CHAPTER 14-THE MOTHER OF ALL MOTHERS
"Aunt Jessica, why do I have to go to the doctors?"
Lena had been holding onto Jessica's hand tight as they were making their way through the clinic's parking lot. Once again she had been on babysitting duty even when she had her job to worry about. Baz had gone down to Mexico she assumed to see or talk to Lucy even though he said he was done with her.
It wasn't the jealousy peaking up but she wasn't going to be played for a fool. She knew how Baz at times fooled around on Catherine; after all she was a onetime situation. If they were going to be anything he needed to step up to Lena and Jessica. She wasn't going to put up with his two timing ways and wasn't going to be the one constantly cheated on.
"Because your Dad decided to go to Mexico last minute and I'm the only one who was open to watch you right now..." Jessica knew she had irritation in her voice so she stopped walking and bent down in front of her niece. "Look, I know you would rather be watching cartoons but you and I will have fun today, okay?"
Lena had her usual innocent look on her face but she had been having a sad sparkle in her eyes. Jessica had done the best she could to watch her whether that meant taking her to the beach or staying at Baz's for her. She wasn't the motherly time but her instincts kicked in big time.
"There's coloring books here and some other fun things I'm sure you'll find interesting. Besides that your Uncle Pope is picking you up in an hour or two but as of right now..." Opening the door, she guided her inside. "You get to eat some cookies and look around. Plus, Uncle J should be here in ten minutes to get a shot and you can see him cry like a baby"
The last sentence made Lena laugh and her eyes widened. "I don't cry when I get shots...Do I have to get one?"
Shaking her head no, Jessica began to show her around the place. The color scheme looked like a beach met a doctor's office. It was filled in pastels ranging from blue to peach and yellow. Jessica had actually helped her friend paint the place as it was his to run in the first place. She had met Shaun Loomis when she went to rehab for the second time as he was working at the hospital she went to. He was at least ten years older than her but he and Jessica had a good friendship. He had been the only who had always given her the job back as he knew how hard her addiction was. With the hospitals always being weary of her, Jessica felt like she belonged at the clinic.
Besides that she knew most of the people that went in it. The Oceanside Clinic operated just like any other doctor's office or hospital. There were a handful of nurses and at least four doctors that took care of anything they could. Jessica liked it being a small working space and enjoyed when she was there. Even though it wasn't what she wanted to do with her life, it seemed like fate wanted to work in mysterious ways.
"Hey…I had to bring my niece in for at least an hour or two" Jessica commented while ushering Lena into the medium sized break room where Shaun was sitting.
"Is everything okay?" He asked looking up from a stack of papers. He was dressed in the same dark blue scrubs except he had on a doctors' coat. Shaun had dark chocolate brown hair with matching eyes, most of the nurses had a crush on him.
"Yeah, my brother decided to go on a quick vacation and she didn't have anyone to watch her" Jessica had pointed over to some chairs where Lena went to sit down. "My other brother Pope's coming to pick her up soon so if she can hang around here for a little while?"
Shaun had nodded and introduced himself to her. He showed her a few tricks on where they hide the good cookies and toys around the clinic. It was a very family friendly place and Lena's troubles seemed to go away for a while. It made Jessica feel less pressure on her because she didn't know if it would be okay. There wasn't any doubt in her mind but she couldn't help but worry.
"Oh speaking of your family, how are they? I believe your nephew is waiting in room 4 for a shot"
Jessica had given him a sarcastic look. "Don't even ask, they all are exactly the same and that is never going to change. He actually showed up? Come on Lena, grab some cookies and come with me"
After Lena picked out a few cookies and at least two Barbie dolls, she followed the Cody sister through the coral walls and knocked on the door. Jessica stepped inside with a faint smile as J sat on the examination table. He had looked nervous but Lena decided to speak.
"Aunt Jessica said you were going to cry while getting your shot" She spoke softly and it made Jessica do an awkward laugh. It was then she asked for her to go back outside and figure out something to do, J just have a confused expression.
"I'm surprised you showed considering you ducked out the other day, how's your leg?" The blonde sat down across from him and started typing some things on the computer. "When's the last time you had a tetanus shot?"
The last place J wanted to be was in a doctor's office. He would have rather been doing anything but staring at needles and depressing walls. "Yeah, I had a really important test that day" It was a lie but J was trying his best to get out of it. He had told her that he was taking tests to enter into different colleges. Jessica glanced at him skeptically but he continued on. "It's fine, it still hurts pretty bad but I think it's okay…Um, I don't think I ever got one. Should I have?
"Well you're supposed to get one at some point but I didn't get one as a kid either since we couldn't go to any kind of doctors. One time Craig had chicken pox and he ended up giving it to me which went to Deran and it was miserable…" Jessica stopped and turned all the way to look at him. "Did Julia ever take you to the doctors?"
Shaking his head faintly, J was feeling a little bit embarrassed. It was obvious that Julia would have never taken him but Jessica wondered if he had at least seen anyway. She could have easily taken him to her but their relationship became rocky as they got older.
"Okay…Well now you have me to worry about because if you get sick I will be the one to the rescue" She responded before getting up and opening up a cabinet. It had been filled with a lot of different medical equipment but she had pulled out what she needed for a shot. Loading the syringe with the medicine, she now searched for a cotton ball and an alcohol pad to rub his arm with. Turning back around, she grabbed the things and moved over. "What? What's wrong?"
"Nothing I just…" J stopped talking and stared at the syringe. He looked away taking a breath before looking at her. "I just don't like needles"
"Most people have a fear of needles, nothing to be ashamed of…" Jessica's voice had trailed off and she slowly realized what he meant. He had been avoiding going because Julia's drug use. Her drug of choice had been heroin which she always used a needle for. J more than likely had to get them for her and in no doubt in her mind did he see her shoot up. There was now a sad and awkward silence as Jessica put the things down on the bed.
"I promise it will be quick, you and I can have a talk about whatever after if you want. Trust me; I know how hard it was because I was in those shoes six times. The other night at Smurf's I thought I was going to die. Julia was my sister and I saw her go through some pretty shitty things"
Nodding at her statement, J had slipped his hoodie off in order to expose his arm. Wanting to make things go fast, she counted and told him to say his ABC's. It was a trick she used on children when they came in but Jessica knew it always worked. He had tensed up faintly and winced but it was over in one, two, three.
"Would you like a popsicle or cookie after that?" Joking, she began throwing out what she used in its appropriate spot and laughed along with him. "Trust me, I hate needles too. All the drugs I did mostly went right up my nose, surprised I look so good from after all I've been through"
Rubbing his arm, J was checking if it was swollen yet. "How come you and my Mom had a fall out? There were a couple of times that I heard your name but I wasn't entirely sure who she was talking about"
"She talked about me?" The Cody sister questioned with a fascination in her voice. It honestly surprised her because there were a few times that she had tried seeing Julia and J but was always turned away. In all honesty she felt guilty over her older sister for various reasons. She had tried more than once to get her to rehab but usually failed, Jessica had gotten her kicked out of the Cody home.
Taking a breath, Jessica sat back down and leaned in her chair. "Your Mom and I were close when I was younger but she got into drugs before I did. With me being seven years younger than her I wasn't sure what was going on at the time. I however damaged our relationship and I believed she would hate me for the rest of our lives. Julia hardly talked to me after what happened and I was surprised she came back and I was able to babysit you a few times when you were a kid. She was always good at disappearing and not wanting to be found, I thought I did that best but she beat me in that game"
J had listened closely to understand his Aunt and his Mother a bit better. Jessica had grown up around her and it was nice that someone wasn't tip toeing around her or avoiding Julia like Smurf had constantly done. "What did you do to her?"
"Ever hear of the saying don't open old wounds?" She said seriously then glanced around the room. "Baz and Julia were fooling around behind Smurf's back. At the time she didn't know but all of us pretty much did. To make long story short, I slept with Baz, Smurf told her, Julia threw a fit and there we were rolling around on the kitchen floor. We both got kicked out at the time and your Mom never forgave me for it"
Jessica had never forgiven herself for the whole ordeal either. If she would have known that he and Julia were still messing around, she wouldn't have slept with him. On top of it, she did wonder if J could possibly be his and that just made her wonder about the events also. It was crossing a line but she was young yet far from being stupid. She had also blamed Smurf for most of it but there was a part in the back of her mind that haunted her over it.
Before J could even answer her, there was a knock at the door and she stood back up to open it. It was another nurse informing her that Pope had come to get Lena. Checking the time on her phone, she didn't realize that she had been talking to him for about a half hour.
"Okay Kid, go on your merry way and don't hesitate coming to see me for anything, especially about that leg"
Guiding him out of the room, she saw Pope sitting in a chair looking as thrilled as ever. "You're letting Lena play around in here? Do you know what she could get into?"
Pausing to look between them, J continued on and said goodbye to them. Jessica walked over to him and rolled her eyes. "It's a doctor's office, not a gun store" She said calmly as he was rising from his chair. "Baz told me I was going to have to watch Lena for two hours, why are you here so soon?"
"Because I got done doing what I had to do" He answered plainly and walked past her to find their niece. It had always bugged her that he looked at her skeptically while watching her.
"What's Baz doing in Mexico?" She asked leading him to the back room.
Shrugging his shoulders, he didn't respond. He didn't have an idea because he didn't say much when he was leaving. Jessica believed it was something to do with Lucy because last she spoke to him she was blowing his phone up. She didn't care much and she was just curious to the whole situation.
"I don't know but he wants to meet up on the beach later when he comes back. He wants to meet where that big crane is sitting down near the dock"
"What's the meeting for? I don't get out of here until four so he's gonna have to wait if he wants to call this"
Opening the door, Jessica reached passed Pope and grabbed a clipboard listening for his response. "All I know is Baz wants to meet at the dock.
All of the Cody sibling and J had met down on the pier close to six o'clock. Baz was the only one that knew what was going on and they had waited lastly for Craig as always. They all looked at one another making small talk until he showed which prompted Baz to start everything.
"You know, last time you called me into a meeting with everyone it was an intervention and you drug my ass to rehab" Jessica said changing from her nurse scrubs into a simple black tee and shorts.
Baz had smirked then spoke, "You're clean now so I don't have to worry about it…We haven't been hanging out much due to Smurf's constant need for all of us to pull the jobs she wants and because of the church money"
"So you called us to have family time?" Deran asked crossing his arms and looking at the others.
"Do you guys remember when we were kids and we jumped off that really high cliff down in L.A?" Baz asked looking at them except for J who obviously was not present at the time.
"The one where I broke my damn arm because the water was like hitting cement?" Craig asked shaking his head
"Well maybe if you used your brain for once you would have realized that it was going to hurt" Pope spoke looking at his younger brother.
During one of Deran's surf competitions as a teen, all the boys and Jessica went down to Los Angeles to see him. While down there, they ended up on a cliff towards the beach and they all dared one another to jump. They all did and ended up with some sort of injuries. Jessica had a huge bruise on her side and leg which made Smurf throw a huge fit over it.
"That hurt like a bitch thank you" Craig said rubbing his shoulder while everyone laughed at his remark.
"We got twenty minutes until the guys get back. We're all climbing that crane right there and jumping just to get our adrenaline going and show that we all are still on the same page"
Looking between each other again, they had debated on it before all but Jessica agreed to do so. J's leg wasn't so bad anymore and he was actually looking forward to the thrill.
"Oh come on Jess, it's not going to kill you…" Craig spoke being the first one to climb it.
Falling under her brother's peer pressure as always, she followed the leader and got in line with the rest of them. Craig was the first and quickly climbing without a second thought followed by Deran, Baz, Pope, Jessica and lastly J since it would take him longer to get up with his injury.
"You guys this is really stupid…I could kill you right now" She said trying not to look down and watch her step, her blonde hair flying wildly in the wind.
"Obviously…" Pope spoke quietly glancing behind his shoulder.
"Oh, I forgot to mention that after that idiotic cliff dive that I'm terrified of heights so I really have to thank you Deran for the water jump"
"What the hell are you climbing this for?" He shot back at her once they reached the highest pint for each of them.
Not answering him, she hung on for dear life and was debating n passing J and climbing back down. "Okay, who's going first because I have no complaints doing it" Craig said, waited for an answer at jumped straight into the way.
All of them had watched his with a smile and amazement not really believing that they were all the way up there doing that. It had been a long time since they had done something dangerous that wasn't a job.
The youngest Cody brother let go effortlessly and let himself drop into the way. Pope had told J to go ahead and try it and after feeling his blood rush forward, he J with Deran and Craig watching from the water below. Up next was Pope who looked between the two and wanted his sister to go first. Shaking her head heavily, Jessica didn't budge but he wasn't waiting and he jumped as well.
"You still scared?" Baz questioned as they were still apart from where Pope jumped and that left an empty gap between them.
Nodding faintly, she gave him the side eye. "I'm climbing down, I'm not jumping"
"You don't have much of a choice because by the time you climb down the cops are going to be here because you know as well as I that people already called them on us"
"I'm not jumping Baz" She said sternly and turned away to begin her way back down.
"Don't be a chicken and just jump. You'll be perfectly fine" He said wanting her to change her and get it over and done with. She could take the risk of going back down but at the pace she was going it would mean trouble. "Alright, give me your hand and I'll help you"
Not hesitating on the thought, she threw her right arm out towards him because she was terrified. Jessica was never fond of heights begin with and she cursed herself for going in the first place. Taking her hand, Baz could feel it tremble faintly but she should have known better. Waiting until she was going to take the next step down and loosened her grip on one of the metal bars, he took advantage of it. Pulling her off with him, she had screamed at him until they hit the water.
They all had gathered at Baz's as usual and that his place was the closest to the beach. The jump was a complete adrenaline rush and they all had enjoyed it even if some didn't want to to begin with. The Cody's had been having a beer with the exception of Jessica. Talking about a variety of different things, Craig's eye had been caught by a brunette walking by.
"You need to go to rehab for sex addiction before your dick falls off" Deran said watching and turning to see his brother who was sitting on the front steps.
"Hey, you're just jealous because you're not the one who is the life of the party"
"Please, you're passed out three hours in because you're high out of your mind at that point" Jessica chimed in with amusement. She had been sitting on the edge of the balcony and peered over her shoulder to see who he was looking at, she may have had her eyes set on someone but that didn't stop her from glancing.
"Whatever, I throw the best parties in Oceanside…Besides, is this gang up on Craig day?"
Most of their clothes were dry except for some places and they were enjoying just have a peaceful, mellow day. Of course that wasn't going to last long as Baz's phone began to ring and J had handed it to him as he was sitting in the chair it was on. He was tucked away in the left corner with him and Jessica on the opposite side.
"If Smurf asks I left my phone at the house and I'm still in Mexico" He saw that she was calling, he wasn't going to deal with it today.
Once his phone stopped buzzing, Pope's had gone off not even ten seconds later. He had slid over his finger over to the ignore button and everyone else's buzzed right after one another.
"You think it's about Javi?" Deran spoke not wanting to answer but was faintly curious to why she was calling all of them.
"If so that's her problem to deal with, not ours" Baz said simply believing it that way. She had gotten herself into trouble and it had nothing to do with the others. Smurf would use them as pawns to get what she wanted.
Jessica pulled the towel around her shoulders more, glanced at Baz then the others. "I didn't tell you guys how she wanted me to get these tapes, did I?" She asked them and they all had answered no. "Well I guess some guy she worked with made these tapes confessing how they killed Javi's Dad and Javi has the tapes at his place. Our lovely Mother wanted me to do whatever I could to get on his good graces and get them so she could have them"
"Are you going to do it?" Pope asked wondering why she never told the boys about the recordings in the first place.
Jessica shook her head, her wavy hair starting to form as it dried. "Uh no. I'm not jumping into her mess over something that I've never even heard of in my life. I've got nothing against him, I'm the one who dated him for almost a year…Besides that, she told me to do whatever and I know Smurf. She wants me to pretend I care for him, lead him on, sleep with him and boom, I got the tapes"
"Yeah, you're not doing that" Baz spoke seriously and looked at her with a dead set stare in his eyes.
Crossing her legs, she snorted out a laugh then looked over at J when she heard music playing. His phone was the last to go off and he had looked between his Uncles and Aunt to know what to do next. They all stared back at him and J honestly didn't like it.
"Don't answer it man, she's just going to pull you in" Glancing in Baz's direction, he set his beer down and studied the phone for two seconds. Standing up, J pressed answered and stepped inside with the shake of Baz's head.
"That kid needs a backbone; he's not going to make it if he keeps listening to her" He spoke again quiet enough that he wouldn't hear if he got off the phone but loud enough for all of them to hear.
Pope had been watching J on the phone with a straight look on his face. "We shouldn't be worried about Javi or these tapes right?" Deran asked. He just didn't want to get pulled into something he'd regret considering he had the bar on his mind mostly at all times.
"I don't see anything coming out of this"
Jessica was skeptical considering she knew Javi wouldn't stop until he got the money he wanted. "He's going to keep showing up until he gets the money and we know she's not going to pay him anything"