𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐘 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄𝐒 | jj maybank

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: FUCK THE POLICE

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after i caught my breath, i just began to run again. i needed to get to the other pogues; it was a priority. sure enough, there the three of them were at the junkyard. 

"elsie!" i heard pope's voice call out. 

even though i had proof in case something happened, i still felt horrible. should i have stayed? what if john b and sarah were killed? 

i stopped dead in my tracks, no words able to leave my mouth. 

"darlin. darlin," jj took me in his arms, causing reality to flood back in. "what happened. where's john b?"

"i-i don't know," i shook my head, simply because i didn't. i didn't know if he was alive or not. did rafe shoot him? it was possible. hell, he shot peterkin in the middle of the day with no hesitation. 

"shit, you're shaking," kie noted as i pulled away from jj's hug. 

"i got it on video," i murmured. 

"what?"

i handed them my phone as they watched in horror. heard the gunshot that killed peterkin was heard over again, and i flinched at the sound. 

the three looked up at me when the video ended. it stopped at where rafe was shooting in my direction, and i was cursing and running away from it. 

"are you hurt?" jj looked at me up and down. 

"i'm fine now," i sighed. "this will take ward and rafe down. i told you i needed to do something."

"jesus, elsie. you're a badass," pope chuckled. 

"why thank you, pope," i wiped beads of sweat from my temple.

just then, the loud sound of a plane whirred overhead. 

"there goes the gold," jj remarked as he kicked an outdoor chair in frustration. 

"shit!" pope started throwing things, "fuck!"

"pope-" kiara attempted to interrupt him. 

"just, let him," i whispered. finally, pope had it. he hit his breaking point, which was scary. it was not reassuring when the one person that had always stayed levelheaded wasn't doing well. 

"goddamnit!" pope grabbed a bat, hitting an old tv, "shit! fuck! shit, damnit!" he hit nearly everything there in rage. i reached for jj's hand, and he took it to reassure me. all three of us eyed each other, unsure of what to really do. he continued to curse and hit things. finally, he sat down on a couch, gasping for air. 

we all walked up slowly to him, but when i saw the tears in his eyes, i understood his frustration. i let go of jj's hand, and ran up to pope. my arms wrapped around him tightly in attempt to comfort the boy. after a moment, i then took a place and sat down next to him. 

"yeah dude," jj started, "i was wondering when this was going to happen. here you go chief," he held out his weed vape pen. "a little weed never hurt no one."

"jj."

"relax kie," he turned around to face the girl. 

"you know he doesn't smoke," kiara countered, just as pope took the pen from jj's hand. 

"well maybe not until today," jj sat on the opposite side of pope. 

"just a little bit to ease the nerves," i added as the blonde boy nodded.