you called my name;

Chiba was 35 years old now, single, no kids, still with a dead beat job that might involve him ending up in a hospital or having to find something else quickly, drinking for his birthday by himself in the wild pony, inviting friends to come join him over Whatsapp. He even felt like downloading snap-chat, but figured it would be far too late to start gathering people on that thing, so he just kept on sending text messages as the alcohol he ordered made the words more and more jumbled. Time to stop, he thought, ordering another drink. 

When someone appeared at his side, he held up a hand. “Can you be persuaded to buy me a drink? It’s my birthday.” ( @roswellstarters )

When Joel arrived at the Wild Pony and bought a drink for both himself and his friend, he realised he hadn't technically replied to Chiba after he saw the invite pop up on his phone. Mentally, he'd replied for sure, just not quite physically, which was why when Chiba didn't seem to expect to see him and asked him if he wanted to join him for birthday drinks, Joel grabbed his hand and patted him on the back. "Already on it. Happy birthday, Chib," he said with a smile and placed the drink down in-front of his friend. He was relieved to be out of the house, if he was honest. Being at home meant thinking about his sister's appeal and he spent enough time doing that at the moment. Swirling his drink round his glass, he announced, "I've also got some shit news in the ex department to update you on." Even talking about his previous relationship was less draining than thinking about the price of defence lawyers and the likelihood of success.

             “  don’t sweat it,  you’re good, man.  ”    he expresses after the collide,  attempting to release the pity that sat on his face when he noticed who it was.     religion had been a staple in the sims household since childhood.  every sunday,  every easter,   until the path chose in life led him to atlanta, georgia.  darryon was still a man of faith,  praying before each game, never questioning the religion.   not until recently,  after given so many reasons to question it.   so  it’s safe to say that his family and the johnsons weren’t strangers.   perhaps they were just people who’d shake hands at church,  sending a polite  GOD BLESS YOU  towards each other when pastor told them to  but that godly connection meant more at that young age than any other.   the connection is still there now  just different.    with a sick mom on darryon’s part and a murderous sibling on joel’s.  alleged murderous ?

            “  hey,  i heard about  -  ”    he stops himself,  although it may be too late, realizing that that’s probably not the best way to start a conversation with someone you hadn’t seen in years.   “  if you ever need anything, let us know.  my dad still makes some mean southern potato salad.  ”

"Good to see you, man," Joel replied, reaching his hand out to pull Darryon, an old family friend, into one of their hugs. The Johnsons and the Sims' had met at church a long while ago and Joel had always classed Darryon as one of his brothers. Even if he didn't see the guy at chuch every week now, he'd always welcome him in when he did see him. "Think even the birds and the trees heard about it," Joel joked, with a shake of his head, relaxing a little now in the company of a friend. "Thanks though, bro. I appreciate that. That potato salad was spot on," Joel reinacted a chef's kiss just at the thought. "Don't tell my dad that, though. You know it was always a battle of the chefs between those two." Remembering the summer church barbecues brought a smile to Joel's face. Their dad's battling it out for the best burger award was always entertaining to watch. "How are you though, man?" He paused for a second, wondering whether to ask the other question on his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to not show he'd been thinking about them. Tentatively, he asked, "How's your mom doing?"

a brother himself , fletcher understood the inherent urge to protect flesh and blood . in fact , it wasn’t so much an urge as a compulsion — the closest his own sister had reached to a conviction was the odd night in the roswell sheriff’s department , the state’s attempt at clearing the youths off the streets and keeping new mexico ‘ clean ‘ . with an endless stream of money , the majority of which he hadn’t a clue what to use on , the male had no qualms dishing out bail money ( even if they dealt the younger liu a verbal slap on the wrist or a stern gaze for misbehaviour ) .

“ woah . watch it , buddy . “ the male was broad , not the type to be knocked over by a flailing randomer — strong arms steadied joel , dark eyes narrowed , brows knotted . the daily commute ( with a ceremonial stop-off at nebula eatery for a coffee and a breakfast pastry ) was never without its faults ; it was one of the countless reasons why fletcher was itching to leave , to fly the nest and never return . he would have done a long time ago , if it weren’t for family .  “ people are walkin’ here . you have some sort of aversion to newspapers ?? “

Buddy. Joel scoffed inside. Not the word I'd use to describe you in return, he thought. There was respect there, for sure; Joel knew of Fletcher's involvement in the fight club and admired his martial arts ability, given that he was into boxing himself. He was sure he'd heard that the guy had a military background too, so there was respect for that also, but it was just that he didn't commend Fletcher's obsession with the materialistic things in life. Sure, Joel had some nice things and he'd worked hard to get them, but he didn't flaunt them and that was the difference between the two, it just wasn’t in his nature. "I do recently, to be honest," Joel replied with a nod. "Read my mind there, Fletch." And surely Fletcher was switched on enough to know why?  Cocking his head up, Joel asked, "how's the club?" Marsha Johnson's voice popped into his head as he asked, respectful and polite, Joel, respectful and polite is all.

The talks and whispers were hard to ignore with this one, as were the headlines. New York had a way of sweeping them under the rug with its daily crime rates, but Mia remembered the ones who hit close to home. She certainly had old friends gone for one reason or another, be it through gang violence or by a judge. Just or not, there were no winners by any parties involved. If she were to ever find out that one of her cousins was convicted as Joel’s sister, she’d be a complete wreck, heartbroken, so when he ran right into her, all she had were her unspoken condolences to him. “Oh, no, don’t worry. No harm, no foul.” During the neighborhood strolls with her kids, she always did appreciate the music he’d play loud enough in his house for her to hear whenever they walked past the front, but music hadn’t been coming out of that house for a good minute. She didn’t know if he stopped entirely or if she just kept missing it. “Were you listening to something?”

Joel had seen her around before. She lived close, he presumed, as he quite often saw her walking with two kids around Lunar Crescent. Great way to build those community relations back up by nearly knocking neighbours out, Joel, he uttered to himself mentally. Although the woman clearly understood that it was an accident, this wasn't helping his over-compensating attempts at re-establishing his family's reputation. "Thanks. Don't think I'm actually on this planet nowadays so I'm glad I've caused no permanent damage - or doesn't look like it, anyway," he said, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile as he slid his hands into his pockets. Did she know? He wondered, coming back down to earth. Of course she did. Everyone always knew everyone's business in Roswell, especially when it was bad. "Wish that was my excuse but no, I've just got things on my mind I guess. Would be something by The Temptations or Jimmy Ruffin if I was though. Or a bit of Harry Styles, naturally. What would you be listening to?" Music was always a good distraction. Joel always felt like you could also tell a lot about a person by their music taste, so he welcomed the subject change for more reasons than one.

With a sharp intake of breath, Joel tried to keep his composure when the latest headline relating to his sister's conviction jumped out at him from the newstand. 'LOCAL CHURCH REELING AFTER 6TH COMMANDMENT IS IGNORED BY ONE OF ITS OWN.' Rage rose up inside him. This one was even more ridiculous than the last. The church was not reeling. If anything, the church felt like the only group of people who were not reeling and who wanted to support him in all this. Failing to remain calm, just as he had many a time since the guilty verdict had emerged and headlines like this had become commonplace, Joel grabbed the stack of papers and shoved them into a nearby bin before throwing a twenty dollar bill down on the counter infront of the shocked customer assistant to atone his smidge of guilt.  Yanking the door open then, Joel was too wrapped up in his own fury that he didn't notice the figure coming towards him before he walked right into them.  "Shit, sorry about that. I was all up in my own head then. Didn’t even see you there.”

MURDER TW, INCARCERATION TW

8 things you should know about Joel:

1) The line, ‘His name is pronounced JOWELL,’ features in nearly all of Joel’s early memories as his mother, Marsha Johnson, would correct anyone who pronounced it wrong. Let’s just say, most people only ever pronounced it incorrectly once after the fierce MJ had made her point clear.

2) Joel’s family have a tradition of creating matching initials. This began with Marsha’s mother and father’s initials and word has it that Marsha only married Malcom Johnson to ensure that her initials remained MJ (Malcom denies such a claim, obviously, much to the aggrievance of Marsha). Joel’s older sister, Janiyah Johnson, also inherited the ‘JJ’ initials and other family members have followed suit too.

3) The church has always been an important part of Joel’s life. As a young boy, he would accompany his parents to church but when he turned eighteen and was given the choice as to whether to attend or not, after a brief period away, he returned to faith and has been every week of his life since. Joel is an important figure within his local church and runs the youth club on a Friday evening. Joel is not adverse to getting up on stage and singing as part of the church band when they need him but his youth group are quick to humble him and tell him he’s a better youth leader than singer.

4) On that note, the music that the Johnson kids listened to growing up ranged between soul, blues, jazz and gospel. Their parents would dance around to a variety of different tunes at family parties but one of the most common was ‘Too Late to Turn Back Now’ by the Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose as it was Marsha and Malcom’s first dance wedding song (chosen by Marsha, obviously). The children’s love of the songs that had drifted up through the ceiling into their bedrooms on party nights and the ones they’d hear on the radio meant that when Motown artist tribute bands popped up, Joel and Janiyah would jump at the chance to be involved.

5) Joel’s father taught him carpentry from a young age and started their family construction business when he was only 23. Joel has now taken over this company and works as the construction foreman on their sites (with his ‘retired’ father keeping a watchful eye).

6) Nearly a year ago, Joel and his girlfriend of five years split up. The two had simply fallen out of love and had drifted apart after many years of happiness together. They are still close friends and Joel still lives in the house they bought together (sadly, he did not win the dog custody battle).

7) Joel’s sister was recently imprisoned for murder. The family are currently appealing her conviction on multiple different grounds. Joel is currently trying his best to support his brother-in-law and niece through this process but is struggling with the guilty verdict himself, as well as the notable rift that the conviction has caused between Marsha and Malcom. The family business has also taken a hit due to the unfortunately tarnished family reputation.

8) If he’s not organising and working on his construction site or at church, Joel can be found at the local boxing club. Since the guilty verdict, he has boxed more than ever but is having to try his hardest not to use his boxing techniques when people talk about his sister’s conviction, when he knows the truth.

Possible connections:

⭐ - Brother in law (40+)

⭐ - Niece / nephew (20)

⭐ - Ex-girlfriend (fell out of love)

⭐ - Friends (through boxing, school, college, general town stuff?)

⭐ - Colleagues (people who work for the family business)

⭐ - Criminals / fellow visitors from when he’s visited his sister?

⭐ - Fellow church-goers