Broken Home

21 | Suspicious Minds

Charles lets his phone ring all the way through again but to no avail.

Chic frowns at him, "Nothing?"

Charles sighs and shakes his head. "He won't pick up for any of us."

"I'm sorry."

"Would it kill him to let us talk to him? We're worried sick." Charles angrily says. "We haven't heard from or seen him in two days."

"You have every right to be mad, but what if we gave him the benefit of a doubt? Maybe he has a good reason for dropping off the face of the earth?"

"And what would that reason be?"

"I don't know," Chic sighs. "I just don't like seeing you like this."

Alice isn't taking the silence well either. She's called everyone she could think of; she even had Fred call Gladys. He's not in Toledo.

"I called old Serpent friends, old classmates, probably the entirety of the yellow pages and nothing. What if something happened? What if he doesn't come back? The last time we spoke, I threatened to never let him see Charles again for as long as he's a Serpent," Alice weeps. "I swear I didn't mean it."

"Honey, you've done all you can." Mary hugs her. "All we can do now is wait. Think of it this way. Maybe he's hiding? That's better than him putting himself in front of the Ghoulies."

"You're not alone, Alice. We're here." Fred promises.

+

Alice heads down to the southside to do a little more investigating. She drives down to the trailer park first. The damage the fire caused his trailer is heartbreaking. She couldn't fathom to see it before, but now that she's here it saddens her. It was FP's childhood home. Though, it was a bad place at first, they changed those memories once Forsythe upped and left town. They raised Charles briefly together in this trailer. Alice moved in when she was pregnant so FP could help her as much as possible with any of her needs. Now it's all gone.

"Alice?" An old friend spots her.

She turns to look. She smiles at her. "Byrdie."

"Long time, no see."

"I know. It's been quite some time."

"You heard." She directs her eyes to the trailer.

"He's the father to our son. Of course." Alice says. "Have you heard from him?"

"Sorry," Byrdie shakes her head.

"That's what worries me."

"If I see him, I'll drag him by the ear to the nearest phone to call you. Does that sound fair?"

Alice needed that chuckle. "Thanks."

"It's a shame Gladys took the kids. She just shoved those suitcases into the back of her car and left."

Alice furrows her eyebrows. "She had enough time to pack bags?"

"I'd think those bags had been packed for awhile. I saw her lugging them out long before the fire."

"Why would she?" Alice squints her eyes as she thinks. "Were the Ghoulies posing a threat?"

Byrdie shakes her head. "The riot was at the Wyrm. As far as I know, they were never here."

"Then who set the fire?"

Byrdie shrugs. "That's what we want to know."

"Does FP know?"

"No one has seen him since the riot. I doubt he does."

"I don't like the sound of this," Alice thanks her for the talk and gets into her car. She bursts into the Whyte Wyrm soon after.

Hog Eye pauses his restock and turns around to see who entered his bar. "Smithy," He beams. "I've missed ya." He loops around the bar and goes in for a hug. "A phone call just isn't enough."

"I've missed you too." She smiles.

"It's no fun around here without you. You know?"

"You're just being nice."

Hog Eye nudges her. "You know you miss me."

Alice's smile turns into a frown. There's someone else she misses.

"Ouch," Hog Eye acts hurt.

"You know I'm always happy to see you. It's just-"

"FP," Hog Eye finishes her thought. "I know. I'm just messing with you."

"It's scary not knowing where he is. It's never been like this between us."

"I get it. When you know someone your whole life, it's not easy just losing touch."

"There's also something else." Alice is unsure of what to think. Did she really have odd suspicions. "What's with the Ghoulies never touching Sunnyside?"

"The fire?"

Alice nods.

"We're all on our toes about that. Serpents who were home didn't see any Ghoulies around."

"Apparently Gladys was all packed with suitcases before she left. Would you have been if the Ghoulies were attacking so out of the blue?"

"I know FP had a run in with them right before they showed up here."

Alice nods. "At the game."

"Was she there?"

"No, FP only took Jughead to watch Charles."

"Well he didn't come here with Jughead so he had gone straight home. That fire happened during the riot. That's not enough time to fill up suitcases without him knowing she was going to leave. She must have kept them packed since she last left."

"He was seeing her again. I think he would have noticed if she still had one foot out the door." Alice thinks out loud. "Fred said she said the Ghoulies set the fire, but the Ghoulies were never there. Isn't that a little odd to you?"

"Penny left these here earlier for FP if he shows up," Hog Eye heads to the back room; he comes back with a set of papers. "She was going to serve him on Gladys's behalf."

Alice looks over the documents. "FP was convinced she had changed her mind. She never did. She was working on these the entire time, wasn't she?"

"Do you think she did it?"

"Would she really go this far?"

"She never cared for FP."

"That doesn't mean you can burn his home down."

"I know. There's only been one consistent person in his life who truly did like no other."

"Then why doesn't that person get to know where he is?"

"Maybe he thinks it's safer they didn't. You know how protective he is of those he loves."

Alice sighs. "I hope that's why."