The startling sound of Elle's ringtone woke her from the deepest sleep she'd had the past few weeks. She'd only been able to sleep for 2 to 3 hours in bursts before waking up breathless and sweating from nightmares of the storm, so being disturbed in the middle of such a peaceful slumber irritated her.
"Hey Dad, what's up", she answered, fumbling with her earring to calm her nerves after seeing his name appear on her phone.
"Hi Elle, I just got off the phone with the lawyer, and… it's not looking too good", he sighed.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What does that mean. "What? What are you talking about?".
She heard her Dad let out a sigh before continuing, "Well, they're continuing the investigation because they don't believe you and Kie were the only ones who had anything to do with what went down. Especially with the trouble the boys have been in previously".
Her head began to swim with all the negative possibilities that could happen. "Wait, are you telling me that JJ and Pope are getting investigated? On what evidence?", she pushed.
"I'm not sure, Shoupe said and I quote that he 'wasn't allowed to disclose that'".
"That's bullshit!" she exclaimed, feeling herself getting angrier by the minute.
"I know darling. But he did tell me that JJ owes money, and has some possible breaking and entering charges, do you know about any of those?" Elle could feel her chest closing in on itself with the thought of JJ getting into anymore trouble.
"No Dad of course not. Uh, what about Pope?"
"He didn't mention anything, to be honest I think his case for Pope is a lot weaker than it is for JJ, knowing what JJ's like". Usually she would defend JJ, but the end of his sentence went in one ear and out the other once finding out about Pope.
Silence filled the line, Elle too caught up in her thoughts attempting to piece everything together.
"You need to stop hanging around these kids Elle, they're clearly no good for you"
"I'll tell you what Dad, you get a say in who I hang out with when here for more than 2 weeks at a time. Thanks for the information, I've got to go", she fired back, promptly ending the call.
Giving this information to Elle wasn't a good idea. The most indecisive of the Pogues, she now had to debate whether to tell the others or not. She knew that she should tell them, to keep them in the loop of the investigation. But telling the boys that Shoupe was going to do a deep-dive on them, would only result in chaos. Pope would freak out, his anxiety sky-rocketing and mulling over a possible criminal record that would make all his hard work this year for his scholarship redundant.
Elle could predict how JJ would react; rebellion or packing up and running. Neither was particularly ideal. She wouldn't even know where to find him after 2 weeks of no contact. She ignored that dreaded feeling in the pit of her stomach that rose whenever she thought of him and tried to think logically about her options.
How could this happen? Peterkin being shot by who they believed to be Ward. John B had never gotten around to telling them who it was, but they knew that he, Ward and Sarah were the only ones present when it happened, making it an obvious no brainer. And yet, John B was the one framed, and now that he's not around for them to blame, they're going to place it on the next best thing, the Pogues.
Elle paced back and forth as she contemplated what to do next, twirling her rings around her fingers, thoughts rushing through her mind, one being replaced by the next. Settling on a decision, she walked back over to her phone resting on her bed, opening up their group chat and typing out, "We need to meet. Can y'all be at mine in 30?".
"So what's going on?" Kie asked, plopping herself onto the outside sofa on the porch. Her and Pope had arrived together, something Elle wouldn't have found strange previously but now left her feeling a tad uncomfortable. She was still trying to wrap her head around the idea of them together during all of this, and she was yet to properly talk to either of them about it and figure out what was actually going on.
She took a deep breath, preparing herself for their reactions as she filled them in on everything her Dad said.
Pope's face visibly drained of colour, and Kie's eyebrows creased with worry. "Oh shit, I'm done for aren't I", Pope said, placing his head in hands and staring at the ground.
Elle took that as her cue to calm him down, "You're not done for Pope, they haven't even found anything yet".
"Elle that doesn't matter, they're searching as. we. speak.", he added, pausing between his words for emphasis of the severity of the issue.
Kie who had remained silent processing the information butted in, "Does JJ know?".
Waving her hands around in front of them to draw attention to the three of them, she replied frustratedly, "No, as you can see, he's a no show".
Kie nodded solemnly, picking up the sadness underlying Elle's words, "So you're still not talking", she pressed gently.
A sarcastic laugh escaped her, "Bingo!".
Pope looked between the girls, sensing the tone of the conversation and awkwardly adding, "I uh… know where he is, and you're not gonna like it E."
Her head perked up, eyebrows raised with interest, "What, where? With his dad?".
"Not exactly", Pope paused, trying to prepare himself for her reaction, "he's working at Barry's, trying to pay him back for what he stole from his place."
You have got to be fucking kidding me, Elle thought. "I'm sorry, what? Are you joking right now? He's working as a dealer?!", she spoke, feeling her hands becoming clammy with stress as this conversation progressed.
Pope shook his head vigorously, "No, not as a dealer. He's doing maintenance on the house and his land. Apparently there's enough work needed to be done to repay everything he stole".
She couldn't believe her ears right now. He was going to earn 30k back from doing handyman work? She let out a sigh, "This is insane. He's literally turned to the dark side. I have money, Kie has money, why didn't he just come to us?".
It was Pope's turn to let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Do you really think that JJ, our JJ, JJ Maybank, would ask you for money to pay back someone for something you told him not do in the first place. Not with his pride and stubbornness Elle".
Pope was right. Of course he wouldn't do that. He liked to fend for himself, for everything. There was no way he was going to actually ask anyone for help. "Do you guys think we should tell him. I think it's just going to make things worse and I don't know if that's the best idea," Elle questioned softly.
Pope and Kie both took a couple of seconds to think. Pope finally making a decision, "Yeah, I do Elle. He's going to end up in a much worse place than just working for Barry if we don't get him out. I tried to talk to him the other day. All he said was that I didn't need to worry about him anymore and something about freeing me from his chains, which made no sense but I know that what he meant wasn't good".
"Ok, I'm going to head over there and try and get him out", Elle stated, grabbing her phone and getting ready to leave.
Kie let out a soft laugh, "Good luck with that. If there's anyone he loves saving him from his messes, it's you".
Elle could hear the sarcasm dripping off her words. She did have a habit of cleaning up his messes, whether he liked it or not. That's what friends do right? They help you out when you need it, they give you money when you're broke, they call you out on your bullshit? And then they ignore any attempts of contact for 2 weeks after breaking your heart? That's how friendship works, right?