Redamancy / JJ Maybank

Chapter 9: The Hot Tub

Lila drove to JJ's in the Twinkie after he texted her saying to come over for some reason. She didn't ask questions and headed over. She hopped out of the car only for a bunch of outdoor lights to go off. She was confused at the action, furrowing her eyebrows before wandering around.

She looked around for the blonde boy, only to see him shirtless sitting in what seemed to be a hot tub. Lila would've fangirled at the sight of him shirtless in sunglasses but she knew it wasn't the time. "What did you do, JJ?"

"You should get in immediately, you hear me?" He suggested to the brunette. Lila sighed once she noticed that he was a bit tipsy. "Salud!"

"How much did this cost?"

"Well, with the generator, the petrol, and oh, hey, express delivery..." JJ started to estimate in his head, not being able to do the proper math. "Pretty much all of it, yeah."

"All of it?" She asked, earning a proud nod from him. "You spent all the money in one day?"

"Yeah, burned a hole right through my pocket." The boy responded jokingly. "But, I mean, like, come on, look at this! Finest in jet-based massage therapy, that's what they told me."

"What?" JJ questioned the girl's reaction. "Can't a man have a little luxury in life? Come on, all this scrimpin' and scrapin'... I mean, like... guys, we... You only live once, right? Enough of this emotional shit. Get in the Cat's Ass. Come on."

"The Cat's Ass?" Lila repeated his words, slightly confused by the name.

"Yeah." JJ nodded with a smirk on his face. "That's what I named her. Oh, hey, yo, I almost forgot." He clicked a button making a disco ball start to shine right above the hot tub. "Disco mode!"

"JJ... why did you do this?" Lila asked worriedly, knowing something was wrong. "You could have paid for the restitution, you could've helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well-"

"Okay, well, you know what? I didn't do that!" He exclaimed as he rised in the hot tub. Lila looked at his side and his stomach to see large purple bruises which made her start to tear up. "I got a hot tub for my friends. You know what? No, you know what? Screw friends. I got a hot tub for my family! I got this for all of us. Alright? Look at this! Look at this!"

"JJ, what-"

"No, you stop being emotional. It's fine, okay?" He insisted, seeing the tears in her eyes. At the sight, he seemed to start to cry too. "I mean, it's sweet, right? Everything... Just get in!"

Lila swung her legs over the edge of the hot tub, hopping in with JJ. She took this opportunity and pulled JJ close to her, embracing him tightly. JJ quickly hugged her back, knowing he needed it. "I just couldn't do it. I can't take him anymore! I was gonna kill him. I just wanna do the right thing."

"I know, JJ. I know." She spoke softly to calm him down.

...

After that, Lila took JJ with her to her old home making him wonder. "What are we doing here?"

"We're going to stay here together until I kill your dickhead dad." Lila answered. She joked at the end to make JJ smile, which he did. His smile would always make her smile, no matter what. "I'll tell John B that I decided to stay here because I'm homesick. I'm not telling the gang about what went down if you don't want me to."

"Thanks."

Lila sent him a comforting smile. "No problem, us pogues gotta stick together."