The movie had the opposite effect. I accidentally stress ate all of Betty's popcorn so we went up together for a refill and Veronica asked us to grab her some Sweetarts. There was a line and a few people in front of us was that guy from my dad's scattered papers. Joaquin. Next to him, holding hands, was our very own Kevin Keller. I made sure to note that in the back of my mind as we made our way back.
Casino Royale was a decent flick, as far as I was paying attention. Of course, I preferred to watch at the drive in even though I'd be trapped in the booth. Archie offered to drop us off, but I jumped ship at the spot where we played Chinese Firedrill earlier. There was something I had to investigate: that ghostly old woman. I still had some time before it was dark enough to screen movies at work.
She was sitting on a park bench, throwing crumbs at birds.
"You know bread is actually bad for birds." She scowled at me.
"You look just like him. Are you named Forsythe, too?" I stumbled back.
"You know my dad?"
"Probably, but I grew up with Forsythe the first, who I could only assume is your grandfather."
"And you're Polly and Betty's grandmother?"
"I think so. I've never got to meet them in person but I saw the birth announcements in the paper all those years ago. I always keep an eye out in case I spot one around, but I don't dare cross Alice. I respect her wishes."
"Is it because she blames you for the short time she lived in poverty?" She laughed at me, a whole hearty laugh.
"Who told you that? Was it Smith? At least he doesn't go around telling everyone I'm dead. Legally speaking, I probably should be, though. Oh but I've said too much and my cat is waiting for me at my apartment. Do me a favour and don't tell Polly or Betty about this. The last thing I need is the fiery dragon breath of my own daughter hounding my neck." And without so much as waiting for a verification from me, she took off.
The problem with things like these is that you're searching for answers and you just end up with more questions. Betty was sitting on a big family secret, one she knew almost nothing about, and I was going to help her uncover it.
When I got to work, I still had time to spare so I fed the payphone some dimes and called the Cooper residence. Apparently Betty was having a sleepover at Veronica's. This may have been for the best as there was little I could have said on the phone with a high likelihood of eevesdroppers without tipping the parents off.
More coins and this time the call went to the Pembrooke. I was a lot less concerned with Veronica and her mother overhearing. Her father was away on business, or at least that's what they told everyone. He never seemed to be home.
"Hello Mrs Lodge, is Betty there?"
"Not as far as I know. Sorry, Jughead. Oh wait, they're just coming in now. Did you want me to put her on the phone?"
"Yes please, I'm running out of change." Most people forgot that us poor folk have to pay on demand by the minute. Luckily Betty was put on the phone fairly quickly.
"Hello?"
"Hey Betty."
"What is it, Jug? Did something happen?" There was a pause. "Did you get jumped?"
I shook my head even though she couldn't see me. "No, no, no. I'm fine, Betty. I'm safe. This is about you. Your grandma isn't dead and-" the phone line went and there was a tone sound.
"Please insert change to place a call." Shit. As it turned out, despite the world around me I was all out of change, and the phone at work was for incoming calls and emergencies only. I sighed and decided I would just go tell her first thing in the morning, even if she was on the exact opposite end of town.
Tonight's showing was A Boy Named Charlie Brown. We usually did kids movies on Saturdays since there was no school the next day. This meant people probably wouldn't get loud or rowdy. There were mostly just parents with kids. I went and got a hotdog and loaded it up with toppings as I watched for any issues with the film. I started to pack up as everyone started to leave. It was still fairly warm out as the movie was shorter and the cold of the night hadn't quite set in. I walked home without even thinking, but there was a shadow looming beside the trailer and it was too large to be my dad's.
"You're pretty ballsy to be hanging around a gang leader's trailer like this, Charlie Brown."
He pushed me against the siding. "It's Chuck, and know your place, freak! You're trailer trash, just like your band of merry men, and all it takes is a word from me and the police will round you all up. Look at this piece of crap trailer. Let me guess, you've lived here all your life, right? You're nothing, and it's time you figured that out." He pushed me so hard that the stars seemed a lot closure. My vision started going black but I could hear a ruckus. There was nothing I could do as I slipped out of consciousness.
A/N: shout out to my 3 reviewers I had when I first wrote this. I was nervous about slowing down but I spat this story out in less than two weeks. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope my edited chapters don't clog emails. I'm not sure if they send alerts over edited chapters.