Tribulation ➙ Sweet Pea

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The Beginning of the End

To the small town of Riverdale girls like Tabitha Meyers tended to go unnoticed. She had been from the Southside of town and was related to the man that had been locked away since the beginning of the Summer.

Girls like Tabitha Meyers didn't fit the perfect mold that Riverdale held to the highest standard and maybe it was for the best that she didn't.
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      Tabitha Meyers had learned to become wary over the years when there was even the slightest possibility of rain in Riverdale. She could recall that every time something bad happened to her, there was a chance of rain happening in the small town full of pep.

The first time that she noticed it was when Sweet Pea had his arm broken when he was nine and she was ten. The brunette had run to her father the moment the ginger haired boy had started pushing him and her cousin around on the playground. She hadn't made it back in time to prevent the damage done to her boys, only skidding to a stop to see Fangs glaring up at the boy while standing in front of a teary eyed Sweet Pea who was clutching his arm in pain.

There had been a small drizzle of rain on the day that Jason Blossom had broken Sweet Pea's arm.

The second time was when they were all slightly older. Three had become four with the addition of Toni Topaz to their tight knit group, a girl who had hesitantly given the brunette girl her first kiss when they all had snuck a bottle of vodka out of her father's dresser.

She had always been the oldest out of the four, starting school a year ahead of them and feeling perpetually alone. They were thirteen and fourteen and everything was supposed to be a time of adolescent joy but instead it was a nightmare.

They had snuck out of her parent's trailer to go down to see a new horror movie at the Bijou, one that she swore up and down would scare Fangs more than herself. Tabitha had taken up residence on Sweet Pea's back, his arms tight under her smooth thighs as he bounced her along the street towards the movie theater. She didn't know how she didn't see it coming, the signs that she had missed in their peaceful lives.

Tabitha didn't know what drew her to look over towards the run-down motel, maybe it was the faint sound of her mother's laughter or maybe it was pure instinct that something wasn't right. Her face had fallen as the first drop of rain hit her cheek, her hands tightening against Sweet Pea's shoulders as she watched her mother being pushed against the side of the building to kiss the familiar Northside man.

Later that night as she was curled between her cousin and Sweet Pea with Toni laying at the end of the double bed hugging her legs, she listened to the beating rain hit the trailer and wished it was loud enough to cover up the sounds of her father screaming at her mother for a divorce.

The third time it happened was the day that she had turned fifteen. Tabitha had fallen asleep next to her cousin that night, dreaming about the learning to ride the motorcycle that her father had given her that morning. She had been awoken suddenly by the buzzing sensation of a message coming to her phone, telling her to open the door.

She had quietly tip-toed her way to the door, opening it to reveal a soaking wet Sweet Pea on the verge of tears. Tabitha had wasted no time and had brought the boy into her arms, uncaring that the heavy rain was soaking her oversized t-shirt and pajama shorts. He had trembled against her, arms shaking as he told her about his father getting arrested for aggravated assault against a Northside man. He had pleaded with her, urging her to believe that Hiram Lodge had gotten his dad thrown in jail because of a bad deal.