*a/n: this is the longest chapter i've ever written... enjoy <3
CHAPTER NINETEEN
where's our epic background music
JJ takes us to a stretch way ahead of the train. We quickly hop off the bike. I slide the backpack off my shoulders and toss it to JJ, who catches it in the air. We run to the train rails, knowing that we're in a hurry.
JJ must be really nervous. He trips on his own feet and falls face first to the ground. I don't even have time to laugh before he's back on his feet again.
"Are you okay?" I roll my lips, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Alright." I snort.
He stops by the traffic signal, and I jump on the train rails, waiting for him to connect the cables.
"Let's fry this sucker," He says, connecting one end to the traffic signal. "Okay, now all you have to do," He jumps to the train rails next to me, holding both cables, "Is change the current. Let's go."
"Alright, please don't get electrocuted." I beg, watching him handle the cables carelessly.
"Yeah, no promises with that."
"Great, thanks, baby. That's awesome."
JJ connects the cables, and looks up at the traffic lights, "Moment of truth."
Nothing happens. Nothing. Just green lights. Green fucking lights.
"JJ... Nothing's happening."
"Okay." He takes off his hat, and runs his hands through his hair, "That's what he would do, that's literally wha- So then it'd change red. Oh my God."
While he panics and paces anxiously, I look down at the jumper cables. Something from class keeps coming to the back of my mind, but I can't quite remember what it is.
Pope said this should close the circuit. If it closes, then it has to be like a door. A door has hinges on one side, but it does touch both sides of the doorframe. So, maybe...
"Okay, what if I blockaded the track?"
"I think... I think it's supposed to touch the two sides..." I think out loud while JJ panics.
"That's what I could do. Maybe put a tree?"
I unhook one of the ends of the cable, praying that it doesn't electrocute me. I squint my eyes in advance, preparing to connect it to the other side of the rails. The sound makes JJ whip his head at me, finally noticing what I am doing.
We both look up at the green lights, and after what feels like an eternity, they turn freaking red.
Amazing color. Wonderful, love it so much. Red owns my heart. Mwuah! Not only is it a great album by one of the most amazing singers alive, it is also the color that's gonna save our friends' asses.
"That's what I'm talking about!" JJ cheers. He quickly turns around, pulling me in a tight hug, before pressing a kiss to my brow. "God, you're a genius. I was gonna do that."
"It's science. It's all you, babe." I chuckle, patting his back. "Although, how the fuck where you planing on putting a tree there?"
"Let's not talk about that, alright?"
"Okay," I chuckle. "Now what?"
"Now we wait."
"I hate waiting."
Lucky me, I didn't have to wait much. The train slowly comes into our visual field, and it appears to slow down as it reaches the traffic light, tolling its bell.
"She's slowing down." JJ mutters, glancing happily at me.
"God, we're such a good team." I grab JJ's face, pulling him towards me, leaving a loud kiss on his cheek.
Hiding behind the bushes, we hear a siren and soon a police car comes in. Two officers come out of it, holding their flashlights towards the red light. We watch them unhook the cables from the train rail, and that's when panic hits me.
"Fuck," I mumble, grabbing JJ's sleeve so tight my knuckles turn white.
My heart hammers inside my chest, and I'm feeling the now familiar rush of adrenaline that fear induces me. I gotta admit, although I'm scared shitless, it is also kind of exciting. Dangerous thing it is, to feel a rush of excitement when you're looking danger in the eye.
The lights turn green again, and the only thing I can think of is Pope and Cleo.
"They've had enough time, right?" I ask JJ, "I mean, they've got to have the cross already, right?"
"I don't know, Bee." JJ bites down anxiously on his lower lip. The car drives away, and the train hisses, tolling its bell again. "The train's starting."
"We gotta go get them." I shake my head, "Hate to say it but it's impossible they got it."
"There goes the plan, alright. We gotta help them."
We rush to the spot where we hid JJ's bike behind some bushes. He trips on the way, only this time he manages to not fall down. His hand flies to the front pocket of his pants, searching for the keys.
When he pulls them out, something falls out of his pocket. I crouch down, picking it up for him, "Hey, J, you dropped this-," I frown, seeing what I have in my hand.
It's a money clip, full of bills, and the initials MC are engraved on it. This feels familiar for some reason. I've seen it before. Where have I seen this before?
Memories from back when I lived with the Carrera's come to mind, and there's one specifically, in which Mike Carrera paid for Kiara and I's lunch. This was the money clip he pulled out of his pocket.
JJ stole from Kie's father.
"What the fuck, JJ?" I fume.
He's already on his bike, and he doesn't dare to look at me when he speaks, instead, he looks down in front of him, "If I'm gonna be accused of being a thief, might as well get something out of it."
"We don't steal from our friends, JJ!"
"They're not our friends, Bee!" He raises his voice, "Didn't you hear what they said about us?" He chuckles, now looking above his shoulder at me. "They're already against us. So who cares?"
"I care, JJ. They didn't have a reason. You just gave them one!"
"Okay, you know what?" He gets impatient now, "We don't have time for this."
"You're giving this back to Kie. And you're apologizing." I point at him, still with the money in my hand, clutching it hard.
"Get on, Bee."
"You can't just ignore this, JJ!"
"Get on the bike, Brizo." He repeats slowly and firmly, with a stoic face. His blue eyes glance between mine and his bike, silently giving an order.
I hold eye contact, just to piss him off because right now it is what he deserves. He's tapping his fingers against the handlebars, getting impatient with me. Still, I refuse to get on the bike until he promises he'll apologize.
Then, a truck drives by, and out of the corner of my eye I see Pope and Cleo on the bed of the truck, holding a huge wooden box steady.
"That's Top." JJ recognizes. "And that's the cross. Get on!"
To be honest, in any other situation, I'd folded completely the first time he said get on. But not today.
Do we steal? Yes, of course. Do we steal from the poor? No, we don't. Do we steal from our friends? No, we don't. Even if their parents are real assholes. We don't. Because then, we give them a motive to kick us out of their homes.
I hate to get on the bike right now. I hate that for a small fraction of a second JJ plasters a smirk on his face knowing that he's won for now.
He revs the engine as I jump on, grabbing onto his shoulders for stability and then switching my hold to his waist.
Soon we're catching up with Topper's car. His tires screech as he takes a curve, and JJ speeds, trying to get as close to it as he can.
The wind is blowing in my face, making my braid flutter and hit my back every two seconds. I glance back to see the cops are chasing us, sirens wailing and lights blinding me for a moment.
"J, they're on us!" I scream so he can hear me.
"I know, I know!"
JJ speeds even more to the left, meeting the car parallelly instead of driving behind it. I'm not sure what he has in mind, but I do know that his head is planning on doing something.
"What are you doing?" Pope screams, watching us from the truck.
"Top, keep going straight!" JJ screams, gesturing with his hand for Topper to keep the car going forward.
"JJ, what are you doing?" I yell, glancing back at the cops still following us.
Then, JJ looks at me above his shoulder and says the worst thing he's ever said to me in all the years I've known him, "Get ready to jump!"
"What?!" Both Pope and I yell at the same time.
"You really think this is a good idea?!" Pope yells.
"No!"
"Okay, I'd be concerned if you did!"
"Come on, Bee! Get ready!"
"Have you lost your fucking mind?!" I yell at him, trying to get a glimpse of his face.
"Probably!" He glances back at the cops for a second, "Get ready to jump!"
The handlebars of JJ's bike almost scrape the paint from Topper's truck. We're next to it. There's no reason for me to think that I may die on the road, right? It's just a tiny little jump.
Oh, for fuck's sake. Why is it always me?
I look terrified at Pope, who matches the horror on my face. Cleo is behind him, holding onto the container with the cross.
Pope nods his head and stretches out his arms, gesturing with his hands, "Come on, come on. I've got you. I've got you, Bee J."
"I swear to God, Pope, if you drop me...!" I yell, gulping hard.
I put my hand on JJ's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. Then, I slowly start to raise up, feeling my legs tremble. That's when I realize that I've got to do it quickly, or else I won't make it. The bike shakes with my everymove. JJ is trying his best to make this easier for me, although it's not easy.
"Oh, to hell with this." I mutter to myself, giving myself a thrust up.
In less than a second I've got on foot in the air, and Pope is holding my arm, while my other foot is still on the bike and my hand still holds onto JJ's shoulder. He leans towards the truck, hoisting himself up a little, so I can keep clinging onto him when I jump.
Pope does catch me, and he does it midair when I finally step off the bike, landing on top of the cross with a groan.
"Are you okay?" Pope yells, checking on me.
"I'm fine!" I say, rolling on my side, getting myself on all fours. I crawl backwards, until I'm in the tiny spot between the car and the cross, right in the middle between Cleo and Pope.
I notice JJ is not beside the car anymore. My eyes flash up, seeing him go the opposite way. His tires screech as he stops on a wheelie. My heart is beating so fast, this time I'm actually afraid it's gonna pierce through my chest.
"What's he gonna do?" Cleo yells.
"I don't know. I don't think he knows either."
"Oh, he knows exactly what he's doing." I mutter under my breath with a smirk, knowing now why JJ wanted me off that bike as soon as possible.
We see him pick something up from the ground - my guess is it's a rock, and then he revs the engine. He goes on full speed towards the cops, and when he's merely inches close, he throws the rock at their car crashing their windshield. The cops then turn around and chase him instead.
"He did it! They're chasing him!"
A proud smile plasters on my face for just a second, before I realize that JJ's reckless enough to keep this chase on forever. He needs us now.
"Topper, stop the truck!"
I hear bickering from the inside, I think it's Sarah telling him to stop the car. So do Pope and Cleo, and Kie. All of us, for that matter, demand that Topper stops the truck.
"I'm not going to jail for you and your psycho boyfriend! No chance!" Topper yells, meeting my eyes through the rear view mirror.
"If you don't stop the fucking truck right now, I swear to God, Topper, jail won't be the worst of your problems!"
Fear installs in his eyes hearing my words, and then he stops the truck, but still refuses to turn around to go help JJ.
"They're gonna arrest him. We can't leave him behind." Blondie tries to make him reason, but Topper shakes his head, and purses his lips.
"Okay, that's it. I've had enough." I scrunch up my nose in disgust, jumping out of the bed of the truck.
"Bee J, where are you going?" Pope yells at me.
My feet hit the ground, and every step I take towards Topper's door fuels me with pure rage and adrenaline. His eyes look frantic and scared when he notices me through his window. Soon, his face morphes into confusion, when I open his door.
"Get the fuck out." I glare at him, grabbing his arm and physically pulling him out of the truck.
Topper's so surprised by my actions that he doesn't even realize what's happening until he's out of the car and rolling on the ground. He looks up at me petrified, taking his place in the driver's seat, closing the door behind me.
I roll down the window and say, "You have three seconds to get in before I leave without you."
Terror takes over him and he can't get up from the ground fast enough, jumping on the back seat with Kiara.
"Good," I smirk, satisfied with how things are going now. "You guys know the rules," I start the motor, and turn around, driving towards the cops. "No Pogues left behind."
"Is this seriously worth it?" Topper cries in the backseat, "What do you even see in him?"
"Everything you don't!"
I'm driving, holding the wheel with sweaty hands and begging for my friends to not bring up the fact that I hate driving, and that I've only driven the Twinkie twice in the last year. So, maybe, I'm not the most qualified for this job.
Am I still better at it than Topper? You can fucking bet I am.
"Go faster, you need to go faster." Blondie says next to me with her eyes fixed on the road.
"Say no more," I step on the gas, making the whole group hit their backs with the car seats.
I feel drops of sweat slowly making their way down my neck and forehead, and I'm quite sure my lip is bleeding because of the strength I'm putting on biting down on it. The road feels slippery, although I'm pretty sure that's only in my head.
"Turn left, Bee J!" Pope yells, standing still on the back of the truck.
"Hold on tight!" I yell, before yanking the wheel to the side.
The tires screech, and Topper - who apparently hasn't listened to me - smacks himself against the window with a loud thud.
My eyes quickly find JJ, on the other side of the road. I step on the gas, trying not to lose him, glancing between him and the road ahead.
"What is he doing?!" I yell frowning.
There's no way out where he is going. What the hell is his plan?
I make a turn to the right, again harshly, making everyone inside the truck groan and slide to the side. The engine revs as I try to drive even faster than I already am. I've lost sight of JJ for a second-
"No way, he's up on the overpass."
"What?" I lean forward, trying to catch a glimpse of him.
Next thing I know is honks are horned, lights are flashed, and JJ's bike is flying through the air with rubble from above. My eyes open wide, stepping on the brakes abruptly as I turn the wheel to the right, avoiding getting hit.
I open the door and jump out of the car, tripping and falling to the ground. I quickly get back on my feet, feeling my pulse in my ears. Remains of what used to be JJ's bike are scattered around everywhere. And he's nowhere to be found.
"No, no, no, come on, come on." I mumble, pacing around, kicking pieces of the bike, and lifting blocks of stone. "Where is he?!" I pant, taking fistfulls of my hair and pulling out of desperation.
I feel myself shaking, as my arms curl around my head. "No, no, no, please, don't do this to me. This is not happening, this is not happening," I keep mumbling to myself as emotion chokes my voice.
"Maybe he's up on the bridge." Pope suggests, seeing as I drop on my knees, burning my hands on my own hair.
I feel this tightness on my chest, dragging my nails down my cheeks as my fingers meet the salt tears. My teeth bite down on my bottom lip, feeling a desperation I haven't felt since John B and Sarah got lost in the storm.
This can't be happening. I can't be losing him. Not, not him. This can't be real.
My body can't take it anymore, and a quiet sob comes out of my lips and my eyes shut, not wanting to see anymore of this. I rock in place, shaking my head, with my whole body bent forward. I can feel what I think are Kiara's hands on my shoulders, and her voice trying to sooth me comes to my ears.
"I wish I could say I did that on purpose," My head jerks up with wide eyes, hearing JJ's voice. The rest of the Pogues turn around, too. "But that was the gnarliest powerslide I've ever done." He pants.
I'm stuck. My legs feel stiff, and I can't take my eyes out of him. He's alive. He's alive and standing there, as if he hadn't just jumped off a fucking bridge with his bike.
"You're alive!" Pope and Kiara are the first ones to run to him and pull him in a hug with laughter.
"I know, I'm surprised too!" JJ laughs.
"Shit, that was gnarly!" Topper says with excitement.
"That was- Oh, Jesus," JJ exclaims, when Sarah first pushes him angrily and then pulls him in a hug.
"We really thought you did it this time, Jayj." She cries while hugging her arms tight around him.
They pull apart, and when Pope says we should get out of there, they follow him to the truck without question. I don't. I stay there.
I slowly walk over to JJ, who swallows hard, keeping eye contact, and looking terrified of wherever I may say to him. I point my index finger at him, and press it hard against his chest while looking up at his eyes.
"Don't you ever fucking that again, Maybank." My eyes switch between both of his, and my voice trembles when I speak.
"But it was so fun." He teases as his eyes soften, with a lopsided smile slowly appearing on his face.
A laugh escapes me, and before I know it the laugh is mixed with sobs as I throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. One of his arms hugs my waist, pulling me closer, while his other hand grabs me by the neck, pushing away my braid.
"I'm here. I'm okay." He whispers, kissing my head repeatedly.
"Hey!" We pull apart startled, looking up at one of the cops looking down at us from the bridge, "Hey, you kids, don't move!"
"Go!" JJ grabs my arm, pushing me to run.
We jump on the backseat, with Kiara, Pope and Cleo. The five of us squeezed together. I have to sit on JJ's lap to leave more room for movement, and then Topper starts the car and drives us south.
"Shit, they definitely called it in." Topper claims.
"Top, Top! Turn here!" JJ instructs, patting Topper's shoulder.
"Don't touch- Don't touch the driver, man." Topper complains.
"Topper, just turn around!" JJ tries again, stretching out his hand until Blondie smacks it away.
"Stop! He said don't touch the driver!"
"I should be the driver!" I yell through all the chaos.
"Go faster!" Cleo yells from next to me.
"If I go faster, that's gonna draw attention!"
"Yeah, I feel like that ship has sailed at this point." JJ says sarcastically.
"You guys are a nightmare. Do you argue about absolutely everything?"
"Yes!" The six of us yell in response at the same time.
"Put the pedal to the metal, boy!" Cleo insists.
"Maybe put it a little bit, you're going 65!"
"Alright, screw it. Here we go!" And finally, Topper steps on the gas.
The car speeds and JJ taps on my thigh happily, looking out of the window, "There you go! That's what I'm talking about!"
Of course, it's us. We can't have luck for more than two minutes.
A bump on the road makes us all jump in our seats, and with a loud thud we know the cross has fallen from the truck. Topper stops the car, ties creeching, while we yell at him for going too fast.
We rush outside, and help Pope pull the lid open to check if the cross is intact. But the cross isn't there. It's just cement. Fucking cement.
"It's fake," Pope mumbles.
"So you're telling me we pulled our best stunt to the date... for nothing?" I rub my eyes with the heels of my hands.
"Of course we did. Of course we stole a fake." JJ exhales.
"Pope, I'm so sorry," Blondie says softly.
I see Pope crouched down next to the box, and I walk to him. I get on my knees next to him, and wrap my arm around his shoulders pulling him to a side hug. I rest my head on my hand above his shoulder.
"I'm so, so, sorry, P." I whisper.
Sirens wail in the distance, but they're close. We know they're close. We have to go now.
"Y'all hear that? Okay, I can't be here. My grandfather's a judge."
"Oh, for fucks sake, Topper. Shut the fuck up, already." I groan, rubbing Pope's arm before helping him stand up after getting up myself.
Pope doesn't move. I glance behind my shoulder, and I notice the look Cleo is giving him. I smile to myself, and I join JJ, who is waiting for me with his arm open and he wraps it around my soldiers when I'm near him. We walk towards the truck, and he opens the back door for me.
"Yeah, dog, you relax?" JJ agrees with me, "They're not gonna think some dude in flip-flops is a part of a robbery, okay?"
"Oh, yeah, with the crate sitting right next to my truck."
"Topper, I hate you so damn much, dude." I say, letting out a deep breath, letting myself lean back on the car seats. "You can't imagine how badly I want this partnership to be over."