Sink or Swim || Outer Banks || JJ Maybank

Chapter 29

John B sat in the passenger seat as JJ tore through the back roads of the Cut ignoring everyone's pleas to slow down. John B tried to get him to talk about what just happened to figure out what was going on but it was no use. He glanced over his shoulder to check on his sister who was laying with her head on Kiara's lap, the girl running her fingers through her hair as she zoned out. If nothing else, John B wanted to calm JJ down enough because he knew he would be the only one who would be able to truly comfort Madison.

The van came to a screeching halt and JJ threw it into park. Sarah let out a breath, taking in their surroundings, "Welcome to Crackhead Wasteland."

"I don't know about this, man," Pope shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He still hadn't gotten over the fact they just had a gun aimed at them, again, and he hadn't taken his eyes off of Madison since they got into the van all too easily remembering when she showed up at his door mid panic attack. He was silently grateful Kiara stepped up to comfort their friend, afraid he would have only made it worse.

Madison sat up, almost expecting to be back at home, not having paid attention to where they were going or what had been said. "Why are we at Barry's?"

"This'll only take a second," JJ got out of the van, slamming the door behind him causing Madison to flinch.

It wasn't missed by John B and he nearly growled in frustration as he got out as well, "Where are you going?"

"Yo soy justicia," he had a look on his face that Madison couldn't quite figure out, it wasn't one she had seen before in all the years that she had known him. She thought she knew everything about him and it freaked her out.

Pope slid the side door open, "Did you glean anything from that?"

"You know somebody should probably..." Kiara motioned to JJ who walked straight into Barry's trailer as if he owned the place.

Madison climbed out of the van, wiping her sweaty hands on her shorts. All she wanted to do was go home and have JJ hold her tight as she fell asleep but she knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. "I got him."

"Mads," John B tried to stop her, offering to go himself but she shook her head and gave his arm a light squeeze letting him know that she could handle it.

Walking into Barry's felt weird to her when he wasn't there, she wondered why he would keep the door unlocked especially with drugs and cash inside, but most people were probably smart enough not to steal from him.

"I know you got a stash around here somewhere," JJ muttered, opening every cabinet in the kitchen, the doors slamming shut when he didn't find what he was looking for.

Madison followed him into the bedroom where he started rummaging through the closet, "J, what are you doing?"

"Well, as thou hath stealeth from us, we shall stealeth from ye." He grabbed the bag she used to use to make runs for Barry and a small smile pulled at the corner of his lips as he unzipped it to see the stacks of cash inside. "An eye for an eye, Maddie."

She didn't know what he had planned to do when he had stormed into the trailer, she almost expected him to trash the place, but this, this shocked her to her core. "You're robbing Barry?"

"I'm not scared of this guy," JJ quickly flipped through the bundles to see how much cash was in the bag.

If the last two hours had never happened, Madison might have agreed, but that was a whole new side of Barry she had never seen before and wasn't sure she ever wanted to see again. There was a pain in her chest that was making it hard to breathe and she used the heel of her hand trying to relieve the tightness.