“Woah, there,” the voice said as a hand was extended. “Sorry about that. You hurt bad?”
Her heart thudded loudly in her chest, but not from where her adrenaline was up from running. She slowly looked up to see the face of the person that extended their hand. She could never forget that voice in a million years or a million different lifetimes. It haunted her dreams and every waking moment she had even through all of the drugs when she was hopped up.
“JJ?” she breathed, taking his hand and letting him stand her up.
“I’m sorry, have we met?” he asked in reply.
He had no idea who she was. Her face crumpled and JJ saw how badly him not knowing who she was affected the situation.
“Hey, so let me take you to get some food or something,” he offered. “You look like you could use a hot meal and someone to talk to. Maybe you can fill me in on how you know me. I am horrible with names and faces.”
He was still the sweet JJ she remembered from the holler. But Lynne couldn’t bear to let him know who she was and what she had done to herself. It had been three years since he had left, and he was doing so good for himself. She felt ashamed to even be standing in front of him, looking the way she did.
“Please, totally my treat,” he reinforced as he helped her to her feet. “No strings attached.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied turning around to run.
“Wait, what’s your name? Take my card!” he urged holding it out to her
Lynne snatched the card from his hand and ran from him as it began to pour the rain.
“Can I at least give you a ride,” JJ yelled out as she gained distance further away and disappeared into the dark.
She didn’t know which turns she took or which way she had gone, but it wasn’t long until she ran into Charlie still hobbling his way down the sidewalk.
“Lynnelle,” he cried out as he held her up as she swayed and stumbled.
He quickly pulled off his coat and draped it around her shoulders and over her head to keep her out of the rain as he tried to lead her back to her apartment. She collapsed into his arms tired, weak, and sobbing and then cried herself into a blackout. When she woke up, they back in her apartment, and he was cooking something on the stove.
“There’s my sleeping beauty,” Charlie chimed. “I was afraid I would have to take you into the hospital. It’s been two days since you passed out.” Charlie gave the pot on the stove one last stir before he switched the knob off, turning off the burner. “I’m making you your favorite soup. Homemade chicken noodle! You caught a fever from that rain.”
Charlie carefully filled a bowl with some of the chicken noodle soup and carried it over to her, sitting in a chair in front of the sofa.
“Come on. Sit up, sweetheart,” he urged.
She was so weak, and it took every ounce of strength she had to sit upright. Charlie took a spoon and scooped some soup out for her and blew on the hot broth. He offered it to her, and she just stared at him.
“You need to eat even if I have to pour it down your throat,” he professed sternly.
“Ok, Daddy,” she replied quietly.
She leaned in and took the bite of soup. It felt wonderful sliding down her parched, scratchy throat. Charlie and Lynne sat there in silence as he spoon fed her like he had done every single day she spent sick in bed as a child.
“You were having fitful dreams while you were out,” Charlie commented. “Mind telling me about them? I think I heard you call out JJ’s name a few times.”
Lynne’s eyes dropped to the floor. “I don’t remember them,” she replied quietly.
“It seems to me, that the only time you sound happy is when you are dreaming while not under the influence of anything. I have heard you dream while hopped up, and all it is is nightmares. This time, it was a cross between the two,” Charlie stated as he fed her another spoon of soup. “Now, a nagging feeling tells me that JJ is one of the reasons you’re the mess that you are right now. And I know it isn’t solely just JJ. You been through a lot these last few years. Your mama dying, JJ left, some of your friends died overdosing. But that is no excuse to abandon your family and do this stupid shit you have been doing. We miss you, sweetheart. All the boys back home miss you.”
“Yea, Jesse and JR were out here last month,” Lynne replied quietly. “I let everyone down. I am a failure at life. I am worthless now,” she cried.
Charlie set the soup down on the counter and pulled her into his arms.
“You are not worthless,” Charlie cooed. “You just made bad mistakes is all.”
“Do you still love me, Daddy?” Lynne asked.
“Of course, I do!” Charlie insisted.
“Do you think JJ would if he knew what all I had done,” Lynne sobbed. “I have done so many… things for money and drugs out here that I am ashamed of myself. How can anyone love me if they found out what I did while living out here.”
“That boy loved you through all your bullshit, Lynne. Ain’t nothing in this world that’ll ever change that,” Charlie replied. “Just like it would never change for the rest of us that love you. I will never be ashamed of who you are or what you have done.”
Lynne buried her face into Charlie’s chest and wrapped her arms around him crying harder than she ever had.
“Come home to us, please?” Charlie pleaded. “I will help you until the day I die to get you off this shit if you let me. Just come home.” Charlie stifled a sob. “I can’t bury you too.”
“I don’t know if I am strong enough to stop,” she sobbed in gasps.
“You are strong enough to do anything, baby girl,” he whispered in her ear. “But I can’t go on living if this shit takes you from me. Please, come home!”
“Ok, Daddy,” she whispered through tears. “I will come home with you.”
Lynne tried to forget JJ’s face over the months to come even though she knew that if that were to happen, she would never forget how much she loved him. Forgetting his face would be the only way to get through detox and survive, but her soul would forever crave his touch and taste. It felt like she was going to die by stopping drugs, which is insane compared to drugs killing you. Either way, you can die from addiction or detox. But the simple truth was, she had lost herself in drugs to escape a face that never went anywhere. He was gone from her side, yes, but he was never missing from her mind, and he never had any intentions of coming back for her to rescue her from herself. He left her. He abandoned her in that holler that night… that night that would have never happened had it not been for her…
“Heya, boss! Welcome back!” Jimmy called out as he walked from the kitchen to the restrooms.
He startled Lynne from her thoughts, and she stared at the shot in her hand numbly. She tossed the shot back and put her bottle back under the counter, hiding it away once more. There was a stack of envelopes lying on the bar counter that she sifted through. Bill after bill after bill. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep this place afloat. She had already reduced the wait staff. She kept her legitimate business and pill-pushing business separate from one another, so she was clean when she filed taxes. There could be no embezzlement, no tax fraud, no money laundering, nothing.
The door to the bar opened, and Lynne felt the draft waft through as it closed behind her patron. She was still sorting through mail as the person walked up to the counter.
“Just give me a minute, and I will be with you,” Lynne said as she turned around and began sorting the mail into the appropriate bins behind the counter. “What can I get for you?” she asked
“You left me another letter?” JJ asked as he walked through the bar and up to the counter, sliding the piece of paper across the top.
Lynne stopped what she had been doing behind the bar and slowly turned around to face JJ.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, glancing around to see if anyone was in the bar.
“To talk about this letter,” JJ replied, slamming the letter down harder on the bar. �
��And to talk about this one as well,” he said, digging through his wallet and tossing the one she had left him all those years ago.
Tears began to well in her eyes. “What is there to talk about,” she sniffled, swiping the betraying tear that fell.
“Why won’t you be with me if everything you wrote in those letters is true?” JJ demanded, banging his hand on the bar.
“I don’t know, JJ,” Lynne cried.
“I just hopped a private jet and flew thousands of miles when I am deathly afraid and hate airplanes to hear you tell me I don’t know, JJ. No,” JJ said as he walked around the bar’s counter and inched closer to Lynne. “No, that isn’t good enough for me anymore,” he said as he walked right up to her. “For as long as I can remember, Lynne, all I have ever wanted was you. There hasn’t been any other person that could take my mind off of you. Nothing to numb away what I continuously feel every single day for you.” JJ cupped her face in his hand. “And this time, I am going to get what I want, like the spoiled little rich boy you have always called me.”
JJ rushed his lips against hers, and Lynne pushed into it hungrily. He ran his hands through her hair, making it a mess as their mouths searched for one another repeatedly, always finding the right spot to land. Lynne pushed herself away from JJ hard and he stepped back toward her.
“No!” she yelled. “No, I don’t deserve you,” she whimpered.
“Why don’t you deserve me?” JJ asked. “What because you feel guilty about the mine explosion?”
Lynne just stared at JJ in disbelief. “You know about all of that?”
“They did a full investigation, Lynne!” JJ yelled. “Of course, I know about that. A bunch of y’all were up there partying that night. You sold some shit to one of the workers that in turn used it to blow up the mine. You didn’t know what he was going to do. None of you did. You were fucking kids playing gangsters!”
“But I killed your daddy!” Lynne heaved in tears. “It was all my fault! It was my fault you left… me. You left me and never came back, and it was all my fault!”
“You didn’t want to go!” JJ screamed. “I begged you to go with me! I had hinted at it for months. You didn’t want to leave your boys behind, your so-called family. I didn’t leave you. You rejected me.”
JJ began to pace as his frustration grew.
“It wouldn’t matter if you had lit that match yourself and blew the mines up,” JJ purred as he walked over to Lynne and grasped her face with his hands. “I would still love you, and I could never stop trying.”
The bar door popped open, and Thomas walked in. “Boss, we found where they are. You need to come with us.”
“I will be right there,” JJ said quietly.
Thomas left the bar, and JJ returned his gaze back to Lynne. “I will be back later. I have some business to settle with that damned Martinez family. And then you and I are going to sit down, and we are going to talk.”
Lynne nodded her head as JJ started to leave the bar. He halted at a picture hanging up near the entrance to the place. In the picture was Charlie and Betsy Brown with Lynne and her brother in it. However, there were also two other guys in the picture that he knew intimately in ways that never leave the sound of running water.
“Hey, Lynne,” JJ asked. “Right quick, who are these boys in this picture.”
“They’re my half brothers from my daddy’s previous marriage,” she replied. “The ones that went missing. Why?” she asked.
JJ swallowed hard and brushed his emotions aside. “Just curious. I didn’t know what your brothers looked like. I’ll be back,” he replied as he left the bar and then whispered, “and we can talk about why they look familiar to me.”
JJ walked up to the car that Thomas sat in and peered in through the window.
“What have we found out?” JJ asked.
“They have your maternal grandparents held hostage in their own home,” Thomas replied. “Tony is staking the place out right now to see how many men are in there.”
“Yea, Mr. Brubaker told me that would be their first stop most likely,” JJ sighed. “Any word on my dad’s parents?”
Thomas cleared his throat and shook his head. JJ balled his fist and pounded the top of the car.
“What do you want us to do?” Thomas asked.
JJ walked around to the passenger side door and climbed in. “Drive over there.”
Thomas nodded and put the car into gear, barking tires. He took the roads with ease, and within no time, they were at JJ’s grandparents’ house. Tony sat in his car watching the house from the road, and JJ motioned for Thomas to cut the power to the motor. Thomas switched the ignition off, and they sat there listening.
“It’s quiet,” Thomas murmured.
“Yeah, too quiet,” JJ huffed as he climbed from the car.
Thomas climbed from the car as well, and they both walked over to Tony’s car. He sat with the window rolled up and the car running. JJ banged on the top of the car as he walked up the side to the driver’s window. He bent down and immediately turned away from the window with his eyes closed. Thomas looked in and nearly fell over backward. Tony sat in his seat with blood running down his neck and chest from where his throat had been slit.
JJ didn’t even wait for words from Thomas. He began to march his way up to the house and kicked the door in. He looked around cautiously, drawing his gun from the waistband of his pants and easing into the house. He didn’t have to go far. In the den off from the foyer of the house sat his grandparents tied to chairs on either side of one of the Martinez family’s men. They sat there wide-eyed, not knowing what was going on or even who JJ was.
“My boss sends his regards about your grandparents and Tony,” the man spoke with a grin.
“Now, who do I send my regards with to your boss when you’re floating down the New River Gorge?” JJ asked.
“You think you’re a comedian. A funny man, right?” the guy smirked.
He took a knife he had been cleaning out from under his nails and stabbed it into JJ’s grandpa’s hand. He let out a muffled scream through his duct-taped mouth.
“There’s no need in doing any of that,” JJ stated calmly as he sat down on the couch beside his grandma. “Do you think I give a rat’s ass about these two people? They don’t even fucking know who I am! They don’t know the accomplishments I made just because of my mama.”
“Oh but do they?” the man asked. “I am fairly certain I saw a picture of you floating around on the mantle up there from when you were just a small boy. Mama must have sent it. Guess that’s how they tracked her down and had her whacked just because she married your daddy.”
JJ clenched his jaw and swallowed his anger. “Don’t talk about my mother.”
The man clutched his chest. “I’m sorry—sensitive subject. My apologies. I would be sore too if my grandparents had my mother killed by the very people you break bread with.”
“What the fuck are you going on about?” JJ asked, irritated.
“Didn’t you know? Didn’t your daddy tell you before he died? They paid your little girlfriend’s family to kill your mama,” the man replied, looking from grandma to grandpa. “Every last one of the Browns knew that those two boys got paid to send your mama down the River Styx.”
JJ followed his gaze and watched as neither of them would look him in the eye.
“You’re fucking lying,” JJ seethed as he stood from his chair. “And thank you for reminding me why I hate these two people. When you’re done, could you at least roll the rug up with all the blood on it and toss it? I would like to get a nice penny from selling this place, being the last living relative and all.”
He could hear the muffled screams coming from his grandparents pleading with him, but he didn’t give a damn.
“Oh, one more thing,” the man called out.
JJ stopped in the threshold of the door and walked back to watch him slice neatly through his grandparents’ throats.
“I was just a distraction,” he smile
d. “Send your girl my regards.”
He pulled the knife across his own throat and thudded to the ground.
“Lynne…” JJ mumbled.
JJ sprinted from the house and slid in the gravel as he tried to make it back to Thomas’ car. He jumped in the driver’s side while Thomas barely made it into the passenger seat before he gunned the throttle leaving tire marks down the entire road. JJ punched the steering wheel repeatedly as he cursed under his breath. Thomas didn’t know what to say.
“Do you have her number so we could call and see…” Thomas trailed off.
“No, I don’t,” JJ replied through gritted teeth.
They rolled up to the bar, and JJ jumped out and ran inside to see if Lynne was there. Before he could even make it through the door, he saw a puddle of blood flowing from under the door. He squeezed his eyes closed tightly and tried to push the door open. Whatever laid in front of it was heavy and not budging at all. JJ skipped down the steps and ran for the back entrance of the bar. He threw the door open and hauled ass through the kitchen to see what was blocking the door. He sighed in relief to see that it wasn’t Lynne lying there, but her chef instead.
“Where the fuck are they?!” he screamed as he sent everything on the bar onto the floor.
He had to drive to the holler. There wasn’t any point in avoiding it now. He ran back through the rear exit and over to Thomas’ car.
“Are you coming or staying,” JJ asked as he pulled the door open. “Because if you are coming, you will be killing someone.”
Thomas remained silent.
“Don’t worry, man, no hard feelings,” JJ said as he jumped into the seat and gunned the car in the direction of Route 1.
He took the curves of Spruce Mountain like he always had and tore down the drive of Sycamore Holler. He made his way to his old house and stopped the car, parking it and running inside. His dad kept a safe here that had weapons in it he could use. He punched in the code that Mr. Brubaker had given him, and the door popped open, showing him an arsenal behind the safe door. He grabbed as many guns as he could, ammunition, knives, and grenades. As he loaded a duffel bag with the guns, his eyes caught a picture of him with his dad, and he paused momentarily. His dad always said he’d end up back here, and here he was about to go to war with the largest mafia family in California. But they fucked up. They took something they should have never thought to take that belonged to neither him nor them. He shut the safe door and hustled out of the house.
Them Holler Boys (A Southern Outlaw Series Book 1) Page 18