"And did you miss
me while you were looking
for yourself our there?"
"SO, JOHN B SAID IT LOOKED SOMETHING LIKE THIS." Red explained the next day, sitting in the twinkie with Sarah and Kie, holding a sketch Pope had done inspired by John B’s visual of the well he had been in the previous day. “That’s 50 feet down, and they’re using a 100-foot rope.” Red’s finger trailed the sketch, moving down on the piece of paper.
“So I guess little wagon will go-” Kie started, before being laughed at by Sarah and Red because of her choice of words. “...Straight to the gold.”
“Who drew this?” Sarah snickered.
“Who do you think?” Asked Kie, the three girls turning to face where John B and Pope were talking.
Pope had been staring at the van, most specifically Kie before John B had said something for him to look back to what he was doing before staring at Kie.
“Kie, this better work.” JJ’s voice interrupted as he dropped three bars of gold in front of them. “We can’t pawn this if there’s a giant wheat symbol on it.
Red chuckled, walking away from Kie and Sarah to stand beside JJ and resting her chin on his shoulder while gently rubbing his arm.
Kie picked up the blue blow torch sitting beside her and pressed the trigger, a flame popping up from the top of it. “It’s gonna work.”
Red chuckled, watching as the teens spent about 20 minutes melting the gold down before JJ approached her, sitting next to the blonde on the bench she was comfortably seated at.
“Hello there.” Red greeted, letting JJ wrap an arm around her shoulder.
“Today is gonna be a blast.” A sarcastic smile appeared on JJ’s face, making Red chuckle.
“We’re going to the pawn shop, right?”
JJ nodded, “Yeah.”
Soon, the teens would leave, approaching the crapping pawn shop on the side of the road.
Red had been examining the gold John B had let her be the keeper of while he was driving until JJ whistled, signaling Red that he wanted his turn holding it.
Red rolled her eyes playfully, handing the gold to JJ, who offered her a smile in return.
“Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein,” JJ told Kie as the group exited the twinkie.
Bennie scoffed, “Like you could have done any better.”
“I could have done much better.” JJ defended, in a matter-a-fact tone. “I took a welding class.”
“When-”
“Hey, hey, hey-” John B got in between his sister and best friend before they could bicker anymore. He could have sworn JJ and Bennie acted more like siblings than he and Bennie when it came to bickering. “Chill out.”
“Easy for you to say then, you’re not the one who has to pawn this off!” Bennie defended, taking the gold from JJ’s hand.
“Yeah, how did we get this job anyway?” Asked JJ, beginning to walk beside Bennie towards the shop.
“Cause you two are the best liars.” Pope shrugged simply, Bennie smiling confidently before walling in the store with JJ.
“Afternoon, ma'am.” JJ greeted, approaching the woman behind the counter.
“Afternoon.”
“I see you buy gold.”
Red spaced out of the conversation between JJ, Bennie, and the store clerk and instead checked the store out beside John B, knowing she wouldn’t be buying anything, but it was okay to browse, right?
She was especially interested in the music box that she accidentally played a little too loud, gaining the clerk’s attention.
Red set the music box down, making her way behind curtains to where she couldn’t see or head JJ or anyone else anymore as she continued browsing for a few more minutes before being brought out back into the twinkie.
She noticed quickly, the area where JJ told them the lady had claimed there was gold, didn’t seem like the type of place you would find a warehouse like that.
“They really keep gold out here?” Asked Red, turning around from the window back to the group. “In the boondocks?”
“That’s what she said,” JJ responded, Bennie, chuckling from beside him.
“That’s what she said…” Bennie references the office.
“Stop,” Pope told her, the smile on her face falling.
“I’ve never even heard of resurrection drive.” Sarah voiced from the passenger seat.
“'cause, you’re rich…” JJ mumbled, trying to sound smart.
“You’ve never heard of it either,” Kie told him.
“Thank you.”
Kie perked up to look further into the window. “Red’s right. There's nothing but weeds back here.”
“Just because it’s weeds doesn’t mean it’s… like…”
It was then that the six teens in the back turned around at the sound of sirens.
“Police? Out here?” Kei questioned.
“God, are you kidding me!?” JJ complained.
“What did we do?” Sarah asked, also turning to face the cop car.
“Why are we getting pulled over?”
“JJ, stash that.” John B told, JJ to obey his command and hide it under the seat.
“Did you bring the gun, JJ?” Red asked, just making sure.
“No, everybody told me to leave it back at the place.”
“Thank God!” Kie let out a sigh. “Please, everything in your bag- How much weed do you have on you?”
“Guys… that doesn’t look like a patrol car. I-”
A cock of a gun made Red gasp as she turned to see John B at gunpoint in front of a man in a skeleton mask.
“Why don’t I just go ahead and see those hands up in the air, right now?” The man asked. Something about his voice seemed so familiar to Red, but she couldn’t process anything happening, especially not voice recognition. “All of y’all’s hands up in the air. Right now! You out of the car, let's go!” The man ordered, John B slowly stepping out of the car.
“Out of the car- let’s go. Hurry.” The man shouted again, still holding the gun towards John B. “Let them out! What are you waiting on, what are you waiting on? Let them out! All of y’all. Come on! Come on!”
John B slowly made his way around the car and opened the sliding door.
Red simply couldn’t breathe. This was the second time in two days that she was threatened with a gun, and when Barry continued shouting as all the teens got out of the car, JJ stepped in front of Red who was now trembling as she held onto the back of his shirt.
“Shut the hell up!” Barry yelled at JJ, who barely even mumbled.
“Alright, alright!” JJ yelled back slowly backing up as the man became even more aggressive. “Relax!”
“I’ll blow your head off!” Barry threatened, continuing to yell at JJ. “Lay down in the ditch! Lay down in the ditch! ON your hands and knees, down!”
The kids shakily obeyed the man’s orders, laying down in the ditch as he did not stop shouting at them.
“Put your face on the ground! Stay here just like that.” He demanded, sounding even scarier as every word slipped from his mouth. “Don’t let me see you look up!”
“It’s a setup, guys.” Kie whimpered.
“That old bat shanked us.” JJ continued, beginning to punch the ground.
“Please- don’t.” Red cried, stopping the boy from continuing. “I knew it wasn’t a real car…”
As the man in the mask continued searching the car, John B slowly stood up.
John B didn’t pay attention to everyone asking him not to do it, but before you could blink, he was already running off to the man’s fake cop car.
Just barely after John B had successfully made it into the car, the masked man came back out of the twinkie, “Alright. Y’all just stay right there. Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road.”
Bennie scoffed, gaining the attention of the man. “You don’t have the nerve to shoot a bunch of kids. Especially not me.”
“Bennie!” Pope hushed.
“Oh yeah?” The man yelled, pointing the gun at her as she stood up slowly.
“Yeah,” Bennie smirked. “I know who you are, Barry. And you wouldn’t live to see another day if Rafe and Topper find out you killed me.”
“I remember you,” Barry recalled, his voice trembling. “You’re country club’s, little sister.”
“Not even close.”
“I wasn’t talking to you!” Barry yelled, pointing to Sarah. “I was talking about you. Now you just stay here on the road, alright?”
Sarah whimpered as the man made his way back to his car.
The teens saw as John B and Barry began fighting in the car until John B managed to get him laying on the ground, and all of them over towards him.
“Guys, I got the gun!” John B grunted. The rest of them begin to fight Barry as well.
Red threw a solid right hook at the man, but she quickly slapped her in the face, JJ and John B rushed over to her defense to do the rest of the damage on him until he was on the ground enough so that JJ could tear his mask off.
“I know him too,” JJ yelled. “He’s a basehead.”
“I knew it was him.” Bennie scoffed, kneeling beside him with a sly smile. “Not so tough now, huh?”
“He sells coke to my dad,” JJ explained.
“He sells coke to Rafe,” Bennie added.
“Alright listen, I couldn’t any one of y’all-” Barry started before JJ got one last hit on him for slapping Red se he couldn’t talk anymore.
“Dude, chill man!” John B tried to calm him down.
JJ pulled his wallet out of his pocket again and opened it, pushing John B to the side. “We got one last stop.”
“Hey!” John B yelled after him, but JJ was already walking towards the twinkie.
“Let’s go see where this guy lives.”
The teens all headed back to the van, still trembling in fear as Barry yelled threats at them about how ‘he’d see them again’ and ‘he knows who they are’ but JB just threw his keys into the bushes and drive off before arriving at what was presumably Barry’s house on the cut.
“Welcome to crackhead wasteland.” Sarah mocked, looking out the window to where Barry’s neighborhood was.
“I don’t know about this, man.” Pope trembled, sounding very unsure of JJ’s choice.
JJ put the car in park, preparing to exit before John B spoke up, “Dude, why are we at Barry’s?”
JJ opened the car door, “This’ll only take a second.” He began walking towards Barry’s place.
“Where are you going?” JB yelled after him.
“Yo soy justicia!”
Pope turned to the rest of the group, “Did you glean anything from that?”
“You know you should probably-” Kie turned to Red who was about to exit the car after JJ.
“No, I got it.” John B stopped her and pushed her back into the car. “Just stay here. It’s not super safe.”
Red nodded, climbing back into her spot in the car, awaiting the pair’s arrival.
The pogues soon exited the car looking at the scenery before JJ came back out with a duffel bag. “Alright… so we’re looking at 3,570 each. For reparations and for putting us through that bull. Sorry about that y’all. And there will be some leftover, by the way.”
“So that’s what we’re doing now? We’re robbing drug dealers?” Asked Kie, in unbelief at the entire situation.
“This Barry guy is gonna find out.” Sara agreed. “And he’s gonna come after us.”
“Yes, he will. Okay, this is not the time to start wiling out!” Pope told JJ.
“How’d you guys like having a gun pulled on you?” JJ asked rhetorically, making Red shake her head, not sure whose side to take.
“Relax.” John B came up to JJ, who got up in his face, pointing his finger at John B.
“He had it right here, bro.”
“Look! We gotta go get the gold, okay?” John B reasoned, JJ was willing to hear him, but not to listen. “Just give me that, we’re putting it back!”
Before JB could take the duffel from JJ, JJ had already backed him up against the twinkie.
“Do you feel like a tough guy, huh?” John B retorted, unpleased with his best friend’s behavior. “What are we gonna do when he comes for us?”
“We punch him… in the throat,” JJ explained, sounding perfectly confident with his flammable plan.
“Yeah. Great fricken idea, JJ.”
“I’m not putting it back,” JJ told him, getting in the twinkie, and watching as everyone else stayed out of it. “You guys getting in or what?” JJ looked up to see the look on his friend’s faces and got out of the Twinkie. “What?”
“We’re sick of your shit.” John B told him, getting closer to the boy.
JJ scoffed, “Oh, my shit?”
“Yeah, yeah. Your shit.”
“Yes.” Kie cut in. “Your pulling guns on people shit.”
“You acting like a freaking maniac-” Pope started.
“Okay, Pope. I took the fall for you, man!” JJ retorted, making Pope feel bad. “You know how much money I owe because of you?”
“I’m gonna pay you back. And I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“I just did!” JJ told him. “...Pay it back. Right here. Right now. By myself. And I don’t care what happens to me.”
“Yeah, well I do.” Red cut in, standing beside Pope with her arms crossed. “I care about what happens to you. In fact, we all do. And I know… that maybe you’re not used to people caring, but-”
“Shut up, Red! Just shut up.” JJ snapped. “Not everyone can be as up their own ass as you are. What did I expect? You’re the deputy’s daughter. That’s all.”
“You don’t mean that…”
“JJ stop!” John B told him. “Keep acting like this and you’re gonna end up alone.”
“You know what? That’s exactly what I’m gonna do.” JJ told, grabbing the duffel bag from the twinkie. “I’m gonna go off. By myself.”
“JJ-” Red started, JJ not even turning around as he continued walking away.
“Red, it’s okay.” John B comforted her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as he watched her eyes fill with tears.
“Just… Let him go.” Kie sighed, laying her hand on Red’s other shoulder.
Later that day, the group, minus JJ were gathered around a table at The Wreck, Red remaining silent almost the entire time as she fiddled with JJ’s necklace around her neck.
“Look… he’ll come around, alright.” John B rubbed Red’s shoulder, seeing that something was up by her body language. “He’s doing a JJ thing.”
“Do you think he’ll go home?” Asked Kie, not bringing her head up to look at who she was asking.
“There's about a zero percent chance that JJ goes home.” Pope reasoned, Red letting out a small sigh and resting her chin in her arms.
John B took a breath, looking back at Red. “You okay?”
Red nodded slowly, not wanting to talk. “Yeah.”
“Are you?” Asked Sarah.
“I mean I’m in one piece… so.”
Pope let out a sigh, “Okay. 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 it in a- a safe or a vault or something. I- I don’t know. Just until we can find someone who won’t rip us off.”
“Around here, that’s not happening.” Bennie reasoned, going to stand by Pope at the end of the table.
“I… can figure it out tonight, get it all done and we can get it out there as early as tomorrow morning.”
“Alright, let’s do it.” John B agreed, not really having any better ideas.
“What about that thing with my dad?” Sarah brought up, apparently, John B had to do some fishing thing with Mr. Cameron.
“Crap…” John B muttered as if remembering it now that Sarah had brought it up.
“What thing?” Asked Pope.
“I… have to go fishing with Ward,”
Kie sighed, “You can’t get 400 million to cause your gonna go… kill fish?”
“Look, I have to go.”
“Blow it off, John B!” Bennie suggested. “God knows how many times I’ve avoided 1 on 1 time with my mom’s boyfriends! Just make something up. It’s literally 400 million in gold!”
“Look… I- I have to. Okay?” John B muttered, turning towards Sarah. “He… He saved me, alright. And if it weren’t for Ward, I’d be in foster care. So… I have to go. Plus, it’d be better to do it at night.” John B looked around the table. “Right?”
Pope jut his bottom lip out, “Fine, fine. Go fishing.”
“And at least JJ will probably have washed up by then.” Kie looked over at Red, who perked up and back down at the mention of JJ.
After the pogue's little ‘meeting’ at The Wreck. Red wanted nothing but to go home. She figured she’d probably tag along with Pope and Kie trying to figure out how to get the gold from the well, but until then, she was perfectly fine sitting in her thoughts.
There was no denying that that day was a trip. Not just for Red, but for everyone.
To be honest, Red had no idea what was going to happen between Red and JJ from that point on. She didn’t know what to say.
It was like JJ’s words were on repeat in her head.
‘Not everyone can be as up their own ass as you.’
And ‘You’re the Deputy’s daughter, that’s it.’
Of course, even Red felt guilty. Even though she shouldn't have, she did. She felt guilty for compassion, and that wasn’t right.
Red never did build up the courage to text, call, or go see JJ after what happened. She just wanted everything to work itself out, if it ever did.
The truth was, Red was never good about expressing how she felt, nor telling people because she had been gaslighted so many times before, she would always take the blame.
She knew she needed to put on her act, put on her mask, and hide in her emotional box until the end of the day, as it would all come out eventually. Like a ticking time bomb.
“So we gotta be done before my scholarship interview in the morning,” Pope explained from the driver’s seat of the pickup the three teens sat in, ready to work out their night.
“Okay, well we gotta focus.” Kie reminded, knowing that Pope would probably have jitters for the interview, and might not be able to focus on their mission.
“I know, it’s gonna be fine,” Pope assured Kie, parking the car. “We gave John B and JJ inside the well, and Me and Bennie up top.”
“Okay, well what about Me, Sarah, and Kie?” Asked Red, slamming the car door of the pickup.
“You three will be outside transporting.”
“So the decoys,” Red smirked.
“What?”
“We’re the decoys.”
“Yeah… if that’s okay.”
Kie grinned, throwing an arm around Red, “Yeah, we got this.”
“Cool.” Pope held his thumbs up as he exited the car.
The three walked over to the back of the truck before Pope spoke again.
“Okay, I got a winch.”
“Yeah…” Kie nodded in understanding.
“That tin can hold over like… 200, 300 pounds.”
Red grinned, messing with Pope’s hair, “Aw, You’re so damn cute, Pope.”
“Don’t touch that!”
“Thanks.” Kie blurted.
Pope faced Kie, “Uh… for what?”
“Stranding us… making us make up.” Kie referred to Sarah, obviously.
“What makes you think that was me?”
Suddenly, a whittling started, and the lights around the three turned on.
“What in the Sam Hill…” Red muttered, confused as to why the lights turned on.
“Who is that?” Asked Kie, beginning to walk towards a boy in a hot tub and party lights all around him.
“What did you do, JJ?” Asked Pope, coming to a halt in front of JJ who sat in the hot tub with sunglasses on.
“I got a jet going straight in my butt right now.” JJ smiled, holding up a champagne bottle. “Y’all should get in… immediately. Do you hear me?” He held up the bottle in his hand again. “Salud!”
“How much did this cost?” Pope questioned, looking over at Red who stood with a confused but pitiful expression on her face.
“Well… with the generation. The petrol and- Oh, Hey! Express delivery.” JJ chuckled, very clearly drunk. “Pretty much all of it, yeah!”
“All of it?” Asked Red, finally speaking up.
“Yeah, all of it.”
Pope scoffed, “You spent all the money in one day?”
“Yeah. burned a hole right through my pocket.” JJ shook his head. “But I mean like- come on guys! Look at this! Finest in jet-based massage therapy. That’s what they told me.”
Kie shook her head, gaining JJ’s attention.
“Kie, what?” He asked. “Can’t a man have any luxury in life? Come on! All this scrimping and scraping. I mean like… guys- you only live once, right? Enough of this emotional crap, Red. Get in the cat’s ass come on.”
“In that what?” Red questioned, feeling deeply sorry for JJ, even though he had said some pretty nasty stuff to her earlier.
“In the cat’s ass.” JJ smiled, proudly. “That’s what I named her. Oh- and hey, I almost forgot.” JJ clicked a button on the hot tub that gets squirting water and the lights flashed. “Yeah, that’s right. I know. Disco mode. That’s right, baby!”
“Are you kidding me?” Pope asked in unbelief. “You could have paid for restitution!”
“Or literally given it to any charity!” Kie added, turning to Pope again.
“Or better yet, you could have helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well-”
“Okay, well you know what? I didn’t do that!” JJ yelled, standing up in the hot tub, revealing multiple bruises and scrapes on his chest. Red’s heart shattered seeing the boy’s condition. “I got a hut tub. For my friends. I got a hut tub for my friends. You know what- no. I got a hot tub for my family.”
“JJ what the hell?” Asked Kie.
“I got this for you!” JJ reasoned, turning around in the hot tub. “Guys look what I did for you, alright?! Look at this! Look at this!”
“JJ-” Red studdered, looking at the boy with glassy eyes.
JJ’s voice cracked in tears as he spoke to Red, “Just stop being emotional it’s fine! Okay?” Red began walking towards where JJ was standing in the hot tub. “I mean it’s sweet, right? Just get in!”
Red approached JJ, putting her legs in the hot tub and wrapping her arms around the boy, who affectionately hugged her back as they cried together.
“I just couldn’t do it-” JJ sobbed, hugging the girl tighter as she looked up at the sky. “I can’t take him anymore… I was gonna kill him…”
Red stroked the back of JJ’s neck and his back before Pope and Kie got into the hut tub to embrace JJ as well.
“I just wanna do the right thing…” JJ muttered to the three of them.
“I know…” Red responded tearfully, only hugging him tighter, “You will. You will…”
After the four teens finally pulled away from their emotional hug, Red decided it would be the safest option if she stayed in the Chateau, just for tonight.
Red set up the pull-out bed in the living room and set the sheets along with some blankets on top.
She pulled her hair up into a low ponytail and ended up throwing on one of the T-shirts that belonged to any one of the boys, as they shared most clothes, and called it good.
Just as Red became comfortable on the couch, she heard the creak of a door, immediately jumping at the noise.
The light turned on, revealing JJ, who stood there blankly for a moment before blinking rapidly, “Did Kie and Pope leave?”
Red sat up, turning the lamp on, “Yeah… Yeah, they did. Are you feeling better?”
“I feel…” JJ started as if debating on what to say. “I don’t know. I can’t sleep.”
“Oh…”
“Can you help me?” He asked, no context behind the question at all. “Fall asleep.”
“Want like a bedtime story?” Red scrunched her face up into a confused expression.
JJ shook his head. “Stay with me, just until I fall asleep.”
Red smiled slightly, pulling the sheet off of her and walking JJ into the spare bedroom, and laying him down.
She climbed into the bed beside him, gently moving under the covers and JJ made himself as comfortable as the little spoon.
Red gently played with the strands of hair falling into the boy’s face before he lifted his head up to the girl.
“I love you.”
Red was caught off guard by his words. Nobody but the family had ever told her that before… and it scared her. In fact, not even her father said that anymore. She hadn’t heard those words since her mom died.
She didn’t know how to react so she cleared her throat, the words clearly meant something meaningful to her and didn’t want anyone to go wasting them unless they meant it. “You’re drunk.”
“Maybe, but I love you.”
Red shook her head with a smile, “Ditto.”
jj almost ruined everything
but thank god for that
damn hot tub, because
It heals everything
apparently lol