Slater | Nick Goode

Give E'm Hell

1976

"Gary! Stop fucking looking back and run, dude!" Ellie shouted, ordering the boy to go faster. Red and blue lights flashed on the walls around them, and the thin light from a flash light roamed around.
"I'm going as fast as I can, Ellie," he panted, almost falling flat on his face. Ziggy was in front of him, almost out of the building already.
"Ellie," Ziggy called in a whisper, "the door is nailed shut!"
"No it's not, we come this way all of the time," Ellie recalled, urging her to get out.
"No, no, yes it is. Someone must have just boarded it up," Ziggy panicked. Ellie and Gary finally reached the room she was in.
"Fucker," Ellie cursed, kicking around the wooden boards on the floor, "there has to be something we can use to pry them off."
Sheriff Goode's footsteps were getting closer every second.
"We can crawl out of the window," Ziggy suggested, jogging over to the open window.
"Wha- what? I can't fit through that fucking window, dude!" Gary panicked.
"Fucking squeeze then," Ellie pushed him over to where Ziggy was already crawling out of the small window.
"I swear to god, Slater. You're always making me do some fucked up shit," he groaned while he crawled on his hands and knees through the frame.
"Hurry up," Ellie rushed, whipping her head around to look for the sheriff, who was, no doubt, close to them by now.
"There," Gary huffed from the other side of the wall, on the outside.
Ellie went to climb in, but a bright light came in the room, followed by a harsh voice, "young lady, climb back in here."
"Shit, Ellie, throw me your squares," Ziggy tried, but Ellie shook her head.
"Just go," she whispered hurriedly as she climbed backwards and back into the room of the old abandoned church.
She groaned as she fell onto her feet harshly. The voice rang out again, "put your hands up."
She did so, and the man came closer to her, "you got any weapons on you that I should know about?"
"No, sir."
He turned her around to where she was facing the wall and patted her clothes down. His hands reached her back pocket and he pulled out a rectangular box. He examined it and chuckled, "Embassy. Well, it's your friend's lucky day. Come with me, young lady."

-

He led her into the police station with her hands cuffed behind her back.
"Evening, Ms. Viola," Sheriff Goode called as they passed her office.
"Hello, Sheriff Goode. Ah, good evening, Estella," the lady called in a sweet voice. Ellie ignored her and kept her head down, following the man.
"Come on, kid," he led her into his office, shutting the door behind them. He pointed to the chair across from his, "sit there."
Ellie threw herself down into the leather chair, and he un-cuffed her hands. He sat down in his chair and slammed the red and white carton onto his desk. He faced the backside of it towards her and pointed to the fine print, "you see that?"
Ellie squinted down at the box. Right next to his finger read the warning label.
"Read that out loud," he ordered.
Ellie looked back at his face questioningly to see if he was serious. He was.
"You might die if you smoke them," she shortened.
"Sweet and simple, I like that," he agreed, taking back the carton.
"What? You gonna take them and smoke them yourself now?"
"Don't be funny," he sternly shouted, "I sure as hell ain't gonna give them back to you."
"I bought them. They're mine."
      "How old are you, Estella?"
      "15."
"And you expect me to give cigarettes to a minor?"
"I expect you to give my possessions back to me," Ellie dared.
"Stop. I've had enough of your goddamn smart remarks. Now if-"
A knock at his office door stopped his rant mid-sentence. A brown haired boy peeked his head in.
"Nick," Sheriff Goode breathed, letting out all of his energy, "I'm busy, son."
"Mom sent me," he gulped, "she told me to give you this."
It was a thin sheet of yellow printer paper, Ellie recognized it as a detention slip.
The sheriff took one glance at the sheet of paper and got up swiftly, "give me one second, Estella."
He got up and walked out of the door before Nick, and Nick stood back for a second. He turned towards Ellie, "he's going to be mad. There's a latch on the upper left corner of the window, if you pull it to the right, it'll unlock without too much noise." Then he slipped out of the door, leaving a small crack.
Ellie glanced towards the window, looking up at the exact latch that Nick was talking about.
She was about to get up and sneak out, just like he recommended, but she stopped when she heard a loud slap.
She whipped her head around, peering out of the small crack Nick left in the door, only to see Nick and Sheriff Goode facing each other. Nick's hand was on his cheek, clutching the redness. Ellie saw tears in his eyes as Sheriff Goode's hand fell to his side.
He just slapped him.
Ellie's mouth dropped, and the sheriff's voice boomed, "now go home!"
Ellie saw Nick's jaw clench, and the tears that were trying to spill from the edge never did. He breathed deeply, his chest rose and fell, and he turned around to the doors leading outside.
He just slapped him.
Sheriff Goode walked back into his office, shutting the door behind him again, and sitting in his chair.
Ellie's mouth was still slightly agape, and her eyes were wide.
"Okay. Where were we? Well.. I suppose I'll have to give your parents a call and have them come bail you out-"
"I saw that," as soon as she said the words, she wanted to take them right back.
"Excuse me?"
"You're supposed to protect us. Who gives a shit about cigarettes killing us when our parents might," that was her second mistake.
"You're a smart kid, Estella. You- I heard your friends calling you Ellie. Can I call you Ellie?" He asked, leaning back in his seat.
"No."
He sighed, "okay, then. You're a smart kid, Estella. Use that brain of yours and keep quiet about it."
"You don't deserve to be Sheriff," Ellie spat, "you're a piece of shit."
There was a moment of silence, and Ellie recognized her sentence as her third mistake.
"You think you can come in here, stick your nose in my business and get away with it?" Sheriff Goode spat, "you're fucking mistaken. You shadyside pieces of shits will go nowhere's in life. You will be lucky if all you ever are is a janitor."
When Ellie was silent, he spoke again, "what is it? Huh? That's your goals in life? To be a janitor who smokes a pack a day and will die from lung cancer? Or will you be a drug dealer who gets shot? How about a taxi driver who's gonna get hit by a fucking bus? Or maybe you'll spend the rest of your life in prison and will die of a heart attack on the floor of the state penitentiary."
Ellie's face deadpanned, and she raised her right eyebrow, "as long as I'm nothing like you."
He laughed, "you wish you were like me. Maybe if mommy and daddy would have made better choices, you'd have a chance of being something remotely close to me."
"An asshole? An abusive asshole? I'd rather kill myself," she spat, standing up, grabbing her cigarettes and walking to the door, "go to hell, you sorry bastard."

{November 15, 2021. 8:48 p.m. 1364 words}
EVERYONE SAY IT WITH ME NOW, FUCK CHRIS GOODE :)
Insta, Twitter, and tiktok: @dokiewrites
Also, props to Ellie for sticking up for the kids who have to grow up in an environment just like she will.
I missed Gary so much, I swear, I love writing scenes with him because he's simply the best.
Anyways
Have a good day/night/morning/evening <3