I'll Come Running

Chapter 9

"SHIT!" JJ cried out as he threw his hat on the ground.

"She's married to that prick?" JJ exclaimed as he hit the wall with his fist, showing a rage none of the Pogues had ever seen before.

"I guess that's what she meant when she said she wouldn't have to seduce him." Kie said with just as much confusion on her face as the rest of them.

Nobody could truly believe it. How could it be? Was she really serious? Maybe they were only married in the way that John B and Sarah were married, in their hearts?

"This makes perfect sense guys. If Jessie really is married... Rafe is legally bonded to Jessie, he has to give her at least some of the gold now!" Pope said with a hint of hope in his voice.

That statement didn't seem to make anything better though. JJ still couldn't accept it, as his eyes welled up with tears he pushed the door to the Chateau open and went to the dock, he had to be alone. Nobody was really sure if they should go after him or not. John B finally stepped up. He walked out to JJ, still sniffling and trying to make sense of what he just heard. The other Pogues, although shocked to say the least, still stayed back and collected themselves enough to continue listening to the exchange between Jessie and Rafe through the tapped phone.

John B sat beside JJ on the dock and put his arm around the blonde haired boy.

"There's nothing you can do about it man." John B soothed.

"Exactly" JJ sniffled, "All the more reason for me to have never called her." He said as he hit the dock with his fist. "She was trapped, that's why she left. It all makes sense now." He said as he looked out into the water. "She couldn't stand being married to a Coke addict and a drunk with no future... so she left." JJ was finally putting it all together. Jessie never explained why she left to JJ, but he knew it had to be because of Rafe. Now he knows that for a damn fact. It wrecked him inside.

"You didn't know, JJ. None of us did, dude. Otherwise we probably wouldn't have asked her to come either. But Pope's right, now we have some real leverage." John B said that last line with a slight laugh and smile as he looked at JJ hoping to make him feel better.

"Nah man, forget leverage. My sister didn't leave... she escaped." JJ cried as a tear rolled down his face. His face turned emotionless. "And she only did this because of me." JJ said through gritted teeth with clear regret in his eyes. He couldn't stand himself. How could he live with this regret? Jessie was saying it all along, she didn't care about the money, she didn't care about seducing Rafe, this was nothing but calculated maneuvers for Jessie and all for her brother, all to give him a better life.

JJ was livid, with only himself. John B just sat with his best friend in silence as he let JJ sort through his emotions. He knew there was nothing left to say, nothing that could make this better.

Meanwhile, Sarah was dealing with her own realizations. Her brother... is married?! It all made sense to her now too. Why Rafe delved even deeper into deviance after he lost Jessie. As bad as Rafe became before Jessie, Sarah knew that Jessie wouldn't have believed the man he became after she had disappeared. Or maybe she could have, that's why she left wasn't it? To avoid the man she saw Rafe becoming? Nobody quite knows. The only people that know the full story are sitting in the living room of a giant Bahamian mansion, probably at each other's throats.

- - -

Rafe still stood there shocked at what he was seeing. He couldn't move, mainly for fear of falling directly on the floor. If it was physically possible, Jessie's presence would have caused him to melt right where he stood. He didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or rage. She left him without saying a word all those years ago. Did he deserve it? Possibly. Still, he couldn't help but be flooded by a tidal wave of emotions that so clearly were crashing down on him at the moment. He had to say something, anything. God, say something.