The serpents let out hoots and hollers when the door opened to the boy's locker room and the varsity jackets came out. "Thank you. Thank you. Please try to control yourself and not throw yourself at me." Reggie fixes the collar of his jacket. It made the cheering stop.
"Way to ruin a moment." Greg scoffs.
"So cute!" Abby ran past Reggie who had his arm stretched out to squeeze Dracula's cheeks. "Who knew a snake wearing a bulldog costume would be so cute?"
"Stop it!" He wraps his arms around her to squeeze tightly.
"Alright, you made your point, boa." Sweet Pea grips his shoulder when Abby's face turns a bright red.
She took deep breaths to refill her lungs. "Next time don't publicly embarrass him." Nancy pats her head.
"Just having fun." She pouts.
"All the excitement and nerves have got us on edge." Archie cracks his neck.
"Is it because you guys are playing against Stonewall? They do have an undefeated strike going." Fangs had read about it in the sports paper.
"Hey! They are only undefeated because they play dirty!" Reggie pointed a finger in his face.
"Calm down!" Fangs move to the side to be out from behind Reggie's accusing finger.
"It's more than playing dirty. It is annoying, but they are a talented team. On top of that, they are purposely hurting the opposing team's star players, that's why they are undefeated." Archie had seen enough films of them to know it was true.
"In every game?" Kraken wonders.
"In every game." Monroe nods.
"Then how are they being allowed to play? Every game can't be a coincidence. Wouldn't the league have to investigate?" Abby didn't understand how they could be allowed to play if they were seriously hurting people.
"Still so naive." Sweet Pea put his arm around her shoulders. "Stonewall is a private school for the elite. They can break any bone they want on that field because their parent's money is funding a lot of pockets for people of authority." Reggie shot finger guns at him to say that was the theory that everyone believed.
"Who knew that joining a sports team would put a bigger target on your back than a gang?" Greg pats Dracula's back.
"Nah, that would be Monroe. He is the biggest beast on the field." He nods to the most talented player.
"I ain't letting a bunch of rich boys stop me from playing that game. I got a recruiter coming. It is one step closer to being a pro and pulling my family out of poverty." Monroe was determined to play that game no matter what.
"That's the way, Monroe." Dracula thought it was commendable how dedicated to his family he was. Everything he did from the center to football was in hopes of taking care of them.
"You'll get there and we'll all be cheering you on," Greg promised.
"Ah, don't be making promises for all of us." Sweets whine. "Someone has to be with the kids at the center."
"All the kids at the center want to be there too." Abby smiled letting him know he wouldn't be getting out of this.
Abby, Sweets, and Tessie walk into the center to see an older man in the ring with the kids. "Who are you?" She walks over to the stranger.
"Oh Abby…" Archie ran out of the office. "... this is our uncle. Uncle Frank is here to pay his respect to Dad."
"Uncle Frank, huh?" She looks him up and down in doubt, making the older man shift. Her eyes remind him a lot of his father who always saw through his lies. "If you're paying your respects then why are you here and not at his grave?"
"I did but, while driving around I saw a building with my brother's name on it and I wanted to check it out." He explains.
"In the middle of the night? You didn't see the sign that had the hours hanging by the door. You know that's breaking an entry." She crosses her arms over her chest.
"It's not breaking an entry when the door is unlocked." He chuckled.
Abby shot a glare at her brother before going back to glaring at the older man. "It's at the least trespassing. It's suspicious to come in the middle of the night when you would think no one is around."
"I was looking for a place to stay for the night." He wasn't planning on stealing anything.
She snorted. "And it's morning."
"Abby, I offered to let him stay. He has no job lined up right now. I like having family near." Archie tried to take him off the hot seat.
She turned to her brother. "You hardly know this man and you leave him alone with the children unattended."
"Come on, Abbys. He's family." He thought she would be happy to gain a family member when they lost such an important one.
"Family? Archie, I haven't seen the guy a day in my life before. How long have you known him?" She put her hands on her hips.
"Well since last night but I got a good feeling about him." Archie was trusting his gut.
"No offense Archie but your gut doesn't mean shit. Last year you would have sworn that Hiram had your best interest at heart and he framed you for a murder." She couldn't count the amount of girls he swore were the ones based on his gut.
"I wouldn't put these kids in danger." He cared for them as much as her.
"Then what's leaving them alone with a stranger? How do you even know he is who he says he is?" Abby was ready to punch him in the face.
"I can hear everything." Frank got a glare from the teen girl.
"Don't worry, Abby. We were here the whole time. He's been appropriate and hasn't tried to get any of them alone." Toby pointed back at Eddie and Malcolm.
"Don't mess with my kids." She ducks out of the ring.
"Or else." Sweets cracks his knuckles.
"Archie might be trusting but the rest of us aren't." Kraken scowled with the rest of the teens that regularly worked there behind him.
"You kids have nothing to worry about." Frank knew a lot of people who knew him would be suspicious of him but he didn't expect strangers, especially teenagers to be.
"What does that make him to me?" Tessie grabs Abby's hand.
"Nothing." She took her into the craft room. She looked like the Pied Piper with all the children following her.
Frank and Archie sat under the critical stares of the Andrew women. "Let me ask you, Frank, have you ever visited your brother's grave? You didn't bother to show up for the funeral." Mary didn't believe a word that came out of his mouth.
"He hasn't shown up for the last sixteen years to my knowledge." Abby had only seen this man in old pictures.
"I was on a crab boat, Mary. I didn't get the news until a month ago." He couldn't be blamed for not coming to the funeral.
"That was one long boat ride, huh Mom?" Abby nudged her mom who scoffed. Frank always had an excuse for why he wasn't at fault.
"Mom, I was thinking maybe Uncle Frank could get a job at Andrews Construction." Archie brought up the idea.
"You asked my son for a job?" She was disgusted by how low this man would go.
"No, Mom, the job was my idea." He defends him.
"Okay, fine. But, mark my words, Archie, the second your uncle has to do an ounce of hard work, he will bolt so fast your head will spin." She got from the armchair to go upstairs.
"I don't think it's hard work, but when times get hard. There is a reason dad had to give up his senior year to take care of their dad alone." Abby got up to look down at her brother. "I understand wanting another father figure but this is not it." She walks up the stairs to the room. Sweet Pea and Tessie turn to her. They were watching Vampirina.
"So…" Sweet Pea asked while Tessia paused the show.
"He is staying in town because Archie is attached to him." She sighs.
"I asked my teacher at school and she said that he's my grand-uncle." Tessie tilts her head. "Why did you lie?"
"I didn't lie. Family isn't made by blood. It's by bond. That guy has never been there for this family. He is only here now because he got nowhere else to go." She bent down to be on her level.
"I know that. I don't have blood with you but you're mommy." She grabs her hands.
"I forgot." She looks away embarrassed. "This just proves my point. Me and you are family. He and you are not."
"But, I want to know him. All the kids said he was fun." She squeezed her hands.
"If Archie is downstairs with him then you can talk to him." She ran out at Sweet's word before Abby could say anything else. She glares at her boyfriend. "What did this guy do? It's more than abandonment."
"I'm not sure. I never got anything concrete. After seeing him in pictures for so many years, I wanted to know about him. So Tomoko and I did some investigative reporting. On the computer, we found a wrap sheet and a military career. On the field, I never got any good stories. FP said growing up that Frank would mess up then my dad would have to clean up after him. And a lot of time that meant taking the consequences for it. Alice said that Frank was always up to some get-rich-quick scheme that would cause more trouble than good. His ex-girlfriend, also Pop's daughter, said he comes around when he needs something, then when he is done using you he leaves you to deal with the damage he causes." She gave a summary of her findings.
"That's not good but is it enough to want to drive him out of town." Sweet didn't like defending someone she hated. "Archie seemed more carefree with the guy around."
"Archie is going to get hurt when he leaves after being used." She wanted to protect her older brother.
"Then it's up to him." Sweets thought it was up to everyone to decide what they were willing to risk.
She looked at her Uncle who was walking up to the police department. The bulldogs went to Stonewall to fight the Stallions after they jumped Monroe. Of course, they got arrested for trespassing and assault. "Archie called you too." He wondered if Archie was trying to give them alone time to build a relationship.
"No, Dracula called me." She went to open the door when Frank grabbed her arm.
"I want to let you know that I'm a changed man. I promise I'm not the man that your mom knew." He wanted to make up for his mistakes.
"If you changed then when you found out dad passed you would have called to let us know you were coming. If my mom rejected you then you would have respected her wish and visited the grave before leaving. But, no you snuck into town in the middle of the night and saw a building with your brother's name on it. You were planning and breaking an entry and crashing there. If you did get caught you knew whoever owns that building wouldn't press charges." She pulled her arm from his grip. "As far as I'm concerned. You're still the same guy always looking for the easy way out."
"Well, what if I want to change?" He asked.
"If you keep saying it, do you believe it will happen?" She let out a bitter laugh at the man. "Either you are naive enough to believe that or you think I'm stupid enough too? I'm not going to get into that here." She entered the building to talk to the secretary. "I'm here to pick up Ivan Drakon."
"The school is not pressing any charges, the only thing is an adult has to pick them up." She told them the deal.
"What? But, Ivan doesn't have an adult in his life. Is FP here?" She asked.
"I can sign both Ivan and Archie Andrews out." Frank showed his ID.
"Follow this officer and you can get them." She nods to the man in blue.
"So, Ivan is your boyfriend's real name?" He thought Sweet Pea was a weird gang name but the Serpents were odd.
"No, Sweet Pea is his real name. This is Dracula." She watches the man unlock the cell to let them out.
"Thanks for coming Uncle Frank. I didn't want to call Mom and have her worry more." He walks up to them.
"Please, you didn't want to get in trouble." She rolled her eyes.
"Why are you here? We need adults to sign us out." He knew she wouldn't say anything to his mother. They promised each other not to tell on the other no matter what.
"I didn't find that out until after I called her." Dracule scratches the back of his head.
"Who would you call if you knew?" She wonders.
"Still you but I would have let you know I need an adult." He led the group out of the police station.
"I'm willing to treat you guys to Pops." Frank offered.
"I got to get Tessie." She walks to Dracula's truck.
"I got a date." He follows Abby to push her from the Driver's door.
"Just us then?" Frank turns to Archie.
"Yeah, that's good." He smiled at his Uncle.
"I can't believe I was at the Riverdale football game cheering for the Bulldogs." Sweet Pea sighed dramatically as he waited in the stands as most walked away so they wouldn't get caught up in the crowd. "I can't believe I'm disappointed they lost."
"Monroe still looked good out there so maybe he'll get recruited." Fangs thought of a positive.
"That wasn't cheerleading." Star Vixen, a kid who went to the center, stood up. "That was more like burlesque than cheerleading. When I get to Riverdale I'm going to make the cheer squad a real thing. A team that can win tournaments." She was planning on using Cheerleading to get a scholarship.
"I'm sure you will." Abby smiled at her determination. "Let's go see Dracula, Archie, and Monroe." She led the kids down the stand and to wait in front of the locker room.
"I'm getting into Notre Dame." Monroe burst out of the locker room to spin his smiling brother around. All the kids gather around him to cheer for him.
"No one deserves it more." Sweet Pea smiled.
"Took the words right out of my mouth." Abby nods.
"I spent enough time there." He smirks.
"Sweet Pea, not when the kids are around." She scolds.
"They're too busy trying to lift Monroe." He laughs.
"What?" She spins around to see that funny sight of all of them gripping Monroe's legs but not able to lift him.
"You guys don't hurt yourself." He laughs.
"We got this." Dracula and Reggie came up from behind to put him on their shoulders.
"Monroe." Everyone cheered while he bumped his fist in the air.