Alone Together • JJ Maybank

Thirty Nine.

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It was crazy just how much the atmosphere in the van could change in just a few short moments. Everyone had been on such a natural high after finding the gold last night, but I feel like I was stupid to believe that good luck would stay with us for long.

"Welcome to crackhead wasteland." Sarah broke the silence in the van as JJ drove up to the run down old house located in the depths of the Cut. He hadn't said a word since storming off back to the van after we had been ambushed at gunpoint for the gold. Instead he waited for us all to climb back in before he sped away from the side of the road with his knuckles gripping tightly to the wheel, his whole body tense and angry.

I had tried to catch his eye in the mirror as he first started driving, but his gaze remained fixed on the road as he clenched his jaw again and again. I had never seen him so worked up and angry, and the energy radiating off of him was worrying me so much that I was afraid to even touch him. I could tell the others felt it too. We were all shaken up by having a gun pointed directly at us, but no one dared move for the same reason, until we saw where he had driven to.

"Dude, why are we at Barry's?" Pope's concerned voice asked once JJ stopped the van, finally taking his eyes away from in front of him to glare at the small house.

"This will only take a second." He pulled the keys from the ignition as he opened the door to climb out. I shrugged my shoulders when John B turned in his seat to look at me, not knowing what JJ was planning but worried it wasn't going to end well.

"Where you going?" He turned back to watch JJ walking towards the house, calling after him.

"Yo soy justiciar!" JJ yelled back, not even bothering to turn back round to face us.

We sat silently, unsure what to do as we watched him enter the house. "You know somebody should probably..." Kiara began, but John B already had the same thought as he climbed out the van to follow.

"Do you, er, think I should go too?" I mumbled as I watched John B march after JJ. Pope just shrugged his shoulders while Sarah looked at me sympathetically.

"You've not witnessed one of JJ's outbursts yet, have you?" Kiara asked. I looked at her, slowly shaking my head full of concern.

"I've seen him mad, I guess." I half answered, and half questioned. Somehow sensing I hadn't seen the worst when the others silently stared back at me. "I need some air." I sighed, standing up and pushing past them to climb out of the van that suddenly felt stuffy with tension.

I leant against the outside of the van, feeling it rock slightly as the others also climbed out. No one spoke as we all waited anxiously, hoping that we would see John B and JJ coming back to the van so we could drive home and forget this even happened.

My head shot up when the porch door swung open again. "All right, so we're looking at five grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit." JJ sounded carefree, but I could see the strain in his jaw even from my distance. Pope and Kiara walked towards him as he rummaged through a bag that he wasn't carrying before, but I hung back at a distance.

"Sorry about that, ya'll." He carried on, trying to hand off a stack of cash to Pope and Kiara before walking tried with Sarah after they refused to take it.

"So that's what we're doing now? We're robbing drug dealers?" Kiara questioned as he gave up with Sarah and turned towards me.

"This Barry guy's gonna find out and he's going to come after us."

"Why are you doing this?" I whispered, keeping my voice low when he reached me. I tried to duck my head down to look into his eyes, but he avoided my gaze. Instead he gripped the hand I had gently placed on his arm, and forced a stack of cash into my palm before turning away.