JONES → JJ MAYBANK

019. midsomer madness

𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗫𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘 must have arrived back sometime between JJ's arrest and when they pair left for the second time in two days. Thankfully, they arrived at an empty house allowing Mackenzie to avoid a terrible situation.

Both of her parents stood in the doorway holding the same angered expression. It had been a good couple of days since they had last seen their daughter or been aware of her current affiliation with the pouges. They wouldn't have flown back so soon if Ward Cameron had never phoned them.

"Are you wanting to explain yourself to us, Mackenzie?" Alexander asked, his voice stern with authority.  Alexander had always had a genuinely good relationship with Mackenzie and he was fairly confused about her recent 'act of rebellion. 

"No," She shrugged, trying to push past them and out the door. 

Her father stood in the door frame and blocked her from being able to exit. He narrowed his eyes at her, not accepting her response. "Do not speak to me like that. You are embarrassing our family name in an act of what? Rebellion? A sense of purpose? You're a Jones, smarten the fuck up and start acting like one."

"It's not an act of rebellion! They are my friends. How does my being friends with people other than your rich ass-kissing partners damage our family name?" Makenzie asked, she wasn't about to tolerate her parents looking down on her friends.

"It was one thing to stop talking to Audry and Harrison, but to take things a step forward and disrespect the Camerons for the sake of running around the island with dirty juvenal delinquents." Melanie snapped, her voice holding some underlying emotions.

"They are not dirty or juvenile delinquents!" Mackenzie snapped, her hand pulled up into a fist knuckles turning white. 

"Ward told me that your new friend, that Maybanks kid, was just arrested for damaging Topper's boat. Great choice of friends," Alexander retorted. 

"Don't even get me started on John, he is the absolute last person I want you around. You understand me?" Melanie snapped, "I don't want you near that low-life piece of shit kid. He comes from nothing but dirty mistakes."

"Melanie, you can take it down a touch about that kid," Alexander snapped, directing his anger to his wife now. 

"No! I don't want our daughter near that child." She yelled, turning around in a huff and storming off to slam a door shut in the distance. 

"You need to figure your shit out Mackenzie, I'm not having you destroy our family's name." Alexander instructed, "I don't want you near those kids anymore. You're going to start attending our family events starting with Midsomer tomorrow night."

. . . 

Mackenzie spent the evening trying to find a way to sneak out. She wanted to see her friends, to tell them what was going on, and most importantly she wanted to make sure the blonde-haired boy was okay. To no good luck, she wasn't able to find a way to sneak out or to even send a text message due to Alexander taking her phone the following morning.

The following evening, Mackenzie found herself sitting in the passenger seat of Rafe Camerons Car. He wore a baby blue suit with his hair slicked back, somewhat going with the black sparkly dress Mackenzie chose to wear. 

When Rafe complimented her outfit, she responded by saying it was her funeral dress. 

Once they arrived at the Midsomer, Rafe extended a hand to the girl and led her inside as if she was simply an accessory. She stood at his side for a good hour, being ignored and overlooked as Rafe and his friends discussed meaningless things with her.