Miles Jacob Bradshaw.

Miles Jacob Bradshaw was born to Tina and Matthew Bradshaw on the 27th of May 1981, making him the oldest of over the years to be three children. At the time, Tina was a stay at home mother and Matthew had a nine to five office job and their newest addition to the family perfected the all-American family picture.

Ah, how times can change.

Things began to take a turn about two years later, when Tina found herself pregnant for a second time, with Charlotte. Miles had proven to be a loveable but exhausting child, demanding attention left, right and center, and as soon as he was able to kick a ball, he went breaking the neighbours’ windows. Nothing out of the ordinary, mind, but especially with a second child now, keeping the family fed started to become a bit of a challenge with only Matthew working and his pay check none too big.

It was then that they formed a plan, and it would be an understatement to say that they weren’t smart and cunning: with perfected little stories, all as fake as can be, Mr and Mrs Bradshaw (or Allison, or Broderick, or Manham, or … you get the idea) and began, timidly at fist, scamming a local charity group. It was only a small amount of money they made through that, but point was, it worked. Worked really well, actually. Long story short, they developed a taste for such little … undertakings, and after the first followed a second, and with every new one their tactics improved and the amounts of money grew and grew up.

The children? Knew nothing of that; they were far too young after all. The only thing they noticed, at first, was that the family was constantly moving from town to town and every now and then, their parents would tell them that their last names had changed. It was a game for Miles and Charlotte, and at least he didn’t mind it much. Though if he was honest, at least by the time he turned ten, it had started to grow sort of annoying – always having to look for new friends, a new soccer club, all that.

Still, with the family being well off, that was the only problem Miles could really complain about, except maybe for the fact that neither of his parents ever was too enthusiastic about career day, not to mention that, according to those days, their jobs would permanently change. At ten, however, Miles didn’t question that, and one year later, when his youngest sister Delilah was born, everyone’s focus was on other things, anyway.

Yet, over the years, Miles grew wary. He’d always been a curious child, but luckily for his parents with a short attention span, and from age twelve on he’d relentlessly ask questions about this and that, but neither Tina nor Matthew would answer to his inquiries. It didn’t take long before he developed a more subtle and sneaky approach – it seemed, he’d really inherited a talent from his parents there – and at 16 he’d figured it all out and confronted his parents.

What a fun evening that was. His parents tried to talk their way out of it, but it was useless, and so they finally gave up and spilled it all out. It was uncomfortable, they’d tried to keep it a secret from their children after all, but Miles actually didn’t mind it all that much – it served to feed the family (and, of course, sponsored his car, which might or might not be an important factor as to why he didn’t question his parents’ morals) and hey, the end justified the means, no?

So that was that, and Miles kept his family’s business on the low and simply enjoyed his time. Admittedly handsome and suave with a knack for wooing others, he was popular all through High School and well off to boot; it was around that time that he really developed his ‘player’ attitude – a member of the football team, good with the ladies and his marks surprisingly good, Miles couldn’t complain. Although the latter was mostly attributed to his motto: Become good at cheating, and you’ll never have to become good at anything else.

The end of High School signalised another move for the family, but Miles was off to college anyway. Which probably was better that way, seeing how his attitude had earned him not only friends but a lot of enemies as well. While his parents had settled down in New Hampshire for the time, Miles attended a Boston college for business and management, and yes, he let that one slide big time. Instead of focusing on school, he was busy being popular, being a fraternity member, being a ladies’ man … a boy’s got to set his priorities, after all.

Parties and one night stands left and right, it was a wonder that Miles even graduated without an ex or boyfriend of some fling having tried to kill him, seeing how he was just so busy stepping on people’s toes or how he had seen far more parties than school books. Still, with a degree in his pocket, Miles returned home (which had yet again moved) and, helping his parents out with the ‘family business’, he was to stay for a while.

In retrospect, it was sheer luck that Miles had moved out just half a year before his parents’ cover was blown. The FBI came a knockin’ on his parents door, and that was how the story of the simple life ended for them; and although he would rarely admit it, the only thing that came as a shock about that was that his mother had been planning to rid herself of his father rather than going to jail. Well, that one didn’t work out. Instead they both went down, and their faces and story were plastered over television screens all across the country.

What it meant for the rest of the family? Miles would like to describe that with a loving “Shit hit the fan big time.” With his youngest sister only 16 years old, he and Charlotte decided that it would be best to stick together and raise her, keep the family running and all, though they could hardly stay in their latest town. Everyone knew who they were, everyone knew their story … everyone had reservations about three kids of such crooks.

It took a while, but they settled on a small, safe neighbourhood in Bayview, Massachusetts, where they try to be a family as good as they can, with Miles forced to finally grow up, say goodbye to booze, parties and girls and instead earn his living the hard way. …oh boy, is he going to enjoy that.

The Bradshaws.
Tina Bradshaw is currently serving forty years in a maximum security prison for several crimes including fraud and conspiracy to commit murder. Her husband, Matthew, is currently serving fifteen for his part in the criminal act that landed him and his wife behind bars. For years the Bradshaw's had been scamming local and national charities, before being caught, a story that made national news. As the police moved in, Tina put a hit out on her husband planning to let him take the fall for the entire operation, however, to her surprise she made the request to an undercover police officer, and she was arrested on the spot. Their trial was watched with the intensity of a modern day soap opera. Now that it's all over the two Bradshaw children have relocated to Bayview to escape the negative attention attributed to their family and the constant suspicion that follows them wherever they go.