My Serpent's Keeper [J.J]

Bad Blood

        The weeks following the small vacation were better, Cleo was no longer outcast but instead, Veronica decided they should be best buddies. Which made Cleo's job a whole lot harder, and made her even more suspicious of the Lodge family.

 Jughead dove head first into his investigation against Hiram Lodge and his exposé exposing the criminal acts of the New York Crime boss. The two had barely seen each other except for school days and some weekend nights when Jughead would crash at Cleo's place. Though she was usually gone till late at night. 

    Cleo was currently on a job for the serpents, nothing major just collecting a dept some fool thought he could outrun.  She was in the next town over, in Broomsdale, where the guy was currently seeking refuge. SHe knew things might get ugly so she brought back up, Sweet Pea and Fangs, her two best guys. 

"This should be the place." Cleo said looking at the shabby little house with the broken down porch. "Looks like a hideaway if I ever saw one." Fangs said grimacing at the house. Cleo sighed "Well let's get this over with." they marched up to the front, heavy boots stomping across the pavement and Pea banged his fist on the door. "Gerald Cruise! We've come to collect on behalf of the Serpents." Cleo called. 

   They heard a loud noise and then some banging "Little pig, little pig, let us in!" Fangs sang. "G-go away! I have the authorities on the line!" a scared voice called back. "You have two warrants out for your arrest, Gerald, you wouldn't call the police even if you witnessed an old lady being mugged." Cleo smiled "Now open the door and give us what we came for." they heard more shuffling around in the house before they saw a figure running out from the back of the house and down the street. "We got a runner." Sweet Pea said watching him. "Fangs, search the house. Pea, you up for a run?" Clea asked. Sweet Pea smiled before they both took off.

They finally cornered him in an alleyway and he back against the wall scared "PLease, I-I'll give you anything, just don't hurt me!" he pleaded. He was a run of the mill sleaze, balding head with a greasy comb-over, clothes that your grandfather would wear and a creepy mustache too bushy for his upper lip. "How about the money you owe us?" Sweet Pea asked "I don't have it right now. J-just give me more time, please! I-" Cleo cut him off "We gave you two months to get what you owe us. Your time is up." she slid her brass knuckles onto her fingers and stalked towards him.

-

     The three walked back to their motorcycles job complete. The boys laughed and messed with each other imitating the poor fool they just beat up. Cleo used a bandana to wipe the blood from her brass knuckles "Please! Please!" Fangs wined as Sweet Pea swung a fist towards him "The dude was a total sleaze. I found pictures of woman all over his apartment, and I don't think the woman knew these pictures were being taken either." Fangs told them Sweet Pea grimaced "Ug, he deserved the beating Cleo gave him." Their conversation went quiet to Cleo as her eyes landed on a familiar figure across the street. 

  There was a woman in a long soft pink coat, she had short black hair cut into a blunt bob. She held hands with a little girl, about the age of two, wearing a winter hat with a large pom on top the same color as the mother's coat. The toddler wobbled on its feet while the mother encouraged her to walk and complimented her endlessly on her efforts. "You are doing so good, Miki!" the mother beamed as she squat down to lift the little girl up. "Such a big girl." the toddler giggled "Umma!" of course the word was jumbled in the child's mouth but Cleo knew what she was saying because she had said it many times before.