Panic Room || Jughead Jones

Tangerine // Part One

"Mi nieta! (My granddaughter)" Grandmother's voice echoed from the stairs as Veronica led her into the speakeasy. She stepped forward with open arms as a huge smile formed on my face. "Come give your abuelita a hug!"

"It is so good to see you, Abuela! (Grandmother)." I returned as I gave her a big hug. The three of us settled down at a table where Veronica had brought a few drinks.

Abuelita took a sip of her water and got situated before addressing us. "You two have been so busy these days, mis amores (my loves)."

Veronica nodded in response. "Godmother," She acknowledged, "I've been thinking about expanding my business, getting into rum production. But there's a real craft to it, and my father refuses to teach me. How did he learn?"

"From me," Abuelita responds, "It is my recipe that he's using."

Veronica adjusted to the news. "Could you tell me the recipe?" She asked.

Abuelita smiled and laughed, "Of course! Anything for you, mi ahijada (my goddaughter). But, I have to ask, Savanna... why have you chosen to move out from your family's home? Last time I visited, my son told me you had left."

I gave her a small smile. "Abuela, I think your son chose to leave some important key details out of my departure. He sent me away, for months this past summer, to a mental asylum where I was forced to receive medication and treated poorly. There was no intention of him letting me out, so Veronica and my friends helped me escape."

"Dios mío (my God)..." Abuela whispered at the news, "I raised him better than that. He grew up being treated with respect and love, which is the same he was to show you. My apologies, nieta. I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

Veronica placed her hand on my shoulder before politely interrupting the topic, "That isn't the only thing, Abuelita. You wouldn't believe the things your son has been doing. He negotiated my acceptance into Harvard, to which I had to decline due to his untimely interference. Not to mention, he has brought in his other... daughter from Miami to incorporate rum selling into Riverdale."

"My son?" Abuelita repeated in shock. "My son caused all of this trouble for his two daughters? Unacceptable."

I was thrilled by her rage, which I felt guilty for at the same time as if we were using her. Abuelita deserved nothing but love from us, which we provided her often, but this was the one time we needed her help in return. Her fury followed right down to the Mayor's Office where she demanded to go once everything was laid out on the table and the recipe was exchanged. Veronica and I went along, letting her take the lead as she entered the main office.

"Mami," Hiram said as she walked through the door. "What a surprise. When did you get here?"

Abuelita dodged his incoming hug and instead slapped his cheek harshly as she yelled at him. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Picking fights and being unkind to your daughters. Your father is turning over in his grave. We both taught you better than that."

While Veronica walked in to get the final say, Abuelita exited and stopped in front of me. Her hands grabbed both of my cheeks gently. "Nieta (Granddaughter), first, you call me as soon as that man treats you poorly, you understand? Second, come with me. We're going shopping to rid our minds of his despicable nature."

--

The remainder of my day had been filled with a lot of expensive purchases, but many laughs alongside Abuelita Lodge, which I was so grateful for. She truly was so outgoing and sassy that it made every moment enjoyable, not to mention, I was walking into my apartment with practically a whole new wardrobe.

"Hi, Mocha," I greeted the dog as I closed the door behind me with my shoe. "Let me set everything down and then we'll go outside." I quickly placed all my bags on my bed before taking Mocha outside for a couple of minutes. "Betty, hey," I answered my phone as I walked up the stairs.

"Vanna, are you home? I need to catch you up on what's been happening."

I nodded, completely forgetting she couldn't see me. "Yeah, of course. Come on over."

"Awesome, I'll be there soon."

I busied myself with unloading and organizing my new purchases from Abuelita while searching my mind for what exactly Betty Cooper could need to catch me up on. I knew she was investigating with Charles, especially with her newly known serial killer genes that matched her half-brother. Needless to say, I was curious what she had been up to.

"You are not going to believe my life," Betty huffed as both of us took a seat on the couch with a bag of popcorn. She looked absolutely frazzled and stressed but, we live in Riverdale so it's expected at this point. "So the other day, I was woken up by my mom at like 3 AM because apparently, Polly attacked a nurse at Shady Grove."

I looked at her with wide eyes. "Attacked?!

Betty nodded and tugged her hair tie out from her ponytail. "She swears she doesn't remember any of it, and I want to believe her, but I honestly don't know what to think anymore. Charles and I did some digging into it and turns out she got a call from the prison before she snapped."

"Well, who's in the prison that would have connections to her? Not your dad. Chic? Maybe but I doubt it."

"Evelyn is," Betty answered with a sigh. "So, naturally I went to visit. She said something about a trigger word. Once someone says the word tangerine three times, anyone who was associated with The Farm and Edgar's teachings snaps. My mom did it too when they called the house and came at me. Polly turned and attacked a nurse named Betty. I hung up before Evelyn could say it three times."

"What in the Winter Soldier is this?" I looked at her incredulously. "Betty, that's terrifying. You seriously need to see if Charles can help you deprogram that. The last thing you need is someone using that against you and forcing blame on you for something that you had zero control over."

Betty seemed oddly calm about the news of being programmed with a trigger word. Somehow I wasn't so convinced, but if she wasn't too nervous, I didn't have room to be.

--

sorry if my Spanish translations are off, I took Spanish for literally 10 years of my life and still struggle with it lol