Gordie was at his locker before school the next day, taking his books out when he felt somebody grab him by the neck of his filthy T-shirt and start dragging him away.
"What the Fuck!" shouted an outraged Gordie.
"Don't 'What the Fuck!' me! We gotta talk! Now!" he said, dragging him toward the bathroom.
"What the Fuck…………Vern?" Gordie asked in a shocked voice, realizing who it was.
"You bet your ass, now come on!" Vern said rushing toward the bathroom.
"What's going on?" Gordie asked once they were in the bathroom.
"Don't you think I should be the one asking that?" Vern asked.
"What are talking about?" Gordie asked, confused.
"Don't play dumb with me. You have been wearing that nasty, filthy shirt for three days! What's going on, Gordie?" Vern asked, looking him dead in the eye.
"I don't know, I guess I've just been lazy." Gordie said lamely.
"Damn Gordie," Vern said slowly "Even I'm not that dumb! Now how about you tell me the truth?"
"I don't know what you're talking about…alright, alright! I had a fight with my dad." Gordie said, mumbling the last part.
"Huh…what was that?" Vern asked, honestly not hearing
"I said I had a fight with my dad, okay?!" Gordie said louder.
"Aw, that sucks, been there, done that. But what does that have to do with your nasty shirt?" Vern asked, raising his eyebrows.
Gordie sighed, thinking that Chris would have understood automatically "I've been sleeping in the treehouse" Gordie said, looking down at the ground, hating to say the words aloud.
"Oh" Vern said, understanding. The two boys stood there in silence for a minute. Not knowing what to say. Both were used to moments like this, but not with each other, they had never had a very deep relationship. Gordie was just getting ready to say something to break the ice when he noticed what Vern was doing.
"Aw, man, what are you doing?" Gordie asked, shaking his head at Vern, who was pulling his shirt over his head.
"Don't even worry about it, man. I've got another one underneath. You might wanna wash your pits. Want me to go stand in front of the door?" Vern asked tossing the shirt at him and walking toward the door.
"Man, I can't do that." Gordie said, hoping Vern wouldn't agree. A clean shirt would be nice.
"Look, man, I know I used to be a fatass, but I've lost weight since then!" Vern said purposely missing the point.
"Vern…" Gordie started.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Thanks" Gordie said, deciding not to make a bid deal out of it.
"No sweat, now hurry up and wash those pits so we can get out of here, I gotta go to my locker" Vern said, leaning up against the door.
Gordie shrugged out of his filthy shirt and tossed it into the trash. He rinsed his armpits, and chest, dried off, then shrugged into Vern's shirt. It was too short to tuck in and so loose in the neck that you could see both his collarbones. It felt great. Together, the boys walked to each others locker, then headed their separate ways to first period, neither saying anything about Gordie's dad or the treehouse.
As Gordie was walking to his class, he thought about Chris and realized that, even if Vern wasn't anywhere near the same as Chris, and he wasn't exactly the brightest star in the sky, he was a good friend to have, and understood that there was a time for questions, and a time to keep quiet. Knowing this, and knowing that he should be grateful about Vern today, he still couldn't help thinking about Chris. How ironic was it that a person you never thought of as anything more than a clown turns out to be one of the best friends you have. And then, the person that you've always considered to be you're only link to sanity, your island in the middle of an ocean of craziness, decides that it's not worth the risk anymore, and just stops talking to you? As bad as it sounded, no matter how nice Vern was, Gordie jut wanted his island back.
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Chris stepped out of the stall once he was sure they were gone. When he had heard Gordie talking about his dad, he had been so angry, he had wanted to scream! Why was he talking to fucking Verno about it! Why not him?! Sure they weren't talking, but didn't he know that when it was something that serious, he could still come to him?! I mean, what the fuck! But then Chris realized that that's what not being friends was. It was not going to the other one when something happened. Chris was now thoroughly depressed. He had known this would happen, but hearing Gordie talking to someone else, getting comfort from someone else, it made it real. It was really happening. This wasn't some bad dream he was going to wake up from in a few minutes, it was his life now. And it was his fault. He had been the smart one who had decided that he should cut himself off from Gordie. Sometimes he really sucked.
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Gordie had just gotten out of his last period class and was heading out the door when he heard Vern.
"Hey! Gordie! Wait up!" he shouted, running up to him.
Gordie sighed and stopped, knowing what was coming.
"Hey Vern" he said.
"Hi Gordo! Where you heading?" Vern asked casually, giving him a significant look that told him he knew.
"You know where I'm going Vern" Gordie said.
"Yeah, I know. Listen, why don't you come over to my house for a couple of days? I mean, my parents are cool, they won't care. It's a school night but they won't care since we go to the same school and all." Vern said with a huge smile.
"Naw, thanks man, I'm cool" Gordie said, feeling awkward.
"No, Gordie" Vern said, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around to face him "you're not".
"Sincerely, Vern, I am" Gordie said with a fake chuckle.
"Gordie, would you stop with the pride for one second?" Vern asked "You're dirty, you're tired, you're hungry, you're stinky, and you're coming to my house."
"Vern, I'm fine" Gordie said, although he wasn't looking forward to the treehouse again.
"Okay, you keep saying that, like it matters. Why do you just automatically think it's about you?" Vern asked, trying a different approach. "Maybe I want you to come over, did you ever think about that? I mean, you've never spent the night at my house before, I thought it would be fun for you to spend a couple of days with me. But, if you don't like me, cause I'm not smart enough for you or something, I understand. That's okay, I could have Teddy come over, and I bet he'll even only hit me a few times since I'm upset now. See, he likes me." Vern said with a huge smile.
"Well, since you put it that way, Verno, how could I resist?" Gordie asked, and they continued walking, talking about nothing in particular, but still no Gordie's dad.
Chris stood in the backround, watching them with a bitter smile, and telling himself that he was happy Gordie had a friend that could offer him a safe place to sleep. But, in reality, it was just another bit of painful proof that Gordie was better off without him and he had made the right decision.
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That night, Gordie lay in Vern's big, comfy bed, wearing Vern big, warm, clean clothes, his stomach full with his mother's delicious dinner. All the makings of contentedness, feeling miserable. Missing Chris. Feeling the smooth solidness of Vern's body next to him only made him ache for the hard, roughness of Chris. That night, listening to the soft murmurs of Vern talking in his sleep, Gordie fell into dreams of better times between him and Chris.
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FORTY YEARS LATER
Gordie and Chris have made up. Chris simply realized one day that whatever might happen in the future, it wasn't worth losing whatever time he and Gordie had to prevent it. Because a minute with him was better than eternity without him. So, anyways, it is forty years later, the times have changed, gayness is now widely accepted. Oh, there are still plenty of people who don't approve of it, who found it disgusting. But it was nowhere near what it had been. They no longer had to hide like outlaws. They had a dog, both had good jobs. Hadn't seen their Dads in years. They never get sick of each other. They fight occasionally, but never anything worth worrying about. Chris has never once regretted his decision to take the chance on Gordie. They were happy. Right now, they are sitting on the front porch of their small house They are sitting side by side in matching rocking chairs they have had for twenty years, rocking back and forth, naturally in sync with each other. They both have large smiles on their faces and are talking good-naturedly about Chris' upcoming birthday.
"Uggh, another year goes by. Fifty-eight, Gordo, I'll be fifty-eight. I'm getting so old." Chris said, shaking his head.
"Yup, and somehow, you just keep getting smarter and better-looking" Gordie said, still amazingly corny.
"Gordie, you are so corny" Chris said, calling him on it.
"Yeah, but you love me anyways." Gordie said with a huge smile.
"Can't deny that" Chris said happily.
Suddenly, all of the things around them started to melt away, leaving only Chris and Gordie. Then Gordie started melting too, leaving Chris alone.
"No! Gordie! Come back!" Chris shouted.
Chris saw his face get older, more worn. He was now sitting by himself on the porch of his fathers house, a beer in his left hand, alone. A squirrel ran across his lawn.
Chris sprang out of his chair, "Get the fuck off my lawn! You no-good rotten little fucker. Get the fuck off! I'll shoot you! I swear I will!" Chris shouted gruffly.
Chris plopped back into the chair, muttering grumpily to himself about how glad he was he didn't have any animals. Suddenly, the paper boy drove by on his bike, tossing the paper onto Chris' lawn and peddling away before he had time to yell at him. Chris limped over to it and picked it up and started reading it, seeing an article about how Gordie Lachance: Husband, and father of two, had released another best-seller about a boy who got beat by his father and was hated by the whole town, but rose above it, called Hidden Treasure. Chris grunted and threw the paper in the trash, sitting back in his chair and mumbling about how he was glad he had never had kids.
"Where is he!? Where is that little son of a whore?!?!"
"Who?" Chris asked, being jerked awake by his fathers nearly incoherent ramblings.
"That little George bastard! Don't play dumb with me! I heard you say his name! Now where is he?" His father ran up to him and grabbed him by the collar "where is he?" his father asked, getting beer scented spit all over Chris face in the process.
"He's not here Dad! I swear he's not!" Chris said, unbelievably happy that he wasn't, not wanting to imagine what would have happened to him if he had been.
"You calling me a liar, boy? You prepared to back those words up?" his father asked threateningly, raising his fist.
"No! No, sir! I'm not calling you a liar! I wouldn't do that, sir! I must have been having a dream or something!" Chris said desperately.
"What you dreaming about him for? You turning into some kind of fag are you? I'm not gonna have to beat you straight, am I?" his father asked ominously.
"No, sir! I'm not gay! It's just that…well…we've been fighting…it must have been about that, sir!" Chris said, clenching his eyes shut and waiting for the dreaded feeling of knuckles connecting with bone.
"Y-Y-Y-Yes sir, r-r-r-right away sir, n-n-no sir! Always knew you were a pussy! You can stop flinching like I'm gonna shoot you! I wouldn't hit you! You're not worth it! I wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire!" his dad said, tossing him back onto the bed.
"Yes sir" Chris said quietly. He laid there for some time afterward before he started thinking. When he did, his head was immediately filled with thoughts of the dream. The dream had succeeded in scaring the hell out of Chris. He did not want that second part of the dream to come true. He didn't want Gordie to move on, to find someone else. He didn't need to. He had him. He was still scared, but he decided that any future with Gordie was better than a future without him. He went to the phone and picked it up. Knowing that once he heard what he had to say, Gordie wouldn't care less what time it was. He had dialed half the numbers when he remember that Gordie wasn't home…he was at Vern's house. Oh yeah. Chris hung up the phone and slowly headed back to his bed, more devastated than he had been in days.