Secrets • Jughead Jones [1]

|Your Own Crown|

'It was the ultimate cliffhanger. Clifford Blossom has killed him self. But why? Life's not an Agatha Christie novel. It's a lot messier. Turns out, maple syrup was a front for his true business, transporting heroin from Montreal in his trucks. A narrative quickly emerged that Jason Blossom has learned about fear old dad's drug running and threatened to expose the truth, which led to Jason's abduction at the hands of a Southside Serpent named Mustang. And then to Jason's murder, at the hands of his father. Clifford killed Mustang to cover his tracks, making it look like he'd overdosed, and tried to implicate a rival businessman, Hiram Lodge, as having masterminded the whole thing. And oh yeah, I almost forgot. Mr Blossom threatened my life, so that my dad would confess to pulling the trigger, even though all he did was clean up the mess. He would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for a group of pesky kids who uncovered the truth. Even as Clifford Blossom, consumed by guilt and shame, took the coward's way out. Jason's murder had revealed some dark truths none of us were too eager to face. Especially not Mayor McCoy, who wanted every last vestige of corruption crushed like a snake under a boot heel.'

~•~

"Jug, how's your dad? Did you get to see him?" Archie asked.

They were eating lunch at the cafeteria and Jughead replied, "Here's the latest. Mayor McCoy wants my dad to name names in exchange for a lesser sentence."

"What? Who's names?" Betty said.

"The Serpents. Sheriff Keller thinks they're dealing the drugs that Clifford Blossom brought into town."

Kevin then informed, "My dad says more and more drugs are hitting the streets."

"Kevin, relax. This isn't The Wire. My dad says they're not the ones dealing."

"Meanwhile, Mayor McCoy hasn't even said the words Clifford or Blossom in public. It's all about how the Serpents are the problem. The villains. This is outrageous. In fact, I'm going to write an article about this. But not just for the Blue and Gold for the Register. A town story."  Betty spoke.

"As long as the article doesn't include my dad."

"No, it is going to be about your dad, Jug. It doesn't matter how many Jubilees Mayor McCoy throws. This town has changed. That needs to be acknowledged. Why are people so afraid of the truth?" Betty said as ideas for the article flooded her mind.

"Speaking of the truth," Veronica nervously looked at Archie, "Archie and I wanted to tell you."

Archie looked at Betty, "We've kissed a couple times."

"It's ok V, I appreciate you being honest with me. But I'm fine on my own. If you guys want to be together, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks B." Veronica said and Archie thanked her as well.

"Oh yeah, Jug. How's Aria? Is she ok after the whole Clifford thing?" Veronica asked.

"I haven't been yet because she hasn't woken up, but I'll  see her soon."

"Well, tell me how she is when you see her.  I just want to check in on a friend, you know."

~•~

Aria slowly opened her eyes to find herself laying in a hospital bed and a horrible pain in her head. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the bright lights shining above and suddenly Penelope looked over her.