chapter 33
india watches as jj pushes the warehouse door open with a grunt.
her eyebrows rise as she sees the boat appear from behind the doors.
"there she be" jj sighs out as he looks at the boat with wonder.
the trio walks inside, all of them watching the boat. it sat still on the tow, dusty and used, but grand.
jj smiles as he walks closer to the boat. "hey girl" he mutters as he takes off the covers and pushes them to the floor. "a 1983 formula 492 sr1. the phantom" he sighs out happily.
if there was something that made him happy other than india, it was this boat. and weed, of course.
"are you sure this will get john b to the mainland safely? there's a storm coming in" india tells the boy, looking at the boat with a worried look.
"it's the first boat to make the run to the bermuda in under 16 hours, indi. it'll be fine" he responds, patting the boat.
"it's forty years old! forty" he looks at the boat in wonder. "it's still the fastest thing that kildare's ever seen"
"it's kind of a junker" kiara mutters, her tone flat as she motions to the boat.
jj turns to her, his smile fading away. "really? she's right there, kie. she can hear you"
india lets out a laugh as she looks at jj. "you're going crazy, jj"
jj turns to her, motioning to the boat with wide eyes.
"princess, you would not be smokin' weed right now if she never existed, okay?" he declares, leaning down and grabbing the equipment that he needs.
"well, let's hope it runs" india tells him a hint of amusement in her tone.
"oh she'll run. she's faster than any cutters the boys in blue got"
india turns around, a smile on her face as she hears a motorcycle arrive.
"that must be pope" she declares happily as she starts walking towards the entrance. for a second, she thought that her hopes might come true and everything would workout according to planned.
"hey there"
india's blood runs cold. she stops, looking at rafe.
rafe looks around, laughing at the girl in front of him.
"didn't know you hung out with lowlifes now." he tells her, turning to look at jj.
"jj!" he calls out, waving. "how you guys doing?" he questions.
jj stops what he's doing, looking up at rafe. his gaze instantly jumps to india, who's looking like she might faint.
"really, india? not even four weeks and you're whoring around with a pogue? i have to say, that's low, even for you" rafe mutters lowly, an evil smile adorning his face.
jj's fists clench as rafe walks closer to india.
"now, india, it might not be too late for you to come back with me. i could offer you a lot. i could treat you right" he tries to convince her.
"like hell, you would" jj responds before india can, about to go and hit rafe when someone whistles from behind him.
"well, well..." a new voice pitches in.
the group turns around, watching as barry walks into the warehouse. he chuckles as he loads his gun, pointing it right at jj.
jj holds his hands up, panic racing through his body.
"see, don't think i forgot about me and you on the side of the road" barry smirks, looking at jj up and down.
behind jj, rafe grabs india by the neck, holding her tight.
"rafe! let go, please!" she pleads, tears brimming on her eyes as she tries to get him to let go of her neck.
rafe laughs, tightening his grip. jj turns to look at them, for a moment about to go and help her when barry pushes the barrel of the gun into his chest.
"hey, hey. eyes here" he mutters happily, teasing the boy in front of him. "i'm here because i want my motherfuckin' money" he explains.
he looks at rafe. "and he's here to get what you stole from him" he points to india, who is screaming at barry as rafe holds her back.
in a second, barry punches jj with the gun, sending him struggling on the floor as he punches him again.
barry turns to kiara, pointing the gun at her.
"where's john b?" he demands, walking up to her.
india watches as kiara slaps him across the face, sending him tumbling back.
"you're gonna wish you didn't do that" rafe calls out from the side, his hold still tight on india.
"i know what you did, rafe. you murdered peterkin" india struggles out, starting to get out of breath.
rafe turns india around so that he faces her, his hand tight on her face. india can start to feel the bruises his fingers are gonna leave on her cheeks.
"listen to me" rafe spits out slowly. "don't you ever say those fucking words again." he tells her through gritted teeth as he inches closer to her.
"rafe" she exhales, scared of him and what he might do.
"where is john b?!" he questions, lifting her up in the air.
"i don't know!" india yells back, sobbing.
rafe puts her down, his hand slapping her across the cheek.
"i'm going to fucking kill you for that!" jj yells out from the floor, watching as india lets out another sob from the floor.
rafe turns to jj, a laugh on the back of his throat. "oh yeah?" he taunts, walking up to him. "you're gonna kill me?" he laughs.
"tell me, you fuck her yet? she's really good at that, you know?" he continues to tease at jj. "i mean, that's why i shared her with my friends at parties. she's just- she's a good fuck. it makes sense cause she's a whore. she's a fuckin-" he stops suddenly, letting out a yell as somebody hits him from behind with a metal pole.
"don't you ever say that again!" pope shouts from behind him as he continues to hit rafe. he hadn't known india for long, but he wasn't going to let someone like rafe talk about his friend that way.
rafe lets out another pained yell before barry pushes pope out of the way. it gives jj a chance to catch his breath.
words couldn't describe how angry the boy was. he was going to kill rafe for what he had said about india. he was going to make sure he suffered just like he'd made her suffer for months. jj was going to do what india hadn't done, and that was fight back.
becuase india deserved that. she deserved everything good in the world, and jj was going to make sure that she got it.
he takes the moment that rafe pauses as a chance to tackle him to the ground.
instantly, he punches him in the nose as hard as he can, sitting on top of him. jj was seeing red, and there was no one that could stop him.
"i-" he punches rafe "told-" punch "you-" punch "you'd die-" he punches him again, drawing blood. "for that"
below him, rafe is struggling for breath. his nose is bleeding and he has several cuts from where jj was punching him.
jj pulls him up, pushing him against the wall as he knees him in the stomach and punches him again. there was nothing that could stop him, not even rafe going uncounciouds.
"you're crazy if you think india is going back to you. after you treated her like shit?! after you abused her?! raped her?! i don't know why she stuck with you so long, but i'm happy as hell that she's not with you anymore" he strains out between punches.
rafe grunts as jj hits him on the jaw, blood sputtering from his mouth and into jj's shirt.
"jj that's enough!" kiara yells out hoarsely, trying to stop the boy's punches.
jj ignores her, grabbing one of the cords from the shop and tying it around rafe's neck.
pope looks at what's happening and runs to jj, trying to pull him back from rafe. jj struggles back, choking rafe with all the strength that he can manage.
"snap out of it dude!" pope yells at jj, still trying to pull him back.
"stop!" kiara yells out. "you're going too far!"
"jj, stop"
that voice. it makes jj stop in his tracks, finally snapping out of his trance. he hyperventilates, letting the rope fall to the ground.
he watches, his eyes wide as rafe slumps to the ground in defeat, blood oozing from his mouth and nose as well as from the cuts on his face.
then, jj finally looks up.
india stands there. she looks small and fragile. her cheek is red from where rafe slapped her, and there's finger marks forming on her neck. her eyes are wide, her face white as snow as she looks at jj.
pope lets jj go of his grip, looking down at rafe.
still, india and jj don't break eye contact.
there was something in india's eyes that made jj realize that maybe he had gone too far, and that maybe it hadn't been the best moment, but he pushed those thoughts away.
india gulps, looking down at rafe and then back at jj, walking slow steps towards them.
jj just stands there, heaving in breaths as what he did starts to sink in.
"i needed to do that. for all of the things he did to you" he mutters softly at the girl as he continues to pant. his tone is vulnerable, and his eyes hold pain.
india nods, taking in a breath as she puts her hand on his cheek. "it's okay, j" she smiles softly.
"guys. we gotta go. we gotta go" kiara urges as she looks around the warehouse. it wouldn't take long for barry to recover, and they needed to get the boat to john b.
the groups nods, all of them starting to walk to the car.
jj takes a final look down at rafe, watching as he struggles for breath.
"stay off the cut" is all he says before standing up straight and walking over to india. without a word he grabs her into a hug as they walk to the car.
while he didn't want to admit it, and he knew that india was going to be mad once they were alone, he couldn't help but feel satisfied. all of the things that rafe had said and done to india had finally been returned, and he didn't regret it.
he kisses her on the top of her head, still panting. his hands were bruised, and they would probably be even more tomorrow, but he didn't care. he didn't care about anything but the girl that was in his arms.
if it was for india, he would never regret doing anything.