Post by JoJo Rush on Jan 15, 2023 0:00:52 GMT -6
Narrator: The New York City bitter chill could freeze beer, which made it all the more confusing that JoJo has pitched his tent down in New York. He told folks it was to stay closer to his new Posse, The House. But really, it was because he had nowhere else he could go. The drifter has refused to buy any property. Buying a home means planting down roots. It means embracing a community of strangers, and it means settling down. Settling down wasn't quite in the cards for JoJo. Only when he accomplishes his late brother's dreams.
Until then? Well, between now and then, JoJo will spend it mostly wallowing in his self-loathing. JoJo sat alone in a quiet bar outside of the city. The music played loudly, but all the patrons kept to themselves. JoJo rested against the bar on his elbows. JoJo dressed warmly and in layers, including a poncho his grandmother had made for JoJo... the Cowboy looked down at the murky brown liquid. His reflection was warped and distorted in the firewater that yearned to burn JoJo's lips. It called to him like a moth, to an open flame. For a long time, JoJo told himself that the liquor was a poison to kill whatever dark thing was inside of him that made him-- well, that made him the way he truly is. JoJo's once warm features frosted over as he stared at his vice.
?: I thought a Cowboy like you would be able to hold their liquor
JoJo's face stayed in place, but his eyes shot in the direction of the familiar voice. It was Callie's bodyguard and fellow House Mate, Tori Taylor. The bodyguard certainly never met a woman that looked like Tori before. But then again, most people have never seen a man like JoJo either. Including Tori, who was more familiar with the posers that now flood the streets of Nashville.
JoJo: This ain’t fer drinking– at least that’s the goal anyway.
Tori crossed her arms but raised a brow, and the intrigue piqued Tori’s interest. She looked the Cowboy over for visible signs indicating that JoJo had fallen off the wagon. But to JoJo’s credit, he was as dry as a towel and sober as a judge.
Tori: So then, what’s it for?
JoJo: Ah’m testin’ mahself.
Tori: Testing what exactly?
JoJo: There was a strange fella that Ah saw at a group once upon a time. He said he stayed dry fer ten years and what helped him do it was by testin’ himself. He’d go to a bar alone and order two fingers of whiskey. If he could hold that glass of firewater in his hand and not drink, it fer 10 minutes, and then he could do it fer the rest of his life.
Tori: And how long have you been shaking that glass so far?
JoJo: About a whole minute now.
There was an awkward pause, and no one was quite sure what to say next. To cut through the friction, JoJo sat straight up and asked bluntly.
JoJo: So what are you doin' round here? Ah take it. The House sent you, yeah? How did y’all even find me?
Tori: Snapchat: Callie downloaded that app onto your phone. Remember?
JoJo took a moment to reflect. That’s why he was so insistent on JoJo downloading that darn app. Once JoJo takes a computer science class, he might learn how to turn off location settings. He looked frustrated that he was essentially lo-jacked but couldn’t dwell on it. JoJo thought to himself, that’s what he gets for not learning how to use his smartphone.
JoJo: Ah knew Ah shouldn't have let her download that app onto mah phone.
Tori: Well, I’m not here to drag you to The House by your short and curlies. I was asked to make sure you were alive. You are alive, right?
The cowboy patted himself down to check for any holes that shouldn’t be there.
JoJo: Well, looks like Ah’m whole.
Tori: Then my job is done, and I can catch my flight back tomorrow morning if the weather doesn’t ground everything.
Given it some thought, JoJo looked at Tori and tipped his head to the empty stool beside him.
JoJo: Least Ah can do is buy you a drink. Fer the trouble of comin’ all the way out here.
Tori looked at the stool and then back at JoJo in amusement. JoJo can be pretty amusing when he wanted to be.
Tori: Has that line and that look ever worked before?
JoJo: Ah don’t know. It’s the first time Ah’ve been the subject of a manhunt, so Ah’m unsure of what happens next.
Tori slid into the bar stool and ordered two fingers of whiskey. While waiting for the drink, Tori decided to get some of her questions answered and continued to prod at JoJo, seemingly out of amusement. But in fairness to Tori, it seemed like that poking and prodding was disarming the cowboy.
Tori: So you join us, and after Wrestlefest, you just start ghosting us. What’s the story there precisely?
JoJo: Excuse me?
Oh, shoot, JoJo’s guard was creeping right back up. Tori was straight to the point, direct like the shotguns in her eyes. The Outlaw appreciated the bluntness. It reminded him of– let’s stick with “someone else.” That “someone else” disappeared during Wrestlefest, and the only lead to go on was a bloody arrangement of letters. That “someone else” had the same shotgun eyes as Tori does.
Tori: You know what I’m asking. It isn’t every day that good guys just break bad, then join a gang. But then you just try and disappear? The math doesn’t add up if you ask me.
The former bartender can read JoJo like a book. JoJo kept an icy composure, but inside, he felt his heart race and his body tense. The Outlaw’s nerves called for the relaxing depressant from drinking your body weight in booze. Tori’s drink arrived in short order, and with JoJo and Tori exchanged a quick “cheers” before continuing with their conversation.
JoJo: Ah didn’t figure you for the kind of gal to wanna hear about a fellas problems like that.
Tori: I used to tend bars. I’ve heard more grown men cry about their problems than most therapists.
As someone who had spent many a night crying to a bartender, JoJo had to concede. He placed the drink back down on the bar but kept his hand on the glass to avoid failing his little test.
JoJo: Ah’m scared.
Tori raised a brow in curiosity.
Tori: Scared? Scared of what?
JoJo: Karma.
Tori: That’s it? Karma? Do you believe in karma?
JoJo: Maybe not karma exactly, but somethin’ like it.
Tori: You’ll have to be a bit more specific than that.
Looking up at the clock, you can read that it had been at least five minutes, and JoJo had not knocked back. Impressive stuff, Jon. I’m proud of you. JoJo cleared his throat and diverted his eyes back to the drink.
JoJo: Ah think when it’s all said and done, we have to pay fer the things we’ve done. Ah just want to do what Ah need to do before karma comes to collect.
JoJo raised the glass closer to him, and he smelled the notes from the cheap whiskey sitting in his glass. The alcohol burned the hairs on the inside of JoJo’s nostrils as he tempted himself to quell the feeling of doubt in his stomach. Thankfully, JoJo pulled the glass away from himself. After mulling over what JoJo said, Tori chuckled and shook her head before speaking up.
Tori: Want my take?
JoJo: Sure.
Tori: Fuck Karma
JoJo tilted his head at Tori and asked.
JoJo: That’s undoubtedly uh– confident to put it inna word.
Tori spun the stool to face JoJo directly, which prompted the Cowboy to follow suit so the two could properly discuss a topic as nuanced as existentialism.
Tori: I think you want to believe in karma so you can deny responsibility. You don’t want to admit that it feels good to be strong enough to bend other people to your whim. Didn’t it feel good to crush Dean Judas underneath your heel? That wasn’t karma making things right. That was you enjoying yourself.
JoJo: Beg yer pardon?
JoJo’s features turned cross, his brows furrowed, and his grip tightened around the glass. None of which bothered Tori in the slightest. In fact, she taunted the Outlaw by scooting herself and leaning closer to JoJo. She matched JoJo’s fierce gaze with a bemused smile. It wasn’t as if Tori didn’t know JoJo was a dangerous man. It was just that she didn’t care.
Tori: You might be a bad man. You might be downright evil. But does it even matter? You’re still a man and still deserve to feel pride for your accomplishments. You shouldn’t care about what anyone thinks about who you are or what you’ve done—cosmic force or otherwise.
Tori disarmed JoJo immediately, and he couldn’t argue otherwise. It’d be like swimming against the tide. The smell of whiskey off Tori’s lips beckoned to the Outlaw like a siren’s song, and Tori probably knew that too. She slid away in victory and got herself another shot. JoJo was stunned, staying where he was, but his eyes followed Tori’s smug smile.
Tori: You’re fun. I’m glad you’re with us.
The tension evaporated almost immediately. Almost as if it had never happened at all. It was all so incredibly unnerving for the Outlaw. Looking at the clock, JoJo noticed that the full ten minutes had passed quite a while ago. However, something felt different for JoJo he looked towards his glass and suddenly felt far less guilty about having a drink. JoJo was sober for so long. In his mind, why not have a drink or two with Tori?
The two spoke for hours, well past last call. As we leave the bar, we can barely listen in to the end of the conversation. What happened next? Well that's between JoJo and Tori.
Tori: I think I like your first name better than the name you go by.
JoJo: Now what's wrong with mah preferred name?
Tori: Nothing wrong with it, but I want to call you Johnny.
JoJo: Nobody calls me Johnny.
Tori: Yeah, but I get to call you that, and that's fun.
JoJo: Don't suppose Ah can do anything to stop you from this, huh?
Tori: You can most certainly try.
Until then? Well, between now and then, JoJo will spend it mostly wallowing in his self-loathing. JoJo sat alone in a quiet bar outside of the city. The music played loudly, but all the patrons kept to themselves. JoJo rested against the bar on his elbows. JoJo dressed warmly and in layers, including a poncho his grandmother had made for JoJo... the Cowboy looked down at the murky brown liquid. His reflection was warped and distorted in the firewater that yearned to burn JoJo's lips. It called to him like a moth, to an open flame. For a long time, JoJo told himself that the liquor was a poison to kill whatever dark thing was inside of him that made him-- well, that made him the way he truly is. JoJo's once warm features frosted over as he stared at his vice.
?: I thought a Cowboy like you would be able to hold their liquor
JoJo's face stayed in place, but his eyes shot in the direction of the familiar voice. It was Callie's bodyguard and fellow House Mate, Tori Taylor. The bodyguard certainly never met a woman that looked like Tori before. But then again, most people have never seen a man like JoJo either. Including Tori, who was more familiar with the posers that now flood the streets of Nashville.
JoJo: This ain’t fer drinking– at least that’s the goal anyway.
Tori crossed her arms but raised a brow, and the intrigue piqued Tori’s interest. She looked the Cowboy over for visible signs indicating that JoJo had fallen off the wagon. But to JoJo’s credit, he was as dry as a towel and sober as a judge.
Tori: So then, what’s it for?
JoJo: Ah’m testin’ mahself.
Tori: Testing what exactly?
JoJo: There was a strange fella that Ah saw at a group once upon a time. He said he stayed dry fer ten years and what helped him do it was by testin’ himself. He’d go to a bar alone and order two fingers of whiskey. If he could hold that glass of firewater in his hand and not drink, it fer 10 minutes, and then he could do it fer the rest of his life.
Tori: And how long have you been shaking that glass so far?
JoJo: About a whole minute now.
There was an awkward pause, and no one was quite sure what to say next. To cut through the friction, JoJo sat straight up and asked bluntly.
JoJo: So what are you doin' round here? Ah take it. The House sent you, yeah? How did y’all even find me?
Tori: Snapchat: Callie downloaded that app onto your phone. Remember?
JoJo took a moment to reflect. That’s why he was so insistent on JoJo downloading that darn app. Once JoJo takes a computer science class, he might learn how to turn off location settings. He looked frustrated that he was essentially lo-jacked but couldn’t dwell on it. JoJo thought to himself, that’s what he gets for not learning how to use his smartphone.
JoJo: Ah knew Ah shouldn't have let her download that app onto mah phone.
Tori: Well, I’m not here to drag you to The House by your short and curlies. I was asked to make sure you were alive. You are alive, right?
The cowboy patted himself down to check for any holes that shouldn’t be there.
JoJo: Well, looks like Ah’m whole.
Tori: Then my job is done, and I can catch my flight back tomorrow morning if the weather doesn’t ground everything.
Given it some thought, JoJo looked at Tori and tipped his head to the empty stool beside him.
JoJo: Least Ah can do is buy you a drink. Fer the trouble of comin’ all the way out here.
Tori looked at the stool and then back at JoJo in amusement. JoJo can be pretty amusing when he wanted to be.
Tori: Has that line and that look ever worked before?
JoJo: Ah don’t know. It’s the first time Ah’ve been the subject of a manhunt, so Ah’m unsure of what happens next.
Tori slid into the bar stool and ordered two fingers of whiskey. While waiting for the drink, Tori decided to get some of her questions answered and continued to prod at JoJo, seemingly out of amusement. But in fairness to Tori, it seemed like that poking and prodding was disarming the cowboy.
Tori: So you join us, and after Wrestlefest, you just start ghosting us. What’s the story there precisely?
JoJo: Excuse me?
Oh, shoot, JoJo’s guard was creeping right back up. Tori was straight to the point, direct like the shotguns in her eyes. The Outlaw appreciated the bluntness. It reminded him of– let’s stick with “someone else.” That “someone else” disappeared during Wrestlefest, and the only lead to go on was a bloody arrangement of letters. That “someone else” had the same shotgun eyes as Tori does.
Tori: You know what I’m asking. It isn’t every day that good guys just break bad, then join a gang. But then you just try and disappear? The math doesn’t add up if you ask me.
The former bartender can read JoJo like a book. JoJo kept an icy composure, but inside, he felt his heart race and his body tense. The Outlaw’s nerves called for the relaxing depressant from drinking your body weight in booze. Tori’s drink arrived in short order, and with JoJo and Tori exchanged a quick “cheers” before continuing with their conversation.
JoJo: Ah didn’t figure you for the kind of gal to wanna hear about a fellas problems like that.
Tori: I used to tend bars. I’ve heard more grown men cry about their problems than most therapists.
As someone who had spent many a night crying to a bartender, JoJo had to concede. He placed the drink back down on the bar but kept his hand on the glass to avoid failing his little test.
JoJo: Ah’m scared.
Tori raised a brow in curiosity.
Tori: Scared? Scared of what?
JoJo: Karma.
Tori: That’s it? Karma? Do you believe in karma?
JoJo: Maybe not karma exactly, but somethin’ like it.
Tori: You’ll have to be a bit more specific than that.
Looking up at the clock, you can read that it had been at least five minutes, and JoJo had not knocked back. Impressive stuff, Jon. I’m proud of you. JoJo cleared his throat and diverted his eyes back to the drink.
JoJo: Ah think when it’s all said and done, we have to pay fer the things we’ve done. Ah just want to do what Ah need to do before karma comes to collect.
JoJo raised the glass closer to him, and he smelled the notes from the cheap whiskey sitting in his glass. The alcohol burned the hairs on the inside of JoJo’s nostrils as he tempted himself to quell the feeling of doubt in his stomach. Thankfully, JoJo pulled the glass away from himself. After mulling over what JoJo said, Tori chuckled and shook her head before speaking up.
Tori: Want my take?
JoJo: Sure.
Tori: Fuck Karma
JoJo tilted his head at Tori and asked.
JoJo: That’s undoubtedly uh– confident to put it inna word.
Tori spun the stool to face JoJo directly, which prompted the Cowboy to follow suit so the two could properly discuss a topic as nuanced as existentialism.
Tori: I think you want to believe in karma so you can deny responsibility. You don’t want to admit that it feels good to be strong enough to bend other people to your whim. Didn’t it feel good to crush Dean Judas underneath your heel? That wasn’t karma making things right. That was you enjoying yourself.
JoJo: Beg yer pardon?
JoJo’s features turned cross, his brows furrowed, and his grip tightened around the glass. None of which bothered Tori in the slightest. In fact, she taunted the Outlaw by scooting herself and leaning closer to JoJo. She matched JoJo’s fierce gaze with a bemused smile. It wasn’t as if Tori didn’t know JoJo was a dangerous man. It was just that she didn’t care.
Tori: You might be a bad man. You might be downright evil. But does it even matter? You’re still a man and still deserve to feel pride for your accomplishments. You shouldn’t care about what anyone thinks about who you are or what you’ve done—cosmic force or otherwise.
Tori disarmed JoJo immediately, and he couldn’t argue otherwise. It’d be like swimming against the tide. The smell of whiskey off Tori’s lips beckoned to the Outlaw like a siren’s song, and Tori probably knew that too. She slid away in victory and got herself another shot. JoJo was stunned, staying where he was, but his eyes followed Tori’s smug smile.
Tori: You’re fun. I’m glad you’re with us.
The tension evaporated almost immediately. Almost as if it had never happened at all. It was all so incredibly unnerving for the Outlaw. Looking at the clock, JoJo noticed that the full ten minutes had passed quite a while ago. However, something felt different for JoJo he looked towards his glass and suddenly felt far less guilty about having a drink. JoJo was sober for so long. In his mind, why not have a drink or two with Tori?
The two spoke for hours, well past last call. As we leave the bar, we can barely listen in to the end of the conversation. What happened next? Well that's between JoJo and Tori.
Tori: I think I like your first name better than the name you go by.
JoJo: Now what's wrong with mah preferred name?
Tori: Nothing wrong with it, but I want to call you Johnny.
JoJo: Nobody calls me Johnny.
Tori: Yeah, but I get to call you that, and that's fun.
JoJo: Don't suppose Ah can do anything to stop you from this, huh?
Tori: You can most certainly try.