Melvin was a smart kid, growing up in the suburbs around Columbus, Ohio. He was the typical scrawny nerd, glasses, straight-A student, math club, even the chess team. His parents scraped and saved for years to get him into college, and a few scholarships helped. He graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in Biochemistry. During his years there he'd gotten more involved in physical activity, and became somewhat of a health nut. He began a regime of healthy eating, constant exercise and HGH and other natural supplements. He shot up over a foot in 2 years and bulked up considerably.

Everything was going well, until his parents were both killed in a bus accident. He was stunned to find that their financial circumstances were much worse than he had though. He was left responsible for a double mortgage and nearly a hundred thousand dollars in other assorted debts. Having just entered the Northwestern graduate program in Biochemistry, Melvin found himself in a desperate situation.

Overhearing a conversation one night at a seedy bar in Chicago gave him an idea - drugs. Using a lab at school, he was soon producing some of the city's purest meth, ecstasy and roofies. He made contacts with one of the most vicious gangs in Chitown, and within another year and a half had paid off all his parents debts and was making pure profit. Then the roof fell in on him.

A couple months before his Master's thesis was due, the gang he was supplying was infiltrated by a combined Illinois/Chicago/DEA task force. Melvin had just enough warning to set a fire in his off-campus rented house, destroying enough evidence that the law couldn't prosecute him as an actual supplier of the drugs, only several lesser charges. But he was still sentenced to five years in Joliet. Since he already had some contacts with that gang, he found himself relatively safe in prison. It was still no party, and he was nearly killed several times in inner-prison gang wars. But he continued pumping iron and stayed strong, physically and mentally. While never actually swearing allegiance to any one gang, he remained somewhat neutral, gaining respect from many as brilliant and ruthless in dealing with anyone who fucked with him.

Now he's finally been released. He's 28 and free, and decided to find someplace he could start up a business again. Recovering some money he'd tucked away, he bought a bike and started traveling. He rolled into Hathian one blistering hot September morning, and saw a guy beating the shit out of some junkie in an alley almost across the street from the police station.

He grinned. He was home.

OOC - I'm an alt. My other avi is pretty much the complete opposite of Melvin. It's time to let my evil side out to play for a while.