Chapter 11 Shut Out

Johnny's POV

Okay, so this is a shitty predicament, right? Here I am, a week after going off my rocker and causing chaos up and down Stilwater, I'm caught with Gab pinned to the wall by Dex. To be fair, I'm sure he saw this coming. From day one, she caught my interest. What sort of batshit crazy person walks into a gang's main base of operations, beats up three of their members, and then asks to "hang out?" In that moment, I knew I wanted to find out more about her. There had to be more to her than "Dex's little sister," and there was. She's a fucking natural. The moment she stepped into this world, she took it more than in stride. Gab was becoming a key part in the Saints and as much as it ticked Dex off, I wanted to have a front row seat to watch.

But me, having her here like this, put all that desire and curiosity in jeopardy. Because Dex will definitely not let me near her after catching us like this.

My thoughts broke when Gabriella wiggled her way from my grasp, standing in front of me, putting herself between me and Dex. As much as I appreciated the bravado, I could tell this was a fight she wouldn't win. Dex's face was completely blank. I could handle angry, pissed, homicidal even. But, this blank, emotionless stare he was giving me was freaking me the fuck out.

"Hey, don't," I said to Gabriella, noticing her squared shoulders. Whatever Dex had to say, she definitely had a counter. But, now wasn't the time. Dex and I might actually have to talk. "Go inside."

Gabriella stiffened when I touched her shoulder, obviously wanting to fight me on this. After a moment, I felt her shoulders soften and slump in defeat. Good. I'll remind myself to thank her later for not making this worse. She sighed and turned to me, giving me a look I couldn't quite make out. Disappointment, maybe? Worry? I didn't have long to question it, because she made herself scarce. Without even looking at Dex, she went back inside the church through a side door.

It was just me and Dex, and that's when his expression finally changed. His eyes hardened, he shoved his hands in his pocket. He gave me a look I instinctively knew as a lieutenant. He was about to question my decisions. He was about to call into question everything I fucking did this week. We were about to talk lieutenant to lieutenant. Leader to (albeit most times unwilling) leader, but I got the feeling it wasn't going to be equal between us. He was about to talk down to me, and as much as I hated to admit it, he probably had the upper hand in this situation.

Fuck me.

"So, what's up?" Dex asked, sounding almost amused.

Normal POV

Gabriella paced back and forth inside the church, feeling the anxiety gnawing at the back of her head. She definitely did not want to leave the two of them alone, but she knew Johnny wanted her to leave. What could they possibly be talking about? Since when did Dex care about what she did, especially when it came to her love life.

Her footsteps paused.

Love life?

Johnny was..is, with Aisha, whether she liked it or not. They couldn't be together, and given everything that happened this past week, Gabriella wondered it if would even be a good idea. A lot of chaos and carnage was caused, all because she got pushed out of a van.

"Hey," Gabriella jumped and turned to see Dex strolling in through the door she just came through a few minutes ago. "Go home," he said bluntly. He didn't sound mad, but Gabriella wasn't going to just ignore that Johnny didn't walk in behind him.

"Where's Johnny?" she asked pointedly, staring over Dex's shoulder. "Why didn't he come back in with you? You don't just have the r-"

"Don't go back to our old house," Dex cut her off, offering her a set of silver keys. "There's an apartment in Atlantis Avenue, stay there. It seems like it would be your style."

Gabriella blinked and took the keys, but she stood there and waited for Dex to say something more. Surely he wasn't going to just ignore what happened a few minutes ago. During his private conversation with Johnny, it was totally quiet. Not a gun shot, not a raised voice, which was something she wasn't expecting from either of them. The air was thick with tension when Dex found them, so to have this type of ending to tonight seemed very…anticlimactic.

"You're not serious. You just expect me to leave and not ask what the hell just happened? Where is Johnny, Dex?" Gabriella snapped, she was starting to get annoyed that Dex was dodging her questions. Where the hell was Johnny?! "Look, you are not in a position to ask me questions right now," Dex snapped right back, stepping closer and squaring off with her. It made Gabriella shrink back, just a little. "You should worry less about Johnny and worry more about you. You getting caught up caused this shit. Go." What was that supposed to mean? Gabriella didn't get to ask or saying anything else as Dex turned his back to her and walked out the front of the church.

Gabriella's POV

I stared down at the traffic from my balcony, wishing to God something exciting would happen. After Dex left me at the church, I went to this high end apartment he was talking about and he wasn't kidding when he said it was my style. It was plush, luxurious. Every bit the type of house I fantasized about living in the Row. But at the moment, this apartment feels more like a prison than a home. It's been a few days since I've seen anyone. Whenever I try to leave and go to the church, a saint stops me and urges me to go back home. It's almost like there is some unsaid rule with everyone that I can't come back. Dex hasn't spoken to me since then, Troy rarely speaks to me, and it goes without saying that I haven't heard from Johnny…

They are shutting me out.

"But, it isn't my fault that Johnny went all homicidal madman!" I yelled in frustration, scaring a bird from its perch nearby. Literally, my only companion at the moment left. As much as people tell it isn't my fault, why the fuck are they treating me like it is? I sunk back into my comfortable lounge-chair, brooding and stewing in my own boredom and stir-craziness. The only person who religiously checks on me is Lin, and she isn't enough to satiate my wanderlust.

What was driving me crazy the most was that Johnny was completely ignoring me. Multiple texts and calls went unanswered, and there is no way in hell he hasn't seen them. I could literally see him reading them! What could my brother possibly have said to him to make him avoid me like the plague? I huffed, unwilling to be unheard, and sent him a quick text. Again.

"Nothing ever gets resolved by ignoring it, you know."

I waited. Pathetic, but I waited to see if he would respond. My phone pinged with the notification that my text was read, but not much else. So he was avoiding me! "Damn it!" Before I could throw the phone in frustration, it vibrated in my fist. Johnny's name flashed across the screen and I'm sure it didn't ring once before I answered.

Completely shameless.

"Okay, so what the fuck!" I didn't even give him a chance to speak first. My tongue felt hot, aching and itching to say everything that I've had on my mind these last few days. "So, you get to go on a homicidal massacre and somehow, I'M the one that gets put in time out?"

"First of all, calm the fuck down and watch how you talk to me," Johnny said sternly, his voice sounded even. Even though that is not what I wanted to hear, hearing his voice eased me in a way that I hated. I missed him, but I missed my freedom more. "You know it isn't like that."

"Isn't it though?" I paced angrily, staring out the window that overlooked the street. "Because from where I'm standing, I'm holed up in this apartment with three guys watching the building and I'm either followed around everywhere I go or they tell me to go home if I get too close to the Row. And considering I still see Vice Kings crawling up and down Atlantis Avenue, I take it the takeover isn't going well without me anyways."

Heh. I practically felt Johnny seething through the phone. Maybe I was in jail, but he was on a leash. With all the headway he made in removing the Vice Kings from the south side of Stilwater, their grip on territory north of the bridge was a lot tighter than it should have been. They had downtown and the Museum District locked down, and I had heard from a friendlier saint that the Vice Kings were rebuilding the recording studio. And with Aisha not following through with Johnny's plan on faking her death, the Vice Kings still had their number one artist. So, it all basically has blown up in his face. Even so, I didn't want to rub it in. I just wanted to remind him of his current predicament.

"Don't get too full of yourself," Johnny snapped, making me flinch. Maybe I took it a little too far. I was being pretty harsh, considering it had been days since we'd spoken. A small part of me wished that he missed me too.

"Look, why don't you come to my jail cell and we can talk," I said softly, hoping that the change in my tone would calm him down. Besides, I had important things to say that went beyond whatever the hell was going on between us. "I want to talk to you about a theory I have." "What theory?" Johnny asked, curiosity leaking into his voice. I smiled, knowing I had his ear for just a second, and that's all I needed. "What if the Vice Kings have something going on with the police?" I mused, my eyes darting back towards the street. "Like, what if they have an arrangement?"

"An arrangement?" Johnny didn't sound too impressed, but I pressed further. "Yes. The Vice Kings do almost whatever they want up here. It's like the police mystically look the other way, and don't even lie and tell me you haven't noticed. What if King is paying the police to look the other way while they regroup?"

Johnny was silent. I couldn't tell if he was actually thinking about what I said or was trying to find the words to shoot me down. "That's fucking stupid," he said simply. Well, I guess it was the latter.

"No. No, it isn't stupid. And you know it isn't stupid. The signs are there, if you would just talk to Dex, he would tell you I'm right," I tried again to press my ideas forward, but Johnny wasn't having it. I know I'm not crazy, so why is he treating me like I'm not intelligent? He may be an ass sometimes, but Johnny always hears everyone out, whether he agrees or not. Why can't he trust me enough to look into it? Atleast ask my brother!

I stopped angrily pacing and stared blankly at the wall. He knows I'm right.

"Gab?" Johnny's voice called me back from the blender that was my thoughts at the moment. "You there?" he asked. I had been silent for awhile. "What did you and Dex talk about?" I asked sweetly, obviously not hiding the threatening undertone my voice held. "Huh?" Johnny sounded exasperated with the sudden change of subject, but I wanted to know. "You know I'm right about this. And now, you are suddenly shutting me out of everything! I want to know what you both talked about," I was starting to lose my patience. I felt my nails digging in into the palm of my hand, my other hand clutching the phone tightly. "So, you think this theory about the police and the VKs is somehow connected to the talk I had with Dex a long fucking time ago?" Johnny asked, almost sounding like he was mocking me. I didn't give a shit.

"Yes."

…

"I don't want you involved," Johnny said simply after a moment of silence. "Pardon?" I quirked my eyebrow, knowing for a fact I didn't hear him right. "You are way too deep in this Vice King shit. Between you getting shot, pushed out a van, us," Johnny talked quickly, but paused for a second after that. My heart was in my throat. "You need to step back and let me do this shit by myself, my way. Dex agrees that you should sit out whatever else happens with the Vice Kings."

My ears were ringing, like someone had shot a gun directly beside my face. Was he serious? Of course I'm in deep, what the hell?! The Vice Kings is what they insisted I start on. From the second I walked into the church, I've spent more time on the Vice Kings than anything else. It was his Vice King-loving bitch that watched me get thrown from a van! Of course I'm taking this personally. My eyes stung from the tears of frustration, my shoulders were slumped and shaking.

"Aisha was there when Tanya threw me out of the van," I blurted out, instantly regretting it. That was a secret I definitely meant to take to hell with me. "What?" Johnny's voice was almost so low, I couldn't even hear it. "Say that shit again."

Too late to back out.

"Aisha…was there…when that bitch Tanya…threw me out of a moving van," I said slowly, hoping he wouldn't make me repeat myself.

"Who else knew about this," Johnny spat, sounding angrier and angrier. "Why the fuck wouldn't you tell me?!"

"Does it even matter?" I deadpanned, slipping on my sneakers at the front door of my apartment. If I was going to make my escape, it better be now. Where the fuck is it? I thought frantically as I rifled through a chest near the door. I sighed in relief, knowing I'd found the trusty Vice 9 I managed to sneak into my prison. As I slipped my gun in my waistband, I paused to listen to the noises from the phone.

Johnny's breathing.

Humming. Machine humming. Engine maybe? Fuck.

"What are you doing right now?" I asked slowly, feeling an uneasy feeling creeping up on me. "I'm on my way to see you." He said it so simply, but the way his voice sounded sent shivers down my spine. It made me want to run, because his visit didn't sound like it would be friendly. "Are you serious? You think this is a fucking game?" He snarled, and I could hear the engine revving further. "You mean to tell me that Eish was there, you knew she was there, and you didn't fucking tell me!" He was seething mad, and I immediately knew he was flying his car through the streets to get to me. I needed to move quickly.

"I know I'm right about the police and the Vice Kings, Johnny. And if you won't act on it, then I will," my voice, thankfully, didn't waver as my hand gripped the doorknob.

"Fuck that! I want to talk about Aisha and why you didn't tell me this shit," Johnny yelled again, hurting my ear.

"Don't look for me, okay?" I hung up, knowing that would anger him further. I've got to be fast and efficient. I slung a backpack over my shoulder and I flung open the door and pointed my gun directly in the face of my plain-clothed comrade. We still weren't allowed to wear our colors since the police weren't letting up on the Saints. I'd use this to my advantage and blend into the crowd. "Woah woah, what the fuck bitch?" he threw his hands up, standing to the side. "I'm just supposed to watch you, but I ain't beat for this shit."

"Call off the other two. No one gets in my way," I snarled and walked down the hall, confident that he would pass on my message. I took a flight of back stairs, hoping to avoid Johnny in case his ungodly speed already put him at the lobby of the highrise apartment. Exiting through the rear, I pulled up my hoodie and ran down the street towards the shopping district. In order to execute this plan, I needed to be somewhere crowded. I needed to be seen. The distance from my apartment and the nearest store was minutes away, and blending in with the crowd and avoiding gang members was a simple task for me.

"Perfect," I stared at Impressions, a high-end clothing store. Causing a ruckus here would be more than enough. I opened my backpack and pulled out a bright yellow jacket. I took a moment to stare at it in disgust, hoping that this charade wouldn't be in vain. I zipped up and pulled the hoodie over my face to shroud my eyes from view. "How can I help-oh my god!" the cashier at the counter threw her hands up when I waved my gun in her face.

Time to cause a little chaos.

"Vice Kings, bitch!"

Bang

Author's Note::: Soooo, what do you think guys?! :D Practically three times as long, hopefully to help everyone jump back into the story. Bear with me, this is my first time creatively writing in almost 5 years, so I'm rusty. Hopefully, I can still put on a good story ^-^ Till next time!