Alright, another chapter. To be honest, I don't have anything to say in this author's note other than I managed to get some wifi in a ski lodge and I'm on about 7% battery life, soooo here goes nothing; Chapter 9
Gordie awoke to sun in his eyes and the fell of someone poking him. He groaned, trying to flip himself over like he would if he was in bed, but he wasn't. He knew that. He remembered, clear as hell, the night before, and knew exactly where he was. He was on the train. Going a few towns over. Going to rat out Ace and Eyeball and Billy and Charlie and all the rest of those bozos because of what they did to that kid.
"Gooooorrrrdddiiiieeeee…" A voice droned. Gordie slapped away the hand, but he was already awake, and he knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep at this point, anyway.
"I'm up, goddamn!" He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked around. Teddy was watching him, and had obviously been the one who was poking him. "What the fuck do you want?"
"We're almost there." Teddy told him. Gordie observed the booth, and saw that Chris and Vern were also awake, looking bored, hungry and disheveled. Dana's big eyes were also open, and she was sitting cross-legged at her seat, staring at the cleared tabletop. Her glasses sat next to her, placed neatly on top of her book. "Chris said it'll be about half an hour now."
"So why'd you wake me up?" Gordie squinted at Teddy in the bright morning light.
"We want food." Chris replied for him. "And it's in your bag."
"You could have just got it without me." Gordie mumbled.
"That's what I suggested!" Teddy exclaimed, pointing at Chris. "But Chambers over here said it would be invasion of privacy."
"Well, I'm sorry if I didn't want to go looking through his shit without permission!" Chris huffed.
"Just shut up, guys." Gordie muttered, not in the mood. Teddy let out an unnecessarily long, indignant sigh, but said nothing more. "I'll get you your fucking sandwiches."
"Why'd you bring sandwiches, Gordie?" Vern asked absently. "Couldn't you have brought something like…bread and butter? Something for breakfast, you know?"
"Yeah." Gordie replied with a shrug, not wanting to get into anything with Vern. What he really wanted to tell him was that he brought fucking candy, fucking Pez, so he should just fuck off because at least Gordie had been responsible enough to bring something for them to eat.
Gordie handed out the neat little packaged sandwiches, and the boys unwrapped them in silence.
"Jesus, Gordie!" Teddy exclaimed after taking a bite. "These are fucking horrible!"
Gordie laughed and rolled his eyes.
"Well, I'm sorry I wasn't no Betty Crocker at eleven o'clock at night with all the lights off, while I'm trying not to wake my old man, kay?" Gordie snapped, trying to sound as playful as possible.
Teddy scowled.
"Hey, Ted, at least it's food." Chris told him, taking a bite himself. He made a face. "But I have to say, Betty; not your best work."
Gordie laughed.
"Shut up!" He said. "You know I can't cook for shit."
"You guys want some Pez?" Vern offered, holding out the dispenser, which was supposed to be Micky Mouse or someone, but Vern had been in possession of this one for years now, so it looked barely like anything anymore. They shrugged and took the square candy. "It's cherry."
"Thanks, Vern-o." Gordie said as he popped the little pink thing in his mouth, letting it rest on his tongue for a moment, it's sweet, artificial flavor melting across his taste buds.
Even though Gordie's bland, mayo and turkey sandwich did taste like shit, the boys were hungry, so they ate. They weren't really that bad, for something cooked up in the dead of night a few moments before sneaking out the back door of the house.
"Where do you think the station'll be?" Vern asked, leaning in towards the center of the table. The others followed suit.
"Don't know. Guess we'll have to find out." Gordie muttered. "Might have to go to a hotel or something. What'd you guys think?"
Teddy, Vern and Chris exchanged glances.
"Come on, we're going to be real tired when we get there. We'll need a place to sleep." Gordie tried. "Let's just see how much money we have."
With reluctance, the boys dumped their money on the table. $6.75 from Gordie, 50 cents from Chris (He'd spent most of his buying his ticket), $1.05 from Teddy, and 20 cents from Vern, who countered that he still hadn't found his pennies yet.
"Hey, at least it's a step up from last time." Gordie said with a shrug. "Look's like we've got…about $8.50."
"Don't think we can get a hotel with that…" Vern muttered, looking crestfallen.
"Well, no shit, mister 20 cents!" Teddy exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
"Hey, I brought only seven last time, so you'd better be greatful!"
"Oh my gosh, this is pitiful."
The boys turned. Dana was watching them, looking amused.
"Whaddryoutalkinbout?" Vern demanded in a mumble.
"You guys are being ridiculous." She laughed. "I mean, look at you! You're turning on each other like a pack of wolves." "Look, princess." Chris said with a growl in his voice. "Thanks for the help, but we don't need a therapist."
"Sure you don't." She raised an eyebrow. Chris scowled. Dana leaned forwards, contemplating them.
"You've been through a lot, haven't you?" She asked them. "All of you. You look pretty beat up, is all. And by the looks of it, you're running away from something."
"Well, you're quite the psychic." Chris retorted, and even though he wasn't aware, he was tracing his finger around the fresh bruise that sat like a blotchy black ink stain on his forearm. Dana smirked. "But we aren't running away from anything. We're running to something."
"Oh? Haven't heard that one before." She said icily. She then looked up at the ceiling, tapping her chin mockingly as if remembering something. "Although, I do seem to recall you saying something about a station. You running to tattle, are you?"
Chris went red, and didn't speak.
"Actually, we are." Gordie answered. The others looked at him with a face that told him to shut the fuck up before someone heard.
"Oh really?" Dana said, raising an eyebrow. "Someone beat you up real bad and mommy and daddy won't listen?"
"It's none of your business, to be frank." Gordie informed her, even though she already knew she was meddling in things she shouldn't be.
"Then I'll make it my business." Dana said, catching them off guard. She stood, walked across the isle, and leaned her hands on their table. "How's about I let you stay with me for the night. Then it would have to be my business."
Gordie's brown eyebrows furrowed.
"Why do care about us?" Gordie asked.
"Just spotted a couple kids my age in the same sort of predicament. Run aways…or running towards, in your case. Saw you guys don't have any money, so I decided I'd help you out." She shrugged.
Gordie looked a the others. They shrugged in a way that said why not?
"Alright." Chris answered for the rest. "Fine. So long as you buy us a pack."
"A pack?" Dana cocked her head slightly to the left.
"Cigarettes." Teddy translated.
"You guys smoke?" She looked at them funny.
Chris shrugged, producing a pack from his pocket and sending it in a lobbing toss towards Dana. She caught it in one hand without even looking. "You?"
"Ugh, no." Dana shook her head in disgust. "Never met kids your age who smoke. How old are you guys, anyway?"
"Thirteen." Chris lied.
"Me too." She said, tossing the pack to Chris, who caught it easily in his dominant hand.
Dana began to make her way to her seat. When she did, she turned to face them.
"You'd better quit that before it kills you, you know." She said, nodding to the pack, which sat flopped open on the table. "Could give you lung cancer."
The boys snorted a kind of laughter.
"What can I say?" Chris said cockily. "Old habits die hard."
Dana rolled her eyes.
"Well." She said. "None of that shit where I'm taking you guys, okay? Don't want to smell."
They rolled their eyes, looking desiccated.
"Yeah."
"Okay."
"Sure.
"Whatever."
"Guys, did you see that!?"
Dana and the boys looked up. Teddy was pointing enthusiastically out the window.
"Jesus, Teddy, what?" Gordie glared at him for yelling.
"Look! I saw a sign! Welcome to Harlow or something! Right there!" He waved his arms excitedly in the direction of where the sign might have been.
"That's fucking great." Dana muttered, going back to her book after seeing that it wasn't a big deal after all. "Now can you please be quiet for once?"
Teddy shot her a glare.
"Well." Gordie said with a sigh. They began to pack up their things. "This is our stop." He waited for Teddy to make is way out of the booth, then followed. They stood by the door, their bags in hand.
"What are you bozos talking about?" Dana asked, sitting up a little straighter and looking at them with this peculiar, confused look on her face.
"This is our stop." Chris replied. "We're getting off in a few minutes."
Dana just laughed.
"No you're not." She said simply, as if it was obvious why.
"Why not?" Chris demanded, whipping around.
"Because this train doesn't stop in Harlow." Dana said, giving him a look.
"Of course it does! Stop giving me shit. We're getting off." Chris shook his head, peering out of the window. They could see Harlow whizzing by, the train station not yet in sight.
"You can try all you like." Dana said, folding her arms. "This train does not stop in this town."
Chris shook his head again.
"You're full of bullshit."
"Excuse me!" Dana huffed. "I'm just trying to help."
"Fuck your help! We know what we're doing."
"Did you even check the train schedule? Or did you just buy the ticket blindly?"
The boys looked down at their feet.
"You guys have never been anywhere, have you?" Dana said smugly.
"Course we've been places! Lots of places!" Teddy protested. "My old man stormed the beach in Normandy." He added proudly.
"Ohhh, well, I'm sure he did." Dana said with sarcastic sweetness. "But did you?"
Teddy set his jaw and sent her a pisser of a glare. Vern laid a hand on his friend's shoulder, knowing what would happen if he blew up.
"You're just some small town boys with a thirst for adventure, aren't you?" Dana said smugly. "We were." Gordie said from the back of his throat. "But maybe it was too much. Now we're setting things right."
Dana looked at him in a different way. Something like a mixture of interest, question and mockery.
"You don't know anything about the outside world, do you?" She asked.
"Enough to know that you're really bullshitting us right now." Gordie growled.
"Oh really? Here comes the station." Dana gestured towards the window. In the distance, the train station was getting closer and closer. "Let's see who knows more."
Gordie folded his arms and watched the window expectantly. However, something nagged at him. What would they do if she was right? What would they do if the train didn't stop in Harlow?
But there was no time for 'what-ifs'. The train station was approaching, faster and faster. They could see the platform, slightly jutted out over the tracks. And as it became less and less of just a spot in the distance, the boy's heats began to sink.
Fifty feet. Forty feet. Thirty and then twenty. They could see it on each other's faces that they were growing nervous. Fifteen feet. The train showed no signs of stopping. Ten feet, and Gordie's clammy hands went numb. The train kept speeding. Five. Four. Three. Two.
And then it past them. The platform went whizzing by, and with it, so did Harlow.
Dana just looked pleased, smug, even, watching the boys' expressions of question and disbelief melt into pure anger.
"We got on the fucking express train!" Teddy exclaimed, putting his hand on his forehead. "I can't fucking believe it!"
"How could we be so stupid?" Gordie thought out loud, punching the air in frustration.
Teddy turned to him.
"Oh, I don't know." He said sarcastically, sending bullets at Gordie. "You're the one who came up with the idea!"
"How the hell was I supposed to know the train schedule!?" Gordie yelled.
"It was your responsibility! None of us know shit about this!" Teddy yelled back.
"Huh, Mr. 'Stormed the Beach in Normandy'!"
If looks could kill, Gordie would have dropped dead.
"You came up with this, Lachance." Teddy growled. "This was your idea! I was fucking fine with letting Ace and Eyeball getting away with murder, but you had to go on and suggest that we run away!"
"What else were we supposed to do!?" Gordie asked. "Let them push us around and blackmail us when we are the ones who should be blackmailing them!? They killed Ray Brower, Teddy! The kid is dead! Departed! Expired! Six feet under! Pushing up daises! Zero Percent! He's gone, Teddy! Don't you think he'd want it this way?"
"This is isn't an adventure anymore!" Teddy yelled louder and louder. "This is bad! Really, really bad! This isn't fun anymore! Do you think this is fun!?" Teddy was losing it now, screaming. Here came hulk mode… "Stupid is stupid is stupid! Stupid is not fun! Stupid isn't an adventure! Not everything is like one of your gay little fairytales, Lachance-!"
"Hey, hey hey! Oh, Jesus Christ, will you two just shut the fuck up!" Chris exclaimed, stepping between the two of them. "Teddy! What the hell has gotten into you, man!?"
"It's the goucher." Vern breathed after a long pause in which Teddy and Gordie shot death stares at each other.
"What?" Gordie looked at him like he was insane.
"The goucher. It's turning us against each other. I'm telling you. The fucking goucher. This is real shit, man. Baaaad luck, real bad. This is-"
"Just shut up, Vern." Chris told him in a low voice. It sounded so ominous, so dark and deep that it shut them all up. Chris was good at that; grabbing your attention in such a way that it could silence a room. "Look. It's no use in arguing about shit that already happened. We can't go back in time. There's no use in punishing Gordie. To be honest, none of us payed shit to where we were going. Gordie came up with the idea while the rest of us were going to sit on our asses and let them get away with this. Gordie brought the food, while the rest of us ether brought insufficient candy or just brought nothing." None of them knew when or why Chris had learned the word 'insufficient', but it worked. "Gordie's the brains of this operation. We all know that now. If it wasn't for Gordie, we'd all ether be dead or starving or we wouldn't even be here at all. So I suggest we all stop taken Gordie's fucking brain for granted and we can just make the best of it." Chris sighed, running a hand through his hair, arranging his argument out in his head. "The police station in Harlow isn't the only one in the world. I'm sure there's one where we're going. Murder is a national thing, right? So we can go anywhere in the state or whatever and it will still count. Alright?" Chris breathed in and out, trying to steady himself. "Okay. Cool. So we can just…yeah." "What is your story?" Dana mused. The boys turned. The girl had been watching them intently, holding onto every word.
"What do you mean?" Gordie said in a small voice.
"Small town boys traveling to Harlow alone with talk of murder…" Dana said in a soft voice that was almost sarcastic. "I just wonder about your story. It seems long and winding and… almost gay fairy tail worthy." She gave Teddy a sneering wink.
Teddy gave her one of his dead-cold stares, but kept his mouth shut.
"And I heard you talk about Ray Brower being killed." She continued cautiously. "And I've heard about Brower; kid was hit by a train a few weeks ago. What's your relation to him?"
"Who the hell are you, anyway?" Gordie demanded, advancing on her. He was dangerously close to the slick, conniving girl. He leaned over her as she sat facing him at her booth. "You ask all these questions, but you don't tell us anything. What's your story?"
But Dana just stared at him with deep, expressionless eyes. She was cold. So cold.
"You too many questions, Gordon." She said. "I thought you were the smart one. Silly. Looks to me like you and your Teddy Bear Club friends are in a tough situation. Families back home, you know? But you don't want to go back. None of you do. You want to rat out this Ace kid for, you say, killing Ray Brower. Hah! What a story. If your parents find out where you are, you'll have to go home without getting it out there. And they will find out, unless you have a place to hide. That's why you need me. So I suggest you just let me ask my questions, because I'm your only hope." Dana laughed to herself when she saw their faces. "Face it, boys; I have you all figured out."
Gordie eased himself up to standing position, and followed his friends back to their booth.
"You really are a psycho, aren't you?" Chris spat as he sat down.
"Keep a secret?" She said in a mocking tone, putting a finger to her lips. Chris shook his head, disgusted at her attitude and unempathetic personally.
