A New Friend & An Old Enemy
Fancasts for Mike's Parents
Idris Elba as Will Hanlon
Regina King as Jessica Hanlon
Melanie weaved her way through other students in the crowded hall. She had to grab some notebooks she left in her locker. Once she arrived at her locker, she opened it and grabbed the notebooks. She then put them in her backpack and closed her locker.
Melanie began to walk toward the main entrance. She hoped Henry Bowers and his friends weren't out there. She didn't want to deal with them today. Honestly, she never wanted to deal with them any day.
Luckily for Melanie, the Bowers Gang was driving away just as she exited the school. "Thank God," she said under her breath.
After watching them leave, she noticed that Butch Bowers, Henry's father, was here. She shivered at the sight of him. She didn't understand how a man like him was allowed to become a cop.
Officer Bowers wasn't alone; his partner and Mrs. Ripsom were with him, too. The woman was visibly distressed. Melanie couldn't blame. Her daughter Betty had been missing for over a month.
Melanie didn't know Betty well, though she seemed okay. She didn't give her, Mike, and Beverly shit like other people did. A part of her hoped Betty was still alive, but she doubted it.
"Mel," she heard a voice call from behind her.
She turned around and saw it was Mike. "Hey, Mikey," she greeted.
"What were you looking at," he asked.
Melanie pointed at Mrs. Ripsom.
"Oh," said Mike. He was silent for a moment. "It must be horrible for Mrs. Ripsom."
"Yeah," Melanie agreed, staring sadly at the woman. She knew what it was like to lose someone.
Mike frowned. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," she lied.
Mike opened his mouth for a moment then closed it. After a moment of silence, he said, "Well, my mom is probably waiting for us."
Melanie nodded. "Right."
They walked to where Aunt Jessica would normally park to wait for them. Sure enough, she was there. She was reading one of the books she kept in her glove compartment.
Mike knocked on the passenger door. Jessica looked up from her book. Upon seeing Mike, she unlocked the car doors. Mike sat in the passenger seat while Melanie sat in the back.
"How was school," Jessica inquired once they were seated
"Fine," they answered simultaneously.
"Good," she said, starting the car. She pulled out of her parking space and drove away.
Melanie was glad to get away from school. She didn't hate school like other kids, but she did have a problem with the people there. More specifically, she had a problem with Bowers' Gang and Greta Keen. Minimal interaction with them during the summer was always a blessing.
She just prayed nothing terrible would happen this summer.
-TFS-
Melanie and Mike entered the library together. Aunt Jessica had dropped them off while she ran some errands. Melanie didn't like doing errands unless she absolutely had to, so she decided to go with Mike. He had needed to return a history book he had checked out. They were supposed to meet Aunt Jessica at Joey's Diner.
They approached the desk where the librarian, , sat. She smiled when she saw them. "Mike, Melanie, it's lovely to see you both," she said
Melanie wasn't here as often as Mike, but she was here enough for Mrs. Starrett to know her name.
Mike placed his book on the desk. "I'm here to return this," he said.
"Wonderful," said Mrs. Starrett. She took the book and put it on a cart beside her.
"Is Derry During the 18th Century still here," Mike asked.
For a moment, Melanie wondered why it wouldn't be; then, she recalled Mike mentioning someone else had been checking out history books. That had surprised Melanie. Mike and Uncle Will were the only people she knew who would willingly read a history book.
"Yes," replied Mrs. Starrett, "it's still in the history section."
"Thank you, Mrs. Starrett," said Mike.
"No problem," Mrs. Starrett said. She then returned to her work.
"I'm gonna look at the teen books," Melanie informed Mike.
"Okay, I'll find you later."
Melanie nodded. She went in the direction of the teen section. She read the titles on the spines to see if any of them interested her.
One caught her attention. It was called Tiger Eyes. She had read it last year. Well, she had tried to read it. When the death of the main character's father came up…
Melanie suddenly didn't want to be there. She quickly walked out of the teen section. She needed to find Mike; she headed to the history section. There, she found Mike talking to another boy.
Melanie recognized him from her and Beverly's social studies class. His name was Ben something. Melanie approached them.
"Mike," she said to get his attention.
Mike turned around. "Hey, Mel," he said once he saw her.
"Um, hi," Ben greeted shyly.
"Hi," said Melanie. "It's Ben, right?"
"Uh, yeah," he replied.
"What were you two talking about," she asked.
"History books," Mike responded.
"You like reading history books, too," Melanie asked Ben.
"Yeah," Ben replied. "Do you?"
Melanie shook her head. "Nah, that's more Mike's thing."
"What books do you like?"
She shrugged. "I don't read a lot. I have been reading a photography book, though."
"That sounds cool."
"Are you ready to go," Mike questioned Melanie.
"I am," responded Melanie.
"Okay," Mike said. He turned back to Ben. "Me and Melanie are supposed to meet my mom at Joey's. Do you want to come with us?"
"I can't. I promised my mom I'd come straight home from the library," said Ben.
"Alright, maybe we can hang out another time," Mike suggested.
"Really," exclaimed Ben. " I mean… yeah. That would be cool."
"Cool." Mike held up the book in his hand. "I'll call you when I'm done with the book."
Ben smiled widely. "Great!"
"It was nice meeting you," said Melanie.
"You, too."
After a few more words between Mike and Ben, he and Melanie headed to 's, so he could check out his book. Once that was done, they left the library and walked to Joey's.
"Ben seems nice," Melanie said.
"Yeah, he does. I heard Henry has it out for him," said Mike.
"Why," Melanie asked. She instantly felt stupid for doing so. Henry never needed a reason to torture someone.
Mike shrugged. "It might be because he's…," he trailed off.
"Fat," Melanie finished for him. She hoped she hadn't sounded rude.
"Yeah," said Mike.
"What do you think Henry is going to do to him?" Henry always followed through on threats. He was going to do something to Ben sooner or later.
Mike shook his head. "I don't want to even think about that. My guess is that it isn't good."
Melanie looked at the ground. "Yeah."
They didn't talk the rest of the way.
-TFS-
"Hey, kids," a cheery voice greeted Melanie and Mike when they sat at the diner counter.
"Hi, Sarah," they said in unison.
Sarah was the wife of James Marshall, a farmhand of Will Hanlon. If she wasn't working at Joey's, she was at their house.
"Jessica stopped by and told me you two were coming," Sarah said. "You guys want anything?"
"Want to share an order of tater tots," Mike asked Melanie.
Melanie nodded. "Sure."
Sarah wrote the order down. "You want anything to drink," she inquired.
"I'll have a chocolate shake," replied Melanie.
"Strawberry shake," Mike responded.
Sarah wrote that down, too. "The shakes shouldn't take too long," she told them. "The tater tots will probably be about 20 or 30 minutes."
"Okay," said Melanie.
"Holler if y'all need anything else," Sarah said.
"We will," said Mike.
Sarah turned and walked away to help another customer. Mike pulled out his book to read; meanwhile, Melanie looked around the diner.
Many kids from school were there. She recognized a few of them. One, in particular, was Eddie Cocoran; they had P.E. together. She noticed he looked sad.
Melanie wondered if it was because of his younger brother, Dorsey. The boy had died about two years ago. It had been an accident. Though, some kids at school weren't sure about that. Beverly was one of them.
"Why wouldn't it have been an accident," Melanie asked.
"No reason it's just," Beverly trailed off.
"What?"
"You've seen his brother Eddie, right?"
"Yeah." She wasn't sure where this was going.
"Well, he comes to school bruised a lot."
"So do you. He's probably just clumsy like you." Beverly didn't reply to that. She looked upset. "Bev, are you okay?"
"I talked to him once," Beverly said. "He said his stepdad was harsh with him."
"Harsh?"
"He hits him."
"You mean a spanking." Plenty of her friends in Louisiana would get spankings from their parents.
"No, I mean…"
The sound of the diner door opening pulled Melanie out of her memories. She turned to see if it was her aunt who had entered. Her heart sank; it wasn't her aunt. It was Henry Bowers and his friends.
He spotted her and leered. Melanie gulped; she and Mike were in trouble.
