𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟

viii. REEFER RICK.

      

     THE THREE tried multiple people from the lists, asking if they've heard from Eddie in a few days or have talked to him. Chris was sitting by where Icarus is sitting, fidgeting with his hands when he looked over at Robin. "Do you guys have a bathroom here?" He asked and the blonde looked over at him.

"Uh, yeah, employee's but you can go ahead and use it." She pointed and he got up quickly. "Be right back." He tells Icarus who was too busy to stop him, because he knows. But then the person on the phone answered, "hi, so sorry to be a bother but have you heard from or seen Eddie Munson?" He asked and the dude on the other end is confused. "Eddie Munson?" He asked and Icarus scrunched up his face. "Yeah. Eddie Munson." He replies.

"Oh! That guy, no, no, I haven't. But I do know where he might be if you're looking for him." He says and there's a long pause. "Then where is that?" Icarus asked, sounding a bit annoyed. "Oh, so you are looking for him? I just needed the clarification." The usage of a big word from someone who sounds like such a stoner nearly makes Icarus laugh. "Yes, I am." He says, trying to hold back his laugh.

He looks over at Steve who's smiling at a girl with long curly hair, handing over a tape of Doctor Zhivago. As the stoner goes on about this guy named Reefer Rick, Icarus watched Steve and the girl, glancing back and forth as his ex had been clearly flirting, up until she mentioned a boyfriend, so he smirks slightly and glanced down. "Wait, sorry, Reefer Rick?" He asked and the stoner hums.

"Does this Reefer Rick have a last name?" He asked as Max was insisting Eddie wasn't at the arcade and she'd know because she's here in the building right by it while Dustin was dialing a new number of another one of Eddie's friends. "No, nah, not that I know of, man... Eddie hangs out there a lot though, gets his supplies there and crashes there a lot." He explains as Icarus twirls the phone cord on his finger. "Oh, okay, well thanks for the help." He says and the stoner giggled quietly in response.

"No problem, man." He says and Icarus just chuckles. "Goodbye." He said before he hung up then turned to the others. "So I might have a lead." He says as the others turn to him rather quickly. "Seriously?" Dustin asked excitedly and Icarus nods. "Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, sometimes Eddie crashes there and hangs out there a lot." He said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"That sounds promising. Where does Reefer Rick live?" Robin asked as Icarus thinks about how the stoner was explaining it while he watched Steve talk to that costumer earlier. "Well, no one... knows. He's more of a legend that someone people actually know." He says as he crossed his arms. "What about a last name?" Dustin asked and Icarus sighs. "He said he didn't know that either..." He says and Steve spoke up, "bet the cops know the last name." All four of them look over.

"What?" Max says. "Cops." Steve doesn't turn, still organizing the tapes. "I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually really a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system." Steve leans on the counter and Icarus walks over. "The cops?" He asked him. "That's your suggestion?" He tilts his head. "I think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on." Steve says and Icarus quickly looks over at Dustin.

"You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?" The younger walked over, standing by Icarus with his arms also crossed. "Whoa," Steve waves his hand at the two. "I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit." He says as Max makes a confused stare at him. "I just, you know, don't think we can rule it out." Steve explains, glancing between the two standing in front of him.

"That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve." Max says right away, so Dustin pointed over his shoulder at Max. "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." Dustin says to him and Icarus guffaws at that, patting his back.

"Yeah, Harrington." Icarus says and Steve gestures behind him. "Well, somebody has to tend to the customers." He says loudly. "Especially if they're babes, right?" Robin said then winked so Steve points at her. "Hey, that's not fair. Okay? I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. It's a very big selection in here. It can be super overwhelming for some people." He says.

"Yeah, it can be." Robin says with a grin before rushing over to the computer where she sat down as Icarus and Max followed. "What are you doing?" The redhead asked her. "Maybe we don't need a last name." She began typing Rick into the system, making a whole list appear before them as Steve came to stand by where Icarus was standing.

"Twelve Ricks have accounts here."

"That's a lot of Ricks." Max says. "So, let's narrow it down." Robin checks the first Rick. "Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. What are the chances our drug dealer has a family?" Robin looks to Max and Dustin. "Not likely." The Mayfield says as the Henderson just shakes his head.

"Alright. Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone." All four Dustin, Max, Icarus and Steve say no at the same time. "Okay. Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease." She says and all say no again. "Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash." Robin says making them laugh. "Definitely not." Max says, shaking her head.

"Okay. Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams. Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke." She listed as Max and Dustin smile. "Bingo." Icarus grins widely. "Lipton?" Max looks at her. "Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road." She reads the address.

"That's over by Lovers Lake."

"Middle of nowhere." Max says as Robin looks to them then over to Icarus and Steve to her left. "It's a perfect place to hide." She says, grinning as Icarus nods. "I'm gonna go check on Chris." He brushed past Steve and walked over to the employee bathroom, knocking. "Hey, Chris, we found where Eddie might be. You've been in there for a while." He says and then looked over at the others grabbing their stuff. "You guys go ahead, the door locks behind itself, right?" He asked Robin who nods.

"See you there?" She asked and he quickly nodded before turning to the door. "Chris? Chris, are you okay?" He knocked and waited as the other four rushed out the door. "Chris! You're scaring me!" He knocked on the door and then it swung open, Chris' head leaning against the wall by the door. "Where's Max?" He asked, his eyes are dropping and he looked sick. "They went to check out the place Eddie might be hiding... are you okay?" He kneeled down to where Chris is sitting.

"Yeah. Yeah, I feel amazing." The other says, swallowing as he leans his head back. "Rus?" He says quietly and Icarus just watches him worriedly. "I'm super high right now." He whispered and Icarus sighed. "Okay, come on..." He said, standing up. "I'm taking you home." He said, lifting him up and Chris wrapped his arm around Icarus' shoulders.

"I'm sorry."

"I know..."

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

  

   

authors note writing about drug addiction is hard sometimes. especially alcoholism. because i know what it's like to be in that situation where you're told "i'm getting better" then they fall off the wagon over and over, and like i'm trying so hard to be supportive and help them through those tough times but then they just let you down all over again so suddenly