CHAPTER 16-All About The Benjamin's
~~So I know I had an earlier post where I had everyone's ages. Please ignore what I said! I had to rework some things and those ages do not add up to my idea. For now, please just act like it makes sense and the ages/past occurrences add up. Thank you!~~Reanna.
Five days had passed lightly throughout the Cody family. Everything had pretty much been the same with all of them still speaking to one another except for Smurf. They were continuing to keep their distance as a punishment for her controlling ways.
Craig had been doing the usual things he did which meant drugs, having sex and trying to get Nicky to leave him alone. Deran was keeping low running the bar and still trying to figure out his whole plans for the yacht job. Pope had been watching Lena still and was secretly still seeing Amy even though he told Baz he wasn't. J was still on the mend with his leg, sorting ou school and fight off the feelings he still had for Nicky. Jessica had been working mostly during the days but at night was a different story. When Lena was staying at Smurf's, she had been over at Baz's without anyone catching them. Baz had been avoiding Lucy as she wanted him to do a side job with her brother Marco. He as well had been enjoying Jessica's company as the two were still secretly seeing each other. Smurf was gathering up a little job for everyone to take part in order to get her children back on her good graces.
She had called everyone that day over to her house because the job was already set. It was going to be a test to see who would actually show up, but Smurf had a gut feeling that all of them would as they would make the plan together. She knew her children would never turn down a chance to make money and it was Smurf's job to reel them in with something easy. Even though she didn't get a hold of Deran or Pope, it was going to be Baz's choice whether to drag them to her home not. The point though was clear, and Smurf was glad that the two siblings didn't answer. It would be Jessica's job to bring her brother and Baz wouldn't let Pope not be there...Especially if she had been watching Lena for the night.
Pulling up to the Oceanside Clinic in his Silver Challenger, Baz was picking Jessica up one her shift was over. He had at least fifteen minutes, but it was better to show up early than be late because once she got off they had to head to Smurf's. He was curious to know what the family meeting was all about, and Jessica was only going because he had been picking her up. The two were planning to do something ahead of Smurf's call but plans were going to be held back only for an hour or two.
Stepping out of the car, he leaned against rather than going inside. Checking his phone after feeling it go off, it was Pope, so he decided to call him rather than text back. Dialing, he waited until he answered but of course he wasn't going to because Pope would rather avoid the conversation he was going to have. Seeing a car pull up beside him, Baz backed against the car a little more before watching a familiar face step out.
"Well look who I finally tracked down...What's it been? Ten, fifteen years?" Slamming the black truck door closed, Javi had made his way towards the front but stopped once he reached the headlights.
Baz hadn't moved from his own car and just watched him carefully. Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he glanced around for a second then focused his attention back on him. "What are you doing around here?"
"I just said I've been trying to track you down and I just happen to see you waiting outside this clinic where I know a particular Cody works" Javi turned away from him and glanced at the building. He then walked to the passenger door and leaned up against it.
"You know, when I first started dating Jessica I really didn't know what to expect. She just got out rehab months before and she grew up. I thought the whole nursing thing would end up being nothing but here she is surprising me. Smurf really did a number on her, didn't she?"
Knowing that Javi had been coming around bothered Baz but not as much as it should have. The reason he didn't have too much of a concern was because the issue was with Smurf. He had been on guard for various reasons but Javi hadn't begun bothering anyone. Jessica told all her siblings including Baz about him bothering her but most of them brushed it off as they had dated previously.
Continuing on, Baz didn't say a word as Javi had more to say. "I mean, she never got treated like the rest of you. Pope was always off doing his own thing and Julia wasn't around anymore. Craig and Deran were always at the beach and you were off doing whatever Smurf told you. I was the only one that took care of her when we dated; you all didn't give a shit about her"
"Did you track me down to remind me of your past relationship or what?"
Shaking his head, Javi stared towards the building once more. "She's a good girl with a lot of damage; you think you can handle that?" He questioned then faintly smirked.
Narrowing his eyes, Baz had no idea what he was trying to pull. He wasn't intimidated by him nor did he care to stand there to talk about it. "What do you want? First you hang around Smurf's in order to get some money that she owes you and now you're standing here asking me about Jessica"
Javi wanted to keep rambling on about her before changing it to a variety of different things. He wanted to get under his skin and say a few things he had been meaning to say. It would be to Baz's surprise that he had already talked to Pope earlier that day and Javi was only making his rounds.
"I'm not blind and I wasn't back then…I'd be careful with her though. Jessica had told me a few things back then that I just can't seem to shake now that I'm around all of you. She's good at hiding her pain considering she decides to drown back bottles of pills to cope with being in that family…" Trailing his eyes back towards his old friend, he held the gaze. "And look at you, I knew that you were always going to be the hot shot but now you've got the whole package"
Crossing his arms, Baz backed off of the car wanting to get in his face and tell him to back off. It was obvious that he wanted to play around with the family until he got what he wanted. They had enough space between them and if Baz moved forward there would hardly be any left.
"Look, you want Smurf's money for whatever reason you have. We all know that you've hated her since she kicked you out and I don't blame you. My Dad beat the shit out of me and my Mom is nowhere to be found so I get it. Crawling around here and around Jessica has nothing to do with Smurf or money"
"You think I'm here for her? No, I'm here to tell you all that if Smurf doesn't give me what I want then I have no problem dragging this problem onto all of you. You tell your little girlfriend in there that she better hope her Mother cares enough because I don't think any of you are going to like what I'll do"
Before Baz could answer him, Javi quickly turned his attention to the front door of the building. Both cars had been parked to the side but still had a clear view of the front. Turning around to look over his shoulder, he watched Jessica close the door before slowing down her pace as she began walking in their direction.
Smiling faintly, the Cody sister didn't know exactly what she was walking into. The look on Javi's face was serious and he wouldn't pry his eyes off of her. It was strange to her that he kept popping around wherever she was and didn't understand. Jessica knew everything going on with Smurf between him wanting something from her and Smurf wanting the tapes. Baz however turned back around to keep his eyes locked on Javi once she approached the car.
"Hey…What are you doing here?" She said stepping past the front and stood next to Baz. Fixing the bag on her shoulder, she glanced between the two men. '
"Just doing a little catching up with Baz here, I should really get going. I'm sure you two had plans"
Without saying another word, Javi had stepped past the two of them and moved to the front of his truck. Standing there for at least five seconds, he eyed them together one last time before jumping into the driver's seat. The two had stood there and watched him pull away and they both waited until he left.
Once he was gone, Jessica went to turn away and get into the passenger seat. Before she could however, Baz pulled her back into a quick yet passionate kiss. She was the one to pull back and a smile appeared on her face. "What was that for?"
Shrugging his shoulders, he reached for the driver's door as she had already backed away to the passenger side. "No reason…How was work?"
Hopping inside, she tucked her book bag between her feet before reaching for the seatbelt. "Well, there were two cases of the flu; one chicken pox and the other were just plain checkups that I helped Shaun with. What was that all about with Javi?" She questioned turning faintly in her seat to see him. He had begun driving
"Your question is as good as mine. He came to tell me how he wants Smurf to give him the money that he wants…And I guess to talk about you"
"Me? I swear he always stares at me whenever he sees me. Are you gonna tell Mom about it?"
That was something that Baz had to come to a conclusion of. He would rather bring it up to the Cody boys rather than her because he knew exactly how she would handle it. She would attempt to drag them into the fold because she hadn't said too much about it so far. Both of them still wondered what Smurf was wanting with everyone and it could have been about Javi for all they knew. Reaching for her hand, Jessica watched him before intertwining it with his.
"You know, I could really get used to sneaking around" She commented shifting forward to stare out the window as their way to Smurf's.
"I think you got used to doing that ages ago" Baz said glancing over at her. They sat in silence for the rest of the way content on their surroundings.
Once he began to pull in the driveway they had changed and they quickly separated from each other. It had been an instinct because they felt like Smurf would be standing right in front of the car staring them down. Both Jessica and Baz knew to keep their cover under control but Jessica broke it for a split second. She had leaned over once he stopped the engine and kissed him on the cheek. That then prompted him to gaze at her for a second before returning the favor except that time on her lips again. The forbidden romance was a thrill rush and they got a high out of doing it around everyone and not getting caught.
When the garage light had popped on, they quickly separated and stepped out of the car as innocently as they could. It had been getting late, towards 8 o'clock and even though they thought it was Smurf, it was just the light up above them. Letting her go first, the two had cut through the garage and glanced around the house for everyone. They heard them talking in the main room and they both popped up from around the corner.
"Well it's about time you two finally got here…" Pope said looking at them with his signature glare. He was sitting in his tense, upright position while everyone was hanging around.
"You know some of us actually have a real job and I didn't get off until seven, had to grab my things and get here. If it was inconvenient for you I'm sorry but I didn't even get to change out of my clothes" Jessica was in her navy scrubs and her hair in a loose bun like last time they met up.
Smurf had looked between her children before ushering them to sit down. Jessica had taken a seat near the window and Baz took a seat by her but not close enough. She was closer to Craig who was stretched out of the large couch and Deran of course sat in the chair he takes liking in. Pope sat in the middle of the couch and Smurf stood near the fireplace.
"Where's J?" Baz asked noticing they had been missing a plus one.
"J and I already had this discussion, he's out taking care of a few things including helping Nicky study for her math test" Smurf responded leaning against the wall.
"Who studies anymore? I never studied a day in my life" Craig spoke up.
"That's exactly why you flunked high school" Deran told him even though he was along the same lines. All of the Cody's had dropped out of school and J had been the only official member to actually graduate. Nicky had been a year behind him so she had been a senior in high school.
"If my memory serves me correctly, none of you graduated..."Smurf chimed in while crossing her arms. She had given Deran a look to keep quiet. "I already discussed this with J, you know the day that all of you decided to ignore my phone call? I have a job lined up for all of you to do"
The last thing any of them expected her to say was that she wanted them to do a job. Baz had made it clear a while back that they were going to do things their way and she knew that. All of the Cody siblings looked and him wanting him to be the one who spoke first. It tehincally was Baz's idea to spread their wings from Smurf so they wanted him to be the one to talk first. Jessica on the other hand only got the just of the problem that had been going on but that didn't mean she didn't follow in her siblings footsteps.
"Why are all of you looking at me?" He questioned noticing all of them had turned their heads at the exact same time.
"You are the leader of this little gang, aren't you?" Pope said raising his eyebrow towards his brother.
Baz had taken a look at all of them again before sitting completely back on the couch. He didn't want to speak up and would rather Smurf continue on with her new job. She had listened and watched taking her own time to look between everyone. Smurf hadn't thought that they would all turn to Baz because she believed they were all going to have their opinions. Waiting for him to say anything, Smurf knew he was going to wait for her to finish so she took it upon herself to fill in the silence.
"There's a brewery in the next town over that makes thousands upon thousands. On Tuesday and Thursday they earn almost a million which then will be transported into the bank well that is exactly what I heard. I know you guys did the job on the church and I know that you have all that money sitting around in your pockets. We need to come together as a family and do a job together"
No one had said anything and kept their eyes on Smurf. Some were going to going to side with her and some were going to back out. Smurf had a pretty good feeling on what everyone would say but she had wanted all of them to jump in.
"With all due respect, I did say that we were going to be picking the jobs from this point out" Baz had finally said.
Turning her attention his way, she stared at him. "Trust me, I remember clearly. We're a family and we are not meant to be split up. This way we all can trust each other again and have no issues. The money will be split equally"
"How much money are we talking to begin with?" Pope asked leaning back with his gaze on her.
Smirking faintly, she spoke, "I'm going to guess somewhere around $900,000"
"Are you serious?" Craig practically shouted and leaned forward taking a glance between everyone. "Hell, I'll do it, it's almost a million dollars"
Shaking his head, Baz wants so sure on the situation. It did sound rocky and he didn't know why she wanted to do this plan all of a sudden. She hadn't bothered them for a while especially about money and started to believe that the reason was because she was running out of money. Smurf wanted her boys to pull off a job than actually have herself do the work.
"I don't know about this, I'm not putting my job at risk for money" Jessica responded.
"I want you in on this job baby, it wouldn't be family without you" Smurf said nodding faintly towards her daughter.
Slowly turning her head toward Baz, Jessica had looked at him with a skeptical and disbelief look. Julia and Jessica never took part in jobs because Smurf had left it to the boys for everything. They had gotten as share until they ended up cutting Julia off due to her drug use. Later down the line Jessica need more money for her nursing school and stripping just wasn't cutting it. She ended up getting money from the jobs as the boys, well most of them were willing to split the money with her.
"What's J think about this? You talked to him about it already and I'm assuming that he's ready to go" Baz glanced to catch Jessica's look.
"J's willing to do whatever I ask unlike all of you" Smurf said with a faint annoyance in her voice.
"Yeah because he became your little lap dog. Baz is out and now J is taking the spot" Pope said aloud which caught a glare from his brother. It was the truth and no one was blind to see it. It was the huge issue between Baz and Smurf, that was what made him want to band everyone together against her.
Looking at the others, Baz had sighed loudly. He wasn't going to stop any of them from wanting to do it but he did want to discuss it with all of them. "Let's go to the bar, we'll talk about it there"
Smurf had a blink then sharply snapped her head towards her other children in order to read their faces. Playing follow the leader however, Baz had stood up and offered to take Jessica to her apartment in order for her to change out of her clothes. Pope had wanted to discuss things as well at it was Deran's bar so he was willing to hear them out. Craig still would have done it but he was going to go with them. Watching all of her children leave, Smurf knew they would come to the right conclusion, she just had to wait.
Piling in at a table at the bar, each of them had taken their seat. Jessica was in the bathroom freshening up because Baz wasn't waiting for her to put herself together to just go there. Feeling fresh faced finally, she reappeared in simple ripped jeans and a black t-shirt. Ruffling her hair from her bun, her waves came out and she looked between all of them who were staring.
"I know I took longer than I expected but my make-up needed done so excuse me. You all want to try my routine?" She asked reached for a shot that was in the middle of the table. Narrowing her blue eyes at Baz, Jessica slapped his hand away before he could stop her from drinking it.
Catching a faint laugh from Deran, he had closed the bar early in order for them to talk. Huddled around, they waited for someone to speak first and of course it was Baz.
"What is everyone ones opinion? We already heard from Craig and Jess so I want to know what you guys think"
"For me it's going to help change this place around. I used most of the church money in order to buy this place and it would just help me in the long run" Deran commented then took his shot of bourbon that he poured.
Pope didn't have much of an opinion on it at the moment. "Whatever you guys decide I'm in" He didn't really want to do another risky job considering the church heist was huge but he would help his siblings if they needed. "What do you think we should do?"
"I don't know, we do this and you know she's going to go back to planning every job from this point on. Besides that, J is already in and I can see this starting issues. Who knows, maybe she wants him to watch everything we're doing"
They hadn't invited J because they all felt that they didn't need to talk to him. He was going to say yes from the get go and they wanted to discuss it between one another. All of the Cody's had their thoughts about J and it was somewhere split in the middle. Baz clearly didn't trust him, Pope seemed to lie in the middle, Craig and Deran didn't mind the kid and Jessica just felt sorry for him.
"So is that a yes or no?" Craig asked staring at his older brother.
Baz had a few more minutes to think it over and decided on what he thought was best. He agreed to do it not only for the money but because everyone had been inching towards doing so. Jessica had even changed her mind at some point after they continued to talk about money.
"I ran into Javi today, well actually he ran into me" Baz commented once they were done talking about Smurf. Turning all of their eyes towards him, he continued on. " He caught me when I went to pick Jessica up and I really think he's going to keep hanging around longer than we think"
"Told you so…"Jessica answered remembering the many conversations she had with him. "And apparently he keeps bringing me up and I don't know why"
"He probably wants to bang you again" Craig said getting up to get him a beer. "What? He obviously still wants you if he's talking about you to Baz"
Rolling her eyes at his remark, Jessica didn't believe that was the reason why. "All I was saying is he keeps bringing me up. He went off on me when I took Lena to the beach about Smurf owing him money"
"When did this happen?" Baz inquired turning in his seat to face her. It was concerning to him that he had confronted her and it so happened while she was watching his daughter.
"The same day you decided to blow up on me and I left. He caught me on the beach which I had already told you but it must have slipped your mind when you told me how much I have sucky parents" Jessica replied looking back at him. That comment hadn't left her mind and she continued to push the thought away.
The room had gotten silent after her sentence and the Cody brothers had stared for a moment before looking elsewhere. Deran watched them mostly remembering the night when she came to the bar and started talking to him.
"The plan is the check out the place tomorrow and we'll go Thursday" He told everyone not answering her.
After a whole two days, the Cody family had gotten together in order to pull of the job that Smurf had wanted. J was assigned to be the lookout and sat in a black truck for the entire job. Deran and Craig were in an underground alley waiting for Pope and Baz to get the safe to them in order to get out on their four wheelers. Pope had snuck in through the back while Baz and Jessica were pretending to be viewing the brewery with a handful of people. Jessica's job was to make sure the man who worked there was constantly distracted and for her to keep her eyes on him while Baz helped Pope.
After all the hassle they went through, they met at an empty building that the family had in their possession. Jessica was shoving Deran down in a chair while holding her hand on his cheek. "What happened?"
"Some guy came out of nowhere and I ended up wiping out on the bike. Pope was with me, ask him"
Grabbing some gauze from the box, Jessica had whipped around to watch her brothers come in with the safe. "Do I need to check you out?" Shaking his head no, Pope was more concerned with getting it open to see all the money. They had almost gotten caught but J used his quick thinking to start a fire in order for everyone else to get out.
Deran had yelled at his sister when she dabbed something on it that he couldn't make out. Sitting down and crossing her legs next to him, she shushed him before reaching into her box again. "You don't want it to get infected like J's leg, do you? You probably going to bruise a little under your eye"
The youngest brother had a huge gash next to his right eye that had been bleeding. After falling off the bike, Deran had rolled around on the cement which led to his eye being busted open. It wasn't too bad where it would leave a major bruise, but it was going to hurt for a while.
"My eye isn't going to be swollen shut right?" Deran asked turning his head towards her but she pushed his head back forward.
"Quit moving and no. You scraped all the skin off which obviously means you're bleeding but that means its going to scab up and it might leave a scar for all I know. You did a good job on it so I'm going to guess that it will turn a little purple around the edges. Do you want my eye shadow to match the other eye?" Jessica joked while continuing to patch it up. She only had taped the gauze on for now as he needed ice in order for it to go down.
"What's inside?" Craig asked watching Pope begin digging in the safe. The two blondes had turned their attention to him watching as well.
Pope had pulled out a stack of money but it was nowhere near what Smurf had told them. Tossing another stack of twenties onto the floor, he plopped down and rubbed his head.
"You've got to be kidding me, that's it? We went in there for what? A thousand dollars?" Baz said angrily bending down and picking up the money.
"I busted my face open for that?" Deran said in disbelief slowly standing up to look himself.
Shutting her first aid kit, Jessica could see and hear the anger, disappointment and confusion on with her brothers and her nephew.
"It was a test" She said mostly to herself but they had looked at her to figure out what she said.
"What was a test? A thousand dollars?" Craig said falling back into an empty chair visibly irritated.
Shaking her head faintly, she spoke again. "You know Smurf, she lied to us. She knew there was no money to be made but a thousand dollars. She wanted us to go to a job with her being in on it so we end up looking like idiots and trusting her"
"Oh this really makes us trust her now" Deran said heading towards the main door.
J was listening to his Aunt know she was on the right track. He had thought there was money inside even though he knew exactly what Smurf was up to. She had told him up front the idea but she didn't tell him that she lied about the money.
"No, she wanted us to work together as family in order for us to run back to her. We all showed up, we are all going to go back and having a screaming match but then what? Think about it, she's got us right where she wants us. Take my word for it"