Home // A Stranger Things Story

xxvii

We pulled up outside city hall and piled into the car. Hopper lead us through several hallways into a room where a woman sat at a desk.

"Hey, is he in?" He asked her when we walked in.

"Yes, he's busy at the moment, but-"

"Great." He said, not waiting for her to finish as he walked into the mayor's office, locking the door behind him.

"Excuse me." She called after him, only to be ignored.

"You should sit down." Joyce told her. The woman gave her a rude look. 

"Larry is very busy-" 

"He'll just be a minute." I told her with a fake smile.

We waited for several minutes, and the longer Hopper was in there, the angrier his mind got. I walked over by the door and listened, trying to decide if Larry was a threat or not.

"One call to Tom at the Post... and you're done, buddy. You're gone." Larry told him. Hopper's patience was growing thinner by the second.

"Oh, and, please," He continued. "Don't give me that dead daughter sob story, 'cause I just don't care."

Joyce watched me with concern as I walked away from the door, trying not to lose it. The lights flickered in response to my anger. She walked over to me and rubbed my back, trying to calm me down. 

How dare he speak about Sara like that.

We all heard a loud crash as Hopper lost it at the last comment. The woman at the desk stood up and ran past me, banging on the door. "Larry! Larry!"

She ran back over to the desk and picked up the phone. Joyce ripped the cord from the wall before she could dial.

"Who you calling? The police?" She asked. 

We heard another yell and a crash from the office. I unlocked the door with my mind and burst in. I shut it again before the woman could interfere. Hopper was pinning Larry down on the desk, seething with rage. 

"That is a nice ring you got there, Larry." He told him, shoving his finger into a small box. 

"Are you insane?" Larry cried.

"I don't know." Hopper responded. "Let's find out." He pressed down on the box, which I noticed had a blade on it.

"Okay, okay, okay. Be cool, be cool." Larry pleaded, spotting me from across the room. Hopper followed his gaze and sighed. "You brought a kid here?" He exclaimed.

Hopper ignored him, continuing his interrogation. "Who is he?"

"That your kid?" Larry asked. I was going to lose my temper if he didn't stop talking. "You're going to do this now? In front of her? You're going to traumatize your daughter like that, Jim?"

I glared at him, making the blade slice deeper into his finger. He yelled out in pain, trying to pull away.

Ev, cut it out. Hopper thought loudly, knowing I could hear him. I clenched my jaw and pulled back, watching them and making sure Larry didn't do anything stupid.

"Who is he?" He asked again.

"I don't know his name, I swear." Hopper pushed down in the blade, making Larry yell out again.

"But you know him." He pressed, glaring at him.

"He... he gives me things sometimes."

"What kind of things?"

"Money. Presents." He cried out as the blade sliced deeper into his finger. "Gifts."

"Who is this guy, Santa Claus?"