The coffee shop coloured itself in grey & black.
The music was folk, with a hint of sadness glazed with jazz!
Lesbian shit, Vessy thought.
It's been two months since he met Ritchie and his world has completely flipped upside down. Not in a bad way, fuck no it flipped for the coin toss win!

Lost in his Java, Vessy stares at the images of people who walk by. Casually he notices that the feature wall was indeed maroon. Thinking that was quite the coincidence he remembers helping pick that Color out for his parents home. Well for a feature wall anyway.
Vessy sips his americano tasting the drip of oat milk that carefully flows on his tongue. His mind is of no stability, he cannot stop thinking about right and wrong.

Here them come
The boys in the bright white sports car
Waving their arms in the air
Who do they think they are?...
Trooper's greatest Hit echos the speaker system.

Instant thoughts race through Vessy' mind. The staircase where Ritchie first approached him asking for a cigarette. That Smile! Piercing blue eyes Ritchie has, they dagger Vessy' heart and pull the strings of lust he only has dreamt of.
Vessy would begin to assist Ritchie with all his needs.
The times walking and talking. Sharing stories of their shitty childhood. The times they each appeared on Baybrie. Different time periods but not far off from one another. In fact they may have crossed paths.

Vessy came from upper class crust. Ritchie came from a run down Trailer park with a redneck father who sold him out to the streets.
   Though both appeared on Baybrie & 9th; Vessy had the high class taste and looks. His affairs were more ordained. Ritchie broke back in alleys littered with syringes and shatter!

Vessy gets caught in his thoughts at the Java Hut and catches the eye of an elderly Asian man who is giving him the "I'll pay your woes away" look.
If this had been in the times of Baybrie, there'd be a whole lot of wallet thumping goin on! Not now though, Vessy has begun to change.
    OR had he?
These thoughts, impure of Ritchie and not knowing where to go or what to do plagued his mind.

Vessy was falling in love with the idea of Ritchie. Was he reading more into the talks, the looks that luxurious smile he had??

Go forth and trust god the rooms say. So Vessy shall. He caught himself glittered with this light from the Basilica down the road. He was seeking the answers as to what to do, and then there was this light in the air all around him.
  A man sits next to him. A chubby old fuck, who in all honesty appeared as a ratty man turned out to be Father Ardrossan. The Father of Cordeiro Rock, who presided at the very same Basilica down the road.
" Talk to me father, about adultery!" Another fellow asked Father Ardrossan.
Vessy was in shock. These were his prayers that morning. Guidance, faith and answers about his feelings for Ritchie Peters!

God spoke through the cues all around Vessy in those moments. He was to go for it with this blue eyed demigod!

DISTRESSED DENISE on 9th & Morris 2010
Howard Rogan Josh age 24, Dirty blond hair (shaved head) weight 190 ,medium build brown eyes. Current weight 110 slender, bruised up and down the arms- appear like track marks. Sunken face possible addiction issues. Skin Color grey.
Picked up for Theft under 5000: Beats by Dre at the luxury boutique.

The once talented white boy played for the Rock Rockets. Famous triple A men's hockey team. A promising career in the NHL.

HR as he was known by was let out with a promise to appear the next day. As he had been homeless and couch surfing the police dropped him off at the local shelter.
The shelter down on the rocks of Cordeiro Rock was nestled out of sight and definitely out of mind for the folk of this tiny island within an island.

HR was met by his two partners in purgatory Kane and Bobby. Each man looked of similar statue: dirty, disenchanted and drunk by the junk.
Another spin turned into another dark side of the spoon. HR would overdose this night and his friends would leave his almost lifeless body down on the rocks to be swept up by the waves of the ocean.
Merry Christmas to Howard!

Annie Hopper was at the Connors Island Fair late July 2009. Her mom and dad were the island's representatives for the United States, as well as well as southern Europe because of the Mediterranean Sea.
Her life she only knew of the richness this world brings. Picture perfect family her brother Andy was a year younger and he too only knew the kindest of hearts.
Dad through the ball through the metal tins and won a big pink bear for his teenage daughter. She smiled and hugged him. Andy and their mom rode the water ride roller coaster and got their pictures taken along the ride. Soaking wet they became as the ride came to an end.
Annie was a freshman at Rock Academy, the mini islands private school for the elite. Andy advanced due to his grade and joined her as a freshman that year as well.

Tonight's appearance at the fair was one for the books as dad the U.S. representative of CR was being honoured for a second term. While Mom had just signed a new treaty deal between southern Europe and the United States that would benefit the U.S. in fish and wildlife for another decade.
Cameras and paparazzi were all over the family on this night. They were rude and crude through their interactions. Both children were known as the elite of the mini island which painted a portrait of advancement. Which many we're jealous of!

Mom and Andy soaking wet took stage and then welcomed Annie and Dad up as the family gathered for the official portrait of the fair!

A man wearing a black balaclava snuck past some of the watchers and opened fire on the family! Andy protected Annie as he pushed them to the floor boards of the stage.
Screaming and people dashing away in the turmoil that has now become the highlight of the fair.
Annie's white dress stained with the reds of blood from her mother. Now Annie was soaking wet and imaged as Carrie at the prom. Andy was stunned and paralyzed with fear from looking over at his fathers bullet hole face. Only flesh and bone appeared of what was once the face of the United States for Cordeiro Rock.

The Hopper family was forever destroyed and the journey into the club, would begin for Annie & Andy.