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CHAPTER TWENTY THREE XXIII. ROADSIDE BUST-UPS
WHEN JULIET HAD FIRST FOUND OUT ABOUT THE ABUSE JJ HAD BEEN GETTING FROM HIS FATHER, SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY HEARTBROKEN. Nothing in her life before that moment had hurt her more than finding out her best friend was getting beaten black and blue by his own father, the man that was supposed to love and protect him. And the fact that JJ did absolutely nothing to deserve it made it even worse. Yeah, JJ liked to smoke a little weed, drink and stay out till early hours of the morning with his friends. He also liked bringing girls home and he had a short temper but none of that made it okay for Luke to beat his son. And Juliet never understood it. Especially when to her, JJ was the most caring and loving person she knew. He was her best friend and the fact that he was getting beaten at home, it was upsetting to say the least.
From the day that Juliet found out, she made sure that she helped JJ in any way she could. Taking the blame for things he did, vouching for him when he'd disappear sometimes. All so that there was one less reason for Luke to lay hands on his son. Juliet didn't even care if she got into trouble, she'd always take getting into trouble over sitting at home and knowing JJ was getting beaten. Even if that meant being grounded for weeks.
And JJ could never thank Juliet enough for that. He didn't believe he deserved someone like her in his life. Ever since the day his mother left him with his deadbeat father, JJ believed he didn't deserve more than what he had. There had to have been a reason why he was left with Luke, right? And to him, Juliet was an angel. He did not deserve her. But JJ was the only one who believed that. Juliet always thought JJ deserved more than he had, because he did. John B too. And Juliet's mother, even her father when he was alive, John B's father and even Paul. They all knew JJ deserved more than what he had. He was a good kid. And every single day JJ was appreciative of having Juliet in his life, and the other Pogues. But mostly Juliet.
When Juliet was told about JJ's restitution he had to pay, she wished she could've done something. Payed it for him with her college fund, sold something she owned to help out at least. She felt useless and Juliet hated that she couldn't help him. So when they finally found the gold, Juliet suggested that they use it to pay off JJ's restitution straight away. She didn't wait for John B to bring it up again, because she knew he had suggested it before, she just wanted to do it before going back for the rest of it.
So on the way back to the Chateau after being at the Crain house, Juliet had brought it up and everyone agreed. So the next day, the plan was to melt the gold so it couldn't be traced and pawn it off for money.
Juliet was sitting in the back of John B's van with Sarah and Kiara as they went over the sketches Pope had drawn for the plan to collect the rest of the gold. "He said it looked something like this." Kiara was holding the drawing as she traced it with her finger, holding it up for the other two. "That's 50 feet down, and they're using 100 feet rope. So I guess this little wagon will go straight to the gold room." Kiara had started laughing as she tried figuring out what the diagram had meant, causing Juliet and Sarah to laugh with her. Pope's drawing was awful.
