ROCK BOTTOM ~ Rafe Cameron // OC // JJ Maybank

FIFTEEN.

tw: violence, parental abuse

JJ hissed in pain, touching his nose in the mirror.

There was a deep anger that burned inside him. His eyes were glossed over with obvious tears.

Hateful tears.

His father sat at the table, looking through contacts he had on his phone. JJ heard the phone calls.

"Hey, Marty...yeah, yeah...Yeah, I'm calling to let you know I've gotten ahold of Maddie James again..." He heard his father laugh. "Well, I'm sure she misses you too..."

JJ shut his bedroom door, not wanting to listen to any of it. He dropped to his knees, reaching under his bed, pulling out his bag.

And out of his bag, he pulled out his gun. He grabbed it, his fingers wrapping around it with a tight grip.

When he stood up, he took a quick breath, and reached for the door.

But he hesitated. He hated that he hesitated. Glaring at the handle, he went for it again, but stopped.

He cursed to himself.

JJ was tired of this. He was tired of his dad's shit.

Beating the fuck out of him wasn't enough? He was going after woman now? Bexley's mother?

When his father dragged him out of the house by the collar that morning, JJ had no idea where he was going. He didn't recognize the house, nor the woman who was so stunned to see his father. He didn't know where they were until he was inside, and saw a photo of Bexley on the shelf.

It horrified JJ. But what horrified him more was the conditions of the house. There was nothing. There was no heat, no air conditioning, and no food in the fridge, his father checked.

What she did have was piles of cocaine on the table. His father lessened the pile.

JJ shook his head, pointing the gun at the door, trying to imagine he was aiming it at his father.

He hated him. He hated what his father did to him. And what his father made JJ do to Bexley.

JJ didn't want to yell at Bexley like that. He didn't want to touch her, he didn't even want her to have any idea what was going on. He hoped she wouldn't show, and she could live in blissful ignorance of what was going to happen.

But she did show up. And she just kept yelling, and he got so worried. Because JJ could just imagine his father getting frustrated, and taking it into his own hands to shut her up. And the thought terrified him more, while also infuriating him.

Shaking his head, trying to get rid of his painful anger, JJ shoved the gun into the waistband of his pants.

He wasn't like his father. He didn't want to be. But...he held Bexley down. Against her will. He threw her on the couch, put his hands on her, held her down, and yelled at her to shut up.

JJ cringed. He wondered, was that the first step? Was the first step to becoming like his father small situations like this, until he eventually became comfortable with grabbing people?