One of Two // JJ Maybank

dead calm: three

we stopped in front of a trailer house as i looked at jj with worry. "welcome to crackhead wasteland." sarah said looking out the window.

john b looked at jj in disbelief. "dude, why are we here?" he asked with confusion.

jj opened his door and walked away. "this'll only take a second." he shouted. john b asked him something and he responded with. "yo soy justicia."

kie shook her head. "you know, somebody should-"

i got out of the van. "i'll try it. if it doesn't work, john b you're next." i said walking towards the trailer home. i took a deep breath as i entered, stuff was already being thrown around.

jj looked over in my direction. "what?" he asked. "go wait in the van, spencer."

i rolled my eyes. "jj, what's going on?" i asked. "i'm worried, i-"

he placed his hands on my shoulders. "there's nothing to worry about, spence. i got this under control." he reassured. "i promise you."

i sighed. "yeah you know, this is fantastic, jj!" i said sarcastically. "what if this guy finds us, he could kill us!"

"i wouldn't let anyone touch you or them." he mumbled.

i crossed my arms and walked out, getting john b to go talk to him. john b noticed me and walked inside as i leaned against the van. this was stressing me out.

i hate seeing jj like this. he's been so sweet to me and watching him act out is kind of worrying me. i bit my fingernails before i saw jj and john b storm out of the house. "so we're looking at about five grand each." jj said, closing up a duffel bag. "for reparations for that bullshit. sorry about that."

kie scoffed and crossed her arms. "so that's what we're doing?" she asked cockily. "we're just robbing drug dealers now?"

sarah pressed her lips together as she stood next to me. "this barry guy is gonna find out." she added.

"sarah's right." i stepped in. "he's gonna come after us."

jj rolled his eyes at our comments and john b stepped gun front of him. "this is not the time to start wildin." he said.

"how'd you like having a gun pulled on you?" jj asked, eyeing john b carefully. he pointed to his head. "he had it right here on you, bro."

john b shook his head, trying to grab the bag from jj's hands. "we've gotta go get the gold." john b said calmly. "just give me that shit, we're putting it back."

jj didn't give him the bag and john b slammed him onto the van which made me flinch and take a few steps back. sarah grabbed my hand. "do you feel like a tough guy, huh?" john b whispered. "what are we gonna do when we comes after us?"

jj locked his jaw. "we punch him in the throat." he replied.

john b scoffed and let go of his collar. "yeah, great fucking idea, jj." he mumbled.

we watched as jj climbed into the back of the van. "you guys getting in or what?" he asked. everyone stood in their places, not moving an inch. he gave us all looks of disbelief, when he looked at me i could tell his expression dropped without anyone else noticing. i rubbed the side of my arm, looking down at my feet as i heard him get out. "what?"

"we're sick of your shit." pope started.

jj chuckled and looked at pope. "oh, my shit?" he replied.

kie nodded and crossed her arms. "yeah, you pulling guns on people shit." she added.

"you acting like a maniac-"

jj interrupted pope. "pope, i took the fall for you man!" he shouted, his voice cracking slightly. me and sarah both looked at each other then back to the boys. "you know how much money i owe because of you?"

pope scoffed and stepped closer. "i'm gonna pay you back, and i didn't even ask you to do that!" he argued.

"i just did!" jj said. "pay it back. right here, right now, by myself." i furrowed my eyebrows. "you know what? that's exactly what i'm gonna do." he looked at all of us before slinging the bag over his shoulder. "go off by myself."

he started to walk away into the swamp. i sighed as i started to walk towards him but sarah pulled me back. "it's not worth it, spence." she said.

i made my way out of her grip and started walking. i couldn't just let him go off like that. "jj!" i shouted as i got far enough from the pogues. "stop!" i watched him stop in his tracks and turn around. "what's your deal?"

he scoffed and shook his head. "my deal? what's yours, spencer?" he asked. "you shouldn't even be following me, dude."

i rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "are you seriously asking me that? after i helped you when you would come to my window, bleeding and had cuts all over your goddamn face? now you're asking me what my deal is?" i replied. he had some serious issues. "i'm trying to help you! no one else seemed to be doing it back there!"

jj shook his head again and started to turn around. "i heard sarah, spencer." he sighed. "it's not worth it to follow and try to get me to come back." he started to walk away again.

i groaned, running a hand through my hair. "so that's it, huh?" i shouted. "do you even care, jj? do you care about your friends? hell, you probably don't even care about anything! im so sick of this shit and i'm trying to help you but you keep pushing me away! j-just tell me wh-"

jj stopped and turned his head so i could see his side profile. "you're a kook." he mumbled, interrupting me.

my mouth parted as i stepped back a little bit. i felt the tears well in my eyes. "because i'm a kook, huh?" i said, kicking the grass below me. "yeah, well, fuck you too, jj."

i turned on my feet and walked back to the pogues, not once turning back.