Broken Home

14 | I Heard it Through the Grapevine

Little did FP and the Serpents know, that with him gone for a couple of days. The Ghoulies had made their lucrative comeback. Penny is seeing the Jingle Jangle business flourishing better than anticipated, especially with the northside youth.

Meanwhile, FP has no clue over in Toledo. He's so fixated on the kids that he hasn't picked up on Gladys's odd behavior.

Jellybean wakes up her parents with her late night cries. FP tries to nudge Gladys to handle it this time but she's not in bed. He groans and pushes himself up to attend to the baby.

"It's okay," He yawns. "I'll fix you up a bottle again." He rocks her in his arms and carries her out as he looks for her bag.

FP crosses paths with Gladys in the hallway when she comes in from the garage with her phone in hand.

"What are you doing?" He asks her.

Gladys shoves her phone into her pocket. "Go to bed. I'll take care of the baby."

FP being exhausted hands her over to Gladys and heads back to bed without another question. She sighs of relief when he goes back.

+

Alice helps the girls get ready for school. Polly sits quietly as Alice brushes her hair. Alice looks at the look on her face through the mirror.

"Why the long face, sweetheart?" Alice frowns.

"I miss daddy."

"Oh," She is aware of how much the girls miss their father.

"Is he really a bad guy?"

Alice thinks of a nice way she can put it. "He hurt your big brother and that is not okay."

"The kids at school say he's going to be in jail forever."

"I know you miss him but it's better this way. He can never hurt you or Elizabeth either. It's about keeping you all safe."

"Daddy won't hurt me."

Charles listens in from the hall. Betty has taken it harder; she has even been mean to him about it. Polly has come around to understanding what is going on for the most part.

"We still want to make sure he won't."

"Has Mr. Jones ever hurt Charlie?" Polly asks out of curiosity.

"Never."

"He hurt daddy though."

Alice sighs. "This is a lot of grown up things. Let's talk about something else."

Charles walks over to the next door, Betty's room. He knocks and she pokes her head out. She glares at him.

"Betty, I think we should talk."

"No."

"I know you're mad that your dad is gone, but he really did hurt me. And it hurt a lot. We wouldn't be a good family if we let him stay around to one day maybe hurting you or Polly too."

"He's a nice daddy."

"Maybe he can be nice but it doesn't mean he didn't hurt me." Charles sighs and lifts up his shirt. He has a scar on his side. He points to it. "This really hurt and I never told anyone because I didn't want to upset you, Polly, or mom if he went away. My dad made me realize it was better to say I was being hurt instead of keep letting it happen. It could hurt a lot more if it didn't stop now."

Betty frowns. She understands that he has hurt him but the little girl in her wants her dad back. It's too much for her to understand at such a young age.

"Can you stop being mad at me?" Charles pleads. "It hurts my feelings when you blame me for not having your dad around."

"I thought daddies could never be mean. He's so nice to me."

"Not all dads are mean. There's good ones. I promise."

"Yours?" She assumes he will say.

Charles nods. "Mr. Andrews is also a good dad. Has Archie ever told you?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry. Maybe your dad will learn to be nice forever." He says to make her feel better.

+

Chic looks everywhere for Charles in the school halls until he finds him by his locker. He grabs and pulls him into the nearest room. Charles looks at him confused.

"This is important. There might be a problem." Chic panics.

"What kind of problem?" Charles's eyes widen. "Do people know?"

"It's not that," Chic couldn't get it out of him any sooner. "There may be a Ghoulie problem."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean. I used to have to go to Greendale to buy more Jingle Jangle for the boys and now they're here in Riverdale."

"I don't get how that's so bad. I mean I know it's not great, but dealers deal anywhere."

"I overheard them talking about your dad when I last went to meet with a Ghoulie. They kept talking about the Serpent King."

"What did they say?"

"I'm not sure but something about the Serpents probably going to be an issue because of your dad."

"Shit, maybe I might have to tell my dad about it."

"He's going to ask you how you know."

"My parents know the team does Jingle Jangle. Hal caught me with the stash I took away from you and I told them the team was getting high. They could think it's anybody."

"What's your dad going to do?"

"I don't know but he always figures it out."

+

After school, Charles calls his father. He doesn't know what he's going to say but he felt the need to call.

FP presses his phone to his ear once he sees his son's name on his screen. "Hello?"

"Dad, there's something you should know." Charles states. "I was told there might be trouble with the Ghoulies soon."

FP furrows his eyebrows. The Ghoulies haven't step foot in Riverdale in years. This concerns him drastically. "How do you know about the Ghoulies?"

"That's not important." Charles disregards the question. "All I know is that they were talking about you. Is this something we should be worried about?"

"You don't need to worry about it. I will handle it. Alright? Thank you for letting me know. I've got to make a phone call. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay," Charles says. "Wait, before you go. There's something I've been wanting to ask you, especially since you're in Toledo."

It's a question he's been meaning to ask. After all, he's had a similar conversation with his mother.

"What is it?"

"Are things really serious between you and Gladys again?"

"We're working things out."

"What if it doesn't? Then what?"

"Where's this coming from? Is this because you saw your mother and I?"

"Gladys is mean to you. Have you never not noticed that?" She isn't the nicest person. FP could agree with that. "All you did was fight."

"I'm an adult, Charlie. I can make choices for myself. I know what I'm getting myself into."

"But are you even happy? That's what really matters."

"I've got to go. I'll be back soon." FP hangs up.

Charles glares at his phone. His father truly was as stubborn as his mother.