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Words Unsaid

Chapter 3: Van Conversations

Summary:

Pope, John B, and Kiara have a lil talk.

Notes:

Chapter 3!!! Aka first chapter with dialogue in present time!

It's a little long, but hope you enjoy :)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Confronting one of your closest friends proves to be a lot harder than Pope originally thought.

JJ can be...unpredictable at times, and Pope doesn't know if this is one of the things that'll end in an explosion, or with JJ denying the living shit out of. It's always possible he might just confess, but that's never been JJ's style.

Pope can't figure out a good way to approach the situation. He's been tossing the thought around his head for awhile now, but with no avail. It's not like he can simply corner JJ and demand him to prove he's not illiterate.

He doesn't know how to tip-toe around it and be cautious while still asking the question.

It's technically none of Pope's business, and he's well aware JJ is under no obligation to tell him shit. All he can hope is for JJ to understand that Pope can help. He just needs JJ to let him.

It's a delicate situation, and Pope can't do it alone. He needs help. He needs the only person who's an expert with JJ's fluctuating moods.

John B.


It takes Pope another week to build up the courage to ask John B, and then another few days to find the right time to bring it up.

It's surprisingly difficult to catch John B alone, or at least not at a location where they could be overheard. Opportunity finally strikes when John B is driving everyone home after a long day of fishing in the marsh.

The gang's light conversation comes to a tense halt as the van rolls into JJ's driveway.

The sun is close to setting, granting them just enough light to see the anxious undertones of JJ's hard expression.

John B puts the vehicle in park and turns around to face his friends.

Pope turns to JJ and says gently, "Hey....you don't have to-"

"I do," JJ says quietly. "Just for tonight."

John B can see the discomfort in JJ's body language, his fingers fidgeting nervously and his shoulders wound tight.

"JJ...," Kiara trails off.

JJ looks up at all of them, hating the concerned look that's plastered on each of his friend's faces. A cool breeze blows through the van's open windows, plucking goosebumps from his skin.

"I'll be fine," he says firmly, trying to reassure them. His hand grips the door handle, but before he can yank it open, John B grabs his wrist.

"If I don't hear from you by one tomorrow, I'm coming for your ass," John B says lightly, half joking, half serious.

A small smile tugs at JJ's lips. He opens the door, calling out a quick, "See ya," before shutting the door and walking up the path to his house.

The atmosphere in the van stays heavy and silent as John B peels out of the driveway.

"Why does he go back there?" Kiara whispers, sounding close to tears. It's so nerve wracking for her, for all of them, to know that JJ's spending the night at his dad's.

John B clenches his jaw and shakes his head, which is code for I know why, but it's not my story to tell.

"Can't he just stay with you?" Pope asks over Kiara's sniffles.

John B hesitates, looking unsure how to answer.

"He's not eighteen yet. His dad still has....control over him, or whatever. Guardianship."

"So what?" Kiara speaks up, "Fuck guardianship, he's going to kill him!"

"Guys," John B pleads, taking on a softer tone, "You know it's complicated."

Kiara doesn't respond. Instead, she fixes the window with a wistful stare, watching the trees skim by.

Pope climbs into the passenger seat and flicks the radio on. An unplugged version of a random 90s song softly thrums in the background.

It would've been peaceful if the previous conversation wasn't still looming over their heads, fresh in their minds.

Pope knows it's probably not the best time to bring up the whole illiteracy conspiracy, but he's finally caught a rare moment where he's in an enclosed space with only John B and Kie. Who knows when he'll have another opportunity like this, it'd be foolish to not utilize it.

"You know," Pope says calmly, "I've been thinking."

Both Kie and John B make a soft humming noise, acknowledging they heard him.

Pope draws a deep breath.

"A few weeks ago, my dad gave me money to buy groceries for his customers. I had other shit to do, so I bribed JJ into going for me," he pauses, making sure he still has his friends' attention.

"He came back with, like, three things, saying he couldn't find anything else," Pope pauses again, shuffling his hat in his fingers. "So, I went down there, and I found everything, no trouble."

Kiara, who had moved to sitting behind the center console, sighs deeply, "Is there a point to this audiobook-"

"I'm getting there," Pope cuts in. Maybe it's the serious tone of his voice, or maybe Kiara's just too tired to argue, but either way, she falls silent and lets Pope continue.

"Last weekend, JJ came over. It was raining, so we hung in my room, and he was smoking. And you guys know how my parents feel about that, so I told him to go grab a candle from the bathroom, y'know, to mask the smell. I told him specifically to get the pine scented one."

John B, who's been uncharacteristically quiet, stares deliberately at the road in front of him, avoiding eye contact. His hands are tense around the steering wheel, and Pope gets the feeling John B knows where this is going.

"He came back with a green one, but it wasn't pine scented," Pope continues, "And, just the other day-,"

"That's enough, Pope," John B cuts in softly, still refusing to look over at Pope. Kie glances up at the both of them, a calculating look in her eyes.

Pope stares at him, hard, and quietly commands, "Pull over."

John B gently guides the van to the edge of the dirt road and parks.

Pope reaches over and clicks the radio off, and the silence that follows is nearly deafening. The atmosphere in the van is heavy and dense as both boys try to figure out how to phrase their thoughts.

"John B," Pope says after a minute.

He looks up in response, eyes finally meeting Pope's.

"JJ can't read, can he," Pope says with such conviction that it sounds more like a statement than a question.

John B looks away, tightening his lips and closing his eyes.

"No, he can't," he confirms quietly.

"Wait, what?" Kiara says in disbelief. "And he's how old, again?"

"Hey," John B rumbles, his tone becoming defensive, "Don't talk about him like that. It's not his fault."

Pope perks up. "Could you elaborate...?" He asks gently.

John B hesitates, his fingers absently toying with the faded bandana around his neck. He takes a few moments for himself, organizing his thoughts.

"It's...complicated," he settles on saying.

"Yeah, when is it not with JJ?" Kiara points out, not unkindly.

Pope sits calmly in his seat, trying not to implode with curiosity. He wants to press for answers, but he doesn't want to be invasive of JJ's privacy. He also doesn't want to pressure John B, and he feels like if he opens his mouth, he won't be able to stop the pent-up stream of interrogative questions from bursting out of his mouth.

John B runs a hand through his curls, "Look, I don't know exactly why, okay? We've never really talked about it, but-"

"You mean to tell me you've been best friends with this boy for almost ten years, and you've never asked why he didn't learn to read?" Kiara stresses, eyebrows pulled tight in accusation. "That is the most on brand thing for y'all-"

"Well, it's not like he'd be honest with me if I did!" John B squawks.

Kiara looks outraged, "Are you fucking kidding me, JB? You're literally the JJ Whisper, trademarked and everything-"

"Guys!" Pope interrupts their bickering, "I didn't bring this up to fight about it, I brought up to help JJ."

John B freezes at Pope's words. He calms down, instantly redirecting his attention to Pope, "You can help him, like, learn to read?"

"I mean, I want to," Pope admits. "I think I could, if I did enough research."

John B stares at him in awe. He's never minded reading things to JJ, it's really no inconvenience, but John B does worry sometimes about situations JJ might find himself in where no one's there to read for him. And since he already knows and trusts Pope, him teaching JJ to read would be such a great opportunity.

John B nods lightly, a small smile tugging his lips, "I think JJ would be okay with that."

Pope answers with a smile of his own, content with John B's opinion.

"Do you really not know why he can't read?" Kiara chimes in, the heat gone from her voice. "I thought he told you everything."

John B bites his lip, tapping steadily on the steering wheel.

"It's one of the-," John B says slowly before cutting himself off and starting again. "He's a little touchy about it, so I just kinda left it alone for a while. JJ would've told me by now if he was comfortable sharing. Pick your battles, y'know?"

Kiara nods her head, understanding the thought process.

"And, it's not that he doesn't want to, or anything," John B adds. "I think it's just really hard for him."

"Hard?" Pope sits up, excited that he's finally getting answers. "Like, missed a lot of school hard or learning disability hard?"

John B visibly tenses.

"Learning disability?" He repeats, eyes wide. "You think he has a learning disability?"

Pope recognizes the mild alarm in his friend's voice, so he responds carefully, "It's not impossible."

John B cards through his hair, looking a little distressed. "But, he's not...stupid or anything."

Pope shakes his head, "Having a learning disability doesn't mean he's stupid, JB, it means he has a harder time learning and understanding certain concepts," he explains gently.

John B relaxes a little, his eyebrows furrowing in a thoughtful expression.

"Oh," he whispers flatly.

The sharp noise of crickets chirping flood through the open windows.

"What do you think he has?" Kiara asks, folding her arms on the center console and resting her chin on top.

Pope pulls a leg up to his chest, shifting toward Kiara and John B.

"I'm just saying it's possible he has a learning disorder," Pope states. "It's also possible he missed a lot of school, or his teacher was just super incompetent. Or both. Or all three."

"Well, it probably doesn't help that he can't focus on anything for more than three seconds," Kiara adds.

"Yeah," John B says with the distant 'deep in thought' look in his eyes, "When we were little, our teachers fuckin' hated him 'cause he never followed directions. Like, they'd tell him to do something, and JJ would be like "okay," and then the second they walked away, he'd start playing with his shoe laces or some shit. If someone wasn't actively engaging him, like, just forget about it."

Pope snorts, "Yeah, his ADHD ass was not built for a classroom setting."

"Fuckin' tell me about it," John B smirks, "I've seen him zone out while getting screamed at for zoning out."

Kiara smiles at the mental image of a tiny JJ completely tuning out a screaming teacher.

"Man, our elementary teachers sucked," John B continues, groaning at the memories, "It's kinda fucked up. I swear, JJ wouldn't have been half as horrible in school if a teacher had taken the time help him."

Kiara tilts her head, looking up at John B. "You think so?"

"Oh yeah," John B says easily, with certainty. "All they did was yell at him. Like, think of it from JJ's perspective. Eight years old, can't read or write, everything's probably stressful. All the teacher does is scream about everything you're doing wrong, and the only support system you have is your best friend who can barely read himself."

John B alternates between staring at Pope and Kiara, his voice somber and earnest.

Kiara narrows her eyes, something occurring to her. "Wait, seriously," she picks her head up, "they didn't notice? These assholes didn't realize their student couldn't read? Or write, for that matter?"

She makes eye contact with Pope, who looks at her questioningly.

"We all know JJ's handwriting ain't shit," She says, answering his unspoken inquiry.

"They noticed he wasn't doing his work, they didn't give a shit why," John B murmurs. "Honestly, I don't blame him for not telling anyone. You wouldn't either if you saw the way our teachers yelled at him for not sitting still. He probably thought they'd be angry at him."

Pope hadn't thought of it that way. JJ's always had a shit ton of energy, and even though he hadn't known JJ when they were in elementary school, Pope realizes how tortuous it must have been for him to be forced to sit in a chair for hours on end. It's hard enough for little kids in general to have that type of patience and attention span, even without the natural restlessness JJ has.

With that kind of combination of restlessness, a disregard for rules, and a short attention span, it's understandable that JJ would get scolded more than the average kid, especially if he didn't open up about his struggles. However, teachers are supposed to be trained to see the patterns and notice shit like this. They're not meant to shout everytime a student disobeys, and it makes Pope uneasy to think about a little JJ getting screamed at for something he was so helpless to control. That's the kind of shit that is, without a doubt, responsible for his blatant refusal to seek help from adults.

It makes sense, JJ's deeply rooted trust in John B. For most of his life, John B was his only support system.

"Damn," Pope whispers, because he doesn't know what else to say. The whole situation just sucks.

"You helped him though, JB. Right?" Kiara clarifies, trying not to get too upset over JJ's past.

"Of course I helped him, Kie, I wasn't gonna let him fail and get held back," John B says genuinely. "All I did was read stuff for him and make sure he was focused. JJ knew the answers, and he could figure shit out, guys, it's not like he was helpless," he tries to explain for what feels like the tenth time that night.

"He just needed a little help getting there," Pope finishes. John B nods.

"That's not a bad thing though," Kiara reasons. "It's not shameful to need help."

"JJ thinks it is," John B goes back to fiddling with his bandana. "He hates asking for help. But, I think it's 'cause no one ever offers it."

Pope slams his hands down on his knees, the clapping sound of skin on skin ringing loud throughout the van.

"Well, we are," Pope declares. "I think...guys, I really think I can help."

Both John B and Kiara stare openly at him with a blend of shock and delightment.

"You'd do that for him?" John B says, sounding oddly touched at the sentiment.

"Yep," Pope says, directing a lop-sided grin toward his friends, "and you fools are gonna help me."

Notes:

So, I didn't mean to write an ADHD JJ, it kind of just happened. I tried very hard in this chapter to write as in character as I could, but I know there are spots that are fairly out of character. I might come back later and touch up some stuff, but for now, I did my best.

I do have a plan for next chapter, but I really don't know how to go about the gang confronting JJ. If you have suggestions/ideas, I'm open to all!

Thanks for reading :)