Brother's Best Friend || JJ Maybank

Episode 2. The Lucky Compass | 10

Julianne Bailey Routledge

After what went down earlier, we were now in the van. Everyone indulging in conversation.

"I mean, it obvious, right?" John B said, "A family heirloom? What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was going to get back to us, right?"

"Yeah. It's possible." Kie told him. I wanted to deck her for egging this on.

Pope rebuttled, "It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with you sad feels."

I nodded, "Finally, someone who agrees with me."

Kiara shook her head at me, but I didn't care.

"Bro, you know I process my sad feels." JJ said, "Dang nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it." I laughed at him and he smiled at me, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

John B shook his head from the drivers seat, "I'm not concocting, okay? My dad's trying to give me and Jules a message, whether she believes it or not."

I sighed, "If it helps you believe, John B."

"Look, I don't need a therapy lesson, okay?" He said, "I'm not trippin' out."

JJ shrugged, "It's okay to trip, bro, but-"

John cut him off, "Look, my- our dad is missing, okay? Missing."

A tear escaped my eye and I quickly wiped it away. I had cried over this too many times. I was trying to be better than this, but you can only be so strong when your dad disappears and everyone keeps shoving his memory down your throat.

Though he would never admit it, John B was crippling just as bad as I was.

JJ squeezed me closer to him and I melted into his side, the smell of weed radiating off of him. Usually, the skunk-like smell would be off putting, but somehow, JJ made it work.

John B kept going, "You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering."

"It's been almost a year." Kie told him.

JJ spoke up, "Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility."

"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere." Pope added.

"Absolutely! Or Atlantis." I cracked a small smile at JJ.

Kie didn't think it was so funny, "JJ! Look, what do you think the message is."

Suddenly, it clicked for me, "Redfield... John B! It's the lighthouse!"

John B turned around, a smile on his face, he whipped the car around, taking us to the lighthouse.

Redfield Lighthouse. That's our dad's favourite place.

John B parked and we hopped out of the car. We stood outside of the fence, everyone else being confused. I would be too, if I were them.

"Right, here's what's gonna happen." John B started, pointing at JJ and I, "You're gonna post up and look out for bogey's, okay?"