothing to lose now. Eleven p.m."
Plumb led them to the main lobby and took their visitor badges without another word. When they were outside and out of hearing range from anyone with a badge, Stella turned to the blond.
"That's the best you came up with?" She questioned, head tilting as JJ leaned against his bike.
He shrugged and placed his sunglasses over his eyes. "Freedom doesn't come easy, Sunbaby. You gotta work for it."
Her hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose and her eyes shut in a vain attempt to control her emotions. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to live a normal life, one where breaking her friend out of jail was a hypothetical situation joked about after a round of beer and a mind clouded by marijuana. Maybe in a parallel universe that was her reality, but in this universe, it wasn't a joke and she couldn't let her boys get caught.
"Alright," she sighed, dropping her hand to her side and opening her eyes, "so when is this plan happening? Eleven, right?"
"You're not helping," JJ shrugged, shaking his head.
Stella's brows furrowed. "I have to help, otherwise you'll land your ass in jail next to John B."
"You're not helping. You're still injured, so you're on the bench for this one."
Was he joking? Stella thought to herself. "No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"No," she pressed, "I'm not, JJ."
He sighed and took his sunglasses off. With his free hand, he reached over and pulled her closer by one of the belt loops on her shorts. "Yes, you are, Stella-Anne." He knew that she was angry, probably cursing at him in her head for making decisions on her behalf again, but she had too much to lose. She had a parent who cared about her and a future full of success that would all go away if they were caught. He couldn't say the same. "If something goes wrong—I'm not saying that it will because this plan is foolproof, I'm just saying if—I don't want you going down with me, okay? That's not happening."
"Well, you're crazy if you think I'll let you go down at all," she continued to argue. "It's my choice and I want to help."
JJ sucked his teeth and looked off to the side. "Mother Hubbard, why are you so frickin' stubborn?" He muttered under his breath. He took a few moments to decide what to say before putting his sunglasses back on and turning to her. "'Kay, fine," he said, stepping away from his bike to hold her hips. "You can help—"
"Awesome."
"Go back to the Chateau and wait for my call. You'll be my backup."
Her mouth fell open and she pushed him away. "That's not helping, JJ. That's you getting me out of the way!"
"No, it's not," he laughed, finding her reaction cute. "You're helping from a far and it's called compromising. That's what marriage is about, right? Compromising?"
"You did not just pull the marriage card on me again." Shaking her head, the girl turned on her head and started to walk away. "I can't believe you."
JJ continued to stare after her with a sly grin. "I did," he called out. "That means you've gotta do it!"
She rolled her eyes and flipped him off, not bothering to turn around. "That sounds like dictating, not compromising!"
"I love you!" He shouted with a laugh. "Bye!"
BY THE TIME Stella arrived at the Chateau, the sun had left its peak and disappeared past the horizon. The lights in the yard were on and she could see movement through the windows.
Passing Pope's bike and Kie's SUV, she walked up to the back porch and pushed the door open. When she entered the house, she was faced with her friends sitting on the pull-out couch, which wouldn't be an odd sight to see if they weren't in the dark.
Flicking the light switch, she placed a hand on her hip. "What's going on here?"
The two teens jumped away from each other, only relaxing when they saw it was Stella.
"Stella!" Kie exclaimed, waving her hand at the wall. "Stel, turn the light back off!"
She raised a brow. "Why?"
"Just do it and come over here!"
"Alright...?" Stella turned the lights off and when she approached, she saw a couch pillow on Pope's lap. She was going to question whether or not she interrupted something between the pair, but stopped when she saw the small key between his fingers. "Holy shit, is that the—"
"Sh!" Pope snapped, causing her to sit down next to Kie. "Shut up and look."
He brought his fist down on the pillow and a cloud of dust lifted into the air—or maybe it was dirt, Stella wasn't sure. Whatever it was, she could make out the distinct shadow of words contrasting against the light from Pope's flashlight.
"Path to the tomb begins in the island room," she read with squinted eyes. "Oh, my God... Pope, you genius! How'd you figure this out?" She stood up and turned the lights back on. "Wait, where'd you even find the key?"
"I went to my great-grandma's place and it was, like, in the ceiling!"
"That's insane," Stella chuckled.
Kie took the key from Pope's hands and inspected it closely. "Makes you wonder what the island room is, though."
Pope shrugged. "I think it has something to do with Denmark Tanny."
"Do you think the island room is in Tannyhill, then?" Stella questioned, tilting her head to the side.
"It's possible," he considered. "We can ask Sarah about it when she gets back from meeting with Wheezie."
Stella nodded and went into the kitchen to find a drink. The fridge was nearly empty, save for a few beers, a half used bottle of ketchup, and a singular water bottle. "God, this place is like a frat house," she muttered, making the mental note to buy groceries the first chance she got. Shaking her head, she grabbed the water and returned to the living room.
"Whoa," she whistled, looking around at unfolded clothes spilling from Kie's backpack. "Kie, are you moving in or...? What happened?"
Kie looked away with a shrug and she pursed her lips in a frail attempt to hide any feelings of sadness with disdain. "My mom snapped and I got booted."
"Shit, seriously?" She nodded and Stella frowned. "Well, you've got a room with your name on it at my place."
A grateful smile spread across Kie's lips. "Thanks, Stel."
"Yeah, maybe we could get bunkbeds or something." Stella uncapped her water and took a sip. "Matching duvet sets... the whole deal."
The curly-headed Pogue laughed just as Stella's phone went off.
A series of texts came through as she pulled it from her back pocket and her friends watched as her smile fell.
"Guys, we need to go," she said, urgency settling in her tone. "Right now, we need to go. JJ's in trouble."
"What?" Kie and Pope shared a look. "Why? What did he do now?"
Stella sighed as another text came through with a location attached to it. "Turns out JJ's foolproof 'break-JB-out-of-jail' plan wasn't actually foolproof." She looked up from her phone and grabbed Kie's car keys from the kitchen table. Tossing them to her, she headed towards the door. "I'll explain on the way!"
AFTER SAVING JJ from being convicted with aiding in an attempted prison escape, the Pogues went to Marx Mansion for the night.
Emma wasn't home, so they were forced to fend for themselves, but luckily all the pantries were fully stocked. It was almost as if she anticipated them stopping by.
The Pogues—or Stella, more specifically—made pasta and they sat around the living room watching horror movies. It was nice to have some semblance of normalcy after everything they've gone through, but no matter the amount of laughs they shared, it could never fill the absence left in John B's place.
They waited as long as they could for Sarah to join them, but after their third movie, they slipped into a peaceful slumber.
When they woke, their phones were void of any message from the blonde, so they decided to return to the Chateau in case she went there instead. To their disappointment, the Chateau was empty, so they opted for waiting.
"That's a lot of wax on your board," Pope said, watching JJ from across the surf shack. "Put too much wax, it's gonna be slippery."
JJ looked up with narrowed eyes. "Are you telling me how to wax my board?"
"Just saying that's a lot of wax."
"You're telling me how to wax my board. You kidding?"
Pope shrugged. He didn't particularly care for the reputation his friend held. Just because JJ was the best surfer he knew, didn't mean he knew everything about waxing his board. "That's a colossal waste of wax."
"Guys, really?" Kie questioned after sharing a look with Stella.
The girl had been reading a paper about bacterial quorum sensing on her phone, listening with half an ear as her friends bickered. She wasn't a big fan of microbiology, but it beat sitting in boredom and waiting for Sarah to text back.
Her phone started to ring and the others looked over thinking it was the blonde. Stella shook her head when she saw that it was a call from an unknown number and not from the phone Sarah borrowed.
Furrowing her brows, she stepped away from the shack and pressed her phone to her ear.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Stella?"
Her blood ran cold and her heart hardened. She hadn't heard from her father since he was discharged from the hospital a few weeks ago without so much as a goodbye. His absence didn't affect her in the slightest. She was used to him not being there and was too consumed by her grief for John B and Sarah to even notice he left the island like she told him to. But now, her grief was gone and his presence startled her.
After her moment of shock melted away, she moved further away from the shack so her friends wouldn't hear her. "How the hell did you get this number?" The man on the other end hesitated, giving Stella enough time to decided that she didn't want to play his game. "Actually—" She went to hang up, but his voice stopped her.
"Don't hang up!" Her father exclaimed.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."
He sighed and she could picture him pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, I didn't get to tell you this before, but I know I wasn't the best dad, okay? Or the best husband. I know. It's just that your mom was doing great things and I wasn't, and—"
"I didn't ask for your life story," Stella interjected, her hand coming up to fiddle with the ring hanging from her neck. "What do you want?"
"I saw the news. Your buddy, the one being charged for killing a cop? When I was working for Ward, I heard a few things. I can testify."
Stella almost laughed. "And what's in it for you?" she asked. He didn't do anything out of the kindness of his heart because his heart simply didn't have any. His love was conditional and his help was a tool in his manipulation. She didn't have high expectations for her father, but somehow they kept getting lower and lower. "Because even if you were telling the truth, which you probably aren't, I have no reason to trust that you aren't doing this for some ulterior motive."
"You're right," he agreed. "I've given you no reason to trust me, but I owe it to you to be better, right?"
"I'm hanging up now, don't call me again—"
"Wait!" he exclaimed again, slightly discouraged that she saw through his bullshit. "Okay, okay, fine. Do you remember when you were little and I used to have my buddies over for poker?"
She remembered being creeped out by them and wondering why grown men would say such nasty comments towards an eight year old, but yes, she remembered. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"One of the guys was named Renfield. He'd always go on and on about some rich half sister of his. Sound familiar?"
Stella's mouth gaped in disbelief as her mind connected the two dots. That's why the man in Charleston looked so familiar. It was because she had seen him multiple times before. "You've gotta be kidding me," she muttered.
"All those poker games added up and one thing led to another and I kind of owe him big time, but a few days ago, he came to me saying if I could get you to hand over... What was it? A key? That I'd be off the hook."
"Yeah, that's not happening. Even if I did have the key, I'm not handing over shit, especially not for you."
"He said he's got evidence that'll help your boy."
Behind her, there were a series honks coming from the Chateau's driveway. In a fit of confusion, she turned to see who it was and almost dropped her phone in surprise.
"Well, it looks like he won't need it," she sassed. "Do yourself a favour and lose this number." With the final word, she hung up and put her phone back in her pocket.
"Guess who's out the clink, boy!"
Stella took off running, bounding through the shack towards her best friend. "John B!"
The boy looked up and opened his arms for her. When she was close enough, she jumped and wrapped her arms around him with a laugh. The others joined quickly and there was a collective sigh of relief.
"We missed you," Kie said, her voice muffled from being pressed against Stella's shoulder.
John B chuckled. "I missed you guys too."
After pulling away, JJ gave him a puzzled look. "How'd you do it? You bust out?"
"Uh, they dropped the charges."
"You're telling me I did all that work for nothing?" The blond questioned, throwing his arm around Stella's shoulders.
Pope scoffed and turned to him. "Oh, the most elaborate escape plan of all time?"
"Foolproof," Kie added, sharing a look with Stella.
"Yeah, it was, actually."
John B paused, his smile fading from his face as he looked around. "Wait," he said, "where's Sarah?"
Stella grimaced and stepped forward to calm him down before he got too anxious. "She went to meet Wheezie last night," she informed, sharing a discreet look with the others. "She didn't come back."
"What?"
RAE SPEAKS !
this chapter was very much a filler and I'm not gonna lie, i kind of hate it lol but it is what it is 🤷♀️
stella when her dad called: