𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡, obx

07 ... little thief.

a/n : this chapter is a little more heavy bc it surrounds luke , oscar and jj. the subject of child abuse will be brought up heavily so beware while reading !!

luke had to pick jj up from the police station after he got taken there. luckily, oscar reached home before luke got back from getting him so he didn't have to see how angry he was. currently, oscar was curled up on the top bunk of him and jj's bed with his headphones on trying to drown out the sound of his house.

jj had his music turned up super loud because he was trying to make luke shut up, but he never would. he just kept biting until he had chewed you all up, and then he'd spit you back out and stomp on you like you were nothing, like a dog.

when jj came home, he had blood all over his face and his eyes were all puffy and red. oscar had seen jj bad but never that bad and it made him sick to his stomach. he tried not to look at him because oscar was sure that if he did, he'd throw up. again.

all he could hear was the loud yells of luke calling jj horrible, mean things. he couldn't bear to listen to it anymore, he just wanted to leave so badly. he wanted to be sat on the beach with nalani and his friends, not giving a fuck about whatever luke was doing.

eventually, the noise quietened and the house fell to silence. sometimes, in the maybank house, the silence was worse the yelling. it was like the aftermath of a storm, it's pretty, but bad stuff needed to happen for it to get there. the silence showed that the family was all cried out and they had all yelled and screamed so hard that there was nothing more they could say.

oscar hadn't noticed that jj had left the room. he climbed down from his bed and slowly approached the bedroom door, trying to avoid the creaky floorboards incase luke woke up. as his hand grabbed the big brass doorknob, he slowly took a deep breath in. he pulled the door open, staring at what he saw in his living room.

jj was stood over their dad with his gun pointed directly at luke's forehead. his hands were shaking and oscar could hear that he was crying. a deep feeling in his gut wondered if maybe it was the right thing for jj to do. oscar hated luke with all his bones that sometimes he would wish he would go away.

then, he pulled the gun away and quickly turned around, spotting his brother stood in the hallway of their house. he looked small and vulnerable standing there with his hands down by his side and his eyes puffed and red and it was in that moment that jj realised the magnitude of his actions.

"thought you were asleep." jj grumbled, picking up a half empty beer can off the table and downing it in one. "i'm goin' out."

"can i come?" oscar looked up at his brother, nervously chewing on his bottom lip.

"no." he shook his head, going around the room and shaking all of the cans and shoving the full ones into his bag. "me and john b are gonna meet kiara and pope at the midsummers thing, probably."

oscar sighed, knowing that meant he had to stay home on his own with luke. he didn't have many friends and the four he did have would also be going to the midsummers. unfortunately, the event was strictly kooks and you could only get in if you lived on figure eight.

jj zipped up his bag and opened the door, slamming it loudly behind him on the way out. oscar decided since the house was quiet he was going to take a nap but first, he took the blanket off of his father's bed and placed it neatly over him. after, he made luke a glass of water and put it on the coffee table in the middle of the room in case he woke up.

"good night, dad." he whispered.

he retreated back to his bedroom, climbing up onto his bed and going to sleep. he was so tired.

-

"jj!" luke bellowed through the house, jolting oscar awake. he took a deep breath in and tried to calm his fears but it wouldn't work. "oscar!" he opened their bedroom door, pointing his finger at his youngest son, "did you drink my beer?"

oscar licked his lips, his mind flashing back to before jj left and when he taken all of the beers with him. "no." he gulped.

"well, did your brother?" luke raised his eyebrows, putting his hand down by his sides.

he really didn't want to snitch on oscar but he knew what would happen if he didn't give luke some sort of excuse. "no." he shook his head, his chest tightening. "did you drink them all...before you went to sleep?"

"i think i would know if i drank my beers, oscar!" he punched the wall beside him, leaving a fist-shaped dent in it and making oscar flinch. "go get me some replacements, you little thief."

"i don't have any money." oscar whispered with his voice full of fear, "and i'm not old enough."

"does it sound like i care?" luke balled his hand up into a fist again which only made oscar even more petrified. "get me some beers, now."

he quickly climbed down from the top bunk of his and jj's bed, scurrying past his dad. he slipped his two sizes too small shoes on and swiftly left the house before luke could say anything else.

the only problem was, he didn't know how to get beer. the stores on the cut wouldn't exactly care but he didn't have any money to pay them and nobody wants to do favours for the maybanks, even if not all of them are bad.

oscar promptly began making his way to one of the places he knew people wouldn't be, the main street on figure eight. everyone was at midsummers so he wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing him steal.

the streets were quiet unlike usual. the only sound was the usual song of the sea and the blaring music coming from the country club. he turned the street corner and stood infront of the store entrace, hearing his heartbeat in his ears.

the bell door jingled loudly as he pushed it open, stepping foot onto the hardwood floors. quietly, he made his way to the refrigerator aisle. he put his hand on the case of beers and pulled them off the shelf.

before he could even think about it, his legs were moving quicker than they had ever moved before out of the store. the store owner was chasing after him which drew the attention of everything on that street even if nobody was there.

"get back here, you little thief!"

he turned his head around to see if the man was gaining on him, but forgot to see if there was anything in his way. he collided with a bike rack, dropping the cans of beer on the floor and hitting his stomach hard on the bars.

his heart started to go even faster and he felt like he couldn't breathe. not only was he getting caught for stealing he would also have to go home empty handed to luke. it felt like he was watching himself from the third person, not being able to do anything about what was going to happen.

"i said you're gonna have to pay for those!" the man shouted in his face, waving his hand infront of him. "hello? are you listening?"

"huh?" oscar's mind flashed back into his eyes as he gazed up at the worker, shaking his head, "yeah, sorry."

"don't come back here or i'll call the cops."

-

he stood in front of his white house, deciding wether or not he should go in. he knew he couldn't avoid it forever but he didn't want to have to face luke.

"well, where are they?" luke opened the screen door with one hand on his hip, the other holding it open.

"i-" oscar stammered over his words with nerves, "i got them but then the storeowner caught me and took them." he lied through his teeth because it would just make everything worse if he said he dropped them all over the floor.

luke grabbed him by the shirt, shoving him into the porch. he pointed a stern finger at his face to the point he was almost touching his son's nose. "is that good enough? i said get me beers, you shoulda' tried again!"

"the guy threatened to call the cops, dad, i swear-" he pleaded, his eyes full of tears.

luke's hand raised up quickly, and then swiftly collided with oscar's face. "boy, i don't care! so sick of you, can't do anythin' right!" he pushed him backwards before storming out of the door to his truck. "useless fucking kid."

oscar's legs turned to jelly and he sunk to the floor, wrapping his arms around himself as if he was giving himself a hug. he had gotten hurt and nobody was there to give him a hug and tell him it was alright, nobody was going to wipe his tears and promise to never let it happen again.

he was completely alone in his supposed home and nobody was coming to get him. they all got to play dress up and have a fancy party on figure eight and ignore any sight of the people on the cut living like him.

"fuck." he wiped his tears from his eyes and went into his house, "such a big baby." he murmured, cleaning up the main rooms to hopefully make luke happier.

-

it had been hours since luke left and oscar was still alone. he had positioned himself in his bedroom with a chair in front of the door just incase he did return but oscar assumed he wouldn't.

the sun had set and the room was filled with eternal darkness so he also assumed jj wasn't coming to get him either.

he heard the door swing open and his entire body tensed up as he waited to see who it was. the footsteps echoed through the old, rotten house as they got closer and closer to the bedroom door. they reached the door and pushed down on the handle harshly which made the entire room shake.

"what the fuck?" jj slammed the handle down again, knocking on the door. "oscar? hello?" oscar exhaled in relief, walking up to the door and removing the chair.

jj stumbled in the door, falling over his own feet. his eyes meet his little brother's cut up face and bruised eye, his eyebrows furrowing. "who beat you up?"

oscar didn't reply but instead just stared at him, hoping he would get the hint. "he thought i drank his beers."

"who?" jj scoffed, turning back around to face oscar as he realised. "wait, dad?"

"it's not bad." he began to climb back up onto his bunk but jj grabbed him and pulled him down. jj looked closer, "jesus."

he let go of oscar, letting him get into bed. it was only when jj was just about to sleep that he realised he had taken luke's beers and it made him sick to his stomach.

















vada's vows ...

this chapter is INSANELY sad. i cried writing it and i lit dont cry about media so i think thats kinda like a world record

yuhh i double updated so the chapters arent all sad