(Disclaimer: I own nothing, they are the property of their respective owners).
Chapter Two - Adjusting.
Michael lays in bed, watching an old black-and-white noir movie, this film is one he had seen many times before, so many times that he knew it by heart, hell, he often quoted the film many times, he was comfortable, at least for the time being, but listening to crickets, cars speeding by, and police sirens in the distance, is better than hearing the sound of prison doors opening and closing, and some poor bastard getting rammed in the cell next door.
He knew his past, as much as he wished he could, he'd never forget it, nor could escape it. That's just the way it was.
He was the third or fourth born of seven children born to his parents who lived in the Midwest, most of his early life was spent growing up in the deprived environment of a trailer park.
As a young man in high school, Michael was an acclaimed quarterback for the all-state football team, even putting an amazing performance during his games and would occasionally have his picture in the local newspaper. But injuries, and his temperament issues, which consisted of fighting teammates, opposing players, even punching out his football coach on multiple occasions, ultimately forced him to quit the sport. So much for a career as an athlete.
With his football future in ruins, Michael began a life of crime, which really didn't surprise anyone, as his father was a well known criminal.
Albert Townley was a monster of a man, Michael had often described him as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He worked as a truck driver, but also was a habitual criminal, him and his crew would often steal from truckers, rich people, etc,etc. He even had his own criminal rackets, which included the aforementioned truck robbing, prostitution, drug trafficking, and gun running. So it wasn't no surprise when Albert had some of his children follow in his footsteps.
Even though he wasn't a nice person, he often had his moments of generosity, for starters, him and his wife would take in two orphans after they were abandoned, Albert had known their mother for a couple of years, she had lived in a nearby town that he had often passed through on his trips, and she would contact him when any big shipments were coming through, eventually she and her boys would relocate to the trailer park where Albert and his family resided.
Albert eventually left town, and disappeared out of their lives, some people claim that he died, others say that he's in hiding, that he was in witness protection, no one knows exactly the circumstances, Michael himself believed that Albert had got into some trouble that he couldn't get himself out of, and fled town, never to return. While most people would try to move on and start over, the damage was done, and the Townley family would never be the same again.
The lives of the Townley children varied, as they went on different paths.
Frank left home, joined the army, and later became a police officer.
Johnny Joe and his mistress were found dead in his car, she had been shot in the head, and he was strangled to death.
Grace got married out of high school, and moved away from the trailer park.
Ricky followed in his father's footsteps, and became a truck driver, but like his father, he also became a criminal, but is more low key.
Albert Jr. aka Lil AL tried to become a big shot like his father, but he ended up going to prison, he supposedly still runs things from behind bars.
Isabel ended up becoming a stripper, she ended up having a few kids, and moved out of state, along with her mother.
As for Michael, he drifted around the country, he committed his first robbery in 1988, where he managed to steal $10,000 from a small business on the outskirts of Carcer City. Using what he had learned from his old man, and new tactics he picked up along the way, Michael perfected his criminal skills and became an expert marksman and efficient heist leader. During this period, he associated himself with Lester Crest, an exquisite planner who would assist Michael in planning out heists and other tasks, Michael also reunited with an old friend, Trevor Philips, and fellow criminal, Brad Snider while they were escorting cargo across the border. A partnership between the four of them was formed, and along the way, others would tag along, they would often commit robberies, steal cargo, and operate a prostitution racket, this is how Michael had met his future wife, Amanda, they met at a strip club that her mother had owned, after the initial introduction, they began flirting with each other, eventually starting a romantic relationship. Using the money earned from illicit activities, Michael bought her some breast implants, which would help with her stripping career, after a few months of dating, the two of them got married, and had two children, Jimmy and Tracey.
Michael eventually scaled back on his involvement in their crimes, not that it mattered, since usually it was him and Lester planning things out, and letting Trevor, Brad, and the others do the work. Over the next few years, they continued their life of crime, but it came crashing down ten years ago during a heist at the Bobcat Security Depot in Ludendorff, North Yankton.
Michael, Trevor, and Brad infiltrated the facility. The heist had gone smoothly, they managed to get to the vault, and steal $180,000, while escaping out the back entrance, the trio were immediately swarmed by law enforcement, gunfire was exchanged, they managed to shoot their way through, and escape, the group met up with the getaway driver, Rex, who was a local yokel and minor member of their group, before driving off they were shot at by authorities, and had to fire their way out, during said shooting Rex got injured, but managed to drive away. He was fatally wounded, and had blood in his eyes, so Michael had to guide him while he drove to the rendezvous point, with the authorities hot on their tail.
They were forced to divert their course after encountering a police roadblock, They then tried to speed over the train tracks, but were not fast enough, and the rear end of their getaway vehicle was hit by an oncoming train, causing them to lose control and spin out into a nearby tree. Rex died in the crash, the trio survived, and had to continue on foot to their destination. During their journey through town, an ambush occurred, Brad got shot and killed, during the confusion, Michael also got shot, he begged Trevor to leave him behind, Trevor refused out of loyalty, but with the amount of money they had stolen, and with Brad and Rex D.O.A., other than death there were no other options to consider. Trevor managed to shoot numerous police officers before escaping. Michael was caught by the police, before passing out.
He'd woken up in a hospital, and was handcuffed to a gurney, upon his discharge, the authorities arrested him, Michael of course denied knowing anything about the others involved with the robbery, claiming that he was a hired gun, when questioned if he shot and killed anyone during the robbery, he said he didn't, lucky for him, some witnesses stated that Michael never killed anyone. Others claim that he didn't even fire his weapon, someone even claimed that he fired all of the shots, it was confusing. Nonetheless, he got charged and was sentenced to almost twenty years to life.
His first month in prison wasn't that great, he got a visit from Amanda, informing him that she was filing for divorce, and taking the kids with her to another city, this disappointed Michael, who thought that she would stay, but it didn't happen, and this was the last time he would see her, he often got letters from Jimmy and Tracey, but eventually they too would stop writing to him. With the exception of the occasional letter from his brother Albert Jr., who was briefly housed in the same prison, the whole world had left him behind when he went away. Ten years later, now he was out, and didn't know what to do. He didn't think much of it, but he figured that things would work themselves out, one way or another.
The next day. Michael exits the front entrance of his home, he looks around at the neighborhood, there are kids playing basketball in the street, a lowrider passes by, blasting Hip-hop music, he sees a young man, probably about in his early twenties, he's on a bmx bike, showing off to people, he messes up, and falls off his bike, hitting the ground in the front yard of Michael's house.
Lamar - Ain't that a bitch.
Michael walks over to him.
Michael - You all right?
Lamar - Yeah, I'm good, creepy dude.
Michael - Creepy dude?
Lamar - Cause you live in this creepy ass house that's been abandoned for some time. Hence why I call you that.
Michael - My name is Michael, who are you?
Lamar - I'm Lamar.
Michael - Nice to meet you, do you live around here?
Lamar - No, I just crash here sometimes when I get caught up.
Michael - Oh, good to know.
Lamar - Hey, look, I got shit to take care of, I'll holla at you later on, aight.
Michael - Ok.
Lamar - See ya.
He pedals off on his bike.
End of Chapter Two.
(Author's Note: Stay tuned for the next chapter).