Dismissed (1) - JJ Maybank

DEAD CALM PT V.

This is a flashback of the day before but following the pogues after JJ and Aria left.

"Look, he'll come around, all right? Aria is going to talk to him, he's just doing a JJ thing." John B broke the silence.

Kie was staring into space as she just felt disgusted with herself now knowing what Aria was going through and thinking that there must have been so many times she could have stopped it.

Pope was leaning against the railings trying to calculate the odds that two of his bestfriends were getting abused and trying to figure out how it happened.

Sarah didn't really know what to think, she hadn't know Aria and JJ long enough to potentially pick up signs that they were getting hurt and hiding it from everyone.

John B felt guilty and, as he always does, was in denial about Aria. He tried to tell himself that it must not have been that bad, that if she truly needed help she would come to them.

"You think he'll go home?" Kie asked about JJ.

"There's about a zero chance that JJ goes home," Pope informed, sounding confident but still was a little scared.

"You okay?" John B looked towards Sarah.

"Yeah." she nodded in confirmation. "Are you?"

"I mean, I'm in one piece, so..." John B answered.

"Okay," Pope sighed. "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- in a safe or a vault or something. I- I don't know. Just until we can find someone who won't rip us off, okay? I can figure it out tonight, get it done, and we can be out there tomorrow morning."

"All right, let's do it." John B continued.

"Easy." Pope sighed.

"What about that thing with my dad?" Sarah asked.

"Shit." John B hummed.

"What thing?" Pope asked.

"I have to go fishing with Ward." John B looked from Kie to Pope.

"You can't get 400 mil 'cause you're gonna go kill fish?" Kie inquired annoyed.

"Look, I have to." John B looked to his lap.

"Blow it off. It's 400 million in gold!" Pope raised his voice.

"Make something up!" Kie excused.

"Look, I- I have to, okay? He... he saved me, all right? And if it weren't for Ward, I'd be in foster care. So... I have to go. Plus, it'll be better to do it at night. Right?" John B said.

"Fine. Fine, go fishing." Pope commented.

"And at least JJ will probably have washed up by then," Kie answered.

"What about Aria? Is she gonna be there?" Sarah asked.

"She's probably at the chateau drinking or smoking." John B answered.

"Or doing both." Pope continued.

"Guys, does-" Kie trailed off. "Was Aria telling the truth?"

"Yes."

"Maybe." Pope and John B replied at the same time.

"Wait what do you mean? Does she actually get... um, hurt?" Sarah looked for the right word.

"Look, we didn't know, alright? It wasn't our fault." John B sighed.

"What do you mean it wasn't our fault? We should have known!" Kie demanded.