Dex Early Life Headcanon (School and Post-Graduation (with SR2 bonus headcanon))
((So going along with my headcanon for Dex being he was a nerd (and struggled with Spanish), I figure he was teased in school also for being really smart. The other kids usually teased him for it, but when they wanted a plan to go without a hitch they always consulted him. Not that they respected him any more for it. But Dex struggled with not submitting himself to them, even though he never got anything out of helping them. He pulled good grades but they never really meant anything to him and he got no joy or satisfaction out of school. His attitude never really changed until high school, and he always saw school as something to get through, rather than for really learning anything.
Dex managed to go to a rather large middle school and was able to distance himself from his older classmates. This time he kept his planning skills far more private and isolated himself from many of his peers in his classes so they wouldn't catch on. By the time he reached high school, he had very few friends because he knew the majority of people only really wanted to partner with him for projects because he would do most of the work without complaining.
He opened up a bit more in high school and managed to make quite a few friends, and he even had a girlfriend for about two months (they met in his English class). But after she cheated on him and left him for another guy she met in one of her college classes, he went back into recluse.
It was at this point that Dex started getting into the drug and partying scene. Some of his friends were party-goers and after noticing his slow spiral into depression began inviting him to parties. This is where he first tried weed and some other drugs (mostly stimulants considering he was fighting depression and was desperate not to feel sad anymore). It got to the point where he would skip out on class to find someone who could hook him up with drugs, and with his grades slipping, his verbally (and periodically physically) abusive mother started coming after him more. His younger sister, Stephanie, grew more worried over the mental state of his brother, and one day she took him aside and asked him to "be the brother he used to be," the one who looked out for her.
It was enough of a wake up call for him to forego the drugs and fix his grades, and with his mom off his back, Dex's mood improved remarkably, especially with Stephanie happy again and not often upset. He finished up his junior year strong.
Dex's senior year took a turn he wasn't anticipating. He noticed he was far less interested in the girls at the school than the guys, and the feelings unsettled him initially. He slowly came to accept them, but when he went to talk about it with one of his friends (well, one he trusted), he was met with names like "fag" and suddenly a number of his friends all turned on him and wanted nothing to do with him. Dex desperately tried to plead that he wasn't really into guys and still liked girls a lot, no one listened and he found himself very, very lonely for the majority of the year.
The residual anger at his ex-friends culminated through the final months of the year and led him to plan out a way to get back at them. The plan involved sabotaging prom and would have gotten him expelled, not that he was really thinking about that at the time. Once again Stephanie caught him preparing for it and talked him out of it, begging him not to throw away his hard-earned diploma just to get back at "some homophobic assholes," as she put it.
Dex kept to himself for the remainder of the year and didn't attend grad night, though he did at least attend his graduation.
Finally free of school, Dex found himself much happier seeing as he was no longer burdened with being around people he hated or homework. He hadn't made any plans to attend college and his mother had never made a college fund for him.
The following months slowly went from bliss to nightmare as his mother began ranting and raving at him to get a job, which was almost impossible for him considering no one wanted to hire a recent high school graduate when they could hire a high school-age kid and pay them less. Race also played into it, and since he lived in a more ghetto part of Stilwater, he was even less trusted simply for being black.
He was enjoying the free life from responsibilities, but with the verbal abuse worsening and running off onto Stephanie, She was soon taking a beating from their mother for "not pushing her brother to get a job." Meanwhile, gang violence pushed its way into his neighborhood and threatened Dex and his sister. While walking Stephanie home from school one day, Dex had unknowingly been wearing red in Vice King territory, and a car with VK members started unloading bullets at the two siblings. They got down and managed to avoid injury, but it was more than enough to make Dex want to get involved in putting a stop to it.
Dex discovered the 3rd Street Saints congregating in the abandoned church several blocks from his apartment home and went to investigate, and that was when he met Julius, heard his plan to eradicate the prevalent gangs, and was offered a position in the gang.
Stephanie wasn't happy. She believed her big brother could follow a straight and narrow life and was afraid he'd get himself killed in a shootout. No matter how much Dex tried to explain he was doing it for the greater good and especially for her, the less she wanted to listen to him. They argued for hours and ended with Dex leaving to join the Saints.
When Dex joined Ultor, he started sending large amounts of money to his sister so she could live comfortably, and they would meet up often and catch up. She was very glad that he was no longer involved in gang activities, but she didn't know of the Boss being on his tail. Dex still blames himself for not telling her to get out of Stilwater before he himself fled.))
