Chapter 19

“So, Vickie seems nice,” Claudia said to Robin.

“Yeah, she is. That was a little random, though, everything okay?” Robin asked. The two were alone. The store hadn’t opened yet, and Steve hadn’t arrived. They’d decided not to open until he showed up, because no one came in unless he was there, anyway. Claudia sat behind the counter and Robin sat next to her, so they couldn’t be seen.

“Yeah, I’m great, I’m great.”

“Dia, babe…”

“You looked at her the same way you looked at me when I came out to you, and, I don’t know, I just found it a little weird. And then you said something, and got all nervous, and Vickie smiled, and she’s so pretty, and I-“

Robin grabbed Claudia’s hand, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. “I looked at her nervously because I was talking about you, and almost blew our cover. Vickie’s pretty, but she’s nowhere near as pretty as you. Listen, I love you, okay?”

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise, you’ve just given me an excuse to do this,” Robin cupped Claudia’s face and brought it to hers, kissing her lips. Make out sessions behind the counter were frequent when waiting for Steve, they got bored easily.

Claudia took hold of Robin’s shoulders, moving close to sit on her lap. When they pulled apart, robin rested her forehead against Claudia’s. “You’re so beautiful,” she said.

“You more.”

“No way.”

Robin flipped them around. “Don’t you think it’s wrong of us to make out in our place of work all the time?” Claudia asked.

“Shut up.”

They kept going until they finally heard Steve pull up in the parking lot. Robin crawled off of Claudia, jumping to her feet. Claudia got up slower, she knew that jumping up the way Robin did just made things look suspicious, even though Steve had probably caught onto their little routine by now anyway.

“Good morning, Steven,” Claudia said.

“Good morning, Claudia. Making out with my best friend again?” Steve asked.

“I’d rather make out with my girlfriend than some random girl who genuinely believe Tammy Thompson can sing.”

“Fair.”

The three we restocking the tapes, when Robin ran over to one of the shelves. “I think I found our morning movie. Doctor Zhivago!” She said, holding up the tape.

“Ugh, you know I don’t do double VHS,” Steve complained.

“But it’s about doomed love,” Robin said.

“Oh, well, that’s relatable.”

“For you,” Claudia said.

“Also, Julie Christie is b-b-b-bonkers hot in this. Like, seriously, the second most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life. Next to Dia, of course.”

Claudia smiled as Robin turned on the TV. A reporter showed up, stood outside a trailer. “We’re in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. We don’t have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not yet released the victims name, although we are told they’re currently in the process of notifying the family.”

“Oh my God,” Claudia said, “Dustin!”

“Claudia,” Steve said, “Dustin’s fine. What would he be doing in a trailer park? Don’t worry, alright. It’s probably not anyone you’re friends with.”

“Yeah,” Robin said, “He’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine. Let’s just try and get it off our minds.”

Robin wrapped an arm around Claudia’s shoulder. Her and Dustin had grew closer since the mall incident, he’d became like a little brother to her, so the worry she felt when they spoke about a student being killed was immense.

Luckily, though, it wasn’t Dustin. And Steve was right, it wasn’t someone they knew, either, but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to get involved in the situation. Of course they were gonna get involved. Because, for some reason, they were always involved.

——————————

Claudia’s worries all went away when both Dustin and Max came storming through the doors of Family Video. “Hey, guys,” Dustin said, “How many phones do you have?”

“Someone was murdered,” Steve said.

“How meant phones do you have!?”

“Two. Why?”

“Three if you count Keith’s,” Claudia said.

“Three works,” Max said, as Dustin jumped over the counter.

“Dustin, what are you doing?!” Claudia yelled.

“Setting up base of operations here.”

“Base of operations?” Robin asked.

“Stop, get off of that,” Steve said.

“No, I need it,” Dustin said.

“Need it for what?”

“Looking up Eddie’s friends’ phone numbers.”

“Oh, Eddie. Your new best friend you think is cooler than me and Claudia because he plays your nerdy game?”

“Yes. I never said that.”

“Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around in here like toddlers, but it’s Saturday,” Robin said.

“Yeah,” Claudia agreed, “It’s our busiest day.”

“Alright, look, I totally empathise, but this cannot wait until Monday,” Dustin said.

“What, cause calling all of Eddie’s friends is an emergency?” Robin asked.

“Correct!”

“Do you want me to strangle him, or do you want to do it?” Steve asked Robin.

“We could take turns.”

“Alright, no one is strangling anyone. Someone please fill us in on why Eddie the freak is such a priority that you have to absolutely wreck our store for him,” Claudia said.

“He’s not a freak,” Dustin said.

“Sorry, the old me kicked in. Now, tell me what’s going on before I let my children kill you.”

“Max, fill them in.”

——————————

The situation at hand: Eddie Munson was a murder suspect, but he didn’t actually kill anyone. In fact, Max believe that Chrissy Cunningham had been killed by something from the Upside Down, and no one doubted it, so they were now looking for Eddie to ask what had really happened.

“Hey, guys, I might have a lead,” Max said, putting the phone down.

“Seriously?” Dustin asked.

“Yeah. Apparently, Eddie gets his drugs from some guy name Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there.”

“That sounds promising,” Robin said, “Where does this Reefer Rick guy live?”

“See, that’s the thing. No one knows. He’s more of a… a legendary than someone that people actually know.”

“What about a last name?” Claudia asked.

“I don’t know that either.”

“Bet the cops know a last name,” Steve said.

“What?”

“Cops.”

“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?” Dustin asked, “Really, Steve? That’s your suggestion?”

“I mean, I just think at this point they should probably be filled in on what we know, what’s going on.”

“You think Eddie’s guilty, don’t you?”

“Woah. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit, I just, you know, don’t think that we should rule it out.”

“That’s precisely what we’re trying to do here, Steve,” Max said.

“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!”

“Well, somebody has to attend to the customers!”

“Especially if they’re babes, right?” Robin winked. Claudia smirked. That was hot.

“Hey, not fair. Okay? I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We’ve got a very big selection here. It can be super overwhelming for these people.”

Robin came to a sudden realisation, “Yeah, it can be,” she said, sitting down at the computer.

“What are you doing?” Max asked.

“Maybe we don’t need a last name. Twelve Ricks already have accounts here.”

“That’s a lot of Ricks.”

“So, let’s narrow it down. Rick Alderman’s latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. What are the chances our drug dealer has a family?”

“Not likely.

“All right. Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf and Romancing the Stone.”

“No.”

“Okay. Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose and Grease.”

“Nah.”

“Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash.”

“Definitely not.”

“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.”

“Bingo,” Dustin said.

“Lipton?” Claudia asked.

“Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road,” Robin said.

“That’s our by Lovers Lake,” Claudia said.

“Of course you’d know,” Dustin remarked.

“Middle of nowhere,” Robin said, trying to ignore the comment Dustin had made, “It’s a perfect place to hide.”