ONLY ANGEL | JJ MAYBANK

CHAPTER ONE

•••

Collins had always been too good for a girl who lived on Pogue territory. And by good, one would mean in the way that she never really broke the rules or did anything bad for that matter. She'd never smoked, never drank, and never stepped a toe out of line, ever. Teachers praised her as a straight-A student and parents would wish their kids were more like her, other people would just call her quiet. And of course, she was an overall nice person to everyone she talked to, never had a malicious word to say or an evil bone in her body.

In an area where crime was persistent and poverty led people to try and cut corners at every chance they got, it would be a surprise to anyone that Collins could wake up in her little one bedroom one bathroom house everyday untainted by the crookedness surrounding her. But she walked about her day with her head down and her eyes on the prize, hoping that one day, all of those good choices that she made would pull her and her older brother, Charlie, out of the cut. Even if it was the only place they'd ever called home.

Now Charlie, he wasn't as innocent as his younger sister, he had a lot more dirt on his hands— literally and metaphorically.

He had to work hard to support the both of them in the absence of their mom and dad. Long 온라인카지노게임 short, dad left when they were kids and they lost their mom to drugs a couple years back. Thankfully, since Charlie was old enough at the time, the state had permitted him with guardianship over Collins so they never had to deal with all that foster system nonsense. Collins supposed that it was probably thanks to the fact that the state would rather keep a girl and her brother together than try and place her somewhere else when no one was looking to foster/adopt a thirteen year old girl. In order to keep things the way they were, Charlie had been forced to do a lot of shit. He'd taken every job that he could get, from construction work to country club bartending, and maybe a couple extra shady side gigs that took place when he thought Collins was too busy to notice. But she did of course.

They were family after all, if one ever lost the other, insanity would take place. Collins didn't like even thinking about it. Charlie had to work hard to keep them afloat and she had to stay out of trouble so she could take over for him someday.

And Charlie was basically her only friend, she didn't really have any to begin with. It's kind of hard to make any in the neighborhood that they grew up in when you don't exactly like to party like all the other kids and few to none like any of the things that you do. But Collins was sort of okay with that, until it came to social functions, and that's when she really felt the claws of solitude sinking in. She solved this by just avoiding social gatherings all together.

The last day of school before summer break was everyone's favorite day of the year. Especially in Outer Banks, because that meant sunny days spent on the beach riding a wave, late nights getting up to no good with friends, and a steady cash flow from the influx of Tourons wandering into their businesses. Collins quite enjoyed the summertime too, just not exactly in the same way as her fellow peers. A good book and the sound of the ocean's rushing waves was more of her style.

She'd started a new one in fact, she planned on reading as many as she could that summer, which was about as exciting as it got for her. Everyone else was buzzing about their own plans, none of which remotely involved anything that required reading. They couldn't seem to focus for the last few minutes before school ended from how full of energy they were. And they were all sweating in the AC deprived classroom they sat in, so no one wanted to listen to their teacher's final words before they departed when the heat was boiling their brains of all thoughts on fun. Eventually, she'd given up on even trying and just let the students go about with their own side conversations.

"Got a 6-pack ready to go in the Twinkie, fancy a little joyride around Figure 8?" John B wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his friends, Kie and JJ, with a sort of devilish grin that meant that they'd be stirring up trouble— their favorite pastime.

"Saw some developments on the way to The Wreck yesterday that had some nice plastic tarps for doors." Kiara "Kie" Carrera snorted back. Collins tried her best to not listen in on their conversation and just focus on her book, but the group was sitting right behind her, and it was hard not to when one was as quietly observant as she was. Or maybe nosy was a better word for it.

"Better check out Papa's new digs, you know, make sure they're making good progress and all." JJ sighed, kicking back in his seat and resting his head on his hands. "Can't let the 3 mill I've got in investments go to waste."

Collins pressed her lips together and fought the small smile that almost made it to her face. From what she'd heard in the semester JJ Maybank had spent sitting behind her in Economics, he liked to pretend he went full Kook a lot. He definitely favored fantasizing it more than he did paying attention in class, that's for sure.

The ringing of the final bell made everyone jump out of their seats. Friends laughed to each other and jumped with excitement, all with plans to meet up later and begin their summer bucket lists.

Collins was one of the last to leave, she stashed her book into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder before heading out the door. "See you in August, Mrs. Gardner." She waved politely to the woman before she left the room.

As she waltzed down the tunnel made in the middle of the hallway, which was packed with students clearing out the rest of their things from their lockers, Collins hugged her chest and proceeded to walk solo out of the building. So maybe there was a part of her that was envious that pretty much everyone but her had found their people in high school. She'd always thought that it would just take time and eventually, she'd join a bunch that she had lots in common with. And they'd make the kind of memories that a person should always make when they were experiencing those supposedly, glorious four years of secondary education.

But unlike the books made it out to be, it wasn't as simple as that. And why should it be easy for her? She'd had the same opportunity as many other people, nothing made her different, nothing made her stand out. She was just a girl from the cut and there was nothing special about that.

So she spent a lot of her time studying and working hard to get good grades in order to get into a good college. It was the best use of her time if she didn't have anyone to make plans with, so homework was pretty much all she did. She'd been the silent leader of their school's pathetic excuse for a science club and won first prize for her project where she'd converted electricity from the human body into an energy source for a small battery. Not to mention that she spent the rest of her free time volunteering at the local soup kitchen, because it looked really good on a college application and Charlie didn't exactly ever let her work a paying job.

They didn't have much, but Charlie was proud; he didn't want his little sister thinking that he couldn't support the two of them, so Collins getting a job was out of the question. He wanted her to focus on school instead. But when she started working at the soup kitchen behind his back, he'd been a little less than thrilled by the revelation.

"People who live on the cut don't work at the soup kitchen, they eat there." He'd told her pointedly. "That's for the Kooks to take care of so they can sleep better at night knowing their conscience is clean for doing a 'good deed.'"

Collins had just shaken her head and ignored him because she didn't really believe in all that Kooks vs. Pogues rivalry that her brother did. But that's only because she was luckier than he was in a way. She hadn't seen the gap in privilege that the Kooks had over them and how much of a toll it took on their community.

Growing up, Charlie had been the one who always drew the short straw when it came to the cut's treachery. He'd been old enough to remember the day when their mom died and how bad their dad had gotten not long after before he finally up and left. He'd witnessed the visits to their house at late hours from their mom's drug dealer that took place after he'd put Collins to sleep with headphones over her ears so she wouldn't wake up from the noise. And he'd been the one to find their mom after she'd overdosed on cocaine.

He'd seen some pretty ugly things and experienced a lot of the rough parts, and the only thing that kept him from turning into a lowlife like a lot of the people in their neighborhood, was knowing how dependent Collins was on him. He was determined to make sure she did something better with her life; it was too late for him, but she actually had a shot at getting out of life on the South side. He'd never been as smart as her, so he felt like it was his life's purpose to make sure she didn't let it go to waste.

The walk from school back home was fairly long, but Collins had gotten used to it over the years. It was nicer in the spring when the weather warmed up and it wasn't blistering hot like it tended to be in the summer. But Collins liked being able to watch the leaves change color and the townspeople change from pants and sneakers to shorts and flip-flops. It was a nice reminder that better days were ahead, even if they did mean she had to walk a couple miles just to get home practically sweating her skin off.

After her whole human battery experiment, Charlie had told her that if she could find a way to use that on their house so that they didn't have to pay the electricity bill anymore, he'd set aside the money and finally buy her a bike. He'd stolen one for her once before, but the obvious titanium metal bike lock still hanging off it gave Collins an uneasy feeling, so she'd ordered him to put it back where he found it with a sticky-note pasted on it that said, 'SORRY.'

Charlie's jobs alone were barely keeping them afloat, though he refused to admit it. You know, with his pride and all. But Collins would rather walk than steal someone else's belongings just to make life a little easier for herself. It didn't matter how much she wanted or needed it, she just couldn't let herself do such a thing. But that was kind of how desperate they were to resort to stealing.

And their struggle showed in their house which was practically being held together by duct tape and wood glue. It was arguably one of the smallest houses on the cut and it was the only home Charlie and Collins had ever known. Charlie had let Collins take the single bedroom while he took the futon in their living room/ kitchen/ dining room/ foyer. They had to make do with the space that they had. Even for just the two of them, the place was overcrowded.

It was all they had and all they could afford. Charlie had always told Collins that it was just the halfway house for them, and eventually, they would buy a house worthy of Figure 8 to live in. But for now, it was their place, and only theirs. There were bad memories, ones that involved their parents, but there were also great ones, the ones when it was just the two of them.

Trudging up the dirt path through their patchy front yard, Collins finally arrived home after a sweaty walk across town. She dumped her backpack on the rickety porch and pulled open the screen door leading into the house.

"Charlie, I'm home." She called out before retreating into the kitchen to look for something to eat. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had school lunch, she always told Charlie that she wasn't hungry during the day to avoid having to spend the money on it. It wasn't like it was worth eating anyways.

She opened the cabinet door to take a glimpse through the pantry and sighed as a can of chicken and a half-empty bag of flour stared back at her. Moving to the fridge, Collins scanned her eyes over the limited selection of food before an unsettling smell made her stomach churn. Sticking a hand inside, Collins huffed and slammed the door shut.

"Hey, how was the last day of school?" Charlie greeted her as he walked in, shaking the water out of his brown curls that were still soaking wet from his shower.

Turning to face him, Collins was less than cordial. "I thought you said you were gonna get some ice for the fridge after you worked a couple shifts for Heyward? Everything's gone spoiled now."

Furrowing his brows, Charlie moved past her to see for himself. "Ice is expensive in this heat, I thought we'd be fine without it." He opened the door and picked up the jug of milk before unscrewing the cap. Almost immediately did his face twist in disgust at the putrid smell of curdled milk that wafted out of the bottle. "Holy fuck, that's rancid."

Crossing her arms over her chest while she watched her brother close the jug before tossing it into the trash, Collins shook her head at him in dismay. "That fridge is older than the Cold War, you should know better by now that it's no match for an Outer Banks heat wave."

"Well, lucky for us, I'm working a shift at the yacht club tonight so I'm sure I can score us some leftovers for dinner. How would the lady of the house like her lobster cooked? Grilled or boiled?" He smiled his shiny, sparkling, white-toothed smile that when flashed to girls at the bar, led to him leaving work with his pockets full of cash tips and a couple phone numbers alongside them.

Rolling her eyes, Collins retreated the three steps away to their living room coffee table, where the newspaper Charlie always snatched out of the convenience store trash can lay. She flipped through the pages until she found the coupon section, and with a pair of scissors, began clipping away.

"It's only gonna get worse, Charlie. The sun is killer out there and at this rate, our fridge is gonna be hotter than our shower water, which by the way, is seriously chipping into our savings."

"Don't even worry about it, Colls. Leave it to me. You just focus on what you need to do to prep for your ACTs." Moving to open the top cabinet door, Charlie plucked the tin can that they called a piggy bank down and began sifting through its contents. "Here, we'll take this and go grocery shopping before I head to work."

He thrusted a wad of cash at her and as if he knew she would bug him about it, started to leave to finish up getting ready.

"Charlie, this is way too much." Collins sighed before standing up from the futon to put back some of the money he'd given her. "Thirty-bucks worth of groceries, that's all we get."

"I know, I just thought that since I'm working at the club tonight we could spend a little more since I'm getting a little more? Maybe you can finally get something you like for once?"

"I like the usual milk, cheese, and bread." Collins replied pointedly before stowing the jar back into its hiding place.

Charlie pursed his lips at her then dug into his back pocket to hand her a 5 dollar bill. "One thing. If the roof comes crashing down, all the pipes back up, and we're up to our chins in bills, then you can yell at me about saving."

He stood there unmoving with that stubborn look on his face that Collins despised because she knew she couldn't win when he pulled a low move like that. Begrudgingly, she took the crumpled bill from Charlie's expecting hand and tucked it away with the rest of the money, all while fighting a smile at Charlie's obvious satisfaction.

"Just this once, but you better charm your ass off for the housewives tonight."

"They've got three bachelorette parties booked tonight. Why else do you think I'm working?" Exchanging amused chuckles, Charlie shrugged on his leather jacket that he'd picked up at a thrift store and nodded for her to follow him. "Come on, let's go. I don't want to be late."

Collins smiled and she slung her cross-body strapped bag over her head before trailing behind her older brother out of their house. Their only real source of transportation was Charlie's motor bike that he'd bought off a friend for cheap. Collins was hesitant about him having it, since Charlie always liked to have his fun and riding fast on hilly dirt paths was his favorite activity.

She worried that he wouldn't be careful; she'd nagged him about it more than a few times when he'd come back with scratches and bruises all over his body. Every time she scolded him for being reckless, he'd say something about how he was an adult and 'she wasn't the boss of him.' It was a colossal nuisance for her to have to remind him that if he seriously hurt himself- or worse, died- she would never forgive herself for not trying harder to stop him.

It wasn't until Charlie snapped back at her one day did Collins come to the pitiful realization that she couldn't control every thing that he brother did in his life. There were very few things that Charlie did for himself. When he spent his days working back to back shifts, jumping from job to job in order to make ends meet, he wasn't just doing that for him. In large part, he did it for Collins because he knew that it was his responsibility to do so.

She had taken over practically his entire existence, she had become his reason to live. The least she could do was give him this one thing, this one little hobby that gave him joy in return for doing all the things he did for her.

So they compromised. Charlie would agree to never actively put himself in a situation where he knew he could get seriously injured and Collins would lay off him for being safe.

And when they rode together, Charlie wouldn't go crazy on the gas because he knew that Collins didn't like going too fast and Collins wore his bulky helmet because Charlie "needed to protect the brain of the next Nobel Prize recipient".

As they pulled up to the grocery store, Collins swung her leg off the side of the bike and pulled Charlie's helmet off her head before setting it down on the seat. Charlie slipped off the side and stood the bike up on its kickstand.

Now there's a lot of things that the Jacobson siblings have to think about when it comes to spending money, especially when they're spending money on food, because the prizes rack up like crazy if you don't pay attention. And luckily, Charlie had it all figured it out. After a lot of trial and error, he had come up with a step by step 'how to' on how to not break the bank in groceries. You see, the trash can newspaper that they get their coupons from are usually expired by the time Charlie digs it out of the garbage. But he had a little trick for that.

Collins holds her end of the plan by going around and examining the perishables, checking the dates and all that. Then she takes the ones that are soon to go bad within a couple days or so, therefore, no one really wants to buy them and they end up getting tossed anyways by the store even when it's really more of a suggestion than a serious warning. So she'll take her 6 loaves of bread that are buy one get one free and nearly past due, along with her 4 cups of yogurt that she'll save $2 buying, and the 2 boxes of grapes that are a $1.50 off each and take them up to the register with her. And these are all things that they can stow away in their freezer to delay the spoilage for weeks, which is exactly why she chooses these items.

And when the cashier relays her total which is way over their budget, Charlie will hand them his coupons, most of which will be expired.

"I'm sorry, but these coupons aren't valid anymore." They'll say, and on the off chance that its a nice old lady who's seen better days outside of a grocery store, Charlie's innocent smile will turn glum and Collins will put on the clueless and hungry teenage girl act that has managed to work for her thus far.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize." Charlie will pretend to think really hard as if he hadn't planned on this happening to a T, making sure he's visibly saddened by these news. Then he'll wear that prince charming smile of his that has done him well thus far in his life, and bat his eyelashes for good measure, before saying, "Could you maybe let it slide just this once? I made sure to get all the food that you guys were about to lose money from for expiring just so I could use these coupons. I just think it's such a shame when you guys have to throw away all that food over a silly little date and since I'd be getting a discount, it's almost like the costs cancel each other out?"

However, it's not a foolproof plan. Sometimes, there's a split second of indecisiveness that crosses the cashier's mind and they fidget unsurely. Charlie's piercing green eyes will make them squirm under his gaze, suddenly conscious of every single little movement of theirs. "We're not really supposed to take them."

And that's when Collins initiates Project Tearjerker. "I know, we really hate to put you in this position. It's just that we only have thirty-five dollars on us and it's all we have right now. Our parents are gone so it's just us. The heat wave took out our whole fridge so we have to replace everything and usually we don't spend this much money on food but we really need it to last these next two weeks because otherwise, we won't have anything left to eat. Charlie just works so hard to make enough money for just the two of us since our parents aren't around anymore but things are still tight."

She'll add a sniffle or two, maybe blot away an invisible tear. Charlie will turn away to hug her and pat her on the back soothingly. "It's okay, Colls. We'll just put back the milk, and the apples, and the yogurt, too. Maybe even the cheese. You like PB sandwiches anyways, right? That's all we really need."

And usually, all of that will be enough for them to gain the old woman's sympathy and take off the appropriate amount from the total, leaving them with a couple dollars in change to take back to the money jar.

And when they're leaving the store with both hands full with grocery bags, Collins won't always be as satisfied as one may think she'd be for successfully conning an oblivious old woman. Charlie sort of would, though he never reveled in it. In fact, Collins would actually feel quite guilty about it for the majority of the ride home, because she absolutely hated lying to people. She was never really good at it when it came to lying about anything that didn't directly benefit her and her brother, so when it worked in times like this, Collins disappointed herself from how well she pulled it off.

To be fair, though, she didn't make the whole entire thing up. She'd told the truth about losing their food in the fridge and how dependent they were on getting those groceries because they were truly in desperate need. The siblings didn't know what they would've done if that lady hadn't believed their 온라인카지노게임, because it was their reality.

She and Charlie both had things that they were responsible for. Charlie always kept up his end when he went to work everyday performing laborious jobs where the effort didn't always equate to the pay, but he always made sure he had his affairs in line to make up for it. And as for Collins, since school was technically her occupation and she was off for the summer, that meant that she had to pull her weight where it was due.

Getting groceries for some people was a small and trivial feat, but for Collins and Charlie Jacobson it was like climbing a mountain. It wasn't a feat to be taken lightly and it wasn't done with ease. It was executed with careful planning and intentional precision.

When they got home and had put away all of the groceries, stowing away the jar of smooth peanut butter into the pantry next to the jar of sticky strawberry jelly, Collins and Charlie were able to check one task off the list. Although, it would materialize in the next two weeks and they'd have to deal with it all over again, but for now, it was checked off.

Charlie changed into his uniform as the barkeep for the country club, a plain black polo with the club logo embroidered on the corner of his chest. He rushed out of the house and back to his motorcycle, Collins following on his tail to hand him his apron and time card before he forgot them.

"Thanks." He said, taking the items and shoving them in the compartment under the seat and jumping on. Collins squeezed the helmet it over his head and if they were in a cartoon, it would've gone on with a pop! like the uncorking a wine bottle. "Hey, watch the hair." He grumbled, looking up as though he could see it without a mirror. He'd always been proud of his full head of hair and natural curls that were akin to the Jacobson's, as Collins's brunette locks matched. It was his most valuable trait.

"I'm doing you a favor. Trust me, girls like the whole rugged look." She gave him a nod before she stepped back and began to head into the house.

"I'm counting on it. See you later, Colls." She waved absentmindedly back at him while Charlie revved his engine then slowly rolled out of the front yard until he started speeding up the road towards the club.

Collins watched after him from the front porch with a tight smile as he disappeared into the distance. She was used to him leaving to go to work. It was the most normal thing to her to be left home by herself. It felt a little lonely sometimes, but at least Charlie was doing something productive. He could've been screwing around with his friends and going to parties every night or adopting the same bad habits that their parents had.

He was a good brother, the best she could've asked for. If it wasn't for him, she would've been left to fend for herself after their mom kicked the bucket. It didn't even matter if she was somehow adopted by a nice family that had a big house and a big pool, with a couple of expensive little dogs that she could call her own. Charlie was blood; he overrode all of those luxuries. She wouldn't have given him up for any other family.

It was Collins and Charlie. Charlie and Collins. It can be hard to not get them confused. But to be honest, they're a package deal, you don't get one without the other so it's not the end of the world if you do mix them up. Charlie never gave up on Collins, therefore she wasn't going to give up on him either. It didn't matter if it was grocery shopping or if it was keeping a roof over their heads, they were in it together. That's how it should be and that how it always was. It certainly wasn't going to change now.

•••

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