Riverdale - Beneath The Town (English Version)

Chapter 13: The Sweet Hereafter

[Jughead Jones:] It was the ultimate Cliff – hanger. Clifford Blossom had killed himself. But why? Life's not an Agatha Christie novel. It's a lot messier. Turns out, maple syrup was a front for his true business, transporting heroine from Montreal on his trucks. A narrative quickly emerged

[Darleen Hayle:] that Jason Blossom had learned about dear old dad's drug running and threatened to expose the truth, which led to Jason's abduction at the hands of a Southside Serpent named Mustang.

[Jughead Jones:] And then to Jason's murder, at the hands of his father.

[Darleen Hayle:] Clifford killed Mustang to cover his tracks, making it look like he'd overdosed, and tried to implicate a rival businessman, Harim Lodge, as having masterminded the whole thing.

[Jughead Jones:] And, oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Mr. Blossom threatened my life, so that my dad would confess to pulling the trigger, even though all he did was clean up the mess. He would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for a group of pesky kids who uncovered the truth.

[Darleen Hayle:] Even as Clifford Blossom, consumed by guilt and shame, took the coward's way out.

[Jughead Jones:] Jason's murder had revealed some dark truths none of us were too eager to face. Especially not Major McCoy, who wanted every last vestige of corruption crushed like a snake under a boot heel.

"Well,everyone's back to pretending nothing's happened in the last weeks and months.Polly is back home and even Mr. Hayle has returned; Darleen is working for the Register again. Everything is becomingso mundane and normal again and everyone is talking about the anniversary",I was just explaining to my friends as we headed off to our classes. "Butthat's good, right?", Archie suggested and I looked at him and shook myhead. "No, I think it's terrible. People pretend that everything is normaland good, but actually we are... a Greek suburban tragedy", I replied andhe laughed about it for a moment and I smiled weakly. "My family implodedlike so many others and we were just about to make it", I continued andlooked down at the footprints in the snow. "If Riverdale doesn't come to termswith this mess, all of this could happen again", I finally explained,exchanging a meaningful look with my friends before going to the classroomwhere I now had Spanish class.

Over the next few days, I wrote an article about the events of the last few weeks and it took just a day and a half to finish it. I decided to visit Mrs. Hayle at the Riverdale Register and ask if the newspaper would publish the article. At the Register's office, Darleen Hayle read my article entitled Serpent Scapegoat: The Case of F.P. Jones or: How a Town turned into Salem and then looked up at me again. "It's the best thing you've ever written; I've read your articles in Blue And Gold. They're all good, but nothing like this", she said, taking off her reading glasses and even giving me a little smile that I reciprocated. "It's passionate, it's compelling, but-", she started and I knew what was coming. "You won't publish it", I finished her sentence, and she looked at me a little apologetic. "Why not?", I asked, and Mrs. Hayle explained that I was too involved. "People are gonna think you wrote it as a favor a favor to your boyfriend's dad", she added, and I tried to make her understand that I had simply written the truth. "It's one version of the truth", she corrected me and I shook my head in disbelief. "No, it's not. You talk just like the mayor and everyone else and that's just not true", I objected and she looked at me a bit pejoratively, but did not go into it further. "The other reason why I wouldn't publish it in any other magazine either, if I were you, is there's been reports of attacks on the Southside," she continued to talk and I now looked at her in surprise. "People, not just the police, are going after the Serpents; the whole town agrees with Mayor McCoy. Crime is spreading", she said and I returned her direct gaze. "All the more reason to publish the article and show the town the truth", I said, and Mrs. Hayle looked at me forcefully. "There's real anger out there, Scarlett. And they're needing to focus it somewhere. Right now it's the Serpents, but I don't want you suddenly becoming a target", she explained and I gave her a grateful look. Still, that wouldn't change the fact that I'd publish the article. If not in the Register, then in the Blue And Gold.