CHAPTER 17-YOU, ME, I AND WE
The Cody siblings had waited all day in order to confront Smurf. Baz was just as mad as the others but he wanted everyone to go into her home with a level head. They were all furious that she had sent them to a job without that good of money, but they had to be calm about it.
They all had split up for the rest of the day to carry on with whatever they wanted. The reason for it as well was because they wanted Smurf to be let on because she had been calling them left and right. She was dying to know how much money they had stole and how smooth it had gone. Leaving her hanging was something that they had constantly been doing, especially after the church. She knew they were the ones who pulled it off yet wasn't receiving any money.
After cooling down, they waited until dinner time where Smurf more than likely had made a celebratory dinner. They all were unaware if she knew that they didn't get any money and it was going to be a fight once they stepped inside.
"Everyone is showing up right?" Deran asked folding his arms and leaning against his green jeep.
"They better because I'm missing a killer party with Renn" Craig responded back.
"Well they better because I have more important things to do than sit around here and yell at our Mother because she decided to screw us over once again" Even though all of them had equally been angry with Smurf, but Deran was not in the mood to hear her excuses.
Headlights had appeared on their faces and both Cody brothers had shielded their eyes. A blue jeep come into view and Jessica slowly pulled next to Deran's car. Craig had stepped away from his bike and walked closer. Stopping the car, she lifted herself through the roof of her car as she had the top off.
"I thought everyone was going to be here at eight?" She said before bending back down to turn her engine off.
"We're here so now we just have to wait for Baz and Pope" Deran said once she hopped out.
"I swear to God this family is never on time. I'm always here early and the only time everyone is together is a job. Next time I'm not going to rush being ten minutes late"
Glancing at the time on her phone, Jessica knew she was late but she assumed everyone else was there. As five minutes past, Baz had finally pulled it much to the irritation of the other three. He had informed them that Pope was possibly not coming for unknown reasons. They decided to wait at least another ten and right as they were ready to step inside, a familiar black truck showed up.
"Hey, I'm glad you showed. We didn't think you'd show up" Baz said honestly believing that Pope wasn't going to come.
"I have Lena, I had to" He responded moving to the backseat and opening the door for her to hop out. That action caught Baz off guard and made Jessica slowly turn her head in his direction.
"Right…So we're all on the same page right?"
None of the Cody's had any questions but some of them didn't know what the point of this was going to be. Smurf wasn't going to own up or agree to anything they were saying and Deran felt it was honestly pointless. In Baz's mind it was to show how fed up with her trying to prove that she was the one in charge. He was on a mission to try and grab the family by the reigns and she was getting in the middle. As Pope guided Lena inside, the other brothers followed. Jessica threw her arm out, placing her palm on Baz's chest.
"You didn't know she was with him, did you?" Jessica asked keeping her eyes locked on him. She had been a constant reminder that he needed to take care of his daughter.
Baz had his hands tucked inside of his leather jacket and shrugged, practically pulling his hands. "I don't know what you want me to do Jess"
Blinking at least twice, his asshole side was beginning to show again. "Maybe actually watch her instead of pinning her on your brother…You really are gunning for father of the year, aren't you?" Jessica had muttered the last part before walking into the house.
Everyone had gathered into the kitchen where Smurf had begun cutting pieces of her famous apple pie. Once they stepped inside, she had a faint smile on her face. "I take it the job went well?" She asked since she didn't hear anything since they completed the job. J hadn't given her much information so she had been left in the dark.
Baz had dug into his jacket and pulled the little bit of money they received and threw it onto the island counter. Smurf had been cutting another piece of pie and stopped when she say the wade of cash. "What is that?"
"It's what we got out of the safe, the same safe you said had thousands of dollars in. There's less than five thousand there" He spoke watching her.
Wiping her hands off in a towel, she grabbed the two stacks and flipped through it. "I don't understand…There was supposed to be a lot of money in there" She said before looking up at her children and grandchild who had just entered from the backyard. The surprised look was apparent on her face as she glanced at each and every one of them.
"Except there wasn't so who lied to you?" Pope asked but Smurf had fixed her attention on Deran's who face didn't have a bandage and he was rocking his wound.
He was staring back at her before looking away with the shake of his head. "The plan didn't go so smooth like you thought and I ended up wiping out on the bike…You know what? She's going to deny all of this so I don't even know why I came, I'm out"
All of them had looked at their younger brother who backed away from everyone and quickly headed out. He had been having a problem with Smurf for a while but most of them didn't know the extent of why. It had stemmed back from the night of his bar and the whole fiasco that happened.
"What happened Smurf? Where's all the money we were supposed to get?" Baz asked.
"It should have been there. It's always in there on Tuesday through Thursday, gets taken out on Friday so that makes today…"
Pope had quickly cut her off. "Friday night. So the money was taken out of there this morning to the bank and we showed up after it was gone" Growing irritated all over again, Pope backed away to the living area.
Craig went for the refrigerator, grabbed a beer and a plate before disappearing. Clearly Smurf was in the wrong but she was going to come up with something to dig herself out of the hole. Baz had placed his hands behind his head before walking outside. Jessica and J exchanged glances and he ended up staying in place by the table. She however reached forward and grabbed a plate. Taking a seat at the island, Jessica quietly dug into the pie as Smurf carried on.
Smurf had showed up at the Oceanside Clinic around ten in the morning the next day. With her purse around one shoulder and in her hand a bag carrying lunch, she stepped inside and slipped her sunglasses off. She paused at the front door and looked around the place. There were a few people sitting in the waiting room and a brunette female behind the desk. Walking closer, she smiled faintly and looked at her. "I'm looking for my daughter, Jessica Cody. I was told she works here"
The woman's whose nametag read Melissa looked away from the computer and at her. "She's currently with a patient doing a check-up. I'll let her know that you are here. You can have a seat over there until she's done"
Nodding, she grabbed her bag and took a seat far away from the other couple that was sitting there. It had been about five minutes before Jessica had stepped out, lead the couple to the front desk and paused when she saw Smurf. Placing her hands in her pockets, she made a confused face and walked over to her as she stood up.
"Look at this place and look at you. I always knew blue was your color" Smurf said with another faint smile on her lips.
"They're just navy scrubs and you did tell me to go to medical school so here I am. Why are you here? Feeling under the weather?" Jessica couldn't help but joke. It was the first time Smurf had ever visited her at work and was the first time she had ever stepped in the clinic.
"I had to see what my baby was up to and I thought you would like a piece of home. I made breakfast for J this morning and I thought you would like some" Holding the bag out, Jessica peeked inside out of curiosity.
Taking the bag with a wary expression, she had no idea what was going on. The last time she ever remembered her making breakfast especially for her had to be more than five years ago. Jessica did have to wonder why she was being treated so special until her mind wandered to last night. She had been the only one that stuck around all night because everyone else was still on the hate Smurf bandwagon. The safe job didn't matter much to her compared to everyone else and she didn't know why. Before Jessica came back into the fold, all her brothers were going downhill with her anyway.
"Um, thanks? I'm only here for a few more hours then I'm heading over to…" She caught herself realizing she was about to say she was going to be at Baz's. "I'm going surfing later" It had been the truth because she was going to go and meet up with him later.
"Oh you haven't gone in a while, you know that water missed you. You know, I remember when you were about thirteen and you would be on that beach until sun up to sun down. Deran learned how to surf because of you…What happened to those days?"
"We all grew up, well at least some of us did" Jessica was mostly referring to Craig but they all had their childish moments. "Look, I should get back to work. Thank you for this, I don't know why you went out of your way but thanks"
"It didn't cause me any trouble" Smurf said before smiling and giving her daughter a big hug. Jessica still had no idea what she was doing or why she was being so nice all of a sudden. The only thing that mattered was yesterday but it was a huge leap for Smurf to just lend a hand like that. "Tomorrow night I'm holding a dinner, see if you can get your brothers to come"
Once Jessica got out of the Clinic, she head straight to the beach. It had been a long time since she had gone surfing and it was a sport that she would love doing the rest of her life. Water, specifically the ocean was her home and no matter what trouble she had, the water seemed to clear it. It dawned on her while working that Smurf had been there that morning for Jessica to invite her siblings to dinner. More than likely they were not answering her phone calls or she wanted her to do the work anyway.
It had been pretty packed considering the temperature was reaching the high 80's but that didn't stop her from heading out. Without realizing it, Jessica had been gone around the beach for at least three hours. She had parked her jeep at Baz's because she was waiting for him to pick Lena up. Putting her foot down was one thing she always did with her family and she did it last night. Jessica had talked to Baz about keeping better tabs on Lena and he said he'd pick her up from school. She had a plan to take her to the beach before she went to bed and Jessica was dragging Baz with them.
Lena would be getting home soon and Jessica needed to change her clothes. Luckily she packed a bag of things and left them in the jeep. Heading towards Baz's home with her surf board tucked between her arm and side, she flicked her hair around with the other to get some of the water out. Jessica's feet were getting warm due to the sand but the street was probably going to be worse. Once she made her way to the sidewalk, she saw a familiar brunette getting out of a black car.
Before getting caught in any of the traffic, Jessica hopped along and ran across the street just in time as Lucy eyed up the jeep but stopped when she saw her.
"Hey…Sorry if I scared you. That car almost clipped me" Jessica said and turned around to see the car. Her wet hair was still dripping water and Jessica backed away to get the excess water out yet again.
Lucy smiled faintly and looked the girl over again. Jessica was in a skin tight black and pink wet suit that didn't match the white and sea green surfboard. She watched the Cody sister set it up on the porch before walking to the jeep for her bag. Things were still strange to her and she didn't exactly understand why Jessica had constantly been around lately. When Baz had told her that they couldn't see each other anymore, Lucy didn't get any answer but she was starting to be suspicious.
"I was just coming to see Baz if he is here, my brother Marco has something for him"
Jessica was digging through her trunk when she stopped to peek around the corner. "Oh, I didn't know you were related to Marco, small world I guess" Closing it, she threw the bag towards the steps as Lucy moved out of the way. "No, he went to pick up his daughter from school for the first time in his life" She joked.
"He's actually doing that and not his brother?"
Nodding faintly, Jessica responded, "Well it's depressing that you know the situation but I got on him for that. He needs to spend more time with her and I suppose you agree with me"
Smiling slightly again, Lucy had nodded at her words. She had told Baz numerous times just like Jessica had but over course all the comments went right over his head. It was a shame that Lucy knew the whole situation and Jessica had found out that she had a son as well. Even though she knew Marco due to Craig and Deran, she didn't hang out with him nor did she know that he had a sister.
"You can come in and wait for him if you'd like. I just gotta change and do some things around here but you're more than welcome to stay. If not, I'll let him know that you stopped by"
It was also confusing to Lucy on why Jessica seemed to be so nice to her. If they had been sleeping and dating the same guy, the two women more than likely would have hated each other. Jessica however was not a jealous person when it came to relationships. She had waited forever while Catherine was in the picture and Jessica couldn't stop Baz from doing what he wanted or he chose. In actuality, Lucy didn't bother her but there was a weird feeling in the air.
"I actually have to get going but I would appreciate it if you would tell him"
With another simple nod, Jessica had picked up her and mocked a salute in order to give him the message. Walking up the stairs to the house, Lucy began walking away before stopping at the edge of her jeep.
"It's Jessica right?" The blonde had turned around at her name and answered her. Lucy took another moment then asked the question she had been wondering. "How close are you and Baz?"
It was evident that Lucy knew what had been going on between Baz and Jessica. Feeling caught off guard, she stared out towards the beach before looking back at the woman. She didn't answer her and Jessica calmly went inside without another word.
"Wait a minute, Smurf brought you breakfast? Did you even eat it?" Baz asked her finding Jessica's story humorous yet strange.
Nodding with a laugh, she answered. "Yes! She came in at like ten this morning, brought me breakfast, kissed me on top of it and asked to come over for dinner tomorrow"
The two of them had been sitting on a bench while Lena was off building a sand castle. Both of them had been keeping a close eye on her while they were catching up on what happened during their day. Baz was surprised by her story but couldn't help but get a laugh out of it. "You better hope it wasn't poisoned"
"Do you really think my own Mother would poison me?" She asked looking away from the ocean and towards him. Jessica had slapped his arm faintly for putting that thought in her head. "Then again, I shouldn't be so surprised…Come to think of it, remember when she used to put those pills in Pope's food?"
"Don't worry, she still does" Smurf had been doing in a while back but it seemed that she had cut down on it in the recent months. Everyone knew but Pope and it was a well-kept secret within the family.
Once Jessica looked away and back towards the water, Baz had been glancing her over. After taking a quick shower, she had gotten dressed in a quick manner before the two of them had came back from school. She wore jeans that were filled with a variety of holes and topped it off with a off the shoulder, cream colored sweater. Jessica's hair was down for once hanging down in beach waves and she wore a blue gemstone necklace. She had been sitting with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. Baz had looked her up and down before reaching for her hand.
"What do you think you're doing? I thought you didn't want to do anything in public?" She asked letting him take her hand.
"Who's going to see out here besides Lena? I'm pretty sure she's getting an idea of what's going on, I don't know what I'd do without you" Tilting her head at him with a smile, things had been looking up as of late.
Considering that both of them were older and that they didn't have anything holding them back was different for them. On Baz's part, he had always been around another female whether that meant Julia, Catherine or someone else who had always been in the picture. Besides Jessica keeping her distance not only from him but as well as the family, he wasn't always fond of her while she was on drugs. Even though she seemed put together now, when she was on drugs it was a whole other woman.
"You'd be exactly where you are just without me, that romantic stuff doesn't work on me Baz" Jessica knew that he could charm the pants off of anyone.
"It did the other night" He said with a grin and she had to roll her eyes with a laugh. Baz had watched her shift on the bench and face him. Her legs had been pressed against the side of the wooden bench, her arm resting on it and she put her head in her hand. "What's wrong?"
Baz had noticed since they had got there that something was bothering her. Jessica hadn't said anything but her mind had been racing and it was clear on her face and through her body actions. "I've just got something on my mind that I haven't been able to get out. It um…" Jessica had sighed and lifted her head. "I should have been more honest with you back then"
Narrowing his eyes at her, Baz had no idea what she was talking about. "Honest about what? Don't tell me that Max is back in town because Pope and I practically put him on his death bed last time"
Shaking her head, Jessica quickly disagreed. "No, it's nothing about Max" Max had been a guy that Jessica had been seeing for at least six months and it was around the time that he and Catherine had split up for a while. They all had gone surfing together and that's when they noticed her covered in bruises. It had come to light that Max had been beating Jessica up and they had taken the problem up in their own hands.
"Jess, what is it? If it's about Smurf or if you have a problem with me, I can back off if you need me to" He commented trying to figure out what it could be.
"No, I don't want you to back off, we finally have the chance to actually be something but…" Taking another deep breath, Jessica had thought things over trying to figure out how to word this. "Um…Let's just save this conversation for another night"
Shaking his head in disagreement, Baz knew better. "You were the one who brought it up. What's going on Jessica? You can trust me"
There had been a huge secret that Jessica had been hiding from him for years and it would linger in her mind from time to time. Being around Lena and staying around him had brought it forward more but there wasn't anything she could exactly say. It was hard for her and it would be hard for him as well. Before she could answer, Lena had ran up to them.
"Can we get some ice cream?" She asked sweetly and looked between them.
"Maybe another night Lena" Baz told her but Jessica wasn't having it.
"Of course we can…It's not going to kill you. How about we go get your jacket and try that new ice cream place that just came in?" Smiling, Lena had hugged Jessica faintly before tugging on their hands in order to get them to move.
She had been in front of them but stayed close to them as they crossed the street. Jessica was thankful she ran over because this was an excuse to avoid having the conversation she didn't want to have. Baz however didn't want to let it go considering he knew it had something to do with him. He still didn't have any idea of what it could be and it would bother him for a while.
"Once she gets you bed, you and I are having a long talk" He said quietly leaning in her direction.
"Too bad, I told Deran was stopping by tonight so your mind can wonder for a while"
Jessica had stayed after ice cream in order to get Lena to bed. She actually wanted to run away quickly but she wanted her to help Baz. Luckily for her, Pope had showed up and kept Baz distracted while she ducked away and out to the bar.
For a Thursday night it had been semi packed but there had been enough open spots at the bar. Jessica loved sitting there in order to watch and talk to her baby brother. It was just something she never thought Deran would do considering he had always been attached to Smurf at the hip. She had more than happy that he branched away from her because she had felt like the lone wolf in the situation.
"You better hope she didn't poison the eggs or anything" Deran told her after she had told him that Smurf had brought her breakfast.
"Okay Baz Jr…You guys really think she would poison food? I get she hates me and everything but I really don't think she'd commit murder against her children, right?"
Giving her a skeptical look, Deran believed that she would do it if she had secretly crushed pills in Pope's food. It made Jessica even more paranoid that two of them had said about it and that made her feel on edge. Smurf did say she made it for J or so she thought and that meant there couldn't have been anything wrong with the breakfast.
Sliding her a fancy drink, Jessica looked over the orange colored liquid before taking a drink. "What the hell is that? It taste like coconut and beach water" She shivered faintly and took a quick gulp of her water.
"I don't know, that guy over there asked me to make it and what do you know, I don't have the stuff. This is a bar with beer, not those drinks that have little umbrellas in them"
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a man sitting in the corner with a faint smile on his face. Jessica had no idea who he was nor did she want to know why he was buying her a drink. Turning back around, Deran had been standing there wiping the bar down.
Brushing the man from her mind, she grabbed her necklace and played with it for a second. "If I tell you something personal, you would keep it a secret right?"
Looking over at her, Deran had continued to wipe the bar down. "Sure, what's it about?"
"Like you completely swear that you would keep it a secret? Pinky promise and everything?"
"What are we, five?" He fired back remembering when they were kids that the Cody's used to do that as a joke. Jessica seemed still on the matter so he stopped what he was doing and held his hand out.
Smiling, she had hooked he pinky with his then shooed him away before anyone could see. Jessica knew Deran would be embarrassed to be caught doing that. "Okay…So remember that time that Smurf kicked me out and I didn't come home for almost a year. Well technically she let me come back after like six months but I kept staying away?" He had nodded listening. "Well…I had a reason I dropped out of school and everything"
Before Jessica could continue, the man from before had sat down next to her. Looking over sharply, he smirked again towards her. "You don't like the drink, do you?"
Shifting her eyes towards Deran, he threw his hands up and stepped away. He was curious to what was going and who the man was though he had a pretty good idea. Jessica had glanced at the drink and smiled politely before shaking her head no. "You don't know who I am, do you? Trey, Trey Walker"
Scoffing at him, Jessica couldn't believe her old boyfriend from high school was sitting next to her, buying her a drink and making conversation. Nothing really happened between that was bad but Smurf didn't like how much of a good boy he was in her eyes.
She called Deran back over because it dawned on her that he must have had a crush on him. It was just part of the fun and Jessica was going to get a kick out of it. As they made meaningless conversation, Baz had appeared out of nowhere much to her surprise.
"Hey…" She said letting her words linger and looking to her right to see him. Noticing Trey, Baz had slipped his arm around her shoulders and nodded at him.
Taking the hint, Trey had never gotten along with Pope or Baz for that matter. Studying his actions weren't hard as Baz was clearly making his presence known. He had always done that because his ego wasn't going to lay down for no one. "We'll have to catch up time"
Jessica had agreed while having a nostalgic feeling run through her mind. After a few more words, he had left and Baz had taken his spot.
"You really had to do that, didn't you?" She asked him with faint annoyance in her voice. "Shouldn't you be home watching your child for one night?"
"Pope's with her so besides she's sleeping" He responded back while Deran grabbed him a beer.
Sighing heavily, Jessica spun back in her chair and rubbed her temples. She had been making progress with Lena but it had came crashing down because God forbid he actually take time to watch her. Gazing back towards him, she was giving him an irritated look.
"Oh come on. It's one night and you shouldn't have told me you were coming here because I wouldn't have followed. That was the whole point of you telling me, right?"
Deran once again had been keeping his distance but made casual looks their way. Even though the two of them had been keeping things on the low, he knew better and he knew that something had been going on. The others probably did as well but he was always going to look out for his sister. The Cody family had failed Julia and part of Deran felt guilty for that.
"We're in front of all these people and Deran's lurking around somewhere" Jessica said and Deran overheard it while passing through a group of people.
"So? You really think he's going to run to Smurf and tell her? The last thing he wants to do is go run to her" Baz replied leaning forward towards her.
"How do I know? He runs to her any other time to tell her what she wants to hear" She said.
Deran had snuck towards the kitchen while keeping his eye on them. Hearing her remarks made him question exactly what was going on. It wasn't anything that was insulting but it was something that bugged him. Baz and Jessica had been showing up together the last few days and that raised his suspicions already. The two of them had been doing their best to keep everything hidden but with the Cody family, no one could hide anything.
When Deran watched them look around the place, he knew they were looking for him so he ducked away again. Catching them together was one thing but catching them kiss was another. At that moment it seemed that things were going to change and worlds were going to shift.