slut [ eddie munson ]

007

"You found Chrissy, right?" Dustin Henderson had blurted out before anyone could stop him. The group of teens surrounding him fell even more quiet than they already were, looks of alarm settled on the three teens behind the counter.

Talia 's face screwed up in what could only be described as pure heartbreak, "What the fuck did you just say?"

Dustin, who had seemed to process how badly he had just messed up, stammered to find a response. Luckily for him, Robin quickly worked to rectify the situation.

She grabbed the two movies off the counter, a forced smile on her face as she tried her best not to be intimidated by the glare that had worked it's way onto the brunette's face.

"So...you find everything alright?" The words rushed out of her mouth, "These are some good choices, I must say. You have an account here, right?" Robin didn't let the girl get a word in as she turned to the computer and quickly typed in Talia's information, "Yep, here we are," a few seconds passed as Robin did something on the computer and then slid the two movies back across the counter towards the angry girl, "And you are all set—on the house, today—have a nice day!"

Talia, still taken aback by the younger boy's insensitive question and, rightfully, still angry, looked at the short haired girl in front of her and scoffed, "Thanks," she said sarcastically. Snatching the movies off the counter, she threw one more glare in Dustin's direction before storming out of the store.

Turning towards Dustin, all three of the remaining teens stared at him incredulously. The boy gave a sheepish grin, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to look as innocent as possible.

"What was that, Dustin?" Max practically hissed, her eyes wide as she stared at him, "That was probably our only shot at finding out what happened to Chrissy if we can't find Eddie, and you totally blew it."

"I'm sorry!" Dustin exclaimed, looking at the older two desperately for some sort of help, "it just came out and it was too late to stop it."

As the two continued to bicker, Steve and Robin shared an exasperated look.

"Alright, dingus one and two, we need to find Eddie—even more now than we did before. So, pause the bickering and get back on the phones," Robin said loudly, breaking up the petty argument going on between the two, "someone has got to know where he is, we just have to figure out who that someone is."

Dustin and Max both huffed but moved back to their original places—Dustin sat in front of the computer next to Robin and Max in front of the phone on the counter behind them. Steve had wondered off again, another customer entering not long after Talia had exited.

Max continued on with her list of people who would potentially know where Eddie had gone, turning around in excitement after the next person she called had actually given her something useful.

"Hey, guys, I might have a lead," Max said, a hopeful smile on her face. Dustin whipped around in his seat as Robin placed the phone in her hand back down onto the receiver.

"Seriously?" Dustin asked, excited.

"Yeah. Apparently, Eddie gets his drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there."

"That sounds promising," Robin said, "Where does this Reefer Rick guy live?"

"See, that's the thing," Max said, dejectedly, "No one knows. He's more of a...a legend than someone that people actually know."

"Well, what about a last name?" Dustin asked.

"I don't know that either."

"Bet the cops know the last name," Steve said from where he stood organizing a display in front of the counter.

"What?"

"Cops," Steve said again, the trio behind the counter staring at him, "I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer," Steve moved towards the counter as he spoke, crossing his arms and leaning on it, "I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system."

"The cops?" Dustin asked in disbelief, "Really, Steve? That's your suggestion?"

"I mean, I just think at this point they should probably be filled in on what we know—what's going on."

"You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?"

"Whoa, I believe in innocent until proven guilty—all that constitutional shit. I just, you know," he trailed off, "don't think that we can rule it out. Plus, Talia seemed pretty distraught, and Max said that she like completely shut down this morning after what she saw—maybe we should be a little more cautious about finding the guy who might have brutally murdered someone? You know, just a thought."

"That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve," Max chimed in from behind Dustin, "and who wouldn't be distraught after finding their best friend dead? It doesn't change what I saw last night, Eddie was scared."

"And maybe," Dustin said, taking over from Max who had fallen silent with a thoughtful expression on her face, "we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend," Steve immediately tried to cut him off, his arms thrown up in confusion, but Dustin kept going, "and more time trying to find Eddie."

"Oh, well somebody has to attend to the customers," Steve said, trying to defend himself even though he had most definitely just been trying to flirt with all the girls who came in.

"Especially if they're babes, right?" Robin threw in, winking at Steve.

"Hey, not fair! Okay? I attend to all the customers equally, babes and non-babes alike," the trio staring at him nodded sarcastically as a man walked into the store, Steve not even turning to welcome him to the store, "we've got a very big selection in here, okay? It can be super overwhelming for these people."

"Yeah, it can be. Which is why you were such a help to Talia right?" Robin said, knowing that the boy had actually been no help to her.

Max's eyes brightened momentarily, "Talia!"

Robin, Steve, and Dustin turned to look at her, confused at her sudden excitement.

"Yeah, what about her?" Steve asked.

"She knows where this Reefer Rick guy lives—I heard her talking about him once, apparently she picks up from his house. She can tell us where to find him!"

"That's great, except that we just pissed her off and have no idea where she is right now, either," Dustin said, the excitement the group had just felt dissipating.

"Actually, she's still in the parking lot," Robin said, having noticed the girl's car still parked in the same spot.

"And, there is no 'we'. You pissed her off, Dustin," Steve said, smug.

Max scoffed, "there might be no 'we'," she gestured to herself and Robin, "but you definitely pissed her off too, Steve."

"Whatever," Steve mumbled, "how are we going to ask her where this Rick dude lives without making her all suspicious?"