XXVII. the laws of violence
warning,
mentions of homophobic slursOne of Bridger's best qualities about himself was that he was a good liar. He always knew how to get himself out of sticky and uncomfortable situations. It was simple. All he had to do was smile and use his charm. It worked most of the time, especially when it came to the single mothers on the island. They all used the same to describe him and that was that he was a promising young man. His mother spent years molding him into a perfect gentleman, a boy that everybody would grow to love and respect.
Bridger grew up in a dollhouse. The wallpaper glistened when you opened the walls. It appeared like a castle to most, with its white bricks awkwardly painted fresh and the grass as green as the leaves that grew on the trees. God forbid they ever had to look on the inside and see what really went on in the Fitzgerald house hold.
They were a perfect family, Dawson, Jana, and Bridger. They attended every kook function on Figure Eight in their perfectly tailored suits and dresses, their hair never being out of place, and their smiles so fake that it was enough to convince all of the stupid people on the island that they had no problems. Then, when you open the dollhouse, you see that their life was actually in shambles. His father was a cheater; he had been cheating on Jana for nearly six months. It was with different women which made it worse. Every time they had an argument or a blow out, Dawson would go out and find another woman. He did it with no shame and no remorse for the child he had at home.
Bridger was sure his mother had an idea that her husband was being unfaithful but she kept her knowledge a secret for the sake of her son. Until Jana finally broke and her knowledge unraveled. But even then, nobody knew that the married couple were struggling. He had no choice but to put on his expensive items of clothing and put on his doll face. He felt as though a camera was constantly being pointed at his face and he had no choice but to smile, posing with his mother and father while trying to keep them from killing each other.
Bridger saw things that nobody else did.
He never realized how much he truly hated his picture perfect life until JJ Maybank appeared. He saw what it was like to truly have nothing, and he never felt like such an asshole in his entire life. JJ didn't have to pretend because everybody already knew what was happening in the Maybank house. To the outside world, the father and son were cut from the same stone but to the people who really knew him, JJ was nothing like the pathetic excuse of a man. He was a larger than life character, a boy born from the sun, and he was loyal. He did everything for his friends, even risking his own life. To JJ, his own life meant nothing without them in it.
How is that you try to do everything in your power to make the one who hurts you proud? JJ wanted to watch his father die because he hated him. But he loved him. No matter how hard he tried to escape, he always went back. He always went back to the same cycle of pain and suffering because he loved his father. The felt so stupid. The problem of pain is that JJ could not feel his father's, and Luke could not feel his. It is also the essential mercy of pain.
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Favorite Crime, JJ Maybank
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