Collateral Damage ▻ Riverdale [1]

2.32

THE AFTERMATH
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

A lot had gone down while Queenie visiting her father. Clifford Blossom had killed himself, Mustang was killed by Clifford, Queenie's brother and his friends had even watched Jason being killed on tape. It had been bad enough watching the boy die on camera, but what was even worse, was hearing and seeing the pain in Queenie's screams as she watched the love of her life die at the hands of his own father. It was the hardest thing for the five teenagers to watch.

   The group of teenagers, including Queenie, also found out that the only reason FP had lied and confessed to a crime he did not commit was because Clifford threatened the lives of both Queenie and Jughead.

At the police station, Queenie stood off to the side as Sheriff Keller questioned FP, who was standing in his jail cell.

"So Blossom was a kingpin, he funneled drugs through Riverdale and then shipped them out," Sheriff Keller stated, "What the Mayor and I care about is the local component of Blossom's business. Someone is selling his drugs here, in Riverdale. Mostly on the Southside, but it's starting to cross the tracks recently, too." He explained and FP seemed a bit amused.

"And you think it's the Serpents?" FP asked him curiously.

"Who else?" Keller retorted as if it were obvious. Queenie scoffed, it was clearly the Ghoulies, but of course, the Serpents were always the first to blame.

FP chuckled at his comment, which Sheriff Keller seemed unamused about, "So here's the deal, you feed us names, tell me who's pushing the dough and the Mayor and the DA have a chat. Maybe he'd be inclined to offer a lesser sentence."

"Serpents don't get into the hard stuff. It's dime bags of weed, and I'm no snitch." FP told him and Sheriff Keller stood up from leaning on his desk and made his way over to FP's jail cell.

"FP, if you don't help us when your case goes to trial, they will be no leniency. You'll be looking at twenty years in a federal penitentiary for your part in a cover up of Jason Blossom's murder."

_______

"Calm down, Billy." Queenie warned him sternly as she pushed one of her fellow Serpent members backwards, away from the exit door of the Whyte Wyrm. She turned to look around at all of the Serpents around her. They all looked furious. Queenie extended her arms out as she spoke, "Just tell me the problem and I'll try my hardest to fix it."

It was afternoon time and Queenie had just arrived at the Whyte Wyrm to see how things were holding up. She ended up finding a group of elder Serpents leading some kind of revolt against Fred Andrews. She knew she couldn't let that happen. It was the last thing they needed with all eyes on them. The Mayor had been tailing them ever since Clifford Blossom killed himself. They needed someone to blame and of course, they planned on blaming the Southside.

Tall Boy was sitting down at the bar, drinking a glass of whiskey. He suddenly slammed it down and got up from his seat, "I'll tell you what's wrong. Fred Andrews let Hiram Lodge's bitch run the show. She ended up firing us all from the work site."

Queenie let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I'll fix this. Just let talk to him." She informed them, picking her jacket before heading out the door.

Queenie traveled all the way to Andrews construction by foot. She entered the small office trailer to see Fred by himself. He was sitting at his desk, looking through some papers. He was frustrated about something, that was clear.

"I need to talk to you." Queenie spoke up loudly, causing Fred to instantly look up.

Fred frowned in confusion when he saw Queenie standing before him. His frown became larger when he saw Queenie wearing her Serpent jacket, "Queenie. What brings you here?" He asked her, but something told him it was about Hermione firing the Serpents.

"I'm here on Serpent business." She informed him and Fred sighed.

"Queenie, I'm sure you've heard this from other people before, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Being a Serpent is only going to drag you down, just like it did your dad. I mean, look at how being a Southside Serpent ended for him." Fred told her in a calm tone.

Queenie rolled her eyes, "I didn't come here to get words of advice from someone, I came here to talk about how you fired my dad's guys. They're beyond pissed." Queenie explained to the man, "I don't see a valid excuse of why you fired them. Mind telling me because I can't seem to understand why. They've done nothing but work their asses off for you."

Fred shook his head in response, "I didn't fire the Serpents, Hermione did. If you got a bone to pick, pick it with her. I had no idea that she was going to do that." He told her and Queenie just chuckled at him.

"See, I don't get that. How the hell do you let someone else's bitch tell you what to do?" She questioned and Fred tried his best not to seem offended by her comment.

"Hermione and I are partners. I know what you're trying to do for the Serpents, but the decision was made. There's no going back now." Fred replied.

Queenie rolled her eyes in annoyance, "You know what? Screw you! The Serpents worked hard off their ass for you. They worked for you and Hermione when no one else did. These people have families and mouths to feed, yet you let Hermione fire them. What kind of person does that? They may be criminals, but Hermione is just as bad as us, Hiram's even worse." Queenie argued before she turned around and headed out the door.

______

"It's not that bad, Jug," Queenie stated to her brother as they both stood in front of their new foster home.

"How is this not bad?" Jughead asked with a frown on his face, "We're being forced to live in a foster home." Queenie scoffed when she heard Jughead's words, which made the Jones boy even more confused, "What?"

Queenie smiled as she knocked on the door, "Because there's no way in hell that we're actually staying in this place," She told him and Jughead gave her the look that meant he was going question her, "And before you ask, yes, you still have to attend Southside High. Mandy's still there, so that's a familiar face. Sweet Pea, of course, is still there, but Joaquin left town."

"Joaquin left town?" Jughead asked her, but before Queenie could reply, the door was opened.

"Hi, you must be Queenie and Jughead," The female, who opened the door, smiled, "Please, come in. Let's get you guys situated. My husband's not home right now, but he will be soon enough."

Queenie shook her head, "There's no need," She spoke up, "Here's the thing, my brother and I already have a place to stay. So here's the plan: We can live where we want and you just call us when there's a home visit. Sound good? Good."

And with that, Queenie grabbed Jughead's hand and led him in the direction away from the house, leaving their foster mother speechless by Queenie's demands and sudden exit.