CHAPTER SIXTEEN
DEFINITELY, MAYBE
The hour the follows Abby and Robin's conversation is filled with silence filled by the occasional muttering of the phrase that spills out of Robin's mouth. Robin has left Abby alone with her thoughts as she takes on the scooping and slinging. It's cathartic in a way, a good distraction from her wandering thoughts that always manage to end up fixating on Steve despite how hard she tries not to think about him. Robin's words have sent Abby's mind reeling because, she knows that there's is definitely, maybe something there. And it's up to her to decide whether or not it's worth chasing after or falling farther down the endless well of feelings. Once you start falling in the right direction, you never really stop, but people describe it as if you're flying. Abby thinks that falling in the wrong direction, too is just like flying except there's a more permanent destination. Abby only hopes that she's started to fall in the right way. She's not sure if she'll be able to break her fall if she had fallen in the wrong direction.
The afternoon has grown considerably cold for a summer day in Hawkins. Outside the sun is masked by the thick overcast clouds. Parents are dragging the children home before they're caught in the downpour forecasted for later that day and pass by Scoops Ahoy without a second glance. A storm has rolled over Hawkins in big thick angry clouds of gray and a violent downpour of rain almost masked by the outside chatter of the mall. It's the kind of rain where you want nothing more than to wrap yourself in soft feathery blankets and shelter in your bedroom away from the loud noise and fall asleep to the steady trickling of rain. But Abby is stuck in the cold interior of Scoops Ahoy. The parlor is empty, the nautical tunes continue to broadcast throughout the empty room. It's far too cold for ice cream now.
Dustin and Steve still have not returned from their endeavor. Abby stands behind the cash register and taps her fingers impatiently against the surface of the counter. She's unbelievably bored as she waits, the dreaded feeling of helplessness and restlessness has washed over her. Robin has fallen into her own rhythm, pen scratching against the pages of her notepad, the occasional sips from her soda, the sound of the dog-eared pages of the translation book being turned, pulling her headphones over her ears if she needs to cancel out the noise from the rest of the world.
"The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets red in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly," Robin reads aloud. She takes a sip from her soda thoughtfully. "Tread lightly."
This is followed by the frantic rustling of the dog-eared pages of the translation book before a knock sounds from the back door. Robin lets out a sigh and mutters something about getting the door. She pries open the window and slides into the backroom. Abby turns to watch curiously as Robin opens the back door to reveal a delivery man dressed in a Lynx uniform. He pushes a cart in front of him loaded with several different boxes.
"Delivery for you," he says as he hands Robin the box on the top of the stack.
"Thank you," Robin replies with a sigh as she takes the box from the man and places it on the counter. Abby makes her way over to the window and places her hand on the counter as she watches in curiosity. There's a few moments of silence as Robin signs off on the package, the only sound that fills the air is the scratching of Robin's pen against the paper, though her eyes are elsewhere, flitting over the Lynx logo on his uniform.
The man raises his eyebrows as Robin continues to stare before he gives her a sort of half-smile. "Have a nice day."
"Yeah, you too," Robin replies as the delivery man continues down the back hallway. Her voice is distant, though as she steps through the door into the back hallway. Abby furrows her brows as Robin stares after the man before two crystal clear words tumble out of Robin's mouth. "Silver cat." She turns toward Abby with wide, excited eyes. The gears in her head are whirring now, ignited by whatever she had seen on the back of the man's uniform. "Silver cat!" She exclaims.
"Wait, you solved it?" Abby asks.
"No time to explain," Robin replies in a rush as she pushes through the backroom door and grabs Abby's hand. "Just—come on! You'll see!"
"Hey, Abby, Robin, you will not believe who Dustin thought was a Russian," says Steve as he and Dustin walk side by side into the parlor.
"You did too!" Dustin protests.
"No, I did not!"
Their argument goes unheard by Robin and Abby, too caught up in the spark of excitement that Robin had fanned into a flare. Robin grips Abby's hand tightly in the excitement of the moment, but Abby is too caught up in the exhilaration to notice. With their hands still linked and notepad clutched in Robin's hand, they push through Steve and Dustin and sprint to the center of the food court. Robin relinquishes her tight grip on Abby's hand as she leaps up onto the round tile planter.
"Uh, Robin ..." Abby murmurs.
"A trip to China sounds nice," Robin whispers as she starts to spin around. Her eyes dart across the food court, over bright neon signs and company logos. Abby watches as Robin's eyes finally fixate on Imperial Panda. She lets out a delighted sort of sigh as she glances down at her notepad. "If you tread lightly." She lets out another gasp as she points toward Kaufman Shoes which sits on the second floor of the mall before she repeats, "If you tread lightly."
Abby lets out a small gasp as the broken pieces of the code suddenly snap together. Lynx: the delivery service, the silver cat. Imperial Panda: a delivery cover, the trip to China. Kaufman Shoes: another cover for the Russians' delivery, tread lightly. All that's missing is the last sentence of the code. When blue and yellow meet in the west.
"When—when blue and yellow meet in the west," Robin murmurs spinning once more.
Abby joins Robin on the tiled planter, desperately craving to be of some help, searching desperately for any landmark with blue and yellow. And then she sees it. The large clock that looms above the mall with its blue and yellow hands that circle it. She nudges Robin and points. "When blue meets yellow in the west."
"Robin, Abby," Steve and Dustin stand below them, staring up at the two girls in confusion. Steve spreads his arms, his gaze lingers on Abby for a little while longer, but nobody seems to notice. "What's going on?"
"I cracked it," Robin explains.
"Yeah, it was brilliant," Abby adds.
"Cracked what?" Steve asks.
Robin hops down from the planter. There's a gleam in her eyes. "I cracked the code."
✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*
It's just before eight forty-five when the group congregates on the rooftop of Starcourt Mall. If it had been any other day, perhaps Abby would have admired the view of Hawkins from so high above, but the rain obstructs her view of the sleepy town. They're bundled up the best they can in their raincoats they had brought along with them that day, but even the water resilient coats aren't enough to truly protect them from the onslaught of the downpour. Wind buffets them from all directions as lightning flashes brightly across the sky and thunder rumbles in the sky. The cold air bites at Abby's exposed skin and sends her teeth clattering together and waves of cold to spread through her as she pulls her raincoat closer to her in an attempt to trap the quickly escaping heat.
Abby's hair clings to her face as she squints through the rain and gazes down at the courtyard below them. Her view is obstructed by the water that drips down the sides of her hood and into her eyes, but just barely she can make out two burly men dressed head to toe in black stand bolt upright in front of a door, seemingly impervious to the wind and rain. A shrill beeping fills the air as a yellow delivery truck backs into the courtyard loaded with various deliveries. The Russians' shipment can be anywhere in there.
"Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes," Robin instructs over the sound of the wind and rain.
Dustin raises his binoculars to his eyes and scans the area below them. "They're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock!"
"Hey, I don't speak spy language! Just point or something!" Abby calls over the howling of the wind. Dustin lets out a sigh and points down to a small yellow figure, barely noticeable against the fluorescent floodlights that significantly brighten the area. She can just barely hear the tune that the man whistles.
Steve squints down at the small figure and then turns to Dustin. "What do you think's in there?"
"Guns? Bombs?" Dustin suggests.
"Chemical weapons?" Robin adds.
"Maybe some sort of intricate infiltration plans?" Abby supplies.
"Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth," Dustin tells them, referring to the armed men who stand in front of the door.
"Great," Steve remarks as he wipes away the water that has run into his eyes. "That's great."
"Hey, what's in there?" Robin calls as she points to the giant metal doors that swing open just behind the armed men.
"It's just more boxes," Dustin responds.
Steve reaches over for Dustin's binoculars. "Let me check it out."
Dustin is quick to wrestle the binoculars back out of Steve's grasp. They begin to squabble over it, passing from hand to hand and hissing at each other until finally, Dustin forcefully yanks the binoculars back into his grasp which sends them spinning out of control. They hit the side of the roofing with a loud thunk followed by shouts in Russian.
"Duck!" Dustin hisses as the Russian guards snap up to attention.
With palpitating hearts, the four whirl around and duck out of the keen sight of the Russians just in time. Abby takes a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart. She fees her fingers laced in somebody else's, squeezing tightly. Their hand is warm. She doesn't want to let go. She glances over at Steve who holds her gaze for a few moments before averting the focus of her eyes down to their intertwined hands. Abby's heart only pounds faster as neither of them makes any attempt to let go of the other's hand as the four lay there, paralyzed in fear.
And then as if some spell that had been cast over them breaks, the four scramble quietly and as quickly as they can, they crawl to the rooftop door. The warmth of Steve's hand has disappeared now as they flee, shivering and stumbling down the long winding staircase and into the long hallways behind the shopping outlets, trailing watery footprints behind them. The interior of the mall is not much warmer, but at least now, they're out of the rain. They stride through the halls quickly, careful to not make any noise as they distance themselves from the Russians.
"Well, I think we found your Russians," says Robin.
"You don't say," Abby responds as she pushes the sopping strands of hair out of her eyes. "What do we do now?"
"We find a way in there and we figure out what the hell the Russians are doing here," Dustin answers.
"No, absolutely not," Abby reponds. "Because as beautiful as this would look on a college or job application, we're way out of our depths here. We have to tell someone."
Steve lets out a scoff. "Yeah, and who's going to believe a bunch of teenagers who scoop ice cream for a living?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the chief of police," Abby answers as they push through the back door to Scoops Ahoy, "who, may I remind you, is quite used to things like this."
"Okay, fine," Dustin agrees. "Tomorrow, we'll try to get through to the Chief and if that doesn't work, then we're back to square one. We have to do this ourselves."
"Fine," Robin sighs as she picks up her bike helmet. "Let's just get out of here."
The four battle through the harsh rain, swaddled in their raincoats as they run out int the parking lot. The only two cars that remain in the desolate parking lot are Abby's and Steve's. Steve has already volunteered to take Dustin home, and Abby has already offered earlier that day a ride to Robin, who had taken her bike to work.
Abby hangs back with Steve and Robin and Dustin run ahead into the parking lot. "Hey, my parents are gonna need my car tomorrow, you think I can hitch a ride with you?"
"Yeah, yeah, of course," Steve answers with a nod. They walk in silence for a few moments before he gives her a side-long glance. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"Aw, look at you being all concerned for me," Abby teases with a half-smile, bumping Steve with her shoulder. "I'll be fine. What about you? You think you can maybe hold off not being beat to a pulp this time around?"
"Oh, look who's the concerned one now."
"I think it's a fair question."
"It's not like I think 'oh, hey, this is a good moment to get my face smashed in', because I'll have you know that I think my face is pretty good-looking, too," Steve replies defensively.
Abby doesn't deny this, she only lets out a small laugh. "Well, uh, I'll see you tomorrow, Steve."
"Tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Steve nods.
Abby lets out another small laugh and shakes her head as she jogs toward her car. Robin leans against the slightly-rusted metal of the old family car and bounces her foot impatiently as she pulls her raincoat tighter around her. Abby steals one last glance over at Steve who knocks the cap off of Dustin's head after the boy says something to him.
Yeah, there's definitely, maybe something there.