𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐫, 𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐫 | 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

60. jj pisses himself.

S I X T Y
jj pisses himself.

"Close your eyes," JJ instructs as I stand by the table he uses to sit his tools on when he messes with his dirt bike. He pushed all of the tools onto the ground in a heap. I glare at him, not wanting to close my eyes. "Just close them. I'm not going to shoot you in the head. That wouldn't get any forgiveness, and that's what I'm aiming for."

I shut them, then I hear him walking out, I hear something drop, and him swear, using just about every word possible. JJ's footsteps walk back onto the grass, and he sets something on the little table.

"Okay, whenever you're ready," he says.

When I open my eyes, I see a bonsai tree. I immediately recognise that JJ most definitely did not buy this. It's far, far from his price range. To be fair, everything is out of his price range. I don't think he has a dollar to his name.

It's a pretty good one, sitting in a mossy green coloured pot. On the dark, clearly high-quality soil, is a tiny dog figurine. The short, stubby limbs of the tree curve in interesting ways. Decades of love, money, expertise, time and care have clearly been poured into this plant.

"So, you know how we had sex on your birthday?" He starts off strong in his explanation. I look up from my new tree, eyes wide with warning. This isn't the time to be bringing birthday sex up. "Right, well I overheard your conversation with Rafe, he said a bonsai tree is a stupid gift so he got you underwear or some shit. So, voila, I got you a bonsai tree. Don't worry, the guy I stole it from is a massive dickhead so he had it coming."

"And they say chivalry is dead," I smile.

"I'm single-handedly keeping it alive. One bonsai tree at a time." He looks proud of the tiny tree he stole.

"How did you even remember that?" I laugh.

"Because it's so fucking weird, kinda stuck in my brain," He explains. "But not stupid. Just weird."

"It's kinda stupid," I mumble.

In the run up to my birthday, Rafe had been especially shitty to me. He would show up at my house, angry and high, demanding things and making a scene if I dared deny him. So, as a sorry, he promised me an incredible birthday. It would be a day about me. I wanted one thing: a bonsai tree. I did all the research, spent hours finding a tree that wasn't too expensive, but not so cheap that he thought he'd be too good for it. I sent him links and everything, with plenty of time to spare.

My birthday was awful. Rafe ended up vomiting on my new dress, and I ran away to JJ once he fell asleep.

"If you like it, then it's not stupid. You can't help liking weird tiny trees." He stares at the tree he stole, it even has a tiny clay bridge stuck on the moss. The twisted branches are gorgeous.

"Thanks. I love it."

"I'm glad, do you want me to bring it to your place?" He asks.

"If we leave it here the dickhead may try and steal his tree back," I point out, he nods. Picking up the pot with the utmost care.

I don't think I've ever walked so slowly in my life, even Amalie could outrun us, and she only just learned to walk. Even when I told him to hurry it up a little, he just glared at me and asked if I wanted him to drop it and make him steal another one.

Eventually, he puts it down on the chest of drawers that faces a window. "I should've probably done more research on how to keep a bonsai alive," I murmur as we stare at the plant that no doubt cost thousands of dollars. Those fuckers are stupid expensive.

It's a tiny tree? They have no business being that expensive.

"You don't know how to keep it alive?" He turns to look at me, probably a little horrified that he stole a tree that may only be alive for a few weeks.