CHAPTER 10-OLD AQUAINTANCES
"Jessica…I know you are in there. Open the door" Pope had banged on her front door again for the fifth time waiting for a response.
Since the disaster that happened at Smurf's, Jessica hadn't gone back to get her precious blue jeep. She had been doing one of her famous traits and that was staying away from the family. It had been something she did all her life and her popping up wasn't a surprise. The only reason it was for a year because she never stayed away for that long.
The reason Pope was there was due to the fact that she was refusing to answer the door to anyone. Baz had stopped over there more than once, Deran did at least two days ago and now it was his turn. On top of it Smurf wanted her car out of the driveway but of course she wouldn't go pay her a visit.
"If you don't open this damn door I'm going to break it open" He said in a calm tone but was frustrated that she wasn't around.
He knew she was home because her bike had been parked out front. Jessica had moved to an apartment not too far from Baz but they still weren't close. He lived directly on the beach where she had been at least five minutes away from it. It was a large beige colored building with stairs that led to the first floor, wrapped around to the second where she resided. It was in a good neighborhood as well so it was nothing to really worry about.
Glancing around, Pope looked to his left and right to make sure no one was around or coming out of their own apartments. Fishing around in his pocket, he was lucky enough to have a hair pin. When taking Lena to school she wanted her hair up and tried putting it up in the car but needed help. Pope must have put some of them in his pocket.
Sticking one in the keyhole, he toyed around with the lock until he heard it click to unlock it. Pushing it open, he stepped inside and looked around. He could hear music playing from down the hallway and Pope shut the door quietly.
The place wasn't big and it wasn't small either. From the front door was the living room with the kitchen all the way to the left. It was a complete open floor with the kitchen, dining and living room all in one with a half wall at least dividing the kitchen. Leaning back, the hallway looked like it held at least two rooms, one for the bathroom at a bedroom. It would be to her liking as the walls were painted a very light pale blue.
It was strange that there was no noise except for the music playing and it reminded him of Julia. There was one time that he found Julia overdosing in the bathroom and it was something that had never left his mind. Feeling like that was the same scenario; he began walking towards the hallway.
Jessica had opened the door from the bathroom and had been ruffling her hair when she saw a figure standing there. "Jesus Christ!" She yelled out of being scared and surprise. "What the hell….How did you get in here?"
After seeing his sister, Pope had took a few steps back and turned around. She had just stepped out of the shower and was gripping her towel as tight as she could around her tan body. She nearly slid on the water that was pooling on the floor underneath her.
"I was coming to see if you were alright…" Pope answered turning his head faintly to see her but not fully. "Go get dressed"
"Well obviously because I'm not standing here soaking wet in a towel talking to you" It would have been different if she just came from the beach. Rushing to her room, Jessica was trying her best to put together an outfit now that she had company. Throwing on a form fitting t-shirt and ripped jeans, Jessica came back out trying to tie her hair up in a bun.
Pope had been standing in the corner of the living room staring at her surfboards. "Can you turn the music off? It sounds like a train wreck" Glaring towards him, she reached for her phone to turn off the rap music that was playing, an old DMX song to be exact.
"Do you want anything to drink or did you just come in here to scare the hell out of me?" She asked moving to the refrigerator for a bottle of juice. He shrugged it off and grabbed one of the boards.
"Remember when you and Deran had that surf competition? It was like a gender thing and you both entered it…Wasn't this the board you used?" Pope had taken another look around the place, there was still boxes lying around but it was still put together.
"Yeah, that was the only time he ever beat me in something other than Call of Duty…Look, did you come here to scare me or borrow a surfboard?" Jessica had unscrewed the cap before taking a long drink. She realized why she was there after a moment. "Mom sent you, didn't she?"
She was the only one in the family who would refer to her as Mom. Jessica felt weird at times calling her Smurf because she didn't know anyone who called their parents by their first name. Smurf was her Mother after all but she had gone between names constantly. It caught Pope's attention because it was strange for him to hear her be referred to that. Snapping his head in her direction, he pointed to the sofa and asked if it was okay to sit.
Jessica of course told him he could so he did so before speaking. "Well she's been bitching that your car is still in the driveway" He said looking at her. "Actually, I had a few things to do so I came to ask if you wanted to go get it. I know you've been ignoring everyone"
Smirking faintly, she moved over to sit next to him. Crossing her legs, she turned to face him. "I'm over this, this family and all that's in it. Deran has more shit to worry about than me so I didn't answer the door for him. Craig could care less considering he hasn't stopped by. Baz…I can't even begin to start on that right there"
"Whatever you two do is none of my business" Pope commented holding his hands up before shaking his head faintly. "But you know that whatever comes out of it has consequences for everyone involved"
Jessica was mid drink and stared at him. "Do you think I planned on falling for him? I've liked him since I was a kid, but God forbid I ever act on the feelings…It doesn't matter. I quit, that's all that matters"
"You always quit" Pope said seriously. He didn't understand her sudden change of heart about the family. It wasn't weird that she wanted distance because that was a personal trait of hers. She usually disappeared when times get tough but nothing serious was going on.
"I get what Craig did was wrong and I probably should have said something but you need to go over there. We still got all this money from the church and she's going to do some digging. Just let me take you over there and you don't have to say a word to her. Once Smurf see's you she'll be okay with it"
Shaking her head heavily, she placed her juice on the coffee table. Jessica reached for the hair tie and pulled her hair out. Standing up, she moved away from him and began fluffing her hair out. Pope knew she wasn't going to go so he was going to do anything he could to get her over to Smurf's.
"Grab your keys and let's go. I'll drop you off and you can leave whenever. I've got things to do but at least you have your keys to leave" Jessica shook her head again then took another drink. Standing up, Pope thought of the next thing. "Lena's over there. You can distract yourself with your niece"
"I'm not going Pope. Someone can come bring me my car. I'm not in the mood to deal with her attitude lately…" She stopped talking to face him.
"I said grab your keys or I'll throw your ass in my truck"
The next thing Jessica knew, she was sitting in Pope's truck clutching her keys and bag. He wasn't going to take no for an answer and she realized that. When Pope meant something, he kept on it until it worked in his favor. She wasn't going to let him bother her over and she just wanted to hop out at that very moment.
When he pulled into the driveway, she couldn't help but feel nervous or agitated. There were many thoughts running through Jessica's mind and the one that was screaming at her was to get out. Once Pope left, she walked towards her Jeep and debated on leaving even though she wanted to see Lena.
"So you finally show up to take back your Jeep?" Smurf had been standing in the garage leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
That shook her daughter out of her thoughts as she had been holding the door open ready to get in. Jessica didn't even know what to say so she just stood there looking at her.
"Come on inside, I'll make you a cup of tea" Smurf said nodding towards the house and began walking inside.
Hesitating to follow, Jessica looked between the driver's seat and the garage before slowly closing the door. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she shook her hair out once more to dry then walked inside. Smurf was already at the stove pouring some hot water into a cup and reaching for a tea bag.
"It's the one you like with the orange and flowers in it. I kept them just in case you decided to come home"
"Thanks…" Jessica had trailed off while walking over to the kitchen island. She walked over towards her and grabbed the cup she was offering. She then hopped onto and tested it out to see how hot it was.
Smurf had done a famous half smirk and began washing her hands in the sink. "You know, you always did that when I made dinner. You used to sit there and watched everything I did, asked me a million questions and you were amazed by it"
It had become a habit of her to sit there when she turned about twelve. "Where do you think I learned so many recipes? Look…I'm sorry for last night. The dinner was great and everything" She began to play with the teabag in order to avoid looking at her.
"But…?" Smurf asked wiping her hands off in the towel. "I know there's something bothering you by the tone of your voice. I wasn't born yesterday. What's bothering you baby?"
The thing that Jessica could never do was to stay away from her family for long. There always came a time that she wanted or needed to come back no matter the circumstance. She prided herself on having a life, place and career away from them but they were her blood. It all came down to the fact that Smurf was her Mother and she needed her as her Father was nowhere in sight.
"Nothing's really bothering me...I just feel stuck right now and I don't know what to do"
"You're jumping into something again without a second thought correct?" Jessica was referring to bring herself back so soon. Smurf leaned back against the sink and thought it over. "Does this have to do with someone in particular?"
Taking a long drink, Jessica glanced at her but continued to avoid it. When she didn't want to face her, she often looked down as if she was guilty. She knew exactly what she was going to bring up and it was definitely something that she wasn't going to break on.
"What's with you and Baz? You two seem pretty cozy lately" She knew where she was going with it and all she wanted was Jessica to admit to her suspicions.
"Nothing is going on, why did you jump on him last night? You know what he went through as a kid, why did you have the need to rub it in his face?" She shot back but in a calm tone.
"Baz seems to think he can call all the shots now and I know about the job on the church. He should have ran the idea by me first before jumping into it. J's leg is torn up pretty bad and I'm not happy about that"
"Is J the favorite now? I mean, you hated Julia but this kid seems to have the heart of gold" Jessica asked wondering if that was the big problem to begin with.
It made Smurf cocked her head sharply towards her. It wasn't a secret that J was being up for grabs and he was almost in a tug of war between her and her sons. There was the majority of the tension in the house and Jessica knew that was it. The way she looked and spoke to him as if he was a precious baby, it was quite sickening.
"I don't play favorites in this family, you know that. I wish you would have picked up your phone the night of their job, J probably wouldn't have had an infection that bad if you did"
Rolling her eyes at the remark, Jessica took a long drink to cover it up. She actually didn't care if she saw it. Smurf's daughters were never her favorites and she played all of them as one behind their backs. She kicked her feet a little debating on speaking back, she liked the silence.
"Well I was trying to get my apartment ready, I just assumed they were having a party as often as my phone went off" It was a lie but she wouldn't tell her that. She didn't know J was hurt because she just threw off the calls and texts but she thought it was because they needed her help. After realizing how big the church was, Jessica didn't want to do it.
"He told me that you did a good job with it though, maybe I should have thanked you sooner for your hard work" Smurf walked over towards her daughter and almost stood in front of her. "He did seem a bit shaken when he came back out though, are you sure you were just getting a glass of water?"
Lifting her eyes from the coffee mug, Jessica was holding the best poker face she could. "I came in for a glass; I didn't know you but a variety of things on the shelf and couldn't find them. Baz came in, told me where they were and went out to his car. I then helped J and that was it"
Raising the cup to her mouth, Smurf smiled slowly and patted her on the leg. Jessica wasn't sure if she realized she was lying but she did her best she could to cover it up. After finishing what tea was left, she looked up towards the TV screen that housed the security cameras. Squinting, Jessica leaned forward before pointing towards it. "Did you invite someone here?"
"No, it could be Craig stopping by to pick up some of his clothes he left here"
"That doesn't look an ounce like Craig…Who is that?" Jessica questioned setting the mug down and hopping off the counter when Smurf turned around.
Her Mother hadn't said anything but made her way to the patio in strides. She followed right behind her wanting to see as well who it was. No one showed up to the Cody home unannounced especially when Smurf was around. The man had slowly came to a halt when he saw her coming forward and Jessica hung back in the garage.
"Shit…You don't look a day different from last I saw you. Same house, same look, nothing changes with her, does it Smurf?"
Smurf glanced behind her to see how far back Jessica was out of curiosity. Turning back around, she crossed her arms and stared the man down. "What are you doing here?" She hadn't mentioned his name.
"I got some business to take care of and it involves you" He spoke then shifted a little to his right to see who or what she was looking at. "No kidding…You sure grew up. How's it going?"
Jessica had shifted her eyes between them then walked forward herself. She didn't know who he was though he looked around her age. He seemed familiar in the face but she couldn't exactly put a finger on it. "Hey…" She said awkwardly then looked towards Smurf.
"It seems like Javi decided to crawl back around for some shady business deal that I really don't need a part of" She commented not taking her eyes off of him.
"Javi?" Jessica looked at her then back to him. "Oh my God, I didn't even recognize you!" She couldn't help but launch herself forward to hug him. Javi smirked a little keeping his eyes on Smurf while hugging her back as well. "You look so much better with hair; I don't like this new look"
He had laughed faintly while she pulled away. Smurf was easily irritated at the situation and it showed faintly on her face. She was good at keeping her composure. "Jess, why don't you go back inside for a while?"
Feeling confused, she looked between the two of them. Back in the day Jessica and Javi had dated for close to a year when they were probably in their early twenties. It was a very simple relationship but Smurf of course didn't like what transpired. The two parted on good terms but there was that common denominator between them.
"Grandma, when is Daddy coming back?" Lena had been slowly approaching them from in the garage and all of them turned their attention to her. She had been shy so she stayed more in the shadows.
Smurf took a glance at her wrist as it was only in the early afternoon. It was a Saturday which meant no school and Pope had things to do. Baz was nowhere present and she wasn't sure what to answer.
"Cute kid, Is she yours?" Javi asked glancing at Jessica before looking towards Lena.
Shaking her head no, Jessica walked back over towards the garage in which Smurf replied, "Baz's…Jessica why don't you take Lena out for some ice cream for a little while?"
It was clear that she was trying to get her out of the home and away from the two of them. Whatever was going on wasn't good but Jessica didn't know what it was. She never had a problem with Javi and she never would.
"Um…Sure. We never got to do that girl's day as planned, right?" Lena's face had lit up with excitement. Picking her up, Jessica held onto her and took her to the jeep. Helping her in, she looked towards them for a second. "When should I bring her back or should I call him?" Her voice was filled with confusion.
"I'll let you know, Javi and I have some ctaching up to do"