𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 slight movement next to her, Kaci rolled over in her sleep as JJ brushed the hair away from her face, sitting beside her on the long bench. He lifted her head up so that it was resting on his lap, because there were no pillows in the van, and Kaci refused to let them carry her inside the previous night after falling asleep on the way home. However, during the night, she must've crawled into the back, considering that she was now on the bench.
"Kie, this better work," he said to the girls sitting on the opposite bench, throwing the three bars on the ground of Twinkie. "We can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it."
"Shh, you're gonna wake her up," Sarah told him, pressing a finger to her lip. "Trust me, you don't want to disturb the dragon."
Kiara nodded in agreement. "She's not a morning person."
"Oh, yeah — trust me, I know," said the boy, pulling down the collar of his shirt to reveal yesterdayʼs bite mark.
"Can y'all stop talking shit about me, I'm literally right here," Kaci grumbled, pushing her head further into JJʼs thigh like it was a pillow.
The boy flinched in surprise, grabbing the edge of the seat. Kaci froze. "Ew, JJ, what the fuck?!"
"I'm sorry, I can't control it!"
Kiara and Sarah laughed as JJ turned red and Kaci continued to shout at him.
Eventually, the girl got up and sat down with the other two on the opposite bench. "You're fucking disgusting."
"I'm sorry."
"I don't care."
JJ sighed, giving up and letting her have the last word, turning back to face Kie. "Is it gonna work, then?"
Kiara grinned and lifted up a huge lighter. "It's gonna work."
𖧷
𝗞𝗮𝗰𝗶 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 was kept far away from the fire, and literally anything around that could've been used as a weapon. While JJ and Kie argued about who should melt down the gold, she sat back with Pope and bonded over serial killers.
"My favourite is Aileen Wuoros," stated Kaci, happy with the basic conversion as she rested her head against a tree.
Pope looked at her funnily. "Yeah...I don't think you're supposed to have favourites."
"Yeah, well, she's a queen, so..."
"Hey, you guys comin'?" John B called over to them, waving the melted down gold in his hand, then hissing in pain because it scolded his skin.
"He's actually a child," said Kaci. "Like, seriously."
Pope nodded in agreement, jumping up from his seat on the grass and offering his hand out for Kaci, which she gladly took. When the two of them climbed into the van together, JJ looked up and the first thing he did was try pulling the girl over to sit with him again.
Kaci shook her head. "Yeah, no — I headbutted your dick this morning, I'm not letting my ass take that shit," she told him, sitting in between Sarah and Pope instead, who were both chuckling at her comment.
Usually, JJ would've made an inappropriate comment. He literally had to fight off a whole monster to stop himself from doing so, then, too. "I said I was sorry," he told her again, to which the girl shrugged and looked away stubbornly.
They soon parked up outside Kildareʼs one and only pawn shop — where all the thieves went to sell off the shit they stole from figure eight, and JJ knew the place pretty well by now. Kaci was slowly adapting to the lifestyle of a pouge, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss her million-dollar penthouse and all the luxuries that came with being a kook. She liked the people here better, though. They pouges were good people — people she trusted.
"Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstien," JJ commented sarcastically, carrying the gold under a towel, not wanting to get burned like his friend did.
"Like you could've done any better," retorted Kie, quick to defend herself.
"I could've done better, I took a welding class once," the boy argued, lying out of his ass.
"When?"
"Hey, shh," John B stepped in between the two, trying to calm them down in order to avoid any attention. "Chill out, okay?"
Kaci jumped out of the van, still exhausted from her lack of sleep. She seriously didn't understand how the others were all so awake so early. They must've had superpowers or something, because she still needed another few hours before she was able to stand for more than five minutes.
"Easy for you to say that," said JJ, holding up the gold, which had now apparently cooled down a little. "You're not the one who has to pawn this piece of shit off. How did I get this job, anyway?"
"ʼcause you're the best liar," answered Pope simply.
JJ huffed, turning to the pregnant girl with a confident grin. "You wanna help me out, Princess?"
"No."
"Oh."
The others laughed at his rejection, walking into the shop, while Kaci decided to sit and wait on the bench outside. She was lazy enough without the baby — now, it felt like she was carrying a million weights at a time. Not to mention how the heat of the summer was also slowly murdering her.
"Yo, Princess, we're buying a stroller!"
Kaci turned around at the bubbly sound of JJʼs voice, lowering her sunglasses a little as he and the others skipped out of the shop. There wasn't any cash in his hands. At all. Or anybodyʼs.
"Yeah." Pope sighed, seeing the confused look on her face.
Kaci rolled her eyes. "No, I am not getting in that van again, I will be sick."
"It's not that bad," John B defended.
"You drive like a psychopath."
"You're the one who killed somebody!"
"That's not confirmed."
𖧷
𝗞𝗮𝗰𝗶 𝘄𝗮𝘀 in the van, again. Doing a long distance drive, again. Feeling sick, again. "Jelly Baby, if you don't slow the hell down, I'll —"
"— you'll kill me," the boy cut her off with a defeated sigh, shifting gears. "Yeah, I know the drill."
After a lot of convincing, JJ finally managed to get Kaci to sit with him again. She wasn't sure why he was so adamant about it, but if he was willing to built her a tree house for it, she figured he could have a cuddle. Plus, she'd be lying if she said she didn't find comfort in his touch — and Kaci didn't normally like to be touched at all. He kept his hand on her stomach, smiling everytime he felt a kick, and rested her head on the girlʼs shoulder, admiring the close up picture of her face.
"So, they keep money out here?" asked Pope, changing the conversation and looking out of the window suspiciously. The last time they went somewhere without much guidance, JJ got a gun.
"That's what she said," said JJ with a shrug, then he laughed to himself. "That's what she said."
"Stop," warned Kaci, causing him to shut up straight away.
JJ squeezed her tighter, trying to be as helpful as he could in her hormonal and moody moments. The girl was grateful for it — she liked it, even — but she didn't say that aloud. JJ knew it, though. He knew a lot about her that she tried hiding. Like the way she secretly loved it when Pope threw random animal facts at them to fill up awkward silence. And the way she always watched John Bʼs every move just to point out anything he did wrong.
"I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive," Sarah stated from the passengerʼs seat, turning around to join in on the conversation.
"That's 'cause you're rich," JJ told her simply.
"You've never heard of it either," Kie pointed out.
"Thank you."
Kiara furrowed her brows as they went into their tenth minute of driving through absolutely nothing. "There's nothing but weeds back here," she stated dryly.
"Alright, just 'cause it's just weeds, doesn't mean it's, like..." JJ wasn't actually sure how to defend the place, pretty much agreeing with everything the others were saying, but too stubborn to think his idea was wrong.
Sirens suddenly whooped behind them, causing John B to sigh and pull over.
"Cops?" said Kie. "Out here?"
"God! Are you kidding me?" huffed JJ, taking his arms away from Kaci to check over things.
"What did we do?" questioned Sarah.
Kaci rolled her eyes. "I told you, you were going to fast."
John B raised his hands in defence. "I literally just slowed down for you."
"Should've done it sooner."
"Stash that," hissed Pope, seeing JJ go through his bag to hide the gold.
"Put it —"
"I hate cops."
"Did you bring the gun?"
Kaciʼs eyes snapped towards JJ, an incredulous look on her face. "Gun?" she asked. "What gun?"
"The gun from the night at the beach," he answered simply. "You know...with Rafe and Topper."
"We're destroying that thing later," Kaci told him.
"No, you should not be allowed anywhere near a lethal weapon."
"What? You —"
"Did you bring it?" John B questioned again before they got themselves into another argument.
JJ shook his head. "No, everybody told me to leave it back at the place," he said, sounding a little disappointed.
"Thank God," expressed Kiara. "Okay...please, put everything else in your bag."
"I am! I am, alright?"
Pope slid off his seat to help the boy stuff all his drugs into it.
"How much weed do you have on you, bro?"
They all began to bicker and snap at each other as JJ hurriedly hid his bag inside the bench, quickly sitting back on it to hide the small compartment.
A gun cocked.
Kaciʼs body straightened up with fear, and JJ pulled her close to him, as close as he could get her, hands over their son.
Standing outside the van, pointing a shotgun in John Bʼs face, was not a cop. It was some guy wearing a skull mask bandana. Kaci knew who he was by the first glance — Barry, Rafeʼs dealer. "Why don't I go ahead and see them hands up in the air right now?"
Nobody did anything for a moment, too shocked to move.
"All of y'allʼs hands up in the air right now!" Barry repeated, a lot louder this time, and clicked the gun again in warning. He looked at the boy in the front. "You, outa the car, let's go!"
John B held his hands in the air, slowly backing out of Twinkie, not sure what to do with his next move, unable to do anything to protect his friends. "Out of the car! Let's go! Hurry!"
Once the boy got out the van, Barry stood back and pointed at it again, gun still aimed and in hand. "Let them out!"
JJʼs whole body tensed up and he held Kaci tighter. He wasn't going to let her or the baby get hurt — he was going to do everything in his power to protect his family.
"What you wantin' on?! What are you waitin' on?! Let them out!"
JJ leaned forward slightly, his lips millimetres away from Kaciʼs ear, and whispered, "He's not going to hurt you, okay, Princess?" He continued to hold her close, one hand on the baby, his other on her shaking one.
"All of y'all!" John B slowly slid open the back door, a sorry look on his face as he turned to all his friends. He didn't want to do it, he really didn't, but he didn't know what else he could do. "Go on! Go on! Let's get out the car! Let's go!"
Sarah, who was sitting up at the front, was the next person to climb out, jumping to her boyfriendʼs side, hands up, body trembling in fear with tears in her eyes.
"There you go, pretty girl. Here we go! Get out the car, let's go! Hurry up!"
Kie followed up shortly after the blonde girl, her hands up, and unable to breathe properly. Then Pope, who stood close to her.
"Let's go! Hurry up!"
Kaci climbed out next, taking in a deep breath as she felt the aim of the gun land on her face.
Barry smirked under his bandana. "Well, if it isn't Mrs Cameron," he mocked with a tut. "Your boy told me all about that —" He pointed down to her stomach with his gun, causing Kaciʼs spine to straighten in fear. "— almost killed himself that night, 'n' all, owes me a lotta money, Countryclub does."
Kaci hadn't spoken to Rafe since the Midsummers, but she knew he'd tried calling her a lot. She hated to admit it, and she felt so horrid for thinking it, but Kaci was a lot happier when she wasn't dealing with his crap. Since she broke up with him, it was like she'd changed into a different person. But he was still a big part of her life, and she would never forgive herself for the pain she put him through.
JJ clenched his jaw, standing in front of Kaci, but his hands up like they were ordered to be. "Listen, we're broke —"
Barry got up in his face, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Shut the hell up!
"All right! All right!" JJ shouted back, backing away so that the others could get further behind. "Just relax!"
"Shut the hell up! Shut up! I'll blow your damn head off!"
Pope pulled JJ further back, stopping him from blowing up and getting himself killed. Kaci stood beside Kie, the two girls gripping at each otherʼs hands in worry.
"Lay down in the ditch! Lay down in the ditch!"
Kaci slowly lowered herself to the ground along with the others, following by every demand this man made in fear for her babyʼs life. She knew JJ was watching her, she knew he was beyond angry about the situation.
"On your goddamn hands and knees! Down!" Barry stepped closer to JJ, who had his head turned the other way to look over Kaci, and smashed his fist over his head. "Stay here just like that! Put your head down!"
JJ kept his eyes on the girl as he watched her lay her head on the sandy ditch, shutting her eyes and trying to focus on her breathing. It pissed him off how he couldn't do anything to protect her. It pissed him off how he couldn't do anything to help his friends.
"Don't let me see you look up! Alright? That's all y'all gotta do!" Barry kept his gun and his eyes pointed on the pouges as he backed up into the van.
They could hear him flick through things, open up draws and compartments, desperately searching for something. The gold.
"This is a setup, guys," stated Kie, voice panicked and teary.
"That old bad shanked us," JJ said, pounding his fist against the ground. "Fuck! Goddamn it!"
Kaci stayed silent, praying for her sonʼs life for the second day in a row. She wasn't used to JJ getting angry, and the sudden sound of it made her flinch a little.
"Wait. No, no, no, no. John B..." Sarah whimpered, causing the others to turn back to the end of the line, watching their leader begin to rise from the ground.
"John B," Pope whispered as the boy started to walk away from the ditch. "Don't be a hero, man."
"Shh."
JJ reached out to put his hand over Kaciʼs, his expression soft again, as he silently promised to look after her. "I'm sorry for snapping," he whispered. "I'm gonna keep you and him safe, alright?"
Kaci nodded, hearing the man smash something in Twinkie.
John B ran into his car, taking the key from the front.
"Alright, y'all just stay like that!" shouted Barry, done with his search, the gold in his hand, and going back to the teenagers with the gun aimed at them. "Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads, okay?!"
JJ didn't take his eyes off Kaci, refusing to move his hand off hers. He could feel her shaking, and all he wanted to do was scoop her up in his arms and tell her it was going to be okay. All he wanted to do was kill Barry for making the most fearless girl he knew show fear. But he couldn't, he was frozen.
Barry went back to his own car, stashing the gold into it, and prepared to run off and leave the teenagers there. However, he couldn't seem to find his keys. He was sure he left them next to the wheel.
John B suddenly sat up behind him, knocking his head off the seat, and took away his gun. They both fought and tackled for it, but in the end, John B was the one leaving with the weapon. "Guys, I got the gun!"
JJ jumped up first, sprinting towards the dealer to beat the crap out of him. The two threw a good few punches, but JJ took a blow to the jaw that send him off the ground. Kie came up next, punching him once, but was then pushed away with little forced. John B hit him over the back with his own gun, putting him on the floor.
"I got the gold!" Pope called, taking the melted metal from the car.
Sarah shrieked and slammed Barryʼs head over his car door enough times for him to slump down in defeat. Pope and Kie then also kicked him in the face a few times for fun.
"You son of a bitch!"
During all this, Kaci wiped away her tears and jumped back into Twinkie to get herself some snacks, brushing off any of the dirt the ditch gave her. She felt for the baby and poked him enough to provoke him into kicking her back, before leaving the van and joining her friends outside again.
JJ tore off the manʼs bandana, which revealed his identity, though Kaci already knew exactly who it was. "I know this piece of shit!" he shouted, pointing at Barry, who was trying to find air to breathe. "He's a basehead!"
"He probably knows my brother," said Sarah.
Kaci nodded, sucking on a throat sweet. "He does," she told her. "I used to have to pay him wherever Rafe didn't."
At the mention of the ex, JJ clenched his jaw. He hated Rafe for what he did to Kaci, for what he put her through again and again. If he could have, he would've kill Rafe the night he found out what he did to the girl.
"He sells coke to my dad," the boy said, taking away to topic of Rafe, not wanting to put anymore stress on Kaci.
Kaciʼs eyes snapped up at the statement. He never spoke about his family, ever. When she asked him about it and he shrugged it off, she assumed his parents were dead. She was wrong. Very wrong.
"Listen I couldn't hurt any single one of y'all —"
JJ furiously smacked him over the head with the butt of the shotgun, causing the other boys to pull him back a little.
"JJ!"
"Dude, chill, man."
"Come on."
He shrugged them off him and bent down to search through Barryʼs pockets. The drug dealer wheezed and coughed for his breath, having been beaten to a pulp by the group of teens.
"Come on, let's get outta here."
JJ wrapped his arm around Kaciʼs waist, leaning over to look at her. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" he asked protectively, glancing back behind them to the man on the floor.
Kaci shook her head. "JJ, he didn't even touch me."
The boy nodded and opened up the green wallet he stole, finding an ID in the front, no cash there at all. "We got one last stop." JJ let go of Kaci and stormed up to the front of the van, leaving the girl a little confused.
Barry started screaming at them as they drove away, so John B tossed his keys into the woods.
𖧷
𝗞𝗮𝗰𝗶 𝘀𝗮𝘁 beside Pope during the journey, holding her stomach and glaring at JJ for the ridiculous speed he drove at. She'd never seen him like this before — not since the night at the Boneyard — and it scared her a little. Plus, she was pretty sure that if another gun was aimed at her anytime soon, her water would break way too early.
"Welcome to Crackhead Wasteland," Sarah commented dryly as JJ finally pulled up outside the trailer.
It was where he found Kaci eight months ago, drunk and alone. It was the night he met her properly, the real her, and not as the bitchy kook who hated everyone. It was the night that changed his whole life.
"I don't know about this, man," Pope worried, knowing how rough this place was and the people who lived there were.
But JJ was determined to go through with whatever genius plan he came up with.
"Dude, why are we at Barry's?" asked John B calmly.
JJ didn't answer his question directly, opening up his door and jumping out of the vehicle. "This'll only take a second."
Kaci stood up, ready to go after him, but John B shook his head. "I'll go," he told her. "He'll never forgive himself if he puts stress on you and the baby."
The girl smiled lightly at him, though her mind was stuck on the father of her baby. She knew JJ wasn't like Rafe in the slightest — they were beyond comparable — but she didn't have any experience with any other type of guys. So, when she watched JJ snap the way he was, all she could think about were all the times Rafe did, all the times he dragged her down with him, all the times she had to pick him up like a baby and take care of him. It was wrong of her to think of JJ like this, and she cursed herself for doing it, but that was all she had to reference his behaviour to. And it scared the crap out of her. She couldn't go through all that again; she liked the person she was now that it was all over.
Seeing the look on the girlʼs face, Pope gulped. "He'll snap out of it soon," he assured her and shrugged. "He's just upset that something could've happened to one of us."
Kaci nodded, biting her cheeks hard to force her face into its usual bored manner. If there was one thing growing up in her kind of family taught her, it was that emotions came after business; logic came before feelings. Tough love was the best love to have; being stubborn was the best way to be. That was how she always coped with the Rafe dramas.
But she couldn't do that when it came to JJ. She couldn't wipe away the worry. It just wasn't that simple.
She sat there for the next five minutes, fighting a losing battle agaisnt her own mind, glueing her foot to the ground to stop it from bouncing. The others watched her with concern — Pope and Kie, especially, who knew that JJ would hate himself for stressing the girl out. And Sarah, who, even as her best friend, had never witnessed Kaci lose her unbothered mindset.
"Alright, so we're looking at about five grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit. Sorry about that, y'all."
Kaci instantly climbed out of the van at the sound of his voice, stomach twisting with deja vu and anxiety to see that JJ has robbed from Barry. He didn't even acknowledge her as he went past and tried to get back to Twinkie. However, he was stopped before he could get around the corner.
"So that's what we're doing now?" asked Kie. "We're robbing drug dealers?"
"This Barry guy's gonna find out," added Sarah, eyes flickering down to Kaciʼs stomach. "And he's gonna come after us."
"Yes, he will. This is not the time to start wilin' out," Pope joined in quickly.
Kaci stayed quiet, probably for the first time in her life. For the first time in her lire, Kaci Flores found herself speechless.
"How'd you guys like having a gun pulled out on you?" questioned JJ, speaking up louder than the others.
John B shook his head, stepping forward to get up to his best friend. "Relax —"
"He had it right here on you, bro," said JJ, getting up closer into John Bʼs face, pointing a finger to his forehead.
"Look." John B pushed his hand away. "We've gotta go get the gold, okay? Just give me the shit. We're putting it back."
When the boy tried taking the duffel bag from him, JJ suddenly grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him against the side of the Twinkie.
"Do you feel like a tough guy, huh?" John B challenged, not afraid of his friend. No matter what they argued about, no matter how hard they punched each other, the two were brothers. JJ would never actually hurt him — he was confident with that fact. "What are you gonna do when he comes for us?"
"We punch him in the throat," the other responded, voice slow and different. He sounded completely different.
"Yeah, good fuckin' idea, JJ."
"I'm not putting it back."
"Dude, you're gonna be a dad in what? Another month?" The moment John B raised the subject, JJ clenched his jaw. "You can't be actin' like this when the kid comes out."
"Why not?" JJ asked.
Kaci shut her eyes slowly as the future father sat back in the vehicle, everyone else staying behind him. John B turned to her, eyes full of guilt. He didn't want her to see JJ like that, he knew JJ didn't want to be acting like that in front of her. Kaci was known for being a hardass on people, and the last thing John B wanted was for her to give up on JJ. He had never seen the boy so excited about something before the baby news, and he knew it would crush him later when he realised the shit he'd done. John B just wanted to protect his best friend from losing the one thing that brought him happiness.
"You guys getting in or what?" JJ asked, sitting on the bench. Seeing that nobody was leaving until he put the money back, he huffed and climbed back out. "What?"
John B shrugged. "We're just sick of your shit."
"Oh, my shit?" JJ retorted with a chuckle.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're shit."
"Yes," Kie agreed. "Your pulling guns on people shit."
"You acting like a freaking maniac —"
JJ shook his head. "Okay, Pope, I took the fall for you, man!" he snapped back. "You know how much money I owe because of you?"
"I'm gonna pay you back, and I didn't even ask you to do that!"
"I just did!" JJ got up in his face. "Pay it back. Right here, right now, by myself."
He looked back at the others, eyes staying on Kaciʼs for a moment, who still didn't speak up. "You know what? That's exactly what I'm going to do," he decided, turning around and taking the bag back again, slinging it over his shoulder. "Go off by myself."
Kaci shook her head, taking a few steps forward. "JJ, c'mon," she reasoned, finally opening her mouth. She felt guilty for not saying anything before, for not trying to help him out or calm him down, but she didn't know what to say. She thought of Rafe — all the times she tried helping him, and the it was always shot back in her face. But JJ wasn't Rafe, he was nothing like him. She knew that — she did — but the memories were still there, and she could never get back all those years she wasted. "Don't leave. We've got an appointment at six, remember? Let's go an see him again."
JJ shrugged simply. "That sounds like your problem, Princess."
And for the first time ever, the special nickname didn't make her feel tingly inside. It made her sick. Her stomach twisted in the wrong way and she felt so horrible for not speaking up before it was too late. JJ stormed off, alone.
Authorʼs Note
please don't hate kaci for not going with him. i am not prepared to write the next chapter at all. like, literally, i would do anything to avoid it. that's it...that's all i have to say. plus, rip thomas quinn — you were a real one.
love, tay </3