ghosts // riverdale

prologue

          The days after the news broke about Cliff Blossom all became a rush of gray haze. The people of Riverdale felt safe again. Yet, as Betty's speech at the 75th Annual Jubilee had predicted, Riverdale was at a crossroads. Fred Andrews was shot at Pop's by a masked maniac looking for some quick cash. While his injury wasn't fatal, it was sure to leave permanent damage. Suddenly, everything that we had built together, everything that the town had built together in the last few months came to a crashing halt.

          While the random shooting at Pop's became a well-circulated story in every newspaper in Riverdale, it didn't steal the spotlight for too long. In fact, less than a week later, Riverdale High's Blue & Gold Newspaper would have a much more daring and shocking headline. FP Jones, my father, was released from jail. Nobody had any information regarding how his release was possible. Hell, even my father didn't know how it was possible.

          He showed up on the front porch of the trailer shocked, dumbfounded and in desperate need of a shower. I asked him questions. He couldn't answer them. Sheriff Keller had arrived at his jail cell at seven that morning and turned the key. All Sheriff Keller could tell him was to not ask questions, just to keep his head low and carry on like nothing had ever happened. My father apologized for everything that had lead up to that point. For having anything to do with the death of Jason Blossom, for confessing that he had murdered Jason even when he hadn't and for never being the father that I deserved.

          For the first time in my sixteen years of life, I saw an honest man staring back at me when I looked my father in the eyes. When I looked at him, I saw regret but I also saw opportunity. No man is ever too far gone to come crawling back in desperation from an old towns rotting cinder block jail cell. At least that's what I had believed that morning before school when I sat and talked to my dad at our dining room table. My father needed redemption for the sins that he had committed. The town needed redemption for the secrets that were held in the hearts of the people that occupied the homes (and trailers) on both sides of the tracks.

          At first, everyone believed that perhaps the Lodges were this very redemption or even reckoning that I speak of. Veronica herself had mentioned it in one of her first days at Riverdale High and while Veronica's Louboutin heels were fierce, they weren't the heels that would bring this reckoning to Riverdale. It was time for all of Riverdale's secrets to be brought into the light, even if they hurt. When the reckoning began, I have to admit that I didn't care for it....or for her, so I should say. Yet now, knowing what I know, maybe the girl that walked into town that gloomy fall day was exactly what Riverdale needed - it's ghosts back.

- j.h.j.