Here are the next few chapters. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciate it. Just one point to make, someone mentioned a spelling mistake and I thought it was strange so I checked and found that both 'realise' and 'realize' are correct (check a dictionary if you don't believe me). Anyway this isn't some defensive "don't criticize blahblahblah" comeback, it's just the truth. Constructive criticism is a good thing because it can help me to improve. 'Realise' is how I've been taught to spell it and that's how I always do, same with analyse (analyze) and harmonise (harmonize) etc…Anyway enough babbling, thank you for the reviews everyone!! Sorry it's been such a long week since I last updated!
I ran all the way home.
The next day at school Gordie noticed immediately that Chris was absent. He had arrived at school early in the hope of meeting Chris before homeroom but he saw that his friend was not there. Gordie tried to stay hopeful. Maybe Chris was just late.
But by lunchtime he had to admit something was wrong.
The teachers barely even noticed Chris was absent, it still happened pretty regularly. Although Chris didn't play truant as much as he once had, he still did occasionally, sometimes because he was tired or wanted to miss a particular class and sometimes it was because he was too lame to come in.
Gordie was praying it was the former but the alarm inside his head was screaming, Chris was too hurt to come to school today. The thought was disgusting and all the more so because it was the truth. Gordie had seen his friend beaten so many times over the past ten years and always Chris waved it away but lately the attacks seemed to be getting worse. Gordie could not wait until the end of the day to find out what was going on, he had to do something now.
During lunch hour Gordie sneaked out of the building and round the back to where Teddy and the gang hung out.
"Teddy man I need help."
"Yeah Lachance we been saying that for years," Teddy joked. Gordie noticed that he had deep purple circles under his eyes and was not his usual 'upbeat' self. It was something that would have to be examined, later.
"No man seriously, I gotta sneak out the grounds."
"You ditchin last period?" Teddy asked and there was a strange note of pride in his voice. "Alright!"
"It's Chris man," Gordie paused and then in a lower voice so only Teddy could hear. "He ain't here, I'm thinking his dad fucked him up again."
Teddy nodded, and then in a more sober voice, "If you cut down by the baseball field, next to the bleachers the fence is broken, you should be able to get out there, But, you gotta be quick else someone will see you." He spoke with the steely confidence of someone with experience of doing just that.
Gordie smiled. "Thanks man." He turned to leave.
"Hey Lachance!"
Gordie turned back around. Teddy was standing with his hands in his pockets, staring serenely at the sky, he looked at Gordie and his face was serious. It seemed as if some wise words were about to be spoken by Teddy Duchamp. Gordie found himself holding his breath.
"If you get caught, don't fuckin' mention my name."
Gordie managed to slip out unnoticed and before long he was hurrying along the main street in Castle Rock. He kept his head down and wore his baseball cap low over his eyes so no one would recognise him. He hurried past the Blue Point Diner, sometimes his ma ate lunch there and if she saw him, he was dead. He arrived at Chris's house a little past one o'clock and found it strangely quiet. Gordie walked up onto the porch and almost tripped over an empty bottle lying on the top step. With trepidation he knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" yelled a voice from inside. It sounded like Chris's mom.
"It's Gordie um Gordon Lachance," Gordie called back. "Is Chris there?"
He heard footsteps and presently the door swung open revealing Mrs Chambers. She stared blearily at him; she had a bruise on her right cheekbone and her eyes were wild.
"Christopher ain't here," she said. "You're his friend huh? I don't know where he went but probably he be back soon though." She went to shut the door.
Gordie stuck his foot in the door wincing as the wood made contact with his big toe and bounced back. For some reason, in movies this move looked effortless and painless. It wasn't.
"I really need to know where he is," Gordie persisted. "Please Mrs Chambers."
"I don't know," she repeated and then in a softer tone, "if he turn up today, I'll tell him you was here."
She shut the door before he could respond and Gordie was left staring hatefully at the closed door.
He stepped off the porch and tried to think. He was angry and running out of time; if he missed detention then Bonds would go crazy. Gordie decided to wander down to the garage and see if Eyeball knew where Chris was. The thought didn't exactly fill him with happiness but it was the best he'd had. Turning around, Gordie gave the Chambers's house the finger then took off running to the garage.
