𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐘 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄𝐒 | jj maybank

𝐬𝐢𝐱

CHAPTER SIX: OKAY, PRETTY BOY

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"i mean, it's obvious, right? a family heirloom, what better place to hide a message? he had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?" john b explained as he drove his van. i sat in between jj's legs, my back up against his chest as i fiddled with the ring on his thumb.

"yeah, it's possible," kie responded weakly.

"it could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels," pope suggested.

"pope?"

"i'm gonna have to second pope on this one guys," i spoke up.

"bro, you know how i process my sad feels. dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how i do it," jj said, everyone trying to ignore him.

"lovely contribution jj. on that note," i said as i pulled out a blunt.

"just what i want. contamination for my lungs," pope scoffed.

"hey, pope, this shit numbs you good. great way to process the sad feels. nice coping mechanism," i told him, knowing that he would never listen to me. he was too good of a kid to be doing the shit i am destroying my health with.

"look, i'm not concocting, okay? my dad's trying to give me a message," john b insisted as jj and i eyed each other questionably. he held his hand out, silently asking for a hit.

"if it helps you believe, john b," kie tried to keep him relaxed .

"look, i-i don't need a therapy session, okay?" he insisted, "look, i'm not trippin' out."

"it's okay to trip bro-"

"look, my, my dad is missing, okay? missing."

well, at least he could only say that. jj's and my daddy issues can not relate whatsoever. you don't catch jj complaining though, right? whatever.

"you don't know what it's like to have the closest person to you vanish, and then have no idea of what happened. just wake up every morning wondering."

"it's been almost a year," kie stated, trying to knock some kind of sense into him.

"hey, he could've been kidnapped. that's definitely a possiblity," jj suddenly said, causing me to just look at him, contemplating if he was actually being serious or not.

then, pope added onto it. "yeah, could be in a soviet sub getting interrogated by the kgb somewhere."

"absolutely. uh.. or atlantis."

"j, you're kidding," i mumbled.

"jj. look, what do you think the message is?" kie shifted her attention over to john b.

"redfield. redfield lighthouse. my dad's favorite place," he countered as we pulled up to the lighthouse.

"right. here's what's gonna happen. you two are gonna post up and look out for bogey's, okay?" john b told jj and i.

"wait, why me? and her?" jj pointed at me, leaning against the van.

"because you're not coming."

"why?"

"look jj, there are independent and dependent variables. you two are independent variables. we don't know what you guys'll do," pope attempted to clarify.

"shut up pope!" jj pointed at him.

"listen to me for a second, just listen," john b butted in, "pope, you stand lookout with them, okay? if we get split up, we meet back up at jj's house."