Payback's a Bitch

Chapter 9: Payback's a Bitch

The next day, John B stayed locked in his father's room where he'd slept the night before. By the time he came out, the house was back to looking normal. The Pogues spent all day cleaning, even taking the trash down to the dump and burning anything that could be. There was no stray glass, all the books were back on shelves, and the house looked even cleaner than it had before it was trashed. He swore they had even mopped the wood floors.

CJ had been appointed the job of cleaning up the office. They knew anyone else touching the contents would immediately be snapped at, so it wasn't even a question that no one else would go in. Claire was the only one that had ever even seen the inside; albeit only once. Despite this, she could easily tell there were things missing from the empty spots on shelves, and while cleaning discovered it was the only room that had things taken from it. The realization just made her angrier, but the girl let it simmer until they got to town where she told every Pogue she knew to listen for word of someone hitting the Routledge house. She was determined to find who did it and when she did, it wasn't going to end well for them.

When John B finally appeared from the recesses of the bedroom, the house was empty. Confused, he'd walked through until he slowly pushed the back door open, finding all the teenagers sitting around the fire pit. JJ was ranting about something adamantly, a roguish smile on his face as his sister laughed at his antics. Despite the crap day he'd had, the sight made a soft smile spread on his cheeks.

The first one to notice him had been JJ, who stopped talking and pointed at him. "Look who rose from the dead." He'd spouted off, gesturing toward the fire. "You want a s'more? Beer?" And just like that, John B rejoined the fold, once again reminded why he surrounded himself with these people.

The Pogues spent the rest of the night cheering up Johhny, eating fish, and making s'mores with the ingredients CJ had bought. The one time he made his way inside, he noticed there was a bit more food in the kitchen, realizing CJ must have gotten her paycheck. She had, in fact, gotten paid; Kie giving her the check she'd grabbed the day prior. Payday had actually been on Tuesday, the day Peterkin picked them up, but she'd obviously been a little busy.

That night they all slept where they had the night before. Pope once again fell asleep star gazing in the hammock while Kie and CJ snuggled on the pull-out. John B was feeling better but still wanted to be alone for the night, so he once again went into his father's room, this time with the door unlocked. That left JJ sprawled out on John B's bed, mouth as open as the bedroom door.

The next morning came early for four of them; JJ being left alone when he woke a bit before noon. It was the last day of June, and Kie and CJ were once again at work, this time pulling full eight-hour shifts. Pope was off with his father delivering things to people around the island. And despite just wanting to lounge in bed all day, John B had a job. One which he had been neglecting the last few days. He knew he was in for it and was unsurprised by the stern talking to he got from Ward when he got there. He was just glad he still had a job.

The male Maybank eventually got bored of being by himself and peeled off on the dirtbike, riding off to 'Heyward's Seafood' in hopes to pick up some menial cash helping Pope. The day was basically spent working, the only outlier coming from none other than Figure Eight. While delivering groceries, Rafe in his undying wisdom decided to go after Pope, having to be pulled off by Topper before he did any more damage. Somehow, despite them constantly calling the Pogues dirty, they'd forgotten they were very good at playing dirty. If they thought they were gonna get away with the beating without consequences, they were sorely mistaken.

"Pope!" JJ yelled, running down the dock with his sister in tow. The boy had swung around to 'The Wreck' on his way back, picking the blonde up. "Look who I found, man. You proud of your brother? I made seventy bucks!"

"Shut up, JJ." The girl laughed, getting onto Heyward's boat with JJ's help.

"Whatever. Pope, man, I need to start comin' on more deliveries. I forgot how much fun this is."

As JJ continued to ramble, Pope started up the boat and silently began moving on the water. CJ's head cocked to the side when he didn't respond, concerned with the blank expression on his face. The boy didn't even acknowledge that they were there.

"What's up with you? Bro, you good?"

"JJ, shut up." CJ said, concern turning sour as she noticed something that wasn't supposed to be there. Reaching forward, she pulled Pope's hat from his head. The boy tried to stop her but there was no stopping CJ once she noticed a problem with one of her friends. "Pope, who did this?"

The blonde's voice had dropped, almost scary as her eyes flitted between the harsh wound and the swollen lip. She couldn't see it, but the boy also had bruises decorating his back and ribs.

"Rafe and Topper jumped me." He spoke up after a moment, still not looking at either sibling. "They said no Pogues on their side of the island."

"Son of a bitch." JJ snapped, stepping back a bit as his own hat was pulled from his head and thrown to the ground. CJ barely spared him a glance as she turned so Pope had to face her. The boy slightly glanced at her, eyes filled with hurt. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"Pope, you listen to me. They're not gonna get away with this, you hear me? Tell me what you wanna do and we'll do it."

The boy didn't say anything, but he turned and looked between both Maybanks before the boat was pushed faster. All three were silent for the rest of the ride but JJ and CJ couldn't stop looking Pope over, trying to make sure the boy was okay. All three were hellbent on revenge and they would get it. When they were standing on the pier, tying up Heyward's boat, Pope spoke up.

"2020 Malibu 24-MXC. The world's finest wakesetter. Number one in quality, luxury, and performance. Worth 200k easy." He started, the first words to leave his mouth in ages. The boat was one they were familiar with. Topper had been parading it around for days. "I wanna sink it."

Neither Maybank said anything for a moment, processing the words. It was unusual for Pope to be up for vengeance, but it was entirely called for. His plan to sink Topper's new boat was perfect and neither Maybank would oppose. As CJ lit a joint she'd stashed in the pocket of her flannel, JJ made his stance known. "This is war, Pope. They hit us, we hit them."

In response, CJ nodded, passing the weed over to her brother. Unlike usual, the boy was very serious and simply nodded at her in thanks. "We've gotta be smart about this. If wind gets back to the cops, we'll all be screwed."

"We should take the HMS Pogue. Cover the name. Get decked out in masks to hide our identity. It'd work."

"JJ, I love you, but you're an idiot." CJ said blatantly, ignoring the look of incredulity he sent her way. Taking a puff off the joint, she let the smoke flow from her mouth as she turned to look at Pope. The boy was gazing at her like she had all the answers. And most of the time, she did. "We can't go now. It's too bright out, someone could see us. Or they probably have cameras. They are rich, you know." The sarcasm coating her voice was noted as she took another hit from the joint. "We need to wait until it gets dark. Dress up in dark clothing. Cover our faces. I'm the smallest and fastest, so logically, I should do it, but I'm not gonna take that from you if you want the honors, Pops."

"I'll do it." He said, staring off over the water as the twins continued to share the rolled up bit of weed.

"Alright, it's settled. Let's head home."

For the next three hours, the Maybanks hung around the treehouse, finally getting around to cleaning the place up. JJ checked on his beloved weed plants and watered them, praising the dank marijuana gods for protecting his babies during the hurricane.

The two worked mainly in silence, one of them randomly handing the other a joint or the Mike's they were sharing while they took down tarps and dragged fallen branches onto them. By the time they were done, it was getting dark, so the two threw on some dark clothes to blend in with the night. While CJ donned herself in leggings and JJ's gray hoodie, a black bandana draped around her neck to cover her face, JJ pulled on a black t-shirt and shorts. A dark blue pullover bandana was wrapped around his neck and sunglasses were seen hanging from his shirt.

Walking out of the woods, they piled back into the van and drove to pick up Pope from his house. The twins ignored him as he changed in the back; not wanting to key his parents into something weird going on. When he had all his incognito clothes on, CJ scoffed lightly at the full ski mask pulled over his head. Go big or go home, I guess.

Getting to the Thornton house was easy, it was the next part that was sketchy. JJ stayed in the car, the headlights turned off, while CJ stood to the side of the passenger door. She was prepared to run up to the house and distract anyone inside if she needed to. God knows Topper was too pigheaded to realize his boat was being sunk right behind his back while he talked to a girl that hated his guts.

The person with the hardest and most important job was Pope. He was currently running down the dock, crouched low until he reached the fancy boat. Jumping inside, he wasted no time in pulling the plug, a huge rush of satisfaction flooding his body as he hopped back out. Racing back down the dock and across the yard, he slammed into the side of the van and ripped open the back door.

"Go, go, go!" He said, body filled with adrenaline as both Pogues jumped back in the vehicle and JJ took off. All of the Pogues pulled the masks off their faces as they got away from the house.

"Whoo!" CJ shouted joyously, reaching to the back to give the boy a high five. Beside her, a giant grin lit up her brother's face as Pope held up the plug to the boat.

"Oh my god, you did it. I am so proud of you right now, holy crap."

In the backseat, Pope was practically shaking. He'd never felt this kind of high before and it almost scared him. He wondered if this was how the other Pogues felt whenever they did anything crazy like this. "JJ. JJ, you can't tell anyone."

"Oh, no, yeah. Totally, dude."

"No, I'm serious, dude. Not Kie, not John B. Nobody."

"Pope-"

"No, CJ. The more people that know, the sketchier it is. I have to get that Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit Scholarship. Nothing can mess that up, okay? If I don't get it, I'm gonna be stuck delivering groceries for the rest of my life." Pope stressed, one hand now on CJ's shoulder as the girl turned to look at him. Her eyes were now filled with confliction as she stared at the boy.

"Pope, you know they won't say anything." She started, looking at him earnestly. "I can't lie to them about something that important, Pope."

"CJ, you lie all the time."

"Yeah, but not to you guys." She stressed, now just as on edge as the brown boy. "I did that once and look what happened. And this is bigger than me sleeping with the wrong person. They'll hear about this happening and then we'll have to keep lying. Do you want to do that? No Pogue of Pogue lying, buddy."

"That's so not the saying."

"No, but we still have a rule that we don't lie to each other. Every time we've disregarded that rule, it's ended badly. I'm sorry. I love you Pope, but I can't lie to them about this." She sighed, turning around in her place so that she didn't have to see the downtrodden look on her best friend's face. "I will, however, leave this night off with a bang. JJ, turn right."

CJ continued to give her brother directions, ignoring questions about what she was doing and desperately trying to ignore the look she could feel on her skin coming from the backseat. She knew it was messed up not to lie for her friend, but it was for the right reasons. When it came to anyone else, CJ would lie up a storm in a heartbeat. She would pull on a mask, shed some tears, whatever it took to sell the story. But she wasn't gonna lie to them.

Finally arriving at their destination, CJ hopped out of the van. Pulling up her bandana and making sure her hood hadn't slipped, she turned to the boys. Telling them to stay in the car, she grabbed a random bottle of water and raced up the long driveway, keeping to the shadows. For a second, she hid behind a tree, waiting for the person she saw to go further into the house. When she was sure they were gone, she ran forward, ducking behind the dirtbike.

Unscrewing the lid from her bottle, she pulled off the gas cap and poured quite a bit of water in. She'd learned a long time ago that a bit of water would go a long way in someone's gas tank. Rust your pipes, fuck your engine. For the damage the boys did to Pope, she would watch Rafe's new bike burn to the ground.

Quickly finishing, she made sure the coast was clear before running back to the vehicle, telling JJ to 'fuckin go!' Both boys were staring at her, Pope dead on while JJ's eyes flitted between her and the road.

"What the hell did you do, lil' sis?"

"I put water in his gas tank."

For a moment, everything was quiet, until JJ let out a joyous shriek, clapping her on the shoulder. "That's my girl!"

A big grin spread on CJ's cheeks as she yanked off the material covering her face. When JJ reached over for a high five, she gladly accepted, relishing in the proud smile taking up his features. Pope hadn't said anything, so she turned to look at him in the backseat. His low expression immediately made her smile and heart drop.

"Pope, man, I'm sorry. I won't say anything tonight, but I'm not gonna lie to 'em." She expressed, looking at him with concerned eyes. She was worried he wouldn't get over this. She didn't want to lose her friend. "You know I would lie to anyone for you, but not them."

"John B lied to us for you."

CJ huffed, turning around to face forward. "Yeah, he did. And I'm grateful he did. But I shouldn't have asked him to do that. It could've ruined both of our relationships with you. If I don't tell them and they find out, they're gonna hate us for not saying something. We took John B's van, Pope. He's got as much at stake as we do. It would be wrong not to say something."

After that, no one talked. Pope was silently seething in the back, but he knew CJ was right. He was terrified of getting caught and losing his merit scholarship, but it was wrong not to tell them. Not to mention, the girl had a point. The van was pretty noticeable, especially on Figure Eight, and the last thing he wanted was cops or Topper showing up and John B having no idea why.

Despite being angry, he knew he would get over it, and didn't want to leave Claire feeling like shit once again, so when they dropped him off, he didn't leave before sharing the secret handshake with both of them. The small action made CJ's heart rise back out of her stomach. She knew he would've left without any sort of acknowledgment towards them if he wasn't prepared to forgive her.

The ride back was surprisingly silent; JJ seeming to be too wrapped up in his own thoughts to say anything to his sister. CJ didn't mind, sticking her hand out the window as she rode the waves of air. The motion made her think of surfing and left her aching to go out on the water. She'd have to bring it up soon. It had been far too long since they'd ridden proper waves.

Pulling into the driveway, JJ cut the power to the van and hopped out with his sister in tow. CJ didn't even make it inside, instead falling back onto the couch she considered the most comfortable on the porch. Her brother's lips raised in an amused smirk, sitting down on the arm.

"You know, that was pretty dope. What you said." He started, wiping the sides of his lips with his forefinger and thumb. "I didn't even think about it. Taking the van. I'm glad you said somethin', 'cause I wasn't gonna keep that from 'em. Too important."

CJ opened her eyes, turning so she could face her brother. The boy wasn't looking at her and was instead staring through the living room window at nothing. "Why're you bringing this up?"

JJ didn't respond for a second, but before he did, he turned to meet CJ's gaze with his own. "I dunno. Maybe I think you still feel guilty about keeping things from us and want to remind you that you're a good person. Maybe for a split second, I thought about lying to our family because it was Pope and I just wanted to say thanks for keeping me from being an idiot."

"I's my job."

JJ's face twisted into a roguish smile. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Get some sleep, kid." And with that, he lightly slapped her leg before walking inside. CJ could see him flop back onto the pull-out from where she laid on the couch.

For a moment, she continued staring through the window, thinking over her brother's words. She did still feel guilty over lying to them. She hated lying to them. She could count the number of times she'd lied to them or kept something from them on one hand. Sleeping with Topper. The situation with Kie and Sarah Cameron. Throwing that stupid fucking toy JJ had when they were six in the ocean. And inadvertently, even to herself, how much she truly loved her closest friend.

When it came to Kie and Sarah, that situation was not important enough to need to be told. CJ, and the rest of the Pogues, were there to help with the girl's growing depression and that was never hidden from them. They all knew she was struggling and when she finally found a place to fit in at school, she disappeared from the group. After months of radio silence, CJ was the one that Kie called crying about Sarah ditching her out of the blue. Losing all of her friends and how stupid she was for leaving the Pogues. She was there, sitting next to her distraught friend on her bed when she admitted she called the cops on Sarah, so the rumors weren't false, but she'd just been so upset. The girl had turned her into even more of a pariah at the Kook Academy and the bruise left on Sarah Cameron's face the next day had definitely not come from Kiara Carerra. The boys never knew about it and they didn't need to. Kie was back and that was all they needed to know. Kie didn't want to talk about it and wanted it left in the past. Things were already a bit rocky with her coming back into the fold and she wanted things to just go back to normal and didn't want the other Pogues to look at her with pity. It would only make things worse. So, CJ didn't say anything. She respected her friend's wishes and kept her mouth shut; the only indication of anything happening being the unrelenting glares every time she saw Sarah. The Pogues of course just cooked that up to her hatred of most Kook's, especially since she hung around the group that made it their mission to make their lives a living hell; Topper's.

JJ's toy was a stupid little annoying thing that he bitched about for a week before he forgot about it entirely. At that point in her life, she didn't even really realize that lying to her brother was wrong. Their father lied to their mother all the time. By the time she realized it was, by the time her father's actions had driven out their mother, it was ages later and there was no use bringing it up. JJ would just bitch for another week, claiming that was his favorite toy when it actually wasn't, before forgetting about it once again.

And of course, she didn't know she was lying about her own emotions. Every time some random person thought they were an item and she said that they were just best friends and would never be together, she didn't know she was lying through her teeth. The night she had a dream of her and John B kissing, she shook it off, not knowing she was lying to herself about it 'just being a dream.'

Topper was different. She knew she should've told them. She knew they would get over it and she knew it wouldn't be a super big deal, but she was terrified. She was terrified she'd lose the only family she'd ever known, all because she got too drunk. All because her father was a complete piecer. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle it. So, despite knowing it would end up ending badly, she begged John B not to say anything and the boy agreed. Despite his raging desire to beat Topper's face in, he reigned that in as well, knowing it would blow the whole thing out of the water. She knew it was wrong to lie about it and she went against her own morals to do so. So yeah, she still felt guilty. She still felt guilty as fuck and she still felt utterly disgusted with her own actions. She didn't know when or if that would ever go away, but part of her was thankful for it. Because JJ was right. At the core, she was a good person, and that guilt and disgust over making the wrong decisions simply proved it.

Twiddling her thumbs, CJ wished her phone was still alive, but she'd run the battery out over the last week doing menial things like reading or listening to music. The Galaxy 5 sat on John B's desk, lying next to his Galaxy A5 and JJ's iPhone 5. The phones were all old, but it's what you could get as a Pogue. CJ's was passed down to her from Kie while JJ found his on the beach after a party. John B's was the only one that was bought for him, but the boy had been paying his own bill ever since his dad went missing. The twins had always paid theirs. The three used some stupid cheap family plan through Straight Talk. It did its job.

Laying there, bored out of her mind, CJ couldn't get to sleep. Maybe it was the adrenaline or maybe it was the guilt, but she found herself meandering into John B's room to grab the bong. Making sure not to wake him, she took it outside where she leisurely smoked. Pulling the glass bowl from the down stem, air flooded the bong, pushing the smoke into her lungs. The girl coughed slightly as she took a little too big of a hit, getting up to spit the accumulating saliva from her mouth. Any Kook would call her unladylike and in a very Maybank fashion, CJ would flip them off and tell them she wasn't a lady.

One good thing came from the harsh hit; it got her real stoned. Walking back to the couch, she fell back in a jesus pose and sighed contentedly. Her brain had now calmed and was swimming with the serene feeling the weed always gave her. The pain she ignored all day in her body had now been dulled and muted and CJ was relieved as another sigh left her mouth.

Closing her eyes, she just let the feeling take her over until she began to grow tired. A tiny smile pulled up the corners of her lips in thanks to the holy herb the twins had smoked for the last three years. Pope had of course tried to get them not to, convinced it was bad for them and a gateway drug, but when the two showed no signs of degradation, he stopped complaining. John B and Kie had taken their first hits at the same time at their first kegger when Kie turned fourteen. The twins had let out equal sounds of joy, knowing both of them desperately needed to chill the fuck out sometimes. CJ specifically knew it would help Kie get through the Kook Academy, and she was right. Over the course of the next three years, none of them had touched any other drug other than alcohol and occasionally nicotine.

Sighing in content, CJ adjusted herself, one of her feet hanging off the edge of the couch. There was no reason for this and usually it was uncomfortable for her, but in the moment it was how she wanted to sleep. With thoughts of the past and 'Young, Wild, and Free' playing in her head, CJ passed out.

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This chapter is pretty long and kind of weird, I apologize.

Also, I'm laughing, because the first time I actually establish what day it is (the last day of June,) it's my birthday. Even more ironically, I was on a beach on my 19th birthday, just on the other side of the country.

Okay, much more important; all credit for the beautiful gif at the top goes to WILDFLOWERLUKE! ❤ She's a queen honestly, go love her

Okay, I love you guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter even though it's fucking weird and the main scene didn't really turn out how I wanted lol

Byye

~SiriusCatBennett