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Disclaimer: I don't own Stand By Me, I only own Violet.
As soon as we were sure that Billy and Charlie were nowhere in sight, we hauled ass to the tree house, the only place where me, Chris, Vern, Teddy, and Gordie could get away from our parents, siblings, or whatever else bothered us at home. The tree house was a place where we wouldn't be judged or abused, or shunned or ignored. We could be ourselves and actually be accepted.
When we got to the tree house, Vern attempted to do our secret know, and failed as he usually does. I slightly nudged him out of the way and reached my arm towards the trapdoor. I climbed a step higher and knocked our secret knock. *knock* *knock* -pause- *knock* -pause- *knock* *knock* *knock* I wasn't the most badass secret knock, but hey, it made do. It was easy to remember and wasn't something anyone would come up with at the top of their heads.
"That's not the secret knock!" Gordie shouted from inside. What the hell? Of course it is! I went over the secret knock a few more times in my head, remembering the sequence and the order of thuds and bumps and raps.
"Neither of you dipshits got it right! Eee-ee-ee!" Teddy called, laughing his signature laugh. It literally sounded like a cross between a hyena and an eight year old girl being murdered. Definitely not something you would expect to come from Teddy, or anyone for that matter.
"Should we let 'em in?" Chris pondered. I sighed to myself and Vern sneered.
Rule Number Two: Never forget the secret knock.
"You cock-knockers better!" Ain't no way I was gonna be out in this heat for a minute longer. I was sweatin' like a whore in church. I positioned my right leg on the next step above me and began pushing on the trapdoor with both hands. It took quite a while, but I soon heard the card table that kept the door in place fall over, spilling the cards Chris and Teddy were gambling with all over the floor of the tree house. I climbed in slowly, scoping my surroundings, and Vern followed suit. Along with the old, bent Bicycle cards, several cigarettes were also scattered along the floor of the tree house. Some had even fallen down into the muddy grass below. You see, instead of betting money, we liked to use cigarettes, for two reasons: they were easy to get our hands on, and we were all hooked on them.
I laughed loudly at the sight of a fumed Chris and Teddy bending over and picking up the cards and cigarettes. "You boys better know how to play fifty-two pickup!" Gordie and Vern roared in laughter with me, but Teddy scowled and Chris rolled his eyes. "Aye, don't be a little bitch about it!" I could hardly say that with a straight face before I burst into fiddles of chuckles again. I sat on the couch next to Gordie, and Vern sat on a stack old palettes we dragged in only a few weeks ago. Once we were all settled and the cards were picked up, I spoke up. "Alright, besides Gordie, how many of you have seen a real dead body? Not like at a funeral or anything, but a body that hasn't been embalmed or any of that shit yet. Like with the blood and everything still all over 'em? And not nobody who had a heart attack or anything, either. Someone who was legit killed."
The boys shook their heads slowly; they had no idea where I was going with this, only Vern knew. "Well how would you like to see one?" Chris's eyes widened, Teddy raised both of his eyebrows, and Gordie set his detective magazine down, leaning towards me. Vern started to enlighten the boys a bit, telling them how we knew the body was there, and who's body it was. We knew they would know who Ray Brower was; we all followed the story very closely because he was a kid our age. A few days before, he had gone out to pick blueberries, and no one has seen him since. Well, besides Billy and Charlie Hogan.
The idea of going to find Ray Brower's body excited me, but scared me at the same time. It would be pretty eerie to see his body all mangled up from the train hitting him. I didn't know him too well; he lived a few towns away. But I have seen him at the Castle Rock bakery a couple times; his mother insisted that the bakery held the God of Pumpkin Pie. Honestly, though, I didn't even find it that amazing. Any-who, Ray and I have made small-talk before; he seemed like a pretty cool kid,
We all settled on a fool-proof plan. Vern would tell 'ma that he was sleeping at Teddy's, I would say I was going to my friend Halley's house. Chris, Teddy, and Gordie would say that we were all camping out in Vern's back field. "Are you sure you wanna come, Violet? I mean, I know you knew Ray Brower, and it would be kinda weird to, ya know, see him like that…" Gordie said, "'Cause I can get my parents to look after you. They know your situation, and honestly, I think they like you more than they like me."
I shook my head. "I'll be fine, guys." I reassured them, although I had a really bad feeling about this trip.
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