Redamancy / JJ Maybank

Chapter 24: Daddy Issues

Lila pulled into the driveway of the Chateau with JJ sitting in the passenger's seat. She peered over the hood of the car, looking at the Chateau to see how its been.

"This will only take a sec." JJ assured her, hopping out of the truck. "It's in the surf shack. I'll be right back."

JJ started to rush towards the surf shack until he was stopped when he tripped over a thin pile of branches. JJ face planted onto the ground harshly before rising up from the ground quickly. Lila saw this happen in front of her before she started laughing in the passenger's seat.

After a minute, she finally calmed herself down from her wheezing fit when she noticed JJ walk out from the surf shack. She just expected him to be alone with the winch in hand when she noticed another person walking with him. His dad.

Lila, immediately angered by the presence of the man, hopped out of the car to stop this from happening. "What the fuck? No! Absolutely not."

"Just get in the truck." JJ demanded of his dad.

"I'm sorry." Lila scoffed, watching as Luke hopped into the backseat of the truck. "The Twinkie's dying like my dreams right now, JJ. We can't make a quick stop-"

"Listen to me." JJ interrupted her, grabbing onto her forearms tightly to get her attention. He saw her frightened facial expression, letting go of her once he realized what he had just done. "Sorry. It's just... The cops are after him. I need to get into the Island Club at the Marina. He has a boat there he can take. You got the sticker on the truck. He's leaving forever, Lila. I just need 20 minutes."

Lila sighed heavily, thinking about JJ's words while he impatiently waited for a response. "Fine."

...

"Hey, pull up to Home Food, I'm gonna need provisions." Luke commanded the driver of the car, Lila.

"I don't care about your needs." She thought to herself as she pulled into the parking lot of the store.

Luke made demands of what he wanted to his son before the blonde boy ran into the store. Lila decided it'd be best to ignore Luke rather than engage. Lila played her crossword puzzle game on her phone while she waited for JJ to come back. She hoped that Luke would stay quiet but that soon went away when when he started to drum on the seats.

He continued to drum his fingers against the top of the seat, annoying her until she snapped. "You're an asshole. You know that right?"

"Yeah." Luke mumbled as he leaned back in his seat. "Preach it to me. Set me straight."

"Do you know how special your son is?" Lila questioned, knowing how low Luke thinks of his son.

"He's a thief. That's what he is." Luke disagreed with her, earning an eye roll from her.

"Not like you're any better." Lila retorted. "You're the town druggie that everyone hates."

"Ooo, little Miss Fire here." Luke smirked at her retort.

"Your son is the most caring person I know. He cares about others. That's why he does the stuff he does." Lila explained to the man before looking straight at him. "Let's be honest here. I don't like you. I never will. And if you ever lay another hand on JJ, I'll fucking kill you myself. I'll hunt you down wherever the hell you go. I mean it."

"You know what-"

Luke started, feeling threatened by Lila's words until he was interrupted by Lila's elbow, elbowing him in the face. Her elbow hit directly in the nose and upper lip, causing pain in that area of his face. Luke was going to say something to her until he saw that JJ was coming back.