The Legend of Joel Riggins: Prologue
by Daniel Beadle - Tuesday, August 21, 2007
“Have you ever heard of Joel Riggins?” Dan looks out across the park at Stacy Middle School as he asks the question to his friend.D-Man shifts his eyes to a skater kid take a face plant on the half pipe at Milford Skatepark. “I’ve heard you mention him before, I think. You like to compare him to Jake.”
Dan smiles to himself, and gives a perfunctory glance towards East Street. “Joel Riggins is one of a kind. You know, you meet certain people in this life that are… totally unique. Some of them are unique to the point that you barely believe that they’re real. That’s Joel Riggins right there. He’s like a cartoon character come to life. Almost like this celebrity that only a few people know exist.”
“So how do you know him?”
“He’s a friend of my cousin, Jack. And when I’m not hanging out with you and Jake, I’m probably with Jack, Joel, and Donnie.”
“Donnie?”
“Donnie Savia. Probably Joel’s best friend, if he ever had one. Donnie is a… well, he’s often been described an asshole. Not in any mean or derogatory sense… that’s just the best way to sum him up.” Dan’s voice trails off on his next sentence: “Though he does claim that he fights for the good guys now…”
Dan shakes the thought. “But anyway,” he continues, “Joel and Donnie are legends in their own right. They take everything to excess, but they do it well. They’ve drunk more than you’d think any man could drink, and between the two of them, they banged almost everything that you’d think a person could bang.”
A wave of nostalgia washes over Dan as he looks to the horizon. “Let me tell you the Legend of Joel Riggins.”
“…And Donnie Savia?” D-Man asks.
“Yeah, him too.”
NEXT: THE LEGEND BEGINS
