Joseph Michel

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Joseph Laurent Michel (born March 30, 1981) is the on-again-off-again boyfriend of Rae. He has spent his entire life in the St. Charles/Lafourche area.

After he is laid-off during the lockdown, Joey's inability to connect emotionally leads him down a spiral of loss and failure.

• Joey is motivated by his short-term needs. He has no sense of the future.
• Joey wants instant gratification.
• Joey is challenged by a world that no longer makes everything easy for him.
• Joey will discover that the world he knew no longer exists.

Kicked out by Rae, Joey struggles to find some relevance. He blames Cash for his problems and after fighting with him, he hides out in Cash's New Orleans office to avoid arrest. While in hiding, he begins to stalk/harass Cash on Social Media, posting angry screeds about everything that has been taken away from him. When Hal sets fire to the office, Joey dies in the fire.

Biography

Relationships

Rae Bordelon

Joey and Rae attended school together for their entire lives. They were never particular friends, but living in such a small town, they spent a lot of time together. In high school, Rae tended to date older boys, and Joey found himself increasingly jealous. Joey distracted himself with wrestling and hunting.

At their 20th high school reunion in October 2018, Joey and Rae spent most of the evening talking about their lives as children. They began a relationship shortly after that; however, Rae ended the relationship a number of times during the year and a half before claiming to have ended it once and for all in early February 2020. Joey was often emotionally abusive and on a few occasions physically abusive.

Joey lost his job at the chemical factory shortly after the lockdown in March 2020 and after being evicted from his apartment, he moved in with Rae and Sandy. He spent his days during lockdown watching sports and drinking beer. On June 1, Rae kicked him out after accusing him of watching porn with underaged girls. Joey struggled to defend himself, since he often watched porn, although he had never watched anything that he knew to be illegal.

Plot Synopsis

Get It All Back

On June 1, Cash gives Rae a copy of her modem log, which shows a massive amount of porn being downloaded every night. Rae promptly kicks Joey out of her house, and Joey starts sleeping on the couch at the house his younger brothers rent.

Act I

Fueled by his brothers' taunting, on June 9, Joey, assuming Cash framed him, attacks him. During the fight, Cash manages to dislocate Joey's jaw, and Joey flees. However, he grabs the mask Cash was wearing and creates a Twitter account -- @IBleedPurpleNGold -- to keep tabs on Cash.

Act II

While hiding out in the deer blind, Joey posts increasingly aggressive and chaotic messages on Social Media. After Cash gets him banned online, he breaks into Cash's house on June 16. While there, he learns about the New Orleans office and, thanks to Cash's Twitter posts, figures out that Cash is not going into his office. Joey walks to the city.

Act III

After breaking into Cash's downtown office, Joey uses the computer to stalk Cash, Rae, Sandy, and eventually Hélène on Social Media but stays silent. While hiding out, Joey spends what money he has on beer and beef jerky. Every night, he passes out. As his mental faculties decline, his social media posts become less coherent.

Act IV

Early on the morning of July 4, after Joey has passed out again, Hal sets fire to the office as payback for Cash's discovery about the fires in Sadie. Joey dies in the fire, too drunk to wake up in time to escape.