"ready?"

pt. five

= chapter energy =
come on eileeen (dexys midnight runners)

richie rushed down the stairs and directly into the kitchen, the losers following shortly behind him. he slid down onto the linoleum floor in front of a lower corner cabinet, opening both doors simultaneously.

the rest of the losers walked into the kitchen to see richie standing with his head held high, clutching two large bottles. one of coconut bacardi and another of grey goose vodka.

he smiled proudly and laid the bottles down on the counter. ducking back down to the cabinet once more, he rose again holding a bottle of chateau latour, pauillac merlot- the most expensive alcohol his parents own.

"well chaps, i'd say we've hit the jackpot," richie smiled triumphantly.

"holy fuck tozier," bev said, inching towards the counter," why was i not made aware of this stash sooner???"

"that response is quite precisely why my dear beverly," he said, shaking his head.

"no way in hell we are drinking all of that," bev said eyeing the three bottles.

"i mean why not, im fucked either way, and we might never get this chance again!" he said, throwing his hands up.

"i suppose that's true," she glanced around at the rest of the boys,"everyone prepared then?"

most of the boys agreed with richie and said they were all in. however, eddie glanced nervously from richie, to the bottles, to beverly, and back to the bottles. he let out a loud sigh and stayed totally silent.

richie walked over to eddie, grabbing him by the shoulders and staring into his eyes-

"come onnn ed's," he cooed," it won't kill ya."

"first of all, don't call me that," eddie stated," second of all have you ever heard of the effects alcohol can have on your liver, a-and your brain, and your bod-"

"one night of drinking won't do shit to you eds," richie replied slyly,"live a little ya know."

eddie hesitated, staring intently at richie, his eyebrows furrowed. he thought about this for a long moment and decided that he'd at least give it a try.

"fine.." he said reluctantly," but im not getting wasted or anything, i just want to see what it's like."

"HELL YEAH EDDIE," richie yelled, shaking eddie by his shoulders with a huge smile displayed across his face,"THIS IS MONUMENTAL."

the rest of losers nodded as richie quickly slid back to the counter. he inspected the bottles and noticed the thick cork on the wine bottle.

"fuck, i have no idea where we keep a corkscrew.."

he quickly searched through the drawers around the kitchen and came back empty handed. mike and ben sat at the kitchen table, eddie was leaning against the counter while bev sat on the counter across from him, stan sat intently on a barstool across from the bottles and richie.

"or if we even own one, shit."

"excuse me for one moment," richie said as he walked towards the door to the garage.

"where ya going?" mike asked, looking across the room at him.

"going to get a corkscrew," he said simply,"or something of the sort."

"ah alright, don't leave us hanging now," mike smiled.

"never mike- you have my word," richie responded, opening the door to the garage and stepping in.

he grabbed a flashlight hanging next to the door and began to look around. he first checked all the shelves, then the cupboards above his dad's work bench, and finally he began shuffling through the many drawers below it. no such luck.

he searched the top of the work bench and finally stumbled upon the only thing he thought might remotely work. an electric hand drill with a screw like attachment fixed onto the nose.

"i guess this'll do, like mike said- i can't just leave em hanging."

so he walked back into the kitchen, hanging the flashlight back up. drill in hand, he closed the door and pressed the trigger on the makeshift corkscrew. the machine whirred loudly, making all of the losers whip their heads toward the sound.

"i believe i've found the corkscrew- or something of the sort," he said, approaching the bottles once again.

"holy shit what're you planning on doing to that poor bottle," stan asked, eyes wide.

"open it hopefully," richie responded with a smile," unless you'd like to give it a tug stan-the-man."

"all you dude," stan responded, waving his hand towards richie to go ahead.

the losers all gathered around the countertop in the center of the kitchen to see what would really happen- if anything.

"this cannot be safe," eddie said, peering over richie's shoulder,"you're probably gonna take your fucking eye out rich."

"as if my sight could get any worse, plus-" richie looked over his shoulder slightly and tapped the lenses of his glasses,"already got my safety goggles professor."

eddie rolled his eyes as richie stabbed the end of the screw into the cork and began pressing down on the trigger. the screw winded into the cork and then richie pressed another button, making the screw begin to retract. the cork didn't come up with it though so he winded into it one last time. puncturing a hole all the way through.

he had relieved the pressure and decided to just improvise, seeing as it clearly didn't just pop out as he thought it might. he grabbed a knife from the counter behind them and stabbed it horizontally through the cork, leveraging it out of the mouth of the bottle.

finally, it gave and the cork remained firmly stuck on the knife. the losers all began to celebrate as he held the knife in the air. richie set the knife and cork down on the counter in front of him and slowly lifted the bottle to his lips, taking a massive swig.

"woah there rich!" bev yelled, grabbing the bottle from him swiftly,"don't get ahead of yourself now, this shits probably been fermenting for like a billion years at this point."

he laughed and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. he swiveled around and grabbed some glasses from the cupboards. he laid them down in front of the bottles.

"the bar is now open for business my fellow losers!" he said in yet another thick british accent.

he poured a glass of wine for himself, bev, and a small glass for eddie. stan had a coke and vodka along with mike, and ben had bacardi and limeade.

they all gathered in the living room after richie made them swear that none of them would spill a drop. his parents could scold him for the alcohol all they wanted, but if he ruined their carpeting, they might really kill him.

"A TOAST!" richie declared,"TO THE MICE!!"

"THE MICE!!!" they all responded in unison as their glasses clattered together and they each took their first sips of alcohol for the night.