Failure to Ignite

I woke up and stayed quiet in bed while I contemplated what might have been the first serious conversation Jojo and I had ever participated in together. After dropping his bombshell on me Jojo took my arm and led back into his car. I assumed that the stress of the last few months of working for Gervais had finally sunk into his thick head and even he was acutely aware of how information had a habit of perpetually leaking back to that toady wretch. Jojo was not the most coherent person at the best of times and this time was no exception it took a bit of his rambling for me to put the pieces together. To be fair he had obtained his information in bits and pieces as well and because of this it had taken a few weeks for it to sink in. I gazed at the handsome face beside me in utter disbelief and wondered what it took for him to actually comprehend any of the world we were living in. Admittedly the death of my mother and my ongoing Dubois war had cast the roses from my eyes ages ago but surely a few months with Lynx and Gervais would be enough to get even a dimwit like Jojo to wake up to himself!

Jojo had come out of his obtuse fog long enough to allow the glimmer of truth to catch his attention long enough for him to be concerned with the questionable activities of those around him, namely Lynx and Gervais. It was Coco who had pointed out to Jojo that Gervais was showing an unhealthy interest in the upcoming nuptials of Jazz and Braith and even Royce contributed his surf wisdom with “You know that Dude means trouble when he starts asking about stuff.” This pearl of wisdom rattled Jojo’s cage enough for him to start a little stalking ritual of his own and with the ability to appear vacant at any given time he played Gervais at his own game. From what he was able to gather Gervais had Lynx line up some porn look a-like girl who would then perform in the latest of celebrity crazes, the sex tape, and release it upon the eve of her wedding. Close enough to prevent damage control far enough so the ceremony had not started. It was diabolically and perfectly Dubois—how like Gervais to concoct such a vile performance. The tape would of course be easily disproved as a fake but not before enough damage had been done to either stop the wedding or break up the happy couple, depending upon the resolve of the betrothed.

Lynx had acquiesced to the strange request of Gervais for a Jazz clone as in her sexcapades she had often come across men who loved the idea of bedding the famous or in their absence the next best thing. She did not discover his intent until he had a second request for a discreet film crew of the more ‘adult’ variety. Despite her life of very blonde ambition she managed to put together two and two and hurriedly pointed him in the direction of Mr. Sangu and then did something she had never done before—she crossed Gervais. Jojo might have started out suspicious of her motives when she called him up but once he understood the gist of her conversation he realised that his little sister was the target of the most dangerous man in town. He tried to find the girl who was going to impersonate her but could get no further and no one he knew had any influence with the Porn King so he turned to the only person who he felt would dare go openly against Gervais and this led him back to my doorstep.

He paused and waited for me to comment but I had no amazing suggestions for I could no more pull a rabbit from a hat than come up with an astounding plan to stop my ghastly cousin. I wanted to point out to Jojo that Gervais had plans already underway and we on the other hand, were hiding on the mountain side talking in whispers despite being in the open miles away from him. Instead I considered what our options were and there was nothing that was glaringly obvious we could do about it. We could not bribe or threaten anyone, we could not out manipulate nor outsmart—this was the domain of Gervais. Our only choice was to tell Jazz and Braith and hope they would believe this was an authentic threat from an authentic villain. Jojo stared at me grimly and asked if Liselle or Ladonna could be of any aid but I shook my head. They had happily left me out to dry what made him think they gave a damn about a Sedero? No matter how sweet or innocent Jazz might be, to them she was not worth the wrath of Gervais. We would have to ensure the lovebirds heard us and work on something from there. Jojo turned to me and I saw the earnest set to his jaw, his handsome face worried, his eyes dark with anger. I do not think he was even aware that he had taken my hand in his and he held it tightly while his voiced his outrage at Gervais and his insidious wretched plans. I stared at the strong lean fingers that held onto mine and the spark that would have held me still beside him failed to ignite. Jojo had burned too many bridges between us and the handsome stranger beside me had become just the brother of Jazz.

He stopped ranting long enough to tell me his plans, we had to convince Braith and Jazz to elope immediately. Then we could let Gervais know that it was fait accompli and the wedding was only a formality for the families. For once Jojo had a decent strategy and I agreed that we should approach them urgently. As for whatever rage this instilled in Gervais I said I would be happy to bear the blame —Jojo started to object and as he looked back at me something stopped him. I asked him what it was but he tried to shrug it away so I pressed him until he blurted out that for a minute I had the enigmatic look of Liselle. Nothing spells depression faster than being associated with the iceberg of the family and I returned to my car fearing the worst—I had become a Dubois in the eyes of the world and I could not longer deny my heritage.

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