"when the working day is done..."
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
THE NEXT MORNING, COLBY ONCE AGAIN FOUND HIMSELF IN THE BACK OF SCOOPS AHOY. It was like every other day. Although he didn't get paid well, at least he was bringing home some money to support his family.
Another thing exciting about that day in particular was the return of Dustin Henderson, a kid in the party that both Steve and Colby liked. He'd been at camp since the beginning of June, and he'd finally come home.
Steve and Colby were hanging out in the back when they heard a familiar voice, containing the same familiar lisp, outside the window. They looked at each other with wide eyes as Steve burst out the door, Colby not far behind.
"Henderson!" they exclaimed in sync.
Dustin laughed gleefully at the sight of his two older friends looking at him. Steve moved over to greet him while Colby stayed behind the counter, giving Dustin a simple high five. While Dustin and Steve began their newfound secret handshake, Robin and Colby watched in awe. When they were done and their laughter had subsided, Robin leaned forward.
"How many children are you friends with?" she asked seriously. Steve sighed, motioning over to her with a grimace that acted as a smile.
"I see you've met Robin." he said awkwardly, clearing his throat to dissolve the tension that had arisen.
"Hi," said Robin dryly.
"Anyways, we have to talk." said Dustin, interrupting Robin's greeting. She looked at Colby and Steve, aggravated with the kid that had entered her restaurant.
"I'll have a sundae." Dustin beamed at Robin, handing her a five dollar bill. She frowned. Not long after, all three boys were sat in a booth, watching as Dustin eagerly ate the sundae that was in front of him.
"My new girlfriend Suzie," he began, swallowing his food, "genius, okay? Absolutely amazing. And she's hotter than Phoebe Cates."
"No, no. Now way!" scoffed Steve. "Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No."
"Jesus, Dustin," said Colby, looking up at the ceiling and picturing Phoebe Cates, "what camp did you go to?"
Dustin hummed, pride swelling in his chest. "Brilliant, too, like I said. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth."
There was silence for a few seconds as the other three boys stared blankly at Dustin. He seemed pretty excited, although the others were just confused.
"Wow," Colby was the first to speak up, shaking his head in confusion.
Steve was speechless for a moment, staring at Dustin with the same expression, of pure confusion, that Colby had when he heard Dustin's last sentence.
"Wow. Yeah, that's great. Proud of you, man. Now I just need Josh to man up and get with Max." Steve laughed a little, although it sounded forced.
"Yeah, well, I doubt that's happening anytime soon." Dustin grimaced. "He made a comment... she wasn't too happy with it." he explained no further, leaving the sailors in the dark.
"Yikes." winced Steve. "Only a matter of time before he wins her back again, don't worry."
"Wins who back?" they all turned to see Cassie approaching their table, a strawberry ice cream cone in her hand. Steve tensed.
"Max Mayfield," Dustin told her, beaming, "Hi, Cassie!"
"Hey, Dustin. Hi, Bee." smiled Cassie, taking a seat beside Dustin. "Harrington. You enjoying that ice cream, Dustin?" she ignored Steve's open mouth.
Dustin nodded, his mouth full of ice cream. "So do you really get to eat as much of this as you want?"
"Yeah. I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though. You know, I gotta keep in shape for the ladies." He motioned to his body.
"Yeah, and how's that working out for you?" called Robin from the counter.
"Ignore her." Steve said quickly in an attempt to cut her off.
"She seems cool." Dustin said positively.
"She's not." Steve replied swiftly.
"Yes she is." Cassie rolled her eyes, and Colby nodded enthusiastically.
"So... where are the other knuckleheads?" Steve cleared his throat awkwardly. He seemed to be very awkward around Cassie, seeing as he rapidly tapped his fingers against the table and ran a hand through his hair every few seconds. Colby glared at Steve from across the table, only making him more nervous.
"They ditched me yesterday." Dustin responded miserably.
"No!" Cassie covered her mouth with her hand.
"My first day back. Can you believe that shit?"
"That's a jerk move." muttered Colby.
The thing was, sometimes Dustin did seem to be the outcast of the group. He was by far the smartest, although that also meant nobody could understand a word he was saying. Of course, Will also contended for the title, especially after they'd gotten the mind flayer out of him.
"Woah. Seriously?" Steve looked at Dustin for confirmation.
"First, Mike and El." Dustin nodded. "Then everyone else. Well, everyone but Josh. He stayed. He just couldn't come today because Lucas was making him help with something. But I swear to God. They're gonna regret it, though, big time when they don't get to share in my- sorry, our glory." Dustin sighed, before grinning at the teens around him.
"Glory?" repeated Steve, his eyes widening excitedly. "What glory?"
Dustin smiled down at the table, ducking his head down so he was somewhat hidden. "So last night, I was trying to get in contact with Suzie..."
"Oh!" Steve winked. "Mm..." although, after he said this, he seemed to grimace at the thought of Suzie.
"Who's Suzie?" questioned Cassie, raising a brow.
"Dustin's girlfriend." Steve choked out, coughing.
Cassie's jaw dropped with a proud smile. She'd been very fond of Dustin since the year before, when she'd helped him fight off the Demo-dogs. It was also when she became fond of Steve, which annoyed Colby.
"And uh..." Dustin cut off the conversation. He whispered something that nobody could hear.
"What?" whispered Colby, straining his ears to try and hear what Dustin was saying.
He again mumbled incoherently under his breath. Colby frowned at him, looking around to see if anyone was staring at them. Nobody was, so Dustin's incoherent ramblings were useless. He could speak at a level tone.
"Just speak louder." Steve told him, rolling his eyes.
Dustin inhaled deeply. "I intercepted a secret Russian communication!"
Everyone in Scoops Ahoy went silent, turning to look at Dustin. Colby stifled a laugh, seeing as everyone went back to their normal conversations a second later. However, Robin stared at them with a raised brow.
"Jesus, okay, shh, yeah okay. That's what I thought you said." They all sat in silence for a moment. "W-what does that mean?"
"It means," Dustin slightly rolled his eyes, "Steve, that we could be heroes. True American heroes."
Steve made a noise of approval. Cassie scoffed, and he went silent. Colby rolled his eyes, kicking Steve under the table.
"Sweet." Colby nodded. "American heroes."
"Just think, you could have all the ladies you want, and more."
"More?" Steve raised his brows, quickly glancing at Cassie.
"More." confirmed Dustin proudly.
"I like more." said Colby, thinking of a different girl. Quite obviously, there was no way he was thinking about Cassie, and he sent a disgusted glare over in Steve's direction. "So what's the catch?"
"No catch. I just need your help." Dustin assured them.
"With what?" inquired Steve.
Dustin unzipped his backpack and pulled out a small red book. It was pretty thick, although it fit comfortably in the boy's hand.
ROMANOV'S
RUSSIAN - ENGLISH
ENGLISH - RUSSIAN
DICTIONARY
"Translation." he said simply, glancing at all of them.
"All we have to do is translate... something... from Russian to English?" said Steve in disbelief.
"I took French." shrugged Cassie, finishing her ice cream come. "So I'm not a huge help."
Colby's head turned in Cassie's direction, his eyes widening with a bright smile on his face. He hadn't known that Cassie had taken French, in fact he thought she'd taken Spanish like most people. He felt his face turn red.
"Tu as appris ça juste pour me parler?" he said to her, and she smiled at him.
"Sí." said Steve blandly, resting his head on his hand. Colby rolled his eyes at the slightly older boy, who kicked Colby under the table.
"It's a lot harder than it sounds, believe me." Dustin shook his head.
"Then we'd better get to work." Steve stood up, leading them to the kitchen. Robin watched after them disapprovingly.
Everyone was sat around the table in the back, staring down at Dustin's tape recorder. A man was speaking in fluent Russian, although Colby couldn't understand a word he was saying. Considering the speed (because of his fluency) of his words, they all blurred together. Steve was pacing around, chewing on a banana, his brows furrowed together as he listened intently to the man. Cassie was leaned back, reading out of the translation book. Dustin was watching them patiently. All in all, the only person that was fully zoned in was Dustin, who was hopeful that he'd be able to catch the Russians.
"So what do you think?" said Dustin, looking at the older kids for advice.
"It sounded familiar." nodded Steve before anyone else could say anything. Everyone looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes.
"What?" uttered Dustin, beyond confused.
"The music." continued Steve, swallowing his banana. "The music right there at the end." he pointed down to the tape recorder.
Dustin groaned, tilting his chair back and gripping the edge of the table. Colby reminisced on his elementary school teacher scolding the kids in his class for doing such a thing; every time, it was the same story. The story of the boy who fell back and cracked his head open. "Why are you listening to the music, Steve? Listen to the Russian!"
"We are translating here, Steve." scolded Cassie, and Steve almost immediately cowered back slightly. Colby regretted allowing her into the back.
"I'm trying to listen to the Russian!" he whined in return, shaking his head. "But there's this music playing in the-"
The door burst open and Robin stormed in, looking irate. She put her hands on her hips and stared the group down. "Alright, babysitting time is over. You need to get out there."
She approached the small whiteboard that was hanging on the wall near the back door. Dustin, much to Colby and Cassie's repeated warnings, had erased the math that Robin had written down and replaced it with the Russian alphabet. Enraged, Robin turned towards them.
"Hey, my board!" she exclaimed angrily. "That was important data, shitbirds!"
Colby winced, looking over at his sister. She hid her face in her hands as Robin looked expectantly at everyone that was trying to translate.
"I guarantee you, what we're doing is way more important than your data." Dustin assured her with a confident smirk. Reassured himself, Steve nodded along, putting a hand on his hip.
"Yeah?" Robin raised a brow, approaching the table slowly. "And how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?"
Dustin looked up at Steve with a slacked jaw and the Martin siblings put their heads on the table. Sure, they were a part of the group, but they'd rather agree with Robin than the others.
"How does she know about the Russians?" hissed Dustin, looking up at Steve.
"I don't know..." mumbled Steve, his mouth full of banana.
"Did you tell her?" questioned Dustin, staring angrily at Steve.
"It wasn't me!" defended Steve, holding up his hands in surrender.
"Hello, I can hear you." said Robin with a blank expression. "Actually, I can hear everything. You two in specific," she motioned towards Steve and Dustin, "are extremely loud. You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but you haven't figured out a word because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet. Sound about right?"
"I always knew you were a genius." laughed Colby uncomfortably, although Robin just sent him a glare in return. However, Cassie looked at Colby with a faded grin, her eyes darting over to Robin, who was staring at Colby.
Robin lunged towards the tape recorder, although Steve grabbed it as fast as he could, preventing her from taking it herself. "Woah! What do you think you're doing?"
"I wanna hear it." shrugged Robin. She seemed genuinely intrigued by the idea of Russians in Hawkins. Colby didn't blame her— if Dustin was right, then this was a monumental discovery.
"Why?" said all the boys in the group simultaneously.
"'Cause maybe I can help." she suggested, letting a light smile cross her face. "I'm fluent in four languages, you know."
"Russian?" asked Dustin hopefully. His light blue eyes grew cheerful. By adding Robin to their group, they were one step closer to figuring out what the Russians were saying.
"Ou-yay are-yay umb-day." spoke Robin confidently, causing Steve and Dustin to cheer excitedly. However, the other two looked at them oddly.
"That's Pig Latin, you fools." scolded Colby, slapping Dustin on the shoulder. Robin motioned at him. Steve followed suit, also slapping Dustin on the shoulder.
"But I can speak Spanish, and French and Italian, and I've been in band for twelve years." she sat in between Colby and Cassie.
"Sur une échelle de un à dix, à quel point Dustin et Steve sont-ils stupides?" asked Colby, raising a brow. Cassie looked confused— she wasn't fluent.
However, Robin beamed at him, stifling a laugh. "Une vingtaine, probablement."
"They're saying our names," whispered Dustin to Steve, who looked terrified.
"Anyway, my ears are little geniuses, trust me." Robin finished, leaning her head on her hand.
Steve laughed uneasily, hesitating on his answer. To him, including Robin in their mission was unreasonable. Everyone in the group but her knew the truth about Hawkins. If somehow the Russians and the Upside Down were connected...
"Come on!" huffed Robin, exasperated. "It's your turn to sling ice cream, my turn to translate. I don't even want credit, I'm just bored."
Someone was tapping the bell impatiently outside, and regretfully, Steve took her scooper and headed outside, grumbling about how much he hated his job. As for the rest of them, they grouped around the table.
"Alright, let's try this again." said Colby, quieter this time. "Without Steve, we've gained significant brain power."
"Oh, leave him alone." Cassie reached around Robin and punched Colby on the shoulder, making him wince and rub the spot in pain.
Repeatedly, they listened to the tape. Robin paced around the back, swinging her arms back and forth as Dustin replayed the tape.
Then she stopped, pointing at him. "Wait, stop. Just replay that last part..."
"Okay," he rewinded the tape to go back a little. To Colby, the words meant nothing. He wished he'd learned Russian rather than French, because when would the French attack America? After all, they'd helped them in the Vietnam War (regardless of if they'd lost or not. Personally, Colby felt bad for Vietnam, but was torn between helping France or Vietnam).
"Okay, that word." Robin pointed at Dustin, who again paused the tape recorder. "It's pronounced 'dly-nna-ya."
"'Dly-nna-ya..." repeated everyone in the group excitedly.
"Which is spelled..." she pointed over to the whiteboard. Dustin raced over as she took his seat, grabbing a pen and writing down on the piece of paper they'd set up.
"The-the chair!" exclaimed Dustin happily. "The chair looking thing!"
Robin beamed, looking down at the paper and scribbling down on it before looking up again to make sure she'd written it down right. Within a few minutes, Robin (the genius) had figured out the very first sentence in the message. Cassie slid the window open to tell Steve.
Eventually, they'd moved from the piece of paper to the whiteboard, erasing the alphabet and replacing it with each sentence. By that evening (when the rest of the mall had shut down), they'd translated everything. Cassie was falling asleep after a long day of work.
"'The week is long, the silver cat feeds, when blue meets meets yellow in the west.'" said everyone in unison, staring at the board. Colby checked his watch. It was almost ten.
"Jesus. We'd better head out." he showed them the time. The sailors of Scoops Ahoy turned off the lights and pulled the gate down to close off the restaurant for the night.
"I mean," huffed Steve as he pulled the gate down, "it just... it just can't be right."
"It's right." said Robin and Cassie simultaneously, smiling at one another after the fact.
"Honestly, I think it's great news." shrugged Dustin contently.
"How is this great news?" snapped Steve, trailing after the rest of the group. "I mean... so much for being American Heroes. It's total nonsense."
"It's not nonsense." Dustin disputed. "It's too specific. It's obviously a code."
Colby couldn't believe he was agreeing with Dustin Henderson, but there he was, nodding along with the kid. Russians wouldn't just outright say their plans, especially if they were communicating publicly, even if they didn't know people could hear them.
"What do you mean a code?" demanded Steve cluelessly. Colby rolled his eyes.
"Think of it as a super secret spy code." Colby explained in simpler terms, looking at Steve. "Like, if you didn't want people to know what you're talking about, you wouldn't just say it straight up."
"Oh." said Steve, nodding. He tripped over his untied shoelaces and grabbed Colby's hand to steady himself. The other boy turned red and quickly looked away. "Uh... okay, that's a total stretch, though."
"I don't know, is it?" Cassie stared at the ground thoughtfully, and Steve looked at her energetically.
"Oh, seriously, you're buying into this?" Steve gestured towards her, his brows furrowed together.
"Listen, just for kicks," said Robin, coming to the quick defense of Cassie, "let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. What do you think they were gonna say, 'Fire the warhead at noon'? Colby is right."
"Exactly." nodded Dustin in agreement.
"And my translation is correct. I know that for a fact, so... 'the silver cat feeds.' Why would anyone talk like that unless they're trying to mask the meaning of their message."
Colby looked at Steve, who still looked slightly confused and disapproving. Although, that was normal for Steve. While he was the oldest in the group, he was also the stupidest. He knew it, and so did everyone else.
"Why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the message was somehow sensitive?" added Cassie, and Robin nodded excitedly at her.
"So," Robin looked over at Dustin, "I guess that confirms your suspicions."
"Evil Russians!" breathed out Dustin, who was grinning.
"I can't believe I'm about to agree with this strange child," huffed Robin, smiling ear-to-ear, "but, yeah, totally. Evil Russians."
"So how do we crack it?" asked Dustin hopefully.
"Well," sighed Colby, running a hand through his hair, "I guess we can translate the rest of it and hope that a pattern emerges."
"A pattern, right." Dustin was thinking hard, as he often did. "Like... maybe 'silver cat' is a meeting place."
"Or a person." suggested Robin eerily.
"Or a weapon," theorized Cassie, adding to their anxiousness about the Russians. While the adrenaline of theories was flowing through their blood, the idea of a Russian weapon being in Hawkins wasn't exactly a good thing.
"It's probably gonna take a super genius to crack it, but..." Robin trailed off, noticing the lack of Steve Harrington in their group. "Where's Steve?"
They all turned around to see Steve pulling some coins out of his pocket in front of the kids' horse ride, near the claw machines. Robin and Colby grinned at one another, excited to tease him.
"Hey, Steve!" called Robin, trying not to laugh. "What are you doing?"
"Uh, it's a quarter..." he said, sifting through the coins in his hand. "I need... do you guys have a quarter?"
Robin finally let out a laugh as the other five people in their group raced over to Steve. While Colby knew he had a childlike wonder, he had never known just how extensive that wonder was. Even Cassie seemed a little embarrassed for him.
"Sure you're talking enough for that ride?" teased Colby, approaching Steve with a smirk on his face.
"Quarter!" shouted Steve, holding his hand out and demanding the coins. Cassie handed him the money and he put it in the machine. The horse began bobbing up and down, playing the familiar carnival music.
"Need help getting up, little Stevie?" mocked Robin, and Colby elbowed her comedically.
"Would you guys shut up!" hissed Steve, waving them off. Colby's grin faded as the music replayed in his brain, and he looked over at Dustin, turning him around so he could reach his backpack.
"Shut! What the hell are you doing?" shrieked Dustin as Colby searched through his backpack for the tape recorder. He grabbed it and held it up.
"The song," he breathed out, pressing play. "The music is the same."
In fact, the music was exactly the same. Colby and Dustin looked at each other with wide eyes as they listened to the repetition of the music on the recording.
"I don't understand." Robin shook her head blankly.
"It's the exact same song on the recording." explained Dustin, taking the tape recorder into his own hands.
"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia." suggested Robin. That was one of the first times Colby disagreed with her. What were the odds of a transmission coming to Hawkins with the same music in the mall?
"'Indiana Flyer'?" Steve read off the coin slot. "I don't... I don't think so. This code, it... it didn't come from Russia... It came from here."
And suddenly, to Colby, the endless noise of Daisy Bell playing became eerie. The idea of Russians being Hawkins was beyond creepy. It shouldn't have been a possibility at all. Why would Russians want to be in Indiana? What was the factor keeping them there? Was there a factor at all? Or was Hawkins such an irrelevant town that it would be easiest to conduct business there without anybody noticing?
But Colby had a feeling it was the former rather than the latter. There was something going on in Hawkins. And then he remembered what Dr. Owens had said about the Soviets the previous year. How if they found out what transpired in the lab, they'd want to use it for their own good.
Had they decided to use it for their own good?
˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗
Laurie Martin was in her kitchen. It was a little past 9:30, and she could hear her son's radio playing in his bedroom. She didn't bother to go in there half the time, usually because the posters and magazines were not to her liking. It wasn't like she bothered with her oldest son anymore.
However, unbeknownst to her, Jayson's bedroom window was wide open. It had been for about fifteen minutes, since she'd gotten downstairs. Jayson had been invited to a party that he didn't want to miss, but to avoid the questioning from his mother, he'd just snuck out.
Laurie was practically dancing around her kitchen, seeing as she was drunk beyond comprehension. She laughed to herself, even when nobody said anything. In fact, who was there to say anything? Laurie Martin was completely alone, and always would be. She didn't need love— she couldn't fathom love.
Then, the doorbell rang. Stumbling over to get it, Laurie pushed her cigarette between her lips and blew smoke out into the air— and the face of a boy. While Laurie could've said he was attractive, everyone would've looked at her as if she were stupid. They would've been able to see that for themselves. He had bright blue eyes and dark, curly hair. And his smile looked like it came right out of a movie.
"Hi," he greeted, grinning at her. "You must be Cassie Martin."
Laurie laughed, flattered. She blew more smoke out, trying to avoid getting it in the pretty boy's face. His blue eyes pierced hers, and he looked her up and down while chewing on a toothpick. "No, I'm Cassie's mother, Laurie. I take it you're here to see her?"
"No, I'm not." he dismissed, still grinning. "I'm, uh, a friend of Colby's. Is he here?"
Laurie frowned, noticing the kitchen light. "No. That bastard is always out and about these days. I can never keep track of him. What's your name, sweetheart, I can take a message."
Billy Hargrove cringed at the scratchiness of her voice. He smoked, but his voice had managed to stay as smooth as silk. He considered that a part of his charm.
"Billy Hargrove." he leaned up against the doorframe, putting his arm above his head. "And, to be honest, we're not really looking for Colby. We're looking for you."
Laurie's ears perked up at the mention of we. She was thoroughly excited by the idea of it, for multiple boys would be nice to have for the night. Who cared about Jayson, anyway?
"Oh," Laurie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "and why's that?"
"You're a drunk." snarled Billy, and suddenly, all of his charm was gone. His eyes seemed to darken, and he looked at her through lidded eyes. Laurie backed up instinctively. "Everyone in Hawkins knows it. Hell, I've been here for two seconds and I know it. He knows it, too. Nobody cares about you. You're unlovable. Your kids are stuck with you because their dads don't want them. You're abusive and you're dying. We know that. So why not speed up the process a little?"
Billy grabbed Laurie's throat, lifting her up off the ground and pressing her up against the fridge. The older woman struggled against his grip, but due to her shrinking lungs, her oxygen was running out twice as fast. All Laurie remembered was her house— the one that she'd lived in since she was a kid— darkening around her.
jack
sorry for not updating on tuesday😭 i was on vacation so i couldn't lol
anyway i feel like i should've expanded more on how bad of a character laurie actually is, but i didn't so i'm sorry
i'll add extra chapters once this book is finished that will tell about her past
also if nancy dies tmrw i will have to upload extra chapters for her basing it off of what her and colby's relationship would've been like
ALSO
i'm gonna change my upload schedule to three times a week until i'm halfway through szn 4 because i don't want to be too behind on the chapters so my uploads will be tuesday, thirsday, friday!!!!
(6/30/22)