chapter 17
the next morning after the fight kiara, jj and india met up with pope at heyward's store. they talked about the events of last night, laughing at how pope had started the fight.
"don't let it get in your head. there were three of them and two of us" jj pitches in, looking at pope. "that's some typical kook shit right there" he continues, shaking his head with disgust.
india nods in agreement, helping jj put some items in bags before handing them to costumers "hell yea" she replies, turning to jj.
after last night jj had stayed over at her house. he'd told her that while it hadn't been him that sunk the boat, he had been there with pope when it had happened.
"what was your thought process, using your head?" jj asks pope, turning to him.
pope shrugs "i don't know man, i just kind of acted out of instinct" he replies as he puts in a total in the cash register.
"yes" kiara says while he continues to talk a wide smile on her face. the group sports big smiles on their faces as they continue talking about the subject.
"hey pope" heyward calls out as he enters the store. "someone here to see you" he motions behind him as a police officer enters the shop.
the group goes quiet as the officer comes closer, and india finds herself grabbing jj's arm tightly. she only hoped that they weren't here to take them.
"i have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property" the officer nears pope, and jj looks at the boy, sharing a worried glance.
the guard indicates to pope, telling him to put his hands up.
"put your hands where i can see 'em" he instructs as he grabs pope and starts to handcuff him.
instantly the group breaks out in yells, all of them trying to help pope.
"be careful!" india yells out at the officer as she sees him push him around.
jj's jaw tightens, and he lets go of india's hand as he tries to think of something.
"everything you say could and will be used against you in the court of law" the officer states, ignoring the yells of the group behind him as he starts dragging pope out of the shop.
india and kiara follow the officer, both of them yelling at him.
india tries to get to pope, but heyward holds her back, knowing that it could go very wrong for her.
she stares at pope's face, trying not to cry as she sees the shock in his expression.
"it wasn't him!" a voice yells out loudly from behind india.
the entire group of people stops what they're doing, turning to the voice.
india turns around slowly, pleading to herself that the voice talking isn't jj's.
her heart stops.
jj stands there, looking directly at the officer. he tries his best not to make eye contact with india because he knows that the moment he does he'll back down on whatever he's about to say.
"jj, no" india whispers, looking at him.
"it was me." jj continues, ignoring india and walking closer to the officer. "he tried to talk me out of it" he says, pointing to pope "but i was mad because he'd just been beaten up and they had made a comment about my girlfriend" he explains.
"i was so sick of those assholes from figure eight that i lost my shit" he continues. india stares at him as he continues to walk to the officer and pope.
she doesn't notice when kiara puts an arm around her as she sees what's going on.
jj looks at pope, chuckling. "i can't let you take the blame for something i did. you've got too much to lose"
"jj what are you doing?" pope talks back, his tone serious.
jj looks at the officer "i'm tellin' the truth. for once in my goddamn life, i'm gonna tell the truth" he calls out, his voice rising as he looks around. he points at heyward.
"i took his old man's boat, too" he pitches in after a moment.
"what the hell?" heyward says, looking at the blond boy in anger.
"jj, come on" pope pressures, not wanting jj to take the blame for something he hadn't done.
"just shut up pope!" jj snaps, turning to him. his face gleams with sweat. "just shut up" he turns to the officer "he's a good kid. you know where i'm from."
"yeah" the officer nods, staring at the boy.
"it was all me" jj takes the blame.
india watches the scene in front of her, not believing what is happening. she stares at her boyfriend pleadingly, begging for him to turn her way, but he never does.
"that's the whole truth?" the officer asks, turning to pope. pope stays silent, debating what to say.
"whole truth, swear to god" jj responds. the officer turns to him.
"i know what you think, damn it, i'm asking pope" the officer snaps.
there's a moment of silence, and india watches as jj nods to pope, urging him to tell the officer that it wasn't pope who had done it, but jj.
pope nods. it makes india's heart break.
"yeah, that about covers it" he mutters.
the officer takes off pope's handcuffs before snapping them onto jj.
it's then that jj turns to india. his heart breaks at the sight of her. the girl's eyes are filled with tears, and she looks so small as she hangs on to kiara for comfort.
"i'm sorry" he mouths at her before the officer pushes him inside the police car.
india watches silently as the car pulls away and drives off. when the car is no longer in sight india turns to kiara, hugging her tightly as she cries.
jj watches her girlfriend from inside the van. it makes him want to cry as he sees her like that, small and vulnerable, but he knows that what he did was good.
pope had everything to lose. jj had nothing.
another thing on his track record wasn't going to change a thing.
___
india didn't know what she was doing when she ran to her house. the only thing she knew was that she needed to see jj.
she had hopped into her car and sped her way through town and the cut just to get to jj's house, hoping that they had already released him by the time she got there.
the girl stopped the car a few houses down, not wanting to draw attention.
she walked down the front yard silently, looking around at the overgrown weeds and pieces of junk laid around.
she freezes when she hears the front door open. she watches as jj closes the door before turning around to face her. he stops in his tracks.
"india" jj breathes out. india lets out a shaky breath, running over to him. she stops when she reaches him, staring at his face. worry etched on her features as she sees the bruises and cuts adorning his cheekbone and jaw.
"what happened, jj?" she asks, concern passing through her.
all jj does is shake his head silently, enveloping her in a tight hug as he finally lets it all go.
he cries into her shoulder, right there in the front lawn of his house.
he cries for his father, mainly. he hated his guts. he hated the fact that he had to live with him and the fact that all he looked for was approval, and all he got was hate.
india looks up at the sky as she holds him tight in her arms. if there was something that india knew about jj was that he never cried, so for him to be crying to her... she knew something was wrong.
she pulls away after jj has calmed down, looking at his house and then back at him before grabbing his hand and pulling him.
"come on" she motions, taking him to her car. jj follows her silently.
both of them climb onto the car, jj on the passengers seat.
india doesn't start the car. instead she turns to jj.
"what happened, jj?" she asks again, her tone soothing.
jj shrugs, looking out the window.
"they're going to charge me for the repair of the boat" he takes in a shaky breath. "my dad got mad about it and he-" he pauses, motioning to his face before turning to her, tears in his eyes "india i don't have that kind of money. i don't know what-"
"hey" she whispers, reaching out to him. jj goes quiet when she holds the side of his face. she looks at him, her gaze calming him down.
"i can pay for it" she offers after a moment. she really didn't care about the money. if it meant helping jj from the situation he was in, she would put in whatever was necessary, even if her parents grounded her forever or took her away. she only cared about jj's wellbeing.
jj shakes his head "no"
"my parents won't even notice it's gone, they waste money on crazy things. 30k is nothing for them " she replies, trying to reason with him.
"i can't let you do that india. no way. i'll find a way to pay for it" he argues back.
india sighs running a hand through her hair as she slumps back in her seat. the car stays silent for a few minutes, both of them contemplating on what to do before india finally turns on the car and starts driving.
"fine. if you won't let me do that, then at least let me help you get cleaned up"
___
"first i almost get strangled to death by kooks and now i'm on the hook for 30 grand" jj sighs out, clearly frustrated with the situation. he turns to india.
"we should just dip" he proposes.
india smiles, going on with his idea "okay, where do you wanna go? hm?" she asks as she finishes cleaning his face up.
jj stays silent for a moment before making a motion with his hands. "yacatan"
"yucatan" india repeats, chuckling. jj sees her laughing and looks at her, his gaze serious.
"no, i'm dead serious right now" india stops smiling. she stays quiet for a moment, leaving the stuff on the coffee table before turning to face him completely.
"we could surf all day and we could just live off lobsters we catch with our bare hands" he continues, looking at her.
"you just wanna leave? you just wanna leave everyone behind?" she asks, reaching out to rub his shoulder.
jj brushes her hand off, standing up and pacing the room while india sits on the couch watching him.
"you didn't see the photos, india" he remarks, turning to her. "john b could get killed. they were willing to kill for the boat" he continues.
"well, maybe it means that it's out there" india tries to reason, staring up at him from the couch.
jj looks at her, suddenly desperate "don't you get it?" he yells. "for a hundred years people have been trying to find the goddamn boat and no one succeeded and now john b thinks that he can just swoop in and find it" he yells at her.
india does nothing but stare, slightly scared at the sight of her boyfriend. jj realizes that he had been screaming and sighs, running a hand through his beat-up face.
"i'm sorry, india. i didn't mean to yell, it's just- i'm tired of all this shit. i'm tired of my dad, of the kooks, of everything" he sighs out tiredly.
india stands up, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"jj, john b lost his father. he has the idea that he needs to find the gold in his honor, and i know you care about him, but sometimes you need to let people do their thing. he isn't going to stop, with or without your help" she explains, her head tilting to the side as she tries to make him understand.
she then stands on her tiptoes to give her a quick kiss before pulling back as someone knocks loudly on the door.
she frowns, not knowing who it is.
"i'll go get that," she tells jj, turning around and heading to the front door.
jj trails behind her, curious to see who it might be.
when she opens the door, she's shocked.
"john b?" she asks. john b enters the house in a hurry, turning to the both of them.
"i figured you two would be here, but-" he looks at jj "i found another way to the gold, and i'm certain that this time it's real. i have a plan, but we need to get the team and everyone."
he turns to look at the pair after a moment of silence. "are you guys in?"
india shares a look with jj before looking back at john b.
"what's the plan?"
a/n sorry for the short chapter but that's why i decided to upload two at the same time :)