Born in 1997 and living in the outskirts of Liberty City, Joshua had a peaceful early childhood living with his mother and father. His mother being a middle school teacher and his father having an unknown source of income, one cannot say they were living a poor life. Joshua’s mother would be gone during the days and often work overtime, which left him bothering his father in the meanwhile.
Alexander Reese would reside in the garage most of the day, working on his beloved possession, the Dinka Jester Classic. Little Josh would always try to help out with the car as much as he can, and even though he would end up breaking something more often than fixing, this sparked his early interest in vehicles and anything mechanically related. Since his father was gone during the evenings and nights, and his mother was exhausted after work, Joshua would often be left alone during those times. Not having many friends in the area due to the way he walks, talks and behaves meant that he had to find entertainment in other ways. He would sneak his way into the garage and start tinkering on his father’s car and getting better and better at disassembling and assembling the parts back together.
As the years went by, his father would be home less and less, which meant that the only bonding activity between Josh and his father was left standing idle. Joshua decided that it is due time for his father to take the Jester Classic out of the garage and drive it around and takes it upon himself to get into working order while his father is away. Every day after school Joshua would go straight to the garage and start working on his father’s car, making mistakes and learning from them until one day he took the key into the ignition, turned it and after some sputtering the car came back to life. Joshua knew that his father wouldn't be coming back home until late and decided to stay up waiting for him to give him the good news.
Around midnight he hears the engine of a car pull up to his house and a knock on the door shortly after. “Must have forgotten his keys” was the thoughts that went through Joshua’s head as he was approaching the door to open it. However, when he opened the door, in front of him stood not his father, but three burly men in suits. They looked down on Joshua and mumbled “Alexander was told not to fuck around with the Pegorino family” before pushing him aside and entering the house. They proceeded to go through all belongings before heading up the stairs to the master bedroom where his mother was sleeping. Last thing he heard while getting dragged away from the house was his mother’s screams coming from upstairs then silence. In his shocked state, knowing what just happened, he stood there frozen not knowing what to do. At 15 he was left alone with no family and friends, all because his father decided to do business with people that he shouldn’t have. Joshua looks up and sees the garage door opening, and his father’s Jester Classic driving out, taking away his last memories with his father with it.
Growing Up and Moving to LS
After the incident with his parents, Joshua was left homeless and wanting to avoid an orphanage he stayed in motels that he paid for with the money he got from doing odd jobs. One day he saw an ad for a Taxi company that was taking in anyone, for less than minimum pay. It was not ideal, but a steady income is what he needed at that point. He got the job just by appearing, since he was apparently the only one interested in working there. It was soon obvious to Josh why nobody wanted to apply there, when his shady boss started to get into the same thing his father was involved in. Josh would drive around crime bosses and family members to meetings, sometimes even held at gunpoint while doing so. He had gotten decent at driving and getting away from unwanted attention in a vehicle before he even got his license.
Joshua knew that this type of life would backfire sooner or later, but he decided to stick with it for the money and experience. It lasted for approximately 5 years, with his boss getting into deeper and deeper shit, Joshua had to be the one getting him out of the said shit. It all lasted until one day upon his arrival at work, the entire building was ablaze in broad daylight. This was the last straw for Joshua, he packed and took the first flight into Los Santos the same day.
Upon his arrival at Los Santos, Joshua decided that this time he is going to go legal and stay on the right side of the law. Starting off as a bus driver and a farmer, things seemed to go great for him, he even wanted to apply to be a mechanic at one of the garages in the city considering he had experience with cars. He was, however, denied at both places looking for mechanics, and it broke him. His only passion was closed off for him, even in a city that was to be a new start for him. It was not long after this that Joshua got into the life of crime by getting to know the members of various gangs.
The Rising Suns
Joshua joined with the Rising Suns through his connections with members and was approved for the initiation by their leader, Micah Ellis. Through them he proceeded to learn the inner workings of the city, the activity of other gangs, and illicit ways of earning money. During the day they would stay at the pier as a social gang, whilst at night they would conduct store robberies and car thefts to earn extra money.
Joshua’s stay with the Rising Suns was not prolonged as he was constantly feeling exhausted with the night-time activities and it left him feeling empty at the end of the day. This is where he got word from his friends and former members of Rising Suns about a gang that was proud of who they are and flaunted their activities in broad daylight. He spoke to the members of the said gang, and after getting to know more about them, he decided that this is the right direction for him. Joshua resigned from Rising Suns and gave the leader of the new gang a call hours after leaving.
Los Santos Royals
Joshua dials the number given to him by one of the members and hears it ring. He sits in the car waiting patiently for the answer, but to no avail. After not getting an answer he decided to wait around and take a drive around the city hoping for a call back. While cruising through the Vinewood hills he gets passed by a bike in familiar colors that he was told about, so he decides to stop the biker and ask him about the gang. When the biker takes his helmet off, it is revealed that it is none other than Drake Hunter, one of the leaders of Los Santos Royals. He had just conducted a bank robbery, which is why the phone call never went through. A meeting was organized shortly after, introducing Joshua to the members and different ranks of Los Santos Royals, and mere hours later Joshua was already in colors.
With the Los Santos Royals, Joshua gets to learn information about the deeper end of the city, things that he has never even heard of. His connection to the members grew stronger by the day and soon, he could say with confidence that the Royals are his family. They proceeded to rob stores, banks, going to labs and cooking drugs, all making the bond between Joshua and the family stronger day by day.
During one of the meetings with the higher ups, Joshua receives a call and is told to come up to the observatory, it being urgent. He tells the others that he has to go and makes his way up to the observatory. Upon his arrival he sees the Jester Classic that his father used to own standing in the parking lot, and his girlfriend standing besides it. She somehow managed to find it and get it imported into the city. She hands him the keys and tells him that it is rightfully his and it should stay that way. Joshua makes his way to the mechanic and paints the Jester Classic in Royals colors, combining the families that he had into one big one.
