CHAPTER THREE — VECNA'S CURSE
PART ONE
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"GOD, THIS is so stupid," Jackie huffed, pushing the passenger door of Steve's car open. After trying (and failing miserably because of her cast) to drive herself around the previous night, she had no choice but to rely on Steve for rides. She hated feeling useless. The option to take the cast off was there of course, but when she wore it, the pain that would shoot up her leg every time she took a step wasn't as severe.
"Jackie, it's really not that big of a deal. We basically have the same work schedule anyway."
She got out of the vehicle in silence. She wasn't mad at him—she wasn't mad at all, really, but earlier that morning she'd asked Nancy to drive up to the trailer park because she forgot to pack something, and not only were there a fuck-ton of cops at her neighbor's, she also got brushed off by Max, and got to see her mother drunkenly stumble around.
Long story short, she was not having a good day.
"I'll see you later," was her response, and she stepped into the skate shop. Another plus to Sid's Skates and Family Video being right next to one another; there was a connecting door between the stores. So when she said later, it was most likely more sooner than anything, because that door got used more than the front. Steve was right, business for the shop was pretty slow, but he had exaggerated a bit.
Saturday's were always the busiest for both; even if Sid's was less packed, she was still occupied checking someone out when Dustin came sprinting through the front door.
"Yo, dude!" Jackie hollered, holding her hands up. "Slow down! It's a skate shop not a damn race track. What're you rushing around for anyway, shithead?"
"How many phones do you guys have?"
"Phones?" She echoed, confused. "One, why?"
Dustin groaned dramatically and turned to walk through the connecting door to Family Video. He glanced back her way. "Are you coming or no? This is an emergency!"
Jackie looked to the customer she was currently busy with, to him, and then back to the customer. "You're joking, right?"
"Hey, lady, hurry up and buy that thing for your grandson already so I can steal fake blondie!"
Jackie sighed. "I'm so sorry about him. Are you all set?"
"Yes, dear I am," the lady didn't seem offended, she was more amused than anything, judging by her expression. "Is he your little brother?"
Jackie looked to see Dustin climbing over the countertop in Family Video, throwing his things and knocking everything down during the process. Steve's yell of protest could be heard, even from where she was standing, and soon Max's face appeared too. She shifted on her feet and turned back to the woman.
"Yeah, something like that."
After putting up the lunch break sign on the door when the customers had all cleared out, she made her way to the next store over. Dustin was typing away on the computer, and the remaining three looked annoyed. Max's expression only darkened when she saw Jackie enter.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Perfect timing!" Robin pulled her by the arm so that she was behind the counter with the rest of them. "Max was just about to fill us in. Go on."
Max said nothing at first, and Jackie was awkwardly staring at the floor while they waited expectedly, and when her sister started to explain, Jackie felt her stomach drop.
Someone had been murdered in Hawkins. And it was in the trailer park—where they lived. The pit in her gut only grew as Max continued their theory, how this girl, Chrissy, was at Eddie Munson's trailer before she died. And how they weren't sure if it was really him who had done it, or if the responsibility fell onto something else. Something that they had dealt with before.
"So... what's the plan now?" Jackie asked warily once Max was finished telling them everything.
"Our plan," Dustin spun around on the squeaky office chair to face her. "Is to call all of Eddie's friends and see if they've heard from him, or even seen him. We need a lead, this is how we start."
"Well, Steve can take care of the shop," Robin said. "I'll help you guys call."
"Jackie? You in? You could plug in the phone from Sid's to over here."
"You guys are so gonna get me fired. I have to work, I'm the only one scheduled today."
"Jackie," Dustin whined. "Come on, you have to. Jobs are a dime a dozen, but saving an innocent man from being convicted of a crime isn't!"
"No, no," it was Max who spoke now. "Let her go back to work all by herself. Since that's what she seems to like do to. You know, avoid the people in her life who need help so she can do something for herself."
A hush fell over them, and Jackie, who was halfway to the door, froze. She could feel every set of eyes on her as she slowly began to turn back around. "For myself?" She repeated, unable to comprehend that Max had just said something so nasty to her. "More than half of my paycheck goes to mom for rent so you're not homeless and living on the streets! Don't pretend that you know anything, Max. Because you don't."
"I know that you're never there," Max retorted immediately, like she'd been preparing for this. "And I know that you think you're better than us, and that's why you're never home. You think you are too good to live in a trailer. I know that you pushed me and mom away because poor Jackie can't handle the stress of her family's problems."
"Didn't you literally do the same?" Jackie's tone was close to venomous. The fact that Max had decided to do this here, in front of their friends, was what really pissed her off. "You pushed Lucas away. You don't even talk to anybody, you've become this shell of a person we all used to know, and yet you're accusing me of pulling away?"
"Guys," Steve interjected, glancing frantically between the two of them. "Can we do this later?"
"No, if Maxine wants have this discussion, then we'll do what she wants. Isn't that right?"
Max fell quiet, but her blue eyes were fixated on her sister with the sharpest look imaginable. Jackie stared back, unflinching.
"Everyone shut up!" Robin had been at the other end of the counter, oblivious to the scene going on, but somehow managed to interrupt perfectly. It might've been funny to Jackie if she hadn't been so focused on not throwing a tape at her sister's face. "I might have a lead."
Dustin straightened in the chair. "Name. Now."
"I don't have a last name, but this guy, Reefer Rick, he sells drugs to Eddie. Nobody knows where he lives."
"I bet the cops have a last name," Steve said suddenly, and they all stared at him in disbelief. "I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system."
"The cops?"
"Need I remind you that we don't trust cops?" Jackie demanded. "The only one we did is no longer here, so get that idea out of your head. No cops. Eddie's a suspect, right? Why would we lead the cops right to him if we're trying to figure out for ourselves what happened last night?"
"I just think they should be filled in on what's going on here. What we know."
"You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?"
"Woah, I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just... you know. I don't think that we could rule it out."
"Look," Jackie sighed, meeting Steve's gaze. "He has a point. Eddie has always been nothing but bad news. The first time I met him he held up a joint and gave me a bottle of beer to wash it down with. He said it was my welcome to Hawkins present."
"Wait, why did I never know about this?" He asked.
"Because it happened like two years ago and I ruled him out as a complete weirdo and ignored him afterwards."
"Guys," Dustin gave them both looks. "Stop talking about Eddie like that. He's not capable of murder, and he's not a weirdo."
"What if his name is in a different system?" Robin asked suddenly. Jackie quirked a brow, and watched as she stole Dustin's seat. "What if he's in this one?"
"But we don't have a last name."
"Maybe we won't need one," Robin pursed her lips, then started to type out the name Rick into the computer. "Twelve Ricks already have accounts here."
"That's a lot of Ricks."
"So," she started to type something new. "Let's narrow it down. Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. What are the chances of our drug dealer having family?"
"Slim to none."
"All right. Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone."
"Maybe he likes a good coming of age when he's selling crack," Jackie suggested. "And before you make a crack joke, Harrington, no I would not know because he's not my dealer."
Steve's chuckle was low behind her, and Robin shook her head before moving onto the next. "Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease."
"Nah," they all murmured in unison.
"Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon, and Splash."
Jackie snorted. "Definitely not."
"Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams. Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke."
They collectively laughed. "Bingo."
"Lipton?" Max questioned.
Robin confirmed it with the nod of her head. "Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road."
"That's out by Lover's Lake," Dustin realized. "Middle of nowhere."
Robin rose to her feet. "Yeah, and it's the perfect place to hide."
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authors note
you guys are so funny your comments r cracking me UPPPPP