There was just something about her that was different than any other girl he had come across in the past few years while he hopped from school to school. She could hold her own and yet was so fragile, one of the boys and so beautiful and feminine. She always smelled like chestnuts and blackberries, wild and sweet. And even with all her refined qualities, she could take out a man with a flick of her wrist. She was a sweet girl on the inside and a bad bitch on the outside. It was such a conflicting polarity of day and night personalities that made it so hard to pin her down from day to day. She didn’t want to be flaunted like arm candy. No man that ever dated her would be able to claim her. She wouldn’t be owned. She was free to the bone. She made her own money. She was independent, and she could think for herself. She was the best-wrapped piece of candy you could ever find in grandma’s candy dish.
JJ made his way through the house, not caring if he was loud now. He opened the front door and popped out while Lynne sat in her truck, waiting for him to come outside. He opened the passenger side door and hopped in, closing it quickly behind him.
“What’s in Groundhog Holler?” JJ asked. “Where is Groundhog Holler?”
“What took you so long? You’re worse than a girl primping to get ready,” Lynne teased. “I have a drop to make there. It’s in Jolo, about two hours down the road.”
JJ glanced down to the seat between Lynne’s legs and saw a paper bag and pistol nestled between them.
“What’s in the bag?” JJ asked.
“The usual,” she replied.
“Then what’s with the pistol?” JJ asked.
“I wasn’t sure if you would come,” Lynne answered as she started the truck and pulled off down the driveway.
“Why is your daddy sending you on a drug run in the middle of the night?” JJ demanded to know.
“It needed to be done,” Lynne replied. “Now, shut up and ride, or I will dump you on the side of the road, and you can walk back home.”
“Don’t you sass me,” JJ defended. “You’re the one who asked me to come, remember?”
Lynne and JJ rode in silence the two-hour drive it took to get to Jolo. They passed a sign marking where Jolo began. JJ watched out the window as they drove by a church illuminated by the moon.
It was a Pentecostal church called The Church of the Lord Jesus.
“Have you ever been to church in West Virginia?” Lynne asked.
“I haven’t been to church at all,” JJ replied. “Mama always said your body is God’s temple and to worship privately.”
Lynne snort-laughed. “Well, at least you believe in God,” she remarked. “Anyways, you ever hear of the Pentecosts?” she asked
“No, just read the signs,” JJ pointed back.
“Some of them are weird. They speak in tongues and all. These folks here are snake-handling Pentecosts,” Lynne replied.
“What kind of backwoods hillbilly hell have you brought me to, Lynne?” JJ demanded to know. “You got snake handlers with all kinds of venomous snakes, and you’re doping them up? What is wrong with y’all. No wonder they think they’re speaking in tongues, and God is talking to them through snakes.”
Lynne laughed as she pulled into a driveway that had a rundown single-wide trailer sitting in the middle of a field. It didn’t look like there was any power whatsoever ran to it. Lynne turned the truck off and flashed her lights three times.
“Now, we wait. I gave the signal,” Lynne said.
JJ began to get anxious sitting there, waiting for whoever it was to show up.
A hand smacked the driver’s side window, and both JJ and Lynne jumped. A laugh began to grow in volume as Lynne rolled her window down.
“Hey, Jed,” Lynne said unenthusiastically.
“What y’or daddy got you out this late f’or?” Jed asked.
“You know why, Jed,” Lynne replied, annoyed. “I’m not in the mood for fun and games. I want to go home and go to sleep. Can we just get to it?”
“Ok, ok,” Jed replied defensively. “Let me go grab the money from my trailer.”
JJ and Lynne sat silently and watched Jed walk into his trailer and a few minutes later return outside. Jed walked back to the driver’s side window with a huge grin plastered across his face.
“It’s all here,” Jed said.
JJ watched as Jed pulled a stack of hundreds from his back pocket and handed it over to Lynne.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Lynne replied, taking the bills in her hand, and thumbing through them, counting the amount he had handed her.
Jed watched her nervously as she fingered the bills. She had counted it three times before huffing in irritation.
“You’re short,” she seethed.
“Yea,” Jed replied, rubbing the back of his head.
“You told me it was all here. You told Daddy that you had it all,” Lynne growled. “Where’s the rest of the money, Jed?”
“I was hopin’ y’all’d front some of it to me,” Jed replied.
“No, last time we did, you barely settled up,” Lynne retorted. “This plus what you were getting was you finally settling up. So, it is either all of it or just what you owe and whatever is left over to pay for your shit. But, you ain’t getting it all.”
Jed licked then sucked his teeth. He lunged for the bag and gun between Lynne’s legs, but JJ was faster. JJ held the gun pointed at Jed’s head.
“You heard her,” JJ hissed. “Either all the money or just what you paid for.”
“I don’t have what they’re asking for, and if I give them what I owe them, there ain’t nothing left over. I just want a couple of beans fronted, is all,” Jed pleaded.
“You wanted more than just a couple. You’re at least three grand short, Jed,” Lynne retorted. “It ain’t happening.”
“You heard her,” JJ replied, still training the gun on Jed. “Take the money back and go is all I can say.”
“He ain’t getting the money back!” Lynne replied with a high pitch. “He owes all of this to my dad.”
“You’re going to give me the money back,” Jed demanded.
“At-at-at,” JJ said, motioning with the gun for Jed to watch his mouth and step.
“I’ll kick your ass, you little cock sucker,” Jed replied, walking around to JJ’s side of the truck.
JJ handed the gun off to Lynne. “Keep it aimed at him,” JJ said as he hopped out of the truck cab.
By the time Jed had made it around the truck to JJ’s side, JJ had already squared off and decked Jed in the mouth. Jed wiped the blood from his jaw and jabbed at JJ. JJ deflected the hit and landed two more punches to Jed’s mouth.
“I’ll knock your teeth down your throat, you backwoods junkie,” JJ yelled.
Jed lunged at JJ, taking him down to the ground by his waist. JJ wrestled him, trying to get him off the top of his body. They tousled for a few minutes as JJ finally got his feet beneath him and rolled Jed over on the ground. JJ raised his fist to punch Jed when just about that time, Jed pulled a switchblade out from his pocket, slicing JJ’s arm with it. JJ rolled off the top of Jed and jumped up from the ground, grabbing the wound on his arm that Jed had delivered. Jed lunged with the knife as JJ jumped back and forth from it, the blade barely missing his torso. A shot rang off in the air. Jed and JJ both looked at Lynne, who now stood outside of the truck with her gun trained on Jed.
“See, this is why I hate dealing with you, Jed,” Lynne said. “You want this money so bad, then go get it,” she yelled as she tossed the stack of hundreds at Jed’s feet.
Jed scrambled to gather up his money as it floated to the ground. The wind began to blow subtly, and the loose bills started to tumble across the ground as Jed panicked, trying to pick them up quicker.
“Come on, JJ,” Lynne said as she smirked at Jed. “Lick my boots, you piece of shit.”
“You fucking bitch,” Jed hissed as he attempted to scramble to his feet.
JJ picked his foot up and stomped on Jed’s hand, the bones cracking beneath his foo
t. Jed howled in pain and went to stab JJ in the leg with the switchblade. JJ kicked him squarely in the jaw, knocking him out cold and most likely shattering the bone.
“Who’s the bitch now, Jed?” Lynne asked sarcastically.
“Let’s get out of here,” JJ muttered.
Lynne and JJ hopped into Lynne’s truck as quickly as they could and tore out of the driveway. Lynne floored it until they were out of Jolo and closer to Beckley. JJ had removed his shirt and wrapped it around his arm to help stop the bleeding. As they finally got back to Sycamore, Lynne pulled into JJ’s driveway and shut the motor off.
“How bad is it?” Lynne asked.
“It’s not that bad,” JJ replied.
He pulled the shirt from his arm, and blood began to gush again.
“You need stitches. Let’s get you to the hospital,” Lynne spoke frantically.
As she went to turn the switch for the ignition, JJ stopped her, placing his hand on hers.
“We can’t go to the hospital, Lynne,” JJ replied softly. “Hospitals ask questions, and everything was the result of illegal activities. It’s ok. I will just sew it up myself.”
“Let me help, at least,” Lynne begged.
JJ smiled. “It’s ok. I will be ok. Everything will be ok. You go on home and go to bed,” JJ said as he climbed out of her front seat. “I’ll see you tomorrow like normal at our spot.”
“Ok, JJ,” Lynne replied quietly.
She started her truck as JJ headed inside the house. JJ rummaged around in the cabinets for his dad’s first aid kit and spent the night sewing up his arm and bandaging it. The next day, JJ went to meet Lynne as he had promised. JJ and Lynne would sneak up the creek quietly so they could spend time together in the evenings. As usual, Lynne was waiting for JJ as he rounded the bend where she normally parked her truck. She sat on her hood, looking up at the moon. JJ always liked to watch her for a few moments before he let her know he was there. The look on her face was always so peaceful and dreamy. There was no holler to her at that moment. It was just her and her thoughts and wishes. JJ smiled.
“You talking to the man in the moon again?” JJ asked as he walked up to her truck.
“He don’t ever talk back. Best man in the world,” she replied with a laugh.
“See, that’s your problem,” JJ laughed. “You are so stubborn, and you’re a downright sassy smartass.”
“I can’t help I ain’t built for no pansy for a man. They’re going to learn I talk back, and I don’t listen,” Lynne replied. “And if they try and tell me what to do, they’re going to get pile-drived into the ground like it’s WWE.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that one bit, Lynnelle Brown. I don’t doubt that one bit,” JJ laughed.
“Don’t call me that!” Lynne whined, grimacing. “Mama is the only one that still calls me that, and it is so annoying. I hate that name.”
“Who likes their name?” JJ asked.
“Good point,” Lynne chuckled, jumping down from the hood of her truck. “How’s the arm?” she asked frowning.
JJ held his arm up, still bandaged. “It’s all good,” he replied with a smile. “Don’t worry about it.”
JJ and Lynne walked to the back of the pickup, threw out the blanket they laid on, and crawled up in the back of the truck. They entangled themselves in each other's arms as they got comfortable. No sooner had they settled, Lynne pointed to the dusk sky as a shooting star soared through the air and disappeared.
“Did you make a wish?” JJ asked in a whisper.
Lynne smiled and nodded.
“What did you wish for?” JJ prodded.
“If I tell you, it won’t come true,” Lynne mused.
They laid there watching each meteor and shooting star they could see fly through the air with the light from the sun barely twinkling below the horizon. They hardly ever spoke during moments like these and just enjoyed one another’s company until it was time to go home. Lynne wiggled, trying to get comfortable. Both she and JJ sat up so she could straighten the blanket under them and remove whatever she had been lying on that was making her uncomfortable.
“Do you ever think of getting out of here?” JJ asked as he and Lynne laid back down in the bed of her truck, looking up at the sky.
“I always dream of getting out of here. Do you know the awful things people say about me behind my back? About my family? I hate it here,” she murmured. “My daddy… he just has to be the top dog of the holler. He has to do any and everything he can do to make a dollar, and it’s hardly ever the legal way.”
“Oh, believe me there, I know,” JJ huffed. “I can’t stand my dad and the ‘family business.’ It’s all bullshit.”
“What do you want to do?” Lynne asked, propping up on her elbow and peering down at JJ.
“What do you mean?” JJ asked, staring up into her eyes.
“If you could get away from the life, and do anything you wanted to do, what would you want to do?” she asked with a curious smile.
“I want to start a business that is completely mine. Head to California for some West Coast ‘Ivy League school’ and get my business degree. Work it up from the ground up. Expand it. Franchise it. Be able to say I did it all on my own without having to have the mafia behind it,” JJ replied. “How about you? What would you do?” he asked.
“I’d go to college and get a teaching degree or get a culinary degree. Find me a nice guy to settle down with, picket fence lifestyle. Three kids, 401k, a normal life,” she replied, staring off into the night.
“Maybe one day we will both escape this life,” JJ offered, rolling over onto his side and propping himself up with his arm. “You don’t have to do what your daddy does.”
“Says the one that has to take over the family business when his dies,” she chuckled. “It’s a nice sentiment, but I know I will be stuck in this holler for the rest of my life. When you’re born into what we are, there is never any escape from it.”
“Lynnelle Brown!!” a voice hollered out in the distance. “Girl, you better get your ass in this house.”
Lynne’s face turned a bright shade of red. “My mama’s calling me. I gotta go,” Lynne said, sitting up and hopping over the side of her truck.
JJ followed suit.
“Same place, same time tomorrow night?” JJ asked, picking his cowboy hat up off the tailgate.
Lynne stared at him standing there in his white t-shirt, blue jeans, boots, and hat and felt her heart flutter.
“You know it, Mr. Jay,” she teased.
JJ walked back his way up the holler as she revved the engine of her truck and veered in the opposite direction than what he was going heading back to her house. JJ always enjoyed the stroll back to his house after he and Lynne would meet. It was calming, and every nerve in his body was relaxed.
“I bet she would like a telescope,” JJ mused as he walked.
He slipped his phone out of his pocket and began to search the internet for a nice telescope to order her. He found one that he knew she would love and ordered it. He shut his phone off and shoved it back in his pocket with a smile on his face. He could only imagine the look on her face when he brought it up to the creek.
JJ waited two days anxiously before the package arrived with the telescope. He assembled it and zoned it in for her, so all she had to do was punch in the coordinates she wanted to see. Along with the telescope came some coupons that advertised purchasing a star and naming it after someone. He quickly placed his order, got his congratulations message, and printed out the certificate with the coordinates of the star he had bought her and named for her. He didn’t have any pet names for her. She didn’t like pet names and socked him good one time when he called her Princess. He had sat there for about fifteen minutes, trying to think of what to name the star when it hit him. She had once mentioned to him that she named her car Shine Runner. So, that’s what he named her star.
JJ rolled the printed page up as soon as it had finished drying, put the telescope in the carrying c
ase it had come with, tucked the paper in with it, and set off for the creek as dusk began to settle.
Lynne was there waiting for him, just like clockwork. He could smell the scent of her skin floating down to him that he always enjoyed smelling, blackberries, and lavender. He grew closer to her sitting on her truck when she called out to him.
“Whatcha got in the bag?” she asked.
“A surprise,” JJ replied with a grin.
“I hate surprises, Jackson Jay, and you know that!” she retorted, grinning and jumping down.
She ran up to him and tried to grab the bag from his shoulder when he shooed her hand away. “Patience is a virtue,” he said, bobbling his head at her.
“Don’t you be quoting no bible quotes at me,” Lynne giggled. “Last time you was in church, the altar caught on fire. You’re Satan’s spawn,” she teased.
“Look, I told you never to mention my demonic presence in the church ever again,” JJ replied teasingly. “How was I to know that the holy water was made from alcohol and the preacher was getting drunk the whole time.”
Lynne playfully smacked his arm while laughing. “So, what did you bring me.”
JJ found a nice spot at the foot of her truck bed and pulled the telescope out of the bag. Lynne’s eyes widened like a kid’s on Christmas day. She walked slowly up to it after he set the tripod up and ran her fingers across it.
Them Holler Boys (A Southern Outlaw Series Book 1) Page 2
