At the Bottom of the Swimming Pool

Chapter 43

CHAPTER 43-FAMILY OR FOES?...

"I told you, he is your dad. Julia stayed away because he wasn't man enough to take care of you. She couldn't do it either, but she ran away to play it safe"

"He's not as smart as he thinks he is J... That's his weakness, do you know what his other is? My daughter"

J Cody had been sitting on the sidewalk, playing with the warm sand. He was trying to think his action through because Smurf had been giving him guidance on how to take the family back away from Baz.

"I want you to drive a wedge in between them. I don't care what you do or what you say, but if they're going to lock me in here, I don't want them to think they won"

He could hear the words echoing in his head, but he still had his own motives. None of them would have thought the youngest Cody would want power and everything seemed to be falling right into his hands.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Baz is going to lie to you, he's done that entire life. Pope went to prison because of him, you think he's trustworthy now?"

The best route to go was to separate Jessica from Baz because she would have been the easier one to crack, at least in Smurf's mind. The problem was that the two of them had been inseparable, so J had to concoct a plan to get her away. It had been early in the morning so he figured Baz would be taking Lena to school because he had stepped up in that department lately. Pulling his phone from his jacket, he dialed Jessica's number and waited for her to answer.

Jessica Cody had been sitting on the floor of her apartment packing some things in an empty box she had. Her place wasn't huge so there wasn't tons to pack but Baz wanted to move in the new house within weeks, once everything was blown over. She figured it was best to get a head start on things, so she had things scattered in front of her.

One thing stopped her however, a family picture that they had taken a couple years ago. Smurf had insisted on getting her children together except Julia had been missing as always. They all posed in front of the pool, with Pope standing off to the side, hands in his pockets and scowl on his face. Jessica was hanging off of Craig's back and he was bending faintly from giving her a piggyback ride. Baz stood tall, arms crossed, and board lined annoyed that they weren't being serious. Deran was looking over at everyone with confusion, the family picture was not complete without confusion.

She rubbed her fingers across the frame, remembering the happy times they all used to have. Jessica still couldn't comprehend that she put her own Mother in jail and that their family was splitting apart. Setting the frame back down, she rubbed her face until she heard her phone go off. Reading the caller ID, Jessica debated on answering because J never called her for anything.

"Hey, I was hoping you could do me a favor" J spoke on the other line, mere seconds after she had said hello. "I took Nicky to school, and I don't know what happened. Something is wrong with my truck; it broke down and I need a ride back to Smurf's"

"Um...Yeah, I can come get you. Where are you at?" Not only was Jessica questioning why he had called her, she didn't know why he just didn't walk back. "I'm sure you're fine but are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I think I've just got car trouble. I really don't know, I'm by some taco stand, I think it says Enrique's? It's and yellow and red van..."

Jessica cut him off. "I know where that's at, it's about 25 minutes from my apartment and about 35 from Smurf's. Just hang tight, I'll be there soon"

It had taken a little longer for Jessica to get to J because she had taken her time getting ready. After she hung up the phone, she had to get dressed as she wasn't going to arrive in her pajamas. She threw on her yellow shirt that she got attacked it, luckily the blood came disappeared without a hitch as it was one of her favorites. She paired it with a pair of dark blue jean overalls and white converse. Jessica put on light makeup and headed out, taking time in order for J to suffer.