BRIZO 2 | 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

9

a/n: hello everyone. i know we all collectively hate big john this season, but you're gonna have to suffer him for a few chapters. i DON'T intend on making brizo join him and jb in all his endevours, however, it is important for her storyline to be reunited with him. that's the only and sole reason i didn't have her go with the rest of the pogues. with this being said, please be respectful (not towards big john) and enjoy the chapter <3

 ---------------------------------------

CHAPTER NINE
sons and daughters and fathers

I like to think I had a very lovely childhood.

Our mother left us when we were three. Left John B and I with our dad. My brother says he remembers the night she left, vaguely of course. But he keeps memories of her. I don't.

I just remember waking up one day, and she just wasn't there anymore. I don't think I'd recognize her if I saw her today. We keep pictures of her in our house, but I don't look at them often. It feels wrong.

For the whole time growing up, it was just us and our pops.

And the Merchant, of course.

He wasn't the best father in the whole world, but in some ways, he was the best father you could imagine.

I remember when he would take us on our little boat to fish. I refused to learn, even though he insisted on teaching me. Only John B joined him with fishing rods. I'd spend my time reading or drawing.

Then we grew older, and we reached puberty. You'd think our dad would've gone insane having two teenagers under his roof. But he managed just fine.

He taught us we had to work if we wanted something. Opposite to JJ's beliefs on the art of stealing. Our father didn't want us to be like that. He taught us how to work, and what to do after work.

He came to the beach, brought beers for JJ, John B and I, and drank with us, laughing and hearing about how John B had fallen while trying to ride a wave. I remember clearly laughing when JB suggested that he let him smoke pot if he got a B in our next test. He smoked it regardless.

Our pops always was more of a friend than a father. He wasn't overprotective at all. Well, he let John B be overprotective when it came to me. He used to laugh a lot about our bickering.

But like any family, we had our moments. I remember the last day I saw him.

We were short on money that month. We were struggling to pay the bills. Dad had suggested we sold the Twinkie and John B had gone ballistic over it.

I remember sitting in our living room, texting JJ, when John B walked out of the house slamming the door behind him.

"You're not being reasonable!" My father had followed him outside.