MARCH 22ND, 1986
📍cunningham house
9:36 PM
"hello?" matilda greeted, answering the phone.
"matilda?" the voice from the other line said.
"max?" tillie spoke. "is that you?"
"yeah, it's me," max confirmed. "i'm sorry to be calling right now. i'm guessing you've heard?"
"the cops are sitting in my living room as we speak," tillie told her, quieting her tone. "why are you calling?"
"we're trying to track down eddie. we're calling everyone he knows. do you have any idea where he could be? i hate to ask this right now, considering things, but we're worried about him."
"matilda, who is it?" she heard her mother holler from the living room.
"just some person trying to sell us something. it's nothing," she replied, holding the phone away from her face. she saw her mother nod and begin conversing with the policemen again and put the phone back to her ear. "i'm worried too. but no, i don't know where he is."
"shit," max sighed. "do you know anyone who might?"
"no, sorry," tillie replied with a sigh. "but listen, can i help you look? i really can't be at home right now, and i want eddie to be safe and i want to know the truth about what happened to my sister."
max seemed to falter for a moment, falling quiet as she whispered to other people in her surroundings. "yeah, you can help us. dustin said that eddie really likes you so we probably need you. we're at family video, you know, the movie rental store?"
"yeah, i know where that is," she whispered, cautious of her mother or the cops hearing her. "it's a few blocks away. i'll be there soon. i'll see you then."
"great, bye."
matilda placed the telephone back on the wall, looking into the living room and seeing her mother and the cops distracted in deep conversation. her eyes flickered back and forth between them and the back door, which led to an alley she could follow round to the front of her house.
she slowly walked over there, trying to make as little noise as possible, before carefully twisting the handle and unlocking it, stepping out. closing it, she cringed at the small bang it made and hoped her mother hadn't heard it. without waiting to find out, she swiftly turned on her feet and began making her way to the movie store.
— 📻🪐🏹 —
MARCH 22ND, 1986
📍family video
10:03 AM
entering the store, tillie smiled awkwardly at the four faces staring at her. max, dustin, steve harrington and robin buckley, who she had a few classes with. max and dustin both had phones in their hands, whilst robin and steve looked bored out of their minds.
"hi," she said. "um, any updates?"
"nope," max replied. "are you sure he hasn't told you about a place he likes to go or somewhere he stays or anything like that?"
"nope," she shook her head, walking towards the counter. "anywhere he told me about or took me to see is right in public."
"i'm still confused how you guys even know each other," steve voiced up. "i mean, eddie 'the freak' munson and matilda cunningham. weird pairing."
"it's a long story," she responded.
steve nodded and cleared his throat. things were a little awkward between them since they'd been on a few dates and even made out a couple of times. the other three looked at them in confusion.
"what's your issue?" robin asked. "don't tell me you guys hooked up."
"uh," tillie swallowed. "it depends on how you'd define the term.."
thankfully, the uncomfortableness was saved by the phone ringing, and max picked it up and answered, the others listening in to what she was saying.
"yeah, i am looking for eddie. do you know where to find him?... okay.. what was that? reefer rick? right.. and where would i find him?... are you sure? okay, well thank you," the redhead spoke, before putting the phone down.
"reefer rick? isn't he a drug dealer?" tillie questioned, remembering eddie bringing up his name a few times.
"yes," max confirmed. "apparently, eddie gets his drugs from him, and sometimes he crashes there."
"that sounds promising," robin replied. "where does this reefer rick guy live?"
"see, that's the thing," max said, an irritated expression on her face. "no one knows. he's more of a legend than someone that people actually know."
"what about a last name?" dustin asked hopefully.
"i don't know that either," max replied, bursting the boy's bubble.
"bet the cops know the last name," steve spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest. "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?" tillie repeated. "the same cops who just interrogated me on my relationship with eddie and if i know where he is? great suggestion, steve."
"i mean, i just think at this point they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on," steve tried to defend himself.
"you think eddie's guilty, don't you?" dustin remarked.
"whoa," steve said, moving his hands around aggressively as he spoke. "i believe in innocent until proven guilty, all the constitutional shit. i just, you know, don't think that we can rule it out."
"that's precisely what we're trying to do here, steve," max stated with a groan.
dustin nodded eagerly at max's comment, agreeing heavily. "and maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend and more time trying to find eddie."
"someone has to attend to the customers!" steve exclaimed.
"especially if they're babes, right?" robin smirked with a wink.
"hey, not fair. i attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike," steve said, beginning to explain himself. "we've got a very big selection in here. it can be super overwhelming for these people.."
"yeah, it can be," robin agreed, an idea popping up in her head. she quickly turned around and sat down in front of the computer.
tillie furrowed her brows, watching the girl and realized what she was doing. "wait, do you have him in your system?"
"maybe," robin grinned, typing 'rick' into the computer. "twelve ricks have accounts here."
"lot of ricks," max commented, as steve came and stood beside matilda, looking at the computer screen.
"so, let's narrow it down," robin said, clicking on the top result. "rick alderman's latest rentals are annie and dumbo. what are the chances our drug dealer has a family?"
"not likely," max replied, and robin went onto the next rick.
"all right. rick conroy. sixteen candles, teen wolf, romancing the stone," she read out the movies names.
"no," the other four said in response.
"okay, rick joiner.."
whilst robin began looking into the next rick, steve whispered to matilda. "hey, tillie.."
she tilted her head slightly and looked up at him. "yeah?"
"i'm really sorry about chrissy," he told her quietly. "i know how important she was to you."
"thanks," she replied with a small smile. "i haven't really processed it yet. i guess i'm still in denial. i'm also kind of distracted by the fact my best friend is her apparent killer, so.."
"yeah," steve nodded. "i'm glad i'm not in your shoes. doubt your shoes would fit me anyways. i have massive feet."
she furrowed her brows at his randomness, but was thankful for the light humor nonetheless, as she turned back around to the computer screen.
"rick lipton. fast times at ridgemont high. cheech and chong's next movie. cheech and chong's nice dreams. cheech and chong's up in smoke."
dustin chuckled. "bingo."
"lipton?" max repeated.
"spelled like the tea," robin responded. "2122 holland road."
"that's out by lovers lake," matilda realized. "the middle of nowhere. it's the perfect place to hide."
and with that, the five scrambled only steve's car and headed out to find eddie.
— 📻🪐🏹 —
you have no idea how many times rick autocorrected to rock in this omds
next chapter is sweet but also heartbreaking at the same time so be prepared xo
WORD COUNT — 1361.