Chapter 10.

Once we got back to the house, Jesse was waiting on the front door. Andi, before the car even stopped, jumped out of the car. "Lacy, take it to the garage" shouted Jesse. As Lacy pulled into the garage, I watched Jesse and Andi walk quickly towards the barn. "Okay, what really happened…" I asked Lacy. "Girl I don't know; we were all in the store". "I'll talk to Andi later, I'm sure it's nothing," said Elena. "It clearly is something, Andi's acting weird… and-" I said to Elena. "Jenny, this is what Andi does… don't read too much into it" said Elena trying to drop the conversation.

We then walked up to the house to put the groceries away. "Lacy, where do these go?" said Becca pointing to a bag of potatoes. "Just set them underneath the counter," said Lacy. "Is anyone hungry?". "No, I'm still full of breakfast," I said to Lacy. "Hey Claire," Lacy shouted downstairs. "Come here". Trudging up the stairs, we saw a clearly intoxicated Claire. "I heard Luka say he needs some help in the garage…" said Lacy winking at us. "Yeah, he sounded pretty urgent," I said. "Okay…" said Claire, eyeballing us.

Claire left the house, and I instantly turned to Lacy. "What was that about?" I asked. "She doesn't go outside, apparently she is allergic to the sun. So at random points of the day I kick her out of the house, and make her stop drinking for a while" said Lacy. "Oh… why does she drink all the time?" Becca said. "If you want me to be honest, I think it's so she can hook up with Jesse and forget about it" said Elena. "She's a raging alcoholic". "Claire is bad news; I don't understand why Jesse keeps her around".

Just then, Jesse came in the house. "Jenny, can you come with me for a second?". "Yeah sure," I said. Jesse walked me outside and we stood on the porch. We were soon joined by Andi. "Okay Jenny, I need you to explain everything you saw to Jesse. What did the men who walked in the store look like?". "Andi what is this for?" I asked. "Jenny, I'm really trying to be patient, can you please just answer the question?" said Andi, scolding me like a child. "Fine… the one guy had short brown hair, oh and a small tattoo on his hand. The other guy had black hair, it covered his eye, but he was wearing a grey visor" I said. "Did either of them have a scar on their face?" said Jesse. "The one with the hair did… why?" I said. "Jesse please tell me what's going on". "Jenny, I promise I will tell you everything soon. But for now, just stay out of the way, okay?" said Jesse, stroking the back of my head. "Okay" I said, as I turned away and walked back inside.

I decided to go to my room and call my father. I hadn't spoken to him in a while. I put my laptop on my desk, and facetime called him. "Hey J!" said my father through the microphone. "How's it going over there?". "Oh, it's going," I said. "I actually want to talk to you about something". "Sure, what's on your mind?" said my father. "What really do you do for a living?" I said, longing for a truthful response. "I balance people's taxes honey… why what's wrong?". "No, I just.." Just then, Becca came into the room. "Hey Papa Avery!" shouted Becca as she faced the camera. "Miss you so much!". "Hey Becca, I miss my girls too. I hope you're both well, I have a call coming in, we can talk soon. Love you girls!" "Okay love you" I said. "Bye!" shouted Becca.

"J, are you okay?" said Becca, turning to me. "Yeah, I'm fine why?" I said. "Well, you just seem a little off… what did Jesse say to you?" said Becca. "Nothing, he just asked me a few questions about what happened at the store" I said, turning away. "Do you want to go to the beach?" I said attempting to change the subject. "Yeah, sure," said Becca. "But we're not done with this conversation!" said Becca as I shut the bathroom door. I put on an army green swimsuit and put my clothes over top of it. "B you ready to go?" I said coming out of the bathroom. "Yeah, let's go," said Becca.

We walked through the house, out the door, and down to the beach. I put down a towel and laid down. Becca laid down next to me, "J, what are you thinking about?". "Nothing important" I said. The afternoon sun was nice and warm on my skin. We were laying on the beach for a few hours, not realizing how sunburnt we were getting. Suddenly, the air got chilly, and the wind started to blow. All of a sudden, I felt a drop of water hit my face. I looked up, and saw big, dark cloud puffs in the sky. "Becca," I said, shaking her awake. "Get up it's starting to rain". "J, it doesn't rain in California" said Becca picking her head up. Becca was laying on her back, so she didn't see the giant clouds. "Fine, get wet then" I said, standing up, grabbing my towel. "I'm coming, I'm coming" Becca called after me. Just then, the sky let loose. Giant, cold drops of rain hit the ground.

"Come on Becca!" I shouted. By the time we got to the house, we were soaked. It looked as if we went for a swim, then walked into the house. "Where did you guys go?" said Elena as she walked in the kitchen. "I just wanted to lay down on the beach, but it started raining," I said. "Well you obviously got sun" said Andi, as she smacked a sticky, green liquid on my back. "This will help with the pain you're going to feel later" said Andi, handing me a bottle of aloe vera. "California sun is not one to be messed with". "Are you guys hungry?" said Lacy. "I have a roast in the crock pot". "I could eat," said Becca. "Has Jesse come in yet?" I asked Andi. "What about me?" said Jesse, as he came up the stairs. As Jesse came up the stairs, I could feel my face growing redder than it already was. "Uh, nothing" I said, "I just didn't know if you were coming to eat". "Yeah, I'm here," said Jesse, smiling at me.

Just then, Conner and Luka came inside. "Hey guys, what's up?" said Luka, walking into the kitchen. "Hey Luka" said Becca. "We just got poured on". "Yeah, it was supposed to rain today," said Conner. Suddenly, Claire came tumbling out of the front door, soaking wet. "Lacy! You skank you did it again" shouted Claire. "Luka didn't need me; he wasn't even in the garage!". "Okay here we go" said Jesse as he put Claire's arm around him. "Come on" motioned Jesse as he led Claire to her room. After Jesse put Claire in her room, he came back to the living room. Jesse crashed on the couch, reclined his legs, and turned on the TV. "Hey Luka, what channel's the news on?" shouted Jesse. "Twelve I think," said Luka. Jesse pushed the buttons on the remote, then the news was on.

"Today there was a shooting at the Stay Fresh grocery in Santa Monica. Two men, one identified as Lawrence Michael. Michael is on the run, as well as the other unidentified suspect. Police are searching for witnesses to the shooting" said the reporter. Jesse looked at Andi. "Ha on the run, that's a good one," said Andi. "Wait what?" I said, looking at Andi. "What do you mean?". Andi stammered her words "They probably have that guy; they're just looking for help to find the other guy". Jesse glared at Andi. "Andi, outside," said Jesse. "It's raining stupid, what you have to say can be said in here" said Elena. "Go down stairs".

Jesse and Andi went downstairs, arguing as they took each step. "Jenny don't worry about it, okay?" said Luka. "How can I not worry about it? Andi probably killed this guy!" I shouted. "He's not dead yet," said Andi as she came back upstairs. "But he will be". Andi, with pure hatred and anger in her eyes, stormed out the door. I noticed a small metal bulge peering out of her side.

"Andi!" shouted Jesse. "Get back here!". Jesse ran out the door after Andi. I knew it wasn't the smartest idea, but I followed them. I had to know what was going on. "Jenny, wait!" shouted Elena. I followed Andi and Jesse to the barn. I had never seen the barn before, so I didn't know what to expect. Andi slammed the doors behind her, slowing down Jesse. Jesse flung them open once he got to the doors. As the doors were getting ready to close, I grabbed one, and stood in the doorway.

Then I saw it. Thousands of weapons: knives, guns, bombs, things I've never even seen before. I was in awe of what I was seeing. Then I looked towards the back of the barn. There was a man, laying down on the hard floor. Andi's knee in between his shoulder blades, and a gun to his head. "I'm going to ask you one more time, who are you working for?" screamed Andi. "Why are you following us!?". Andi was going hysterical. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "I won't tell you anything," said the man. The man, clearly of African descent, had a thick accent, making it hard for me to understand what he was saying. This man was clearly the man the police were looking for.

"The infamous, Andi Marinos, pointing a gun to my head, what a great way to go out" said the man. Andi lifted the man up by his neck effortlessly, pinned him against the wall, and kneed him in between the legs. The man groaned as he doubled over in pain. Andi stood behind the man, cocked the hammer back, and pulled the trigger.

I stood there; the wells of my eyes were filled with tears. "Andi what the hell!?" shouted Jesse. "We still needed him!". Just then, Jesse turned around. Letting the door shut behind me, I ran away from the barn. Running through the yard in the pitch-black darkness, I ran up to the house. On my way up the house, I tripped over my own feet. Just as fast as I fell, I picked myself back up and kept running to the door, not realizing the blood pooling down my leg.

I swung open the front door and kept my cool as I walked to my room. "Jenny where'd you go?" said Elena. "Oh, I uh, I just wanted to check out the rain. I love rain" I said, stammering my words. "Excuse me, I don't feel really well" I said walking past Elena. I walked to my room, shut the door, and even locked it. I texted Becca, telling her to not come in because I was using the hot tub. Then, I turned on my speaker to max volume and played my music, attempting to block out anyone who came to the door. I got undressed and turned on the water. I let the tub fill with water, then I shut it off.

I laid there in the tub for a while, trying to comprehend what I just witnessed. My brain was all over the place. How could this be happening? I'm living with criminals. Who even are these people? Why would my father make me come here? Oh my God could this be my father's real business? I was hurt, how could they lie to me like this?

Just then, I heard hard pounding on my door. "Jenny?" said Jesse. "I know you're in there, please let me in". I pretended not to hear him because of my music. I watched as the doorknob started to move. Jesse must not have realized I locked the door. I then saw as the lock switched places, and the door opened. I quickly sunk into the tub to avoid being exposed.

"Jenny…" Jesse started to say. "Jesse what the hell was that?" I started to say, my eyes started to fill again. "Andi killed that guy". "You weren't supposed to see that" said Jesse. "Then why do it? If prying eyes aren't supposed to see it, then why are you doing it?" I said. "Jenny, I'm sorry" said Jesse. "What can I do". "You can tell me what's going on here!" I shouted. "Jenny…" sighed Jesse. By now, Jesse was kneeled down next to me. "Jesse, I can't stay here if you don't…" I was interrupted by Jesse, crashing his lips into mine. I didn't have the strength to pull away from him. Tears were still streaming down my face. My heart was racing, Jesse finally broke away. "Jesse," I whispered. "Jenny, I'll tell you anything you want to know. Get some rest, we will talk tomorrow. I promise" said Jesse.

Jesse left my room, leaving me speechless. As Jesse left, Becca walked in. "Do I want to know what that was about?" said Becca. "No, because I can barely comprehend it myself". I said. "Hey B hand me that towel" I said pointing to the bed. Becca handed me the towel and went into the bathroom, shutting the door so I could change. Once I put my pajamas on, I said to Becca: "Hey I'm going to go to the kitchen, I'll be right back". "You want me to come with you?" she asked. "No, I'm fine, I just need a drink" I said, opening the door.

I walked out the door and headed to the kitchen. Andi and Elena were standing in there. "Hey Jenny, it's like two in the morning what are you doing up?" said Elena. "I just needed to get something to drink," I said. "I can run downstairs to the cooler and grab you something if you want," said Elena. "No, it's…" I started. "What do you want Jenny… coke, water, scotch, wine, practically anything… you name it" said Elena. "Elena seriously you don't have to get me anything" I said. "I'll get you a water," said Elena as she headed downstairs. Leaving Andi and I in the kitchen.

"How are you doing Jenny…" said Andi. "Oh me? I'm fine" I stuttered. "Jenny, you don't have to lie to me, I'm not going to hurt you" said Andi. "I know you were in the barn Jenny, that's why I tried to hide that guy from you. Jesse and I have tracked those two since you left New York. They have been following you and Becca". "Oh" was the only word my mouth would say.

Just then, Elena came back upstairs with a bottle of water. "Here Jenny," said Elena, handing me the bottle. "Thanks Elena, goodnight you two" I said, walking out of the kitchen. I went back to my room and laid in bed. "You okay J?" said Becca. Someone must have already told Becca about what happened. "I'm fine B, it's just been a long day. I'm gonna go to bed. Goodnight" I said. "Goodnight J" said Becca.