CHAPTER 18-ONE FOR THE MONEY…
Jessica Cody had been getting ready in her apartment trying to figure out something to wear. It was the night that Smurf was holding yet again another dinner and it seemed like she was the only one going. She didn't want to be the only one but Smurf had been paying her a lot of attention lately. It was the little girl voice inside of her that had been screaming with joy.
It was apparent that Smurf and Jessica hadn't gotten along for a while and anyone could see it. The biggest problem was that she had been a female and was treated the same way that Julia had been. Her boys were more important which meant she had only been pushed off to the side. Without having a Father, Jessica had wanted a connection to a parent but had lacked in the department.
Smurf hadn't been the best one to get along with either because she felt that she was highly judged compared to the others. Craig and Deran had spent so much time living there and never received anything for it. However, Jessica had been kicked out and living on the streets because of an little incident. She felt that no matter what she did, Smurf wasn't going to accept her as a daughter. Jessica knew that she was always welcome but she would never get the benefit of the doubt in anything she did.
Dialing Pope's number, Jessica was wiggling her way into her light blue jean capris. She was on a mission to get at least one brother to go and she was starting at the top of the pile. Hearing a click, Jessica wasted no time talking.
"Please tell me your coming to Smurf's tonight?" She asked while reaching for her t-shirt. Jessica had been paring it with a vintage 1970's t-shirt that had been yellow with an navy arm and neckline. California was read across the chest with a beach backdrop including a palm tree and waves in navy blue as well.
"Didn't you already ask me? The answer is no" Pope responded back. She had asked him at least twice yesterday and he should have known that she'd ask again.
"Oh come on, don't make me go by myself. I don't want to sit there with two teenagers and her…Besides, what are you even doing tonight? Nothing I'm sure"
"Then why are you going? No one else is so why go out of your way?" He had said aloud even though he wondered it. "Amy invited me to this play thing from the church and I'm taking Lena"
Jessica rolled her eyes while throwing her shirt on. "Does Baz ever have her and how many times do I have to get on his ass for it? Look, you and Lena can come here and spend time with me. Doesn't that sound better? Brother and sister bonding time right?"
"No means no Jessica" Without saying anything else, she heard the line go dead and Pope hung up. Sighing heavily, she began to dial the next number on the list.
Baz hadn't picked up so she dialed him again. Hopping over to her dresser, she slid on a couple of bracelets, a necklace and clasped her ankle bracelet closed. After him not answering again, it was time to turn to Craig. She wanted to stop by and see Deran because she thought she'd be able to convince him in person.
Walking out into the living area, she ripped her keys off of the countertop and jogged down the stairs to her car. Jumping it, Jessica was praying that he would answer. If he didn't, she was going to leave a voicemail that wasn't nice.
Even though Jessica and Craig were semi close in age, they had an interesting and complicated relationship. It was hard for her to be around him when all he ever wanted to do was drugs most of the time. He was known to be the party animal and so was she at many points in her life. When she was clean, Jessica wasn't the go lucky party girl that was always dancing somewhere. Craig had always believed that she felt better than him and the others considering she had an actual job and life outside of the family.
Not waiting for him to answer hello, Jessica had did the same thing to Craig as she did to Pope. "Are you coming to the dinner at Smurf's tonight?"
She listened to him silence someone who she knew was not Nicky. "Um, no? No one is going…Wait, you are?"
"Well I am but I don't want to be the only one. Baz won't answer, Pope's taking Lena to some church thing and I'm riding solo"
"Is Deran going? I'm kinda tied up right now" Jessica knew exactly what that meant.
"You mean your snorting God knows how much coke and screwing some girl you met on the beach who isn't jailbait…Maybe Nicky will be there so you can stop playing preschool with the girl and breakup with her. As for D, I'm going to ask him now"
"Well you tell me if he's going and I'll think about it. If he's not then I'm out"
Again before Jessica could say anything else, the line clicked and it was dead. Tossing the phone onto the passenger seat, she made her way to The Drop as if she didn't spend enough time there already. As she circled around the area for a parking spot, Jessica noticed a familiar car and that put her in a mood.
Marching towards the door, the opened it and glanced around. Now walking in strides again, she put her hands on her hips as she walked over to the bar. "Why didn't you answer your phone?"
Baz had been leaning on the bar talking to Deran when they both snapped their heads towards her. He had clearly looked surprised to see her and she cocked her head sideways with a faint smile.
"I left my phone in the car…I thought you were going to Smurf's?" Baz questioned.
"I am and I was calling to see if you were going thank you…Turn around" She said crossing her arms. Raising an eyebrow, he had no idea what she was freaking out over. "Turn around Baz"
Giving Deran a look, he sighed heavily and turned around like she asked. Jessica had moved around one of the stools and placed her hands on his shoulder. She moved them down as if she was a police officer and began patting him down for his phone. Not believing him, Jessica was aware that he had been avoiding the calls. Sure she had been freaking out but that was because she was nervous. Things were going well with Smurf lately and she didn't want that ruined.
Once she reached his front pockets, she placed her hands on them. Baz reacted and put his on top of hers, preventing her from getting his phone from his pocket. "What are you doing?"
"I'm proving my point that you are lying, you've always been a good liar" She said removing her hands and letting him turn around. "You could have sent a text and told me you weren't going instead of ignoring me"
"Why are you freaking out? I told you yesterday that I wasn't going, I have things to do tonight. You're acting like a crazy girlfriend" The last part had slipped out but Deran didn't seem to notice.
Placing her hand on the bar, Jessica leaned on it. "I'm sorry, what did you say? I would like someone to have my back for once. Please just go with me"
Shaking his head faintly, Baz had to laugh. Jessica had been acting crazy and it couldn't have just been Smurf's dinner that was pushing her over the edge. He didn't understand why she was going to such lengths to be overdramatic.
Turning around to glance at the clock on the wall, Baz knew he had to be leaving. "Look, I have to go. Call me tomorrow and tell me how it went. I don't want to see Smurf nor do I want to go over there"
He parted with the Cody siblings and didn't hear Jessica yell out, "Is that why you never go pick up Lena?"
Deran had been completely clueless onto what everything transpired. He knew all about the dinner but had no idea that Jessica was going. Craig brought it up before but he half of the time didn't pay much attention to what he said. He kept silent but Jessica was bond to break it at any second.
"Where is he going anyway?" She asked turning back around to face him.
Shrugging, he answered, "I don't know. He said something about Lucy was up here and wanted to see him for the hell if I know"
Baz had told Deran that he did do business with Marco but it all came down to a bracelet of some sort. He didn't know the degree of their meeting and since it didn't involve him, he really didn't care. At the same time, Deran didn't know the nature of anyone's relationship.
Jessica had bit her lip for a second and glanced back over to the front door. "He's meeting up with Lucy?"
"I mean that's what he told me…Something about Marco and money" Deran had noticed the look on her face and he knew it well. The way her mouth stayed in a straight line, her eyes had focused on something, Jessica did it often when she was disappointed. "I'm sure it's nothing major or anything"
Deran had tried covering what he was saying but she was already clearly effected. Jessica didn't think Lucy would be an issue but Baz wasn't a one woman person. There had been a part of her that would change that about him but apparently she guessed wrong.
Taking a deep breath, Jessica smiled widely and blinked, "You already know what I'm going to ask and I want the answer to be yes" Her eyes slowly going his way.
"You know I can't just leave the bar, who's going to run it? I can't trust Melissa, she's just a bartender" Even though he had gotten along with her well he could just put the business in her hands.
"Please, I never ask for anything but give me this one time" She sighed and leaned on the bar closer to him. "I want this to be okay, I want to feel like I'm part of the family again. I want to finally have a relationship with my Mother considering I've hardly had one. I just want someone to be there with me"
"I can't leave Jess…I have the bar to run and I have no one else to watch it. Everything will be fine, just be you I guess"
Next thing Jessica knew, she was pulling into Smurf's driveway and parking her light blue Jeep. She grabbed a navy scrunchie from her wrist and tied her hair up in a messy bun. It may have been simple and having dinner with parents but for Jessica it was different. She strived to please Smurf but it always ended in disaster. Her relationship with Baz was tempted to ruin it but she was hoping she could balance both with ease.
Walking inside, it was quiet as usual and she made her way into the kitchen. Smurf was standing at the stove but seemed to hear her step forward. "I was afraid you weren't coming, everything will be ready in a few minutes. J and Nicky are outside if you want to see them. Are your brothers coming?"
Jessica didn't have the heart to tell her they weren't because it would ruin her mood for the rest of the night. "Um, I'm not sure. Deran said if he could get out of the bar for a while but I haven't talked to the others"
It was silent for the rest of the time Jessica was standing there. She wondered if Smurf already knew they weren't coming and she was in a bad mood. Without another word, she opened the patio door and stepped out into the cool air. She regretted not bringing a jacket and was tempted to ask Nicky for one of hers.
"Hey…What are you two up to?" She asked once she reached the table. J and Nicky had been moving some patio chairs around in the back.
"Smurf wanted us to get all of the leaves out of the pool and around it. Is Craig coming?" Nicky was the first to say anything between her and J.
Shaking her head faintly, she took a seat at the table. Jessica had sat with her back towards the house in order to watch the kids. "I used to have to do that with Deran all the time. The others used to run away before any chores so to speak could be done and I ended up with them"
"That's why you're the responsible one" J commented meaning it as a joke even though it did seem like the truth, well mostly the truth.
"Dinner's ready, I hope everyone is hungry. I made my famous spaghetti recipe that you all seemed to love as kids" Smurf had stepped out of the house with a large bowl of noodles. Two seconds later she disappeared back inside for the sauce.
She ran inside once again to get drinks while the three had helped themselves to the dinner. Jessica had made her plate while momentarily pausing to check it over. Baz and Deran's words still haunted her and she look up to see J. He and Nicky had been on the opposite side.
"Did you eat the breakfast she made yesterday?" She asked calmly.
J had nodded grabbing his fork. "Yeah, did you have some?"
She shook her head yes slowly and spoke, "Deran and Baz thought it would be clever to convince that she poisoned it. At least I know if I die then you are tagging along with me"
Nicky had laughed faintly then realized she was serious. J and Nicky had been spending more time together and it began questioning her relationship with Craig. He didn't really seem to care for her the way she wanted him to. She had looked between the family and cleared her throat once Smurf stepped back out. She had smiled at everyone while handing out their glasses.
All of them had started eating without much conversation. Smurf had looked between all of them waiting for one to say something but engaged a conversation first. "What's with all the new tattoos?" She asked looking Jessica's way.
She had just taken a drink of water before glancing towards her. "I know you told me to stick with the two I had but I wanted more so that's what I did"
"I've just noticed that you've added more since I last saw you…That makes how many now? I think they add a nice touch though I wish you would add some more color to them"
Almost every year Jessica had added at least one or two more tattoos. Last time she had checked it was twelve but half of the time she ended up missing one. They were mostly all over her arms but she had one towards her ankle of beach waves and she had two hearts connected together on her left hip bone.
"Do they hurt?" Nicky asked leaning slightly on the table to get a better view. She had saw her tattoos on display before but she was still curious. "I've always wanted one but I don't know if I could handle it"
"Well it depends on where you get them but none of these hurt. Now the one on my hip was killer but all of these are fine. I still plan on adding a couple more"
All of them had been black and white except for the pink lotus flower on her shoulder. The feather with birds flying away on her back shoulder was her new addition and resembled her life. Jessica's ink ranged from a seashell, a crescent moon, two more flowers appearing on her wrist and forearm, a butterfly, a palm tree, a quote and roman numerals.
"Do you have any tattoos?" Jessica asked J. He didn't seem like the type but she still didn't know much about her nephew.
"No, I never really thought about getting them. I wanted to get one for my Mom but I never really had the chance" He wasn't going to admit it but he just had a phobia of needles. After watching Julia numerous times with drugs, he was really put off by them. J could see a lot of Julia in Jessica and he was surprised that she didn't feel the same way he did.
That made everyone go quiet and now things became awkward. He was still resentful that the Cody family didn't pay much respect to his mother and they seem to avoid her every single time. Jessica was still upset that she wasn't at the funeral nor does she know that she had passed. Smurf was good at keeping things under control and Julia was hardly ever spoken about.
"I remember when you always used to look up to your sister. Before she started hanging around Pope and Baz you were always with her. Julie used to love having a little sister to follow her around and I can remember her taking you to the beach. It wasn't until she got wrapped up in drugs that things started changing and Julia had to leave"
J had questions of his own wondering where his Mother fit into the family. Hearing Smurf talk about her was strange and he still didn't understand the resentment that everyone seemed to have. Jessica was the only one that brought her up and seem to care for her sister. He still remembered the story she told him of when they got kicked out and blaming Smurf would only eat him up on the inside.
"Is that why you kicked my mom out?" J asked hardly raising his voice. Jessica nearly froze place when she heard the question. He knew all about what had happened but he still seemed to be prying an old wounds. "From the story I heard my mom and Jessica were both kicked out because you caught them both sleeping with Baz"
Now it was Nicky's turn to stop and place and look between everyone at the table, "Wait a minute are you serious?"
Smurf had been completely caught off guard and wondered who was the one who told him the story. Jessica began eating a bit faster and it was obvious that she would have been the one. The tension that always rose when Julia's name didn't make sense but J wanted to know more. It wasn't like it was a huge secret in the family but she didn't want to be confronted.
Clearing her throat, Smurf had shimmed in her seat before sitting up straighter. "What happened was years ago and it was something that needed to be done" She simply said without saying anything else. Smurf didn't need to explain her actions to anyone, especially to her grandson.
Silence had filled the air again where no one said another word. Smurf had been irritated that the boys weren't there to begin with and now the last thing she needed was J questioning her. After everyone had finished, Smurf had told them that she made dessert and it was in the refrigerator. After handing out her famous apple pie that she made again, she grabbed her car keys and left.
That left J, Nicky and Jessica in the house by themselves. She didn't want to be stuck with two teenagers but she really didn't want to go back to her apartment either. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing and she didn't want to hang out at the bar. Besides that, Jessica still had her mind on Baz and Lucy. It bothered her that he had hit it from her rather than telling her himself. It wasn't that she was jealous, Jessica just didn't want to be made a fool of.
J had promised to help Nicky with her chemistry homework and they were tucked away in his bedroom. That left Jessica in the kitchen eating the rest of her dessert before heading into his room. "Do you mind if I come and sit in here with you guys for awhile?"
"Anything that keeps me from doing this homework chemistry is the worst" Nicky responded even though J knew exactly what he was doing.
Jessica wasn't in A-plus student when she went to school but she still had better grades than most of them. None of the Cody's had graduated high school and J looked like the only one who was willing to graduate. He didn't have much time left because he was allowed to graduate early for having good grades.
"It's really not that bad, you're just not paying any attention in class" He told her which got a faint laugh from Jessica.
"You know, I used to tell Deran and Craig that all the time. I used to help Deran with his homework half of the time until I dropped out and he followed shortly after I think" Jessica said sitting on the edge of the bed where Nicky and J were.
"You dropped out? I thought you were a nurse or whatever?" Nicky asked.
She had been glancing at the homework before looking at her. "Well I dropped out for reasons…That's when Smurf kicked me out along with other problems I had going for me.
I eventually got my GED and went to a community college for the degree. By the way, I think number five is wrong"
J had blinked then quickly looked back down at the paper. Jessica in fact was right and he had only been a few numbers off from what he had. The two had gotten along and it was refreshing that she kept it straight with him.
"Also, you want to graduate and actually make something of yourself. I hope you both look into college because you don't want to end up living here for the rest of your lives, do you?" She said giving them a stern yet playful look.
Pulling her hair out of the bun, she ruffled her blonde locks when J had a question of his own. "What's the numbers mean?" He pointed to her inner arm which had the roman numerals inked.
She paused momentarily and slid the hair tie on her wrist. "It's a date that means something, November fifth is a birthday of someone who is no longer with us, past history"
J had realized how often Jessica would say something was old history when something was brought up. It was her way of getting around talking about it because she seemed to be good at hiding things as well as telling them. Jessica wasn't going to explain what they truly meant because it was something she only knew about and no one else had to.
"I should let you get back to your homework…I'll be in Deran's room so just yell if you need any help"
While waiting for Smurf to return, she decided she'd hang out in his room since she knew he still had a his video game hooked up. Maybe she'd lower his score on Call of Duty and he'll end up going off on her for it. She had also been ducking out to avoid further questions. "Oh by the way, Smurf isn't mad that you asked her that. You're the new favorite"
All of the Cody's including Baz knew that J had been slowly but surely replacing him. Baz and Smurf had been at odds for a while and J was willing to step into the spot. Once she left the room, Nicky had nudged J faintly telling him that he upset her by asking about the tattoo. It wasn't the truth but neither one knew that.
While J was helping Nicky with homework and Jessica was in the process of trying to survive in the video game, they had no idea that at least four men were snooping around in the backyard.
"I'm searching this place to find the money that is here and then we can move onto the bigger picture. You two go inside, we'll check out here"
Javi had reappeared on his mission to get the money that he had been craving. He had warned most of them that he wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted and his mission had started.
J got up to get a glass of water and was standing near the kitchen isle when he saw something outside. He knew for a fact it wasn't any of the boys as they would have entered through the front door. As he approached the side door, a man had charged him from the side and knocked him down.
Dragging him through the patio door, Javi was near the pool and whipped around when he spotted him. "Well who do we have here? Is anyone else in the house?"
"I don't know, he was ready to come outside" The man had tossed him to the ground before kicking him sharply in the side.
Jessica had heard the noise but ignored it not thinking anything about it. It wasn't until she heard Nicky scream from the bed room that she paused the game and sat up quickly from his bed. Feeling her heart beat pound faster, she slid off the bed and stood there listening. Walking to the doorframe, Jessica placed her hands on the sides and poked her head out. After hearing what sounded like a lamp shatter, she knew something was going on. What she didn't know was how bad it was going to get.