Charles was back on the couch again. No one was speaking to him. No one knew how to recover from it. Dustin hadn't seen his sister for weeks. This was not how he had wanted to spend his summer break. He had envisioned more pool parties and side story d & d runs and bike riding and maybe even a family vacation. That was all shot now though. Charles had ruined everything. He still talked about the family vacation as if it was going to still happen, but no one acknowledged him. Sure Delilah knew how to get under peoples skin but he had no right to strike her the way he did. Their mom was a mess over it. She tried to go see her at work, but Delilah would ignore her. Claudia was inconsolable most nights. Her food was bland and she cried over every little thing now. She had cried to him one night, profusely apologizing that she had let this happen. She took so much of the blame and it was eating her alive.
Dustin wondered if he would ever understand adults. Even when he was one, would he make decisions like these? And what the fuck was up with the living in sin thing? He hardly seemed like a man of the cloth but he was spouting off like one at that dinner. Charles had eaten all of the leftover lasagna. No one else could touch it. It was a nasty reminder of the slap that was probably heard in the upside down. Dustin had battled things far beyond his imagination, but he still couldn't come to grips with the image of Delilah's wide eyes after she was struck. He had never seen her face look like that. Through all the horror movies she had seen, she had never looked so scared. Everyone did. Except Eddie. He remembered hearing his rings grate together as he held his fists tight, ready to strike at Charles at any second.
Thank god he hadn't, but Dustin had felt like doing the same. He remembered wanting to scream, but feeling frozen. Like his rage kept him planted and quiet. EMotions he had never felt before had been surging through him. After Eddie had gotten Delilah out, he tried to think of what he wanted to start yelling at his father. How dare he touch his sister like that? He wanted to be a dad but hit his own daughter? In what universe did he think that was the move to make?ss But nothing came out. Instead, Dustin started to cry. He'd never tell anyone how hard he cried. He had crumbled to his knees and sobbed in the dining room. It took his mother lifting him up and helping him to bed to get him to stop crying. What if he never got to see his sister again? Surely he wouldn't let that happen. He didn't know what to do though.
He had once biked to Eddie's trailer and asked to see her, but she wouldn't see him. She had sent Eddie with information that she wasn't mad at him but she needed some space. He wanted to know how much space, but would never think of asking something like that. Eddie was being really cool about the whole thing. The two were meeting up at the arcade that day to hang out. Mike and Lucas were also tagging along, much to Dustin's surprising dismay. It's not that he didn't want to see his friends, but he really just wanted to talk to Eddie about Delilah. He wouldn't have many good chances to ask about her in front of the other guys. He knew they would understand, but it just wasn't something he wanted people to know.
Upon arriving, he saw Eddie's van already parked in the lot along with Mike and Lucas's bikes in the rack by the front door. Dustin was almost always the last one to arrive lately. He hitched his bike in the rack and entered into his safe haven. It didn't take him long to find his friends who greeted him with open arms. Eddie had even embraced him in a tight hug. "How ya holdin' up Henderson?" He asked him, slapping his hand on his shoulder.
"Decent enough, I suppose," Dustin said, eyeing the other boys carefully.
The boys gamed for what seemed like hours. Their quarters really lasted now a days. Eddie had paid for most of the games to boot. He had made a joke about being a trophy boyfriend and having Delilah making the big bucks for them now. He guess he had never really thought about how much money Delilah made between working at the record shop and selling weed. She seemed to always have it and would help Claudia with groceries and bills regularly as well. It sparked a small question as to whether or not his dad helped out with bills or not. It had taken him quite some time to find a job and the job he had wasn't anything high paying that he could imagine. He worked at a hardware store in town as a cashier or customer specialist as Charles liked to correct him.
"You okay man?" Mike asked, from behind him.
Dustin had been letting burgers stack up on the burger time game machine before he snapped to it and realized that he had lost yet another life. He couldn't focus. He had been having trouble since before that night of course, but he couldn't shake that dinner off for anything. He had even tried to run through the whole demogorgon theory again, but he just had to accept that sometimes other worldly beings weren't responsible. Sometimes people were just bad. And his dad was one of those people. As much as he hadn't wanted to believe it at first, he knew Delilah had been right all along. What he wouldn't have given to hear her say I told you so. Then maybe she'd flick his nose like she always did.
"Damnit!" Dustin cursed at the game, but moreso at himself for letting him waste another quarter like that, "Yeah, I'm fine just . . . got a lot on my mind."
"Anything you wanna talk about?" He offered, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"Nah, just stuff with my sister and my dad again," He gave a vague overview of what he was currently dealing with, "I don't think my dad's a very good guy afterall."
"Damn, so Delilah was right again huh?" Mike said, crossing his arms and shaking his head, "For being a dropout, no offense, your sister is really smart."
"She's not a drop out, she got kicked out for partying too much. At least that's what she told me," Dustin came to her defense, "She actually graduated early and stuff."
"Oh that's right, I remember," He noted before shrugging his shoulders, "Well, you always know if you need a place to crash, my door is always open. My mom loves you guys so you're always welcome if you ever need a night away."
Dustin was thankful for Mike's offer, but knew he would never act on it. At least he didn't think so. He would never want to leave his mom in the house with a man who would hit his own kid. He couldn't shake it. As the boys disbanded, it was still all he could think of. It was the first time in a long time, that Eddie didn't offer him a ride home. Which was more than okay for Dustin. He wanted some time to think about what to do next. As he pulled in at home, he noticed a light on in Delilah's window. He gulped, wondering if it was their father snooping around more. He couldn't believe he had gone through Delilah's room before. Well, now anything seemed possible after what had happened at the dinner.
Dustin put his bike up before running into the house, expecting to see the worst. However, as he made his way back towards Delilah's room, he saw her. Packing up a bag and gathering up some movies. He stopped dead in his tracks in her doorway as she looked up at him.
"Sorry I . . . I didn't think anyone was going to be home tonight," She spoke softly.
"Delilah," Dustin said quietly before bursting into her room and embracing her in a tight hug. It hadn't been a terribly long time since the two had seen each other, but it was long enough. He felt her arms wrap around his shoulders slowly as the two stood there for a moment. The silence was deafening, but Dustin just didn't want to let go. He knew he had caught his sister here by a fluke and now he didn't want her to leave. "Please don't go," He said, feeling tears sting the edge of his eyes. He wasn't sure why this was causing him to get so emotional all of a sudden, but he couldn't stop it now that it had started.
His eyes swam with tears as Delilah finally pulled away a little Dustin didn't want to let go but let his arms slide away from her. "Hey! What's the big idea?" She asked, wiping his tears quickly, "I'm just taking a breather, kid. I won't be gone for long I promise," She reassured him, but he wasn't quite sure he could believe her.
He knew he wouldn't want to be in the house if Charles had hit him, now here she was saying it was only temporary. "But you said you were getting your own place," He sobbed out, trying not to sound like such a baby, but his heart was hurting.
She pulled him to her mattress where the two sat on the edge of it and stared down at the floor. "Yeah I mean, eventually. But like I said, I wanna get a two bedroom and that second spot will be all yours!" She bragged about her imaginary apartment.
"Delilah, stop," Dustin said through his unstoppable tears, "We have to get Charles out of here. We have to. So thingscan go back to normal!" He sounded exasperated as he waved his hands around, trying to display how passionate he was about the subject.
"I definitely don't want to be the one to tell you this, but . . . I don't think things can go back, Dustin," She said, sadly. She snaked an arm around his shoulders and pulled him back into a hug, where he cried. He couldn't stop. Her words weren't helping either. He knew that things were already too broken. What with Claudia picking Charles over her and now this? Their whole family dynamic had been shaken up and Dustin was watching his happy family slip through his fingers. "Do you remember the night of the mall fire?" She asked, putting a little emphasis on mall fire.
Dustin pulled away from her and wiped at his snot and tears before nodding his head, "Yeah . . . I remember," He didn't particularly remember a fire, but a mind flayer, yes.
"I think that thing . . . I think it did something to me," She said, solemnly before continuing on, "I think it did something to all of us. Ever since I've been having these fucked up nightmares and . . . lately, I've been seeing Billy." Her hands were set on her bare knees as she bobbed her feet anxiously. This wasn't something she had told anyone and he could tell. Not even Eddie. "Sometimes he's just standing off in a corner somewhere and I catch him in my peripheral and then other nights, he's in the room with me. He whispers things to me but I can't hear him half the time. I feel like I'm going fuckin' nuts, Dustin," She said, gripping her knees intensely.
"D, why haven't you told anybody?" Dustin asked, confused as to why she would keep this all a secret, especially from him, "What if the mind flayer has Charles?" He asked, genuinely concerned.
Delilah stopped and met eye contact with him for a good moment before she gulped loudly, "Dustin . . . Charles isn't a monster. He's just a bad guy-"
"But what if that's why he's here? To take what the mind flayer couldn't finish?" He asked, getting more and more animated by the moment.
"Dustin!" Delilah scolded him, her hand setting on his knee before she shook her head, "This isn't the upside down. He isn't some creature looking for revenge, he's just . . . a guy. A shitty, abusive, guy. That's it." She sighed before getting back to her feet and beginning to pack her bags again. "You still got your walkie on you right?" She asked, zipping up a duffel bag.
Dustin nodded slowly before watching her sling the bag over her shoulder and pick up another one. "Yeah, why?"
"I'll call you when things have cooled down a bit. We can go do something together for your summer break," She stopped as she made her way to the door and turned to face him, "If you can help it, try not to go on that vacation thing. And . . ." She stopped for a moment, her face softening before it regained that stern demeanor once again, "If Charles touches you, you radio Eddie, okay? I don't care if he looks at you funny, you let me know, okay?" She said, defensively, looking like she was ready to strike.
Dustin nodded, in disbelief that she was really leaving to stay with Eddie for a while. Granted, this wasn't the first time she had done this since Charles had been home, but it felt different this time. It didn't feel like his sister was just being rebellious and flighty, she looked like she had a purpose. Even though everything in her room stil looked the same, he couldn't help but feel an emptiness inside of it . She gave him one last hug before she turned and headed out the door, the sound of her nissan datsun roaring up from the garage.
He wound up sleeping in his sister's room that night. He popped on a movie she had left behind on her tiny television and watched about half of it, curling up on her mattress and wishing that he had been right about the mind flayer. He'd rather deal with an other worldly being than have to deal with the fact that his father was just a bad man.