Chapter 39: Dear Stan
Mike Hanlon goes down the dirt path of their family farm to the mailbox, its faded red flag up to signal that it had been delivered. It was a relief to get some time to himself after helping feed the sheep all morning. Lugging the feed bags around had left him stiff and sore; the excuse of getting some water and walking to the mailbox was enough for his grandfather to grant him some reprieve from a hard day's work because he was still being useful.
He opens the mailbox and removes several letters. Most were bills and the daily water survey. While the farm was not in Derry, it still surrounded it and likely used water from the same system. Every week, the family had to fill in the survey to see if anything had changed with the taste, smell, colour etc., of the water. It was kind of tedious because to the young teen, it was all the same and nothing was different. What was it that made the water so dangerous?
He then notices another envelope, with his name on it. He looks at the return date and a smile spreads across his face when he realizes that it's from Stan. Out of all his friends in the Loser's Club, he was surprised that only one had written to him. Had their battle with that thing from the sewers meant so little? What about their club? He knew that he was the newest member, but did that mean he didn't deserve to get something from them? Even a card for his birthday, which was coming up soon…
He wants to read it so badly, but he knew that his grandfather would not allow it during the workday. He tucks it into his jeans pocket for later.
…
The sun is beginning to sink towards the tree line, indicating it's close to dinner. After cleaning out the sheep's pens and giving them another round of food, Mike was ready to throw in the towel but knew that there would be something to do very soon. He stood at the kitchen sink, trying to clean up a little bit.
"Michael?" his uncle says, coming into the kitchen.
"Yes, Uncle Howard," he says, scrubbing grime off his upper arms.
"I want you to take your bike into town and buy some cigarettes for me and also a gallon of milk back for dinner."
His uncle then places the money on the table.
"And I want to see exact change. Don't go spending it on shit you don't need. With the town almost shut down and little need for meat, we're going to have to wise with our cash."
"No problem, Uncle Howard," the teen says.
He goes for his bike from the shed and takes off towards town.
The sun is still baking down on the gravel road, making the stone very hot, but with night coming, the shadows were long and pointed toward Derry, as if they were long gnarled fingers directing the boy to the destination.
Only a few people remained in Derry, those who ran essential services such as the pharmacy, one restaurant, and the grocery store, though the orders for meat had become rare due to the reduced population. These individuals ran the town for the crew that was cleaning up the water and sewer systems. It was always deathly quiet when Mike was there… it felt so wrong for the town to be so empty. He was so used to seeing people driving around or coming in and out of stores. Granted there were people, especially the Bowers gang, that he was glad that he no longer saw but his friends… perhaps it was the curse his grandfather always talked about coming to fruition.
Everyone wanted to leave Derry… so why was he stuck there?
As he approaches the yellow tape, he sees a worker in what looks like a yellow hazmat suit coming toward him. He has a clipboard and pen in hand.
He looks like a man from space, like those old movies he used to see on TV late at night, and he speaks to Mike through his suit, but the kid can't understand him.
"I'm sorry, what?" he says. "I can't hear you."
The man then removes his helmet, to be heard.
"What's the purpose of your visit kid?" he asks.
"I just need to grab a few things from the convenience store," Mike answers. "I won't be more than 20 minutes."
"All right," the man says.
He unties the tape and lets Mike bike through.
With quick precision, the teen navigates the streets toward the store. As he rides by, several workers look at him. Some are in similar hazmat suits, others wear hard hats and rubber boots, and there are a few… men in military uniforms. Mike wants to do a double take to ensure he saw that, but with the way the people are looking at him with disdain, he pushes on to where he needs to go.
He makes quick work of the store, putting the cigarettes and milk in his basket and biking back down the street.
This time, as he passes, he sees more men in military blue uniforms, badges, medals, hats, and all. One is talking to another and there are a few men in army greens with guns… actual guns. They look like they work for the government.
Why the hell would they need those? Mike thinks to himself. He tries to keep his eyes focused ahead, but it just piques his interest so much. The men shoot him sharp glances as if the teen will expose their secrets and one in a hazmat suit waves him along.
When he reaches the taped-off entrance, the man lets him through and the teen heads back to the farm.
Why would the government and the military be interested in cleaning our water? Does it have to do with radiation or nuclear tests? Is the town part of some experiments? Are they fighting the clown down there so that's why they need the guns?
The questions whirl in his head like a movie reel before he reaches the Hanlon homestead. He goes around the back to deliver the cigarettes before taking the milk inside. His grandfather already has a casserole in the oven… one of the few things he could make. Mike's grandmother used to do a lot of the cooking and had it ready for the "men" when they came in from the barns and fields. When he was young, Mike used to enjoy watching his Grandma Shirley move about as she chopped, stewed, fried, boiled, and seared to her heart's content. She always made such great meals and the kitchen always smelled great. Even when he was forced to begin working outdoors, he looked forward to coming inside for a good meal. But now, with her having passed on, the meals were always the same. His grandfather could only make so many meals on his own and his uncles were no better at it. Beans on toast, scrambled eggs, canned peas, soups, stews or casseroles with random bits of food from all over the kitchen were commonplace now. His grandfather never had time to cook properly so made mashups of various things, much to the displeasure of their stomachs.
Putting the milk in the fridge, Mike goes up to his room, sits on his bed, and pulls the letter from his pocket.
He goes to his desk and sits, ripping it open.
He unfolds the paper.
Dear Mike,
How's life in Derry?
Hope the weather is still really nice. It's still hot as hell here, fortunately, there's a pool or your average garden hose that can help with that.
Hawkins is an okay place… not much to say really. It's basically like Derry, maybe a little bigger and there is a mall here. Pretty cool huh? It's not very special, it's just big, but it's air-conditioned and there's a movie theatre in it too. I hope that if you do come to visit that we could see a movie and you can see the place.
Sorry, that none of us have written to you in the past few weeks. Relocating is a lot and pretty busy. My dad has me working at the synagogue a lot more to get it straightened up and high school is one hell of a change. There's still a social hierarchy like in middle school. Fortunately, most of us are just seen as the "new kids" and we haven't been put into groups yet. Sometimes I wish that I was homeschooled like you were, not having to worry about crap like that. And good luck with ninth grade Math man, it will kick your ass hard.
Hope your family is safe and doing well while everything is getting cleaned up. Bill's cousin has come to stay with his family, and he's met some people from Hawkins, Ben has found his place at the local library, Beverly punched a guy in the nose when he was picking on us, and Eddie and Richie are their usual selves. There's really not much else to tell, a lot has changed and yet some things have still stayed the same.
Hope you're hanging in there
From Stanley
Mike smiles. He's glad to have heard from his friends and it sounds like Hawkins isn't that special… maybe even normal and that's what they all needed. It's comforting to know that while he didn't escape Derry, it was quiet.
He wants to write back when the buzzer on the oven goes off, meaning he had to rescue the casserole before it burned as his grandfather was no doubt back in the barn.
After a quiet dinner, Mike does a little bit of schoolwork assigned to him before finally retreating to his room.
Despite battling sleep already, the teen goes to his desk and pulls out a piece of paper to write back to Stan, asking him if it was weird to see the government in their tiny town.
Dear Stan...
A/N: Please follow and review
Responses to Reviews:
xLiteratureLoverx: Yes it's a cute interaction, that's the start of a fun relationship. Mia being a mentor is so great.
GlaringEyes: Yeah, it is pretty common for kids and teens. I guess the kids from Hawkins just don't feel like doing that. It is a super fun thing to do in real life. Yes, I agree that every language has its challenges, but speaking from someone who teaches kids English, all the rules for grammar can be so complicated so no wonder El is stressed.
norozco772: May not be the way you expect it to be. I'm really shooting for a Mia and Steve relationship more than Mia and Billy. Billy will definitely be featured prominently though in later chapters