Chapter 12 â“ Justinâs Story.
âJustin?â asked Lance as he saw who was following Ray into the living room, âAre you okay?â Lanceâs voice went deeper than usual with the emotion of seeing his friend looking so upset and tired. Justin had deep bags under his eyes which must have been hidden from view by make up and air brushing as everyone was shocked to see him like that. Seeing him now, clear of make up and without his entourage, he just looked like a scared and nervous young man, not Justin Timberlake â“ R&B Star. The concern in Lanceâs voice seemed to be enough to set Justin off crying again and as silent tears rolled down his face JC stood up and gave him a hug and sat him down on the couch.
Ruth looked over at Ray and Lucy, they all felt pretty uncomfortable and it was obvious JC, Lance and Chris needed to talk to Justin. âGuysâ, she said to the band, âI think weâre gonna head up to bed now, Iâll bring down a sleeping bag and one of you can go on the couch tonight, sorry for the slumming, but Iâm all out of beds now! JC, Chris, you know where things are in the kitchen now, so help yourselves and weâll see you in the morning.â
Ray and Lucy said their goodnights too and they went upstairs to bed. Paul also said his goodnights, now wasnât the time for Justin to find out about him and Lance and so it was easier if he also disappeared. As Ruth left the room JC pulled her into a hug and kissing her lightly on the cheek whispered âThanksâ into her ear.
As Ruth walked upstairs she heard JCâs mobile ring again. She carried on upstairs to bed hoping things would get sorted out.
Meanwhile â“ Downstairs.
JC checked the caller ID and saw it was Joey on the phone. âHey, Joe. Whatâs up?â.
Joey â“ âHi JC, look Iâve got Trace and Lynn here, Justin went missing after the show and theyâre really worried, theyâre here with me now. Youâve not heard from him have you?â
JC â“ âJustin is missing!!!!!!, what have Lynn and Trace said? Iâve not heard from him since this afternoonâ
JC didnât want to give Justin away, the look of him and the fact that Lynn and Trace didnât know he was here was enough for JC to realise something serious was going on and that they shouldnât find out where he was until Justin was ready to tell them. The frantic look that Justin gave him when JC mentioned Trace and Lynnâs names was enough to confirm that lying really was the best course of action. It technically wasnât a lie either, Justin hadnât spoken yet so JC hadnât heard from him since that afternoon, he just hoped Joey picked up on the fact that he hadnât said SEEN him either.
Joey â“ âJust that after the show he was meant to come back to the hotel with Carl, his security, but he never showed up. Carl has said that he never saw Justin after he left the stage.â
JC â“ âWell, I hope heâs okay, but no, we canât help Lynn and Trace here. Maybe I should keep my cell free in case he does try to ring. Call me as soon as you hear anything though. In fact â“ call me in 30 mins and tell me if anything else has been found outâ
Joey â“ âOkay, Iâll speak to you in 30 then.â
JC â“ âByeâ
Joey â“ âByeâ
JC hung up his phone and turned to Justin. âOkay, Justin, what on earth is going on?â
Justin started talking, quietly, barely looking up from the floor. âItâs my Mom and Trace. Theyâre blackmailing me.â
âWhat?â âEh?â âYou what???â came the various outbursts from the other guys.
âCan you remember a couple of years ago mine and Britneyâs house got broken into?â Justin continued.
JC, Lance and Chris nodded.
Justin continued âWell, that was Trace, Iâve since found out, he took a video of me and Britney and a couple of other things as well. Theyâve been using that to keep me âin lineâ to what they want me to be doing. Going solo, this never ending tour, not seeing you guys, everything. My hair, my clothes, my girlfriends, everything. Can you remember that stupid rumour about me changing my boxers 6 times a day?â
Chris burst out laughing at that comment â“ heâd seen that rumour and loved it, heâd even sent Justin some boxers with a little note attached that he hoped these ones would last a bit longer.
JC threw Chris a dirty look and told Justin to carry on. Chrisâs laughter had got a little smile on his face though and his eyes cleared a bit as he carried on. âAnyway, the boxers rumour. That was my Mom because I didnât want to go out shopping with her. I ended up having to go shopping AND have that stupid rumour all over the press. The biggest thing though is that if she finds out Iâm coming back with you guys, sheâs going to release that video and I donât know what to do.â
Lance, JC and Chris sat there, stunned. Justin had always had such a good relationship with his Mom and Trace that hearing that they were doing this to him seemed so unbelievable, but the pain on his face was all too real and it made sense of a lot of things which had been going on lately too.
Chris went up to Justin and gave him a hug. Heâd seen Justin try to break the bonds of mother and son when he was growing up with the band. It had been difficult for him though, hanging around in an adult world, in strange countries a lot of the time, he had lost the usual support network of friends that most teenagers had. For Trace to be betraying him too must be heartbreaking for him. Where as most children break the bonds when they go to College or start working, Justinâs career was tied into his Mom. She helped manage him, her husband helped with his finances. Heâd never had the chance to break away and now it was all coming back to haunt him.
Lance sat there wondering. Heâd been young too when the band started, but he was a backing singer, primarily, people werenât as interested in him as in Justin, so the transition from child to adult had been easier for him.
JC was furious, heâd known Lynn for a long time, considered her a good friend and for her to be doing this to her own son was despicable.
JCâs phone rang again, breaking the silence. It was Joey.
JC â“ âHi Joeyâ
Joey â“ âHi JC, Iâm alone now, so whatâs going onâ.
JC â“ âYou guessed to call back then?â
Joey â“ âTotally â“ I know you well enough to know when youâre lying, and you were SO lying. So whereâs Justin?â
JC â“ âHere, at Ruthâs, with usâ
Joey â“ âYouâre kidding me, right? Lynn is having a fitâ
JC â“ âJoey, youâre not to tell her where he is, thereâs some serious shit going down here and until we sort it out, Justin doesnât want her knowing where he is. Plus the fact this is Ruthâs house and weâre all guests here right now anyway, so having a frantic mother and goodness knows how many press isnât really ideal.â JC then quickly explained what they knew so far.
Joey â“ âShit, youâre kidding me, you have to be kidding me?â
Justin spoke up at this point âCould I speak to Joey please?â
JC â“ âHang on Joe, Justin wants to talk to youâ.
JC passed the phone over to Justin.
Justin â“ âHey Joey, thanks for keeping things quiet with my Mom earlier.â
Joey â“ âSure thing, Jus, You okay though, the lads are looking after you there.â
Justin â“ âIâm fine, I just want to get this all sorted out and I donât know how Iâm going to do it.â
Joey â“ âWell, I canât leave now, although I want too, but if I leave in the middle of the night your mom is sure to get suspicious. Sheâs expecting me to take Kelly to the airport tomorrow and then come down to Ruthâs so Iâll do that anywayâ
Justin - âRuthâs is where we are now, yes?â
Joey â“ âYes, how did you get there anyway?â
Justin â“ âStevie brought me, when he brought the other guys down their clothes, I saw him and took the opportunity to runâ.
Joey â“ âGood lad, well â“ I better get off the phone as I can hear Trace in the corridor â“ see you tomorrowâ.
Justin â“ âByeâ
Justin hung up the phone and passed it back to JC. Lance spoke up, âSo guys, what we gonna do?â
Everyone turned to Justin. Who yawned and said âShouldnât we wait for Joey to get here. For now, Iâm back here with you guys and Iâm really tired. I did do a show tonightâ.
Suddenly, the fact that it was now getting past 1.00am, theyâd all had a late night the night before and Justin obviously wasnât in the mood to talk anymore till Joey got there, which they all agreed was the right thing to do anyway â“ they were a band again and this mess should be sorted out as a band.
Chris and JC got the air bed blown up and after a bit of arguing it was decided that Chris would get the couch as he was shortest. Lance disappeared upstairs to join Paul, luckily Justin was too tired to ask questions and he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
JC and Chris went into the kitchen taking plates and glasses through for washing up the next day.
JC â“ âSo, heâs backâ.
Chris â“ âThat he isâ
JC â“ âI just hope we can sort all this out quietly, the poor kid.â
Chris â“ âIâm sure we can â“ weâre *NSYNC!â
JC laughed at this, yawned himself and checking everything that should be off was off, the two men walked back into the living room to sleep.
It was 9:30am the next day and Ruth and Lucy were up to take Lucy to the train station. Everyone was still sleeping so they stayed in the kitchen eating toast and tea, trying not to make too much noise.
The kitchen door opened and a sleepy looking Justin Timberlake popped his head in. âHi, you must be Ruthâ he said to the older of the two women he saw. âThatâs meâ she said with a smile, âThis is my cousin Lucy. Weâre just having some toast, do you want?â
âNo thanks, Iâm just looking for the toiletâ, he said, blushing slightly.
âStraight over, lightâs on the outsideâ Ruth said.
âThanksâ and the head disappeared again.
âWell, heâs still here!â Lucy said to Ruth.
âI hope thatâs a good thingâ Ruth said in return. âWe have to get you to the station, itâs already 10.00!â
Ruth and Lucy quietly left the house, bumping into Justin coming out of the loo. âIâm taking Lucy to the station, my boyfriend is all the way upstairs if you need anything, JC and Chris know where most things are already thoughâ Ruth said.
âIâm going back to sleepâ replied Justin. âThanks for letting me stay though.â
âNo problemâ replied Ruth. âWe really have to go though, Iâll see you later, if youâre still hereâ.
âIâll still be here I thinkâ he replied.
âOkay, bye thenâ said Ruth, âByeâ said Lucy, âNice meeting youâ.
By 10.30 when Ruth got back from the station the whole house hold was up. Lucy had made Ruth promise to call her as soon as she found out what was going on, it was the only way sheâd get on the train
Ray and Chris were busy cooking sausages and bacon, using the grill and the George Forman to make sure there was enough to go round. âI hope thereâs enough for me thereâ Ruth asked, giving Ray a kiss to say âHiâ.
âThere certainly is Maâamâ replied Chris. âDo you want a coffee?â
Ray laughed, Ruth hated the smell of coffee, she could just about stand the smell of filtered coffee, but couldn't bear instant at all. She always maintained that sheâd never tried the drink as she couldnât get it close enough to drink it!
âTea pleaseâ Ruth replied.
âWhat type of tea?â asked Chris
âTea, Teaâ Ruth said laughing. âThereâs Tetley in the cupboard thereâ.
Shaking her head at Chris looking confused at the box of Tetley in the cupboard Ruth left the boys to it and went into the living room.
Justin and JC were playing FIFA on the GameCube again. âWhereâs Lance and Paul?â Ruth asked, suddenly realised that Justin didnât know they were âLance and Paulâ.
âLance is in the shower and Paul has taken Rayâs car to the shops to get more milkâ JC replied. âDid Lucy get on her train okay?â
âYeah â“ her seat was booked so that wasnât a problem, sheâs all settled, I got her a cuppa and a muffin for the journey and thereâs only one change, so thatâs not too bad. Her Mam is picking her up at the other end, I guess sheâll blag a lift off one of our other cousins.â Ruth replied, sitting down in the chair.
âDid you all sleep okay?â she asked, noticing that the air bed had been deflated and the sheets folded up in the corner.
âFine, thanksâ replied JC. âRuthâ, he said, suddenly sitting up and looking concerned, âIs it okay if we hang here today instead of going to Alton Towers. Thereâs things we really need to get sorted and we canât take Justin back to the hotel and we certainly canât take him to Alton Towers â“ heâs bound to get recognised. â
âSureâ replied Ruth, âItâs chucking it down today anyway so going out probably wouldnât be a good planâ.
âChucking it down??â Justin asked, finally finding his voice again.
âRaining, heavilyâ Ruth explained, standing up and opening the blinds so the boys could see.
âAhh, okayâ Justin said, suddenly putting his attention back to the TV screen as JC had taken the opportunity to get behind his defence and score!
âIf you want too, you can use my study. Thereâs a phone line and broadband internet connection. Iâve got some spare chairs I can set up there and that way youâve got somewhere to talk in private, and youâre well away if anyone comes round.â Ruth suggested.
âJoeyâll be here soon enough too and we can start getting things sorted.â JC said, thanking Ruth as well for the use of her study.
âCan I ask whatâs going on?â she asked, curiosity finally getting the better of her.
âItâs only fair, I guess, seeing how weâre in your house, but could you please promise to keep this quiet and we WILL ask you to sign a privacy statement later.â Justin said.
âYeah, I can understand that, although I have to say, Lucy is very curious and someoneâs going to have to tell her something.â
âIâll talk to Lucy laterâ added JC.
âOkay, this is whatâs going onâ Justin quickly filled Ruth in on what was going on. She was understandably quite shocked, but understood straight away the need for Justin to stay away from his mother.
âThey arenât going to do anything because youâre missing are they?â she asked.
âI donât knowâ he replied, âThatâs the first thing we need to sort outâ.
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