So, you want to know the truth about my boy, Mikey? Let’s start from the beginning. This definitely ain’t the whole picture, but I’ll lay it out for you much as I know. To understand me and Mikey, you got to understand that hellhole masquerading as a town. This pile of rottenness and dirty secrets. Now then, I can’t give you all the details, because of promises, debts, and shit like that, but here’s the briefest history. Not the history the people running the place want you to hear, the truth of it.
Serendipity was a shithole founded when a bunch of people got lazy on their way to the coast. They stopped and found the goldmine. What a relief, they had a reason to stop. Yay. So, the town was founded. It boomed for a bit, then died. People started moving away once the big guys announced the mine going dry. No reason to stay in a mining town with no mine. But, see, those original settlers’ families were just as lazy as the settlers had been. They didn’t want to pack up and move somewhere sensible. They like the mansions they’d built with all that gold money. They wanted to keep it. So, they began the process of farming there, a little ways out of town. Soon enough, real farmers found the area nearby, and set up other small farms. Then, people left the town, learned skills and trades, got married, and yet everyone from those initial families always came back. Serendipity ain’t one of those towns you can shake away easy. It takes a lot of effort to keep yourself from being pulled back in. Wherever Mikey is now, I’m sure he’s learning that as we speak.
Soon enough, a small, new town was built, closer to the farms and further from the old mine. The mining town’s still there, just empty. And the family mansions have been steadily expanding to accommodate everyone, after all when an entire town is owned by five extended families, they have a lot of space to expand into. Well, six, but the Ryers left back before I was born. Their mansion remains a testament to the truth of that town: Everyone with any sense leaves that place, no matter what it costs them.
In any case, my dad was one of the family peeps, the ones that refused to stay left even after they made it out. He went off to college, got a degree in something or other, came back with a pregnant wife and an accountant’s license and took over dealing with the town’s taxes. Everyone was happy for them, and because of them. After a bit, my older sister was born. A year later, it was me coming into the world. Little Josephus Paul. It took my parents no time to figure out that I was trouble. By the time they’d put me in a crib, I was getting around everything they put in my path. Even as an infant, I knew that hellish town would be the death of me if I didn’t get out. The story of the first eighteen years of my life was centered around a single question: How can I get out of Serendipity.
It isn’t as easy as you think. You gotta understand, I was a troubled kid and a middle child. I had everyone worried that I might say something stupid, all the time. I never would, but that didn’t stop them from worrying. I was also the smartest of my family, though my sis would never admit it, which meant I was constantly being scolded in the schoolhouse for my ‘bad attitude’ despite my near perfect scores on every test we took. There was basically no chance of them letting me go off to college, and without college, how was a kid like me supposed to live well out in the real world, in a world where you couldn’t buy dinner with a fistbump, or beer with a nod of your head.
Then came Mikey. That kid was like a force of nature. I didn’t meet him until after he’d moved into the basement of Jim’s Pub. One bar in town meant all us troubled kids were familiar with it, and while Linda refused to serve us, Jim would occasionally. He was chill enough to not mind our drinking and he knew us well enough to know how much we could take before we got drunk. He never let us get drunk, but he didn’t mind giving us the occasional beer. Especially me, Alex, Other Alex, and Olivia. We’d cut school together a lot, on days when there weren’t any tests. Me and Other Alex, because the two of us didn’t really need to go to classes in order to ace them, Olivia and Alex because they had never been planning on finishing school. Once Alex introduced me to Other Alex and Olivia, we became an inseparable foursome. Then, we were palling it up one day at the pub when a new washer came out from the back. He was surprised by us, because the Pub wasn’t officially open, and Alex’s babyface was clearly out of place, as was the fact that he was behind the bar when the man walked into the room. “Who are you guys?” he asked.
I stuck out my hand to him. “You’re new in town, aren’t you? I’m Jo, that’s Olivia. Alex is the guy trying to grab a beer while Linda’s in the back room, and Other Alex is the lovely young lady keeping watch for him.”
Nervously, he replied, “Right, hi, I’m Mikey. What’re you doing here?”
“Move it, A,” Other Alex said mutedly, then noticed the guy, “Hello there, stranger.”
Olivia groaned. “You’re the worst, Alex,” she complained.
“Why?” Alex asked from behind the bar.
Just then, Linda came out of the stockroom. “Why are you behind the bar?” she complained, swatting ineffectually in his general direction.
Mikey looked at her, and I could see in that look that something was there. Leaning over to Other Alex, I whispered, “You’re screwed, Ay. Look at them eyes.”
“Goddamnit,” she muttered.
Mikey and Linda went behind the bar, after Alex sheepishly returned emptyhanded, and the two of them talked for a bit. He came up to the table after and said to us, “Seems I’m supposed to mostly look the other way where you guys are concerned. Any idea why?”
I was about to speak, when Alex answered for me. “Because me and Jo over here are kids of the old town, and Alex is the next great hope for the town. I’m guessing because of us three, O just gets a pass.”
“Screw you, Guy Alex,” she spat out, “I happen to be the grandkid of the tiebreaker, so ha.”
“Okay,” Mikey said, trailing off a bit. He had a look in his eyes like he wanted something. I knew by now, everyone came to this town to find something or escape something. And from his eyes, I knew he was looking. I also knew better than involve Alex in any talks. He may have been a wild child and surnamed ‘Kenneth’, but he was a Jefferson through and through, loyal to the bone. If Mikey was here for secrets, he’d find them, and I didn’t want Alex to be involved. Alex would tell his uncle, who would tell all the family leaders. That’d just get Mike into hot water. So, I waited. Other Alex saw in my eyes that I wanted to stay, and so once they opened in earnest, Olivia and Alex got up to leave. Alex leaned in and said, “Hey, you guys go ahead, I kinda want to rest a bit.”
Olivia looked somewhat concerned. She looked at Alex and me. I raised a hand. “I got this, Liv. Make sure Alex doesn’t die, would you?”
“No promises,” she replied with a halfhearted smile, “You know how he gets sometimes.”
“Why do you think I’m staying with this Alex instead?” I joked.
Alex mockingly shoved my shoulder. “I see how it is,” he said.
Olivia, however, knew exactly why she thought I was staying. “Oh I know,” she said, raising her eyebrow, “Alex is the reason you’re staying.” All four of us knew what she meant. Me and Other Alex got a little red in the cheeks, but we played it off real good. Olivia and Alex headed back to the Jefferson house.
Once the two of them were out the door, Other Alex leaned in. “Okay, Jo, what’s up?”
“Don’t know, Alex,” I answered, “That’s why I wanted to stay.”
She shook her head. “Yeah, I got that. Why didn’t you want them here?” she asked, more specifically this time.
I sighed. “I didn’t give a rats ass whether Liv was here, but if it’s what I think it is, I couldn’t have Alex anywhere nearby.”
She furrowed her brow. “You think Mikey’s trouble?” she asked.
I smiled and nodded. “Better. I think Mikey might just hold a ticket out of here. And I’m scared he might be digging in trouble spots.”
Other Alex smirked at me. “You don’t mind if I stay for a hot minute? I’d love to know the town’s trouble spots.”
I smirked right back. “All you’d have to do is ask, you know that.”
“But where’s the fun if you just tell me?” We both laughed at that. I stuck out a finger to get Mikey’s attention.
He walked over to our table. “Listen,” he said, “I’m not going to be here long. I have to head over to the construction site in an hour. What’s up?”
Other Alex scooted over, and I gestured for him to sit. He was somewhat confused but accepted the seat. Shaking his head, he continued, “I don’t know why you’re talking to me, but I’m just a passer-through. So, Mister Joseph and Miss Alexandra, I’m sorry but I can’t help you get beer. I don’t want to piss off my boss.”
I laughed. “You’ve got this all wrong, Mikey. Firstly, it’s technically Josephus, after that historian, and Alexis, but that’s beside the point.”
Other Alex interrupted me, throwing in a quick, “Just call us Alex and Jo, please.” I shot her a look that said, shush, I’m being mysterious, and she added, “Sorry, Jo is trying to be a man of mystery. Doesn’t realize you’re filling that role perfectly fine.”
“Up yours, Alex,” I spat lovingly at her, then to Mikey, I continued, “Anyways, more importantly, I don’t want to drink today. I’ve got a project to finish. No, I wanted to talk about why you’re here. In town.”
Mikey looked confused, a mask I knew well enough to know it was false. “What do you mean? I just was looking for a place to stay and Joe was kind enough to offer me his spare room.”
“Bull. No one just happens into Serendipity.”
He smirked. “Isn’t that literally the meaning of serendipity? Pure happenstance?”
I leaned backwards. “Yeah, but one thing you learn growing up here is that chance is a lie and coincidence is almost always intentional.”
Alex nodded. “Yep. Like when the sprinklers ‘accidently’ went off during the school spirit whiteout day.”
I raised my hands in protest. “That was actually all Liv’s idea. I only gave them a little help breaking into the system.”
Alex and Mikey both chuckled. He spoke. “Fine,” he said, “I was running from someone, and this was a place I’d heard you could hide easy.”
“Yourself, maybe,” I replied, “But that wasn’t it. No, why are you here?”
He furrowed his brow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Alex interjected. “Yeah, you do. I couldn’t see it before like he could, but its all over your face now. Jo’s a dick, but he only wants to help.”
I looked at him expectantly. He was gonna fess up. With a deep sigh, he finally admitted. “Listen, I heard this town had a lot of secrets. Used to find things out for a living, figured in a town like this, there’d be valuable secrets lying around. Been looking through the records, haven’t found anything yet, but I will.”
I laughed. “Nah, you won’t. Not in the town records, anyways. Listen, I can help you, but you need to promise me something.”
“What?” he asked.
“When you do leave town, eventually, return to being the you that you’re so afraid of, help get me out of here. Set me up with a gig, don’t care what, let me work my way into a college and what not.” I needed just enough to get me stable outside the town, then I’d be golden.
He nodded. “Of course. I can do that from the bus on the way out. Now spill.”
I shrugged. “The archives are run by the same people whose secrets need protecting. If you want to find the shit out, you’ve gotta go to the source.”
“So?”
“All those initial settlers started family records when they made the place. If you want to find secrets, you go to those.”
He furrowed his brow. “What’s that mean, exactly?” he asked.
I smiled, a wicked grin. Alex knew that grin. “That means, tonight you’re going to meet us outside the ghost town.”
“We’re going to help you break into the mansions.”
That was the beginning of everything. I showed him how to break into one of them. All the mansions basically had the same weakness: arrogant owners. We never locked our back doors. It was a character flaw. In any case, after that night, I didn’t see Mikey ever again. One day, out of the blue, he texts me. All it says is a phone number and the message, ‘a promise is a promise’. I called the number and the guy who picked up offered me an off-the-books gig in New York. Alex had gotten into NYU, so we both left on the same bus out of town the day after graduation. Never made it to college, but I’ve been promoted in the gig well enough to support my lifestyle.
I was just wondering, why are you so curious about Mikey? It isn’t him, is it? You’re looking for whatever he was. It’s not what you think, I’ll tell you that. According to Anton, whatever he found sent him running to the hills, and valuables things don’t do that to someone like Mikey. Be careful, that’s all I’ll say. Especially if you’re planning on setting foot in that place.