~♛~
gracie's pov:
"he'll get charged with tampering of evidence, obstruction of justice, mishandling a body, perjury— and that's just off of the top of my head. he's not getting out anytime soon." keller explained.
"clifford threatened my father! it's not his fault! he has to get out! he was coerced— this isn't fair!" i yelled, slamming my fist into the wall of the sheriff's station later that night.
~♛~
'and though one question had been answered that night: that it was clifford blossom who killed jason, a new mystery loomed over riverdale.
why had he done it?
it was a question that only clifford, himself, could answer.
which was now impossible.
as clifford blossom had hung himself.
life's not an agatha christie novel.
it's a whole lot messier.
turns out, maple syrup was a front for his true business, transporting heroin from montreal on his trucks.
a narrative quickly emerged: that jason blossom had learned about his dear 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 he would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for a group of pesky high schoolers who uncovered the truth.
jason's murder revealed some dark truths none of us were eager to face.
especially not mayor mc coy, who wanted every last vestige of corruption crushed—
like a snake under a boot heel.'
~♛~
"mayor mc coy wants archie and i to speak at the jubilee— apparently we're heroes?? i told her i wouldn't do it. not unless you and jug are up there with me." betty said.
"betty, don't worry about me." i shrugged.
"i appreciate the righteous indignation, betty, i do. but, jubilees aren't my thing." jughead said.
"how's your dad?" archie asked. "did you get in to see him?"
"well, i went." jug said. "here's the latest: mayor mc coy wants my dad to name names in exchange for a lesser sentence."
"what? what names?"
"the serpents. sheriff keller thinks they're the ones dealing the drugs clifford blossom brought into the town."
"my dad says more and more drugs are hitting the streets." kevin shared.
i rolled my eyes. "kevin, relax. this isn't the wire."
"my dad says they're not the ones dealing." jughead continued.
"and meanwhile, mayor mc coy 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— i'm writing an article about this. and not just for the blue and gold, for the register. this is a town story." betty started. "it doesn't matter how many jubilees mayor mc coy throws— this town has changed. that needs to be acknowledged. why are people so afraid of the truth?"
~♛~
"no, jug the funniest part was when—" i laughed, as we came through archie's front door.
arch laughed aswell and nudged jughead.
"hey, guys." fred called, beckoning us into the kitchen. "this is miss weiss from social services. she's, uh— she's jughead and gracie's case worker."
"jughead, grace, i know how terrible and emotional these last few days have been for you. your father's facing serious jail time, your mom's over-extended and out-of-state. we just wanna make sure you're taken care of."
"they can keep staying with us, though— right, dad?" archie said.
"i already offered, arch." mr andrews shook his head.
"great, so what's the problem?"
"there was a dui... after your mom left. look, we can talk about this later— but between that and my cash-flow problem, it knocks me out."
"there is a family on the southside that's offered to foster you both. they're good
people. they've worked with us before." ms weiss proposed.
"it doesn't sound completely horrible..." jug shrugged.
"however, it does mean you'll be in a different school district. and you'll have to transfer schools."
"what the hell? when is all this supposed to happen?!" i exclaimed angrily.
"the paperwork's been processed. unless there is a radical change in your father's case, you'll be on the southside by the end of the week."
i sighed and looked down at my feet.
~♛~
"mind if i join you?" veronica asked, interrupting me from taking a bite of my sandwich.
"are you sure you wanna sit at the criminal table?" i chuckled.
"i've been sitting at it for months. why should today be any different?" veronica smiled, sliding in next to me. "by the way, i've been thinking... you and i have a lot in common, cee."
"oh." i hummed. "because my dad's going to prison and your dad is getting out?"
"i was going to say something else, but yes— the prison thing, too."
i chuckled and watched veronica's smile turn up. "i— i gotta tell you something, ronnie. i'm mov—"
"gracie." cheryl approached us. "i'm sorry. i had no right to pummel you the way i did that day. and i had no right to ignore you and— as recompense, i'd like to give you this." she threw me her brooch, which i quickly caught. "my iconic spider brooch. it'll catch a pretty penny at the local pawnshop."
"thank you cheryl, but, i really don't need pity money." i reached out to give it back.
"i insist. unless there's another way i could repay you."
i jokingly waggled my eyebrows suggestively and she chuckled.
"i'll miss your antics, grace." she smiled weakly.
"cheryl, what do you mean? what is going on?" veronica asked, concerned.
"i'm—"
"—guys!" kevin rushed up to us, interrupting cheryl and grabbing ronnie and i's arms. "come on, it's betty's locker! come on—"
i spun round, shooting cheryl an apologetic look, before being dragged us through the hallway by kevin, where there was a crowd gathered around betty's locker.
'go to hell serpent slut!' was painted in blood across the blue metal. there were whispers and sounds of camera shutters, echoing through the corridor.
"betty..." jughead came to comfort her.
"no— it's nothing, jug, it's just a jerk with a can of spray paint!" she sniffles.
"i don't think that's spray paint." jug whispered sharply, pulling her into a hug to calm her down.
~♛~