I Won't Be Afraid Just As Long As You Stand By Me

Chapter 3: Pinky Swear?

     We rounded the street corner, breathing heavily. Chris and I were laughing, but Gordie didn't seem to find it funny.
     "Oh man, you should've seen your face," Chris told Gordie, "Damn that was cool." That seemed to set Gordie off.
     "You knew it was loaded, you wet end!" Gordie pointed at Chris, "I'm gonna be in trouble now, that Tupper babe saw me."
     "Don't worry, Gordie, she thought it was just firecrackers," I tried to calm him down, but he was still angry.
     "I don't care! That was still a mean trick Chris." Chris stopped him, grabbing his shoulders.
     "Hey Gordie, I didn't know it was loaded, honest," I could see that Chris was telling the truth, but by the look on Gordie's face, he wasn't sure.
     "You swear?" he asked, dead serious.
     "Yeah I swear," Chris told him. They were both facing each other and Chris had let go of Gordie's shoulders.
     "On your mother's grave?" Gordie wasn't about to let this go. I felt that he was going too far though. It was as if I were asking if he swore on Denny's grave.
     "Yeah," Chris seemed to be thinking the same thing, for he sounded irritated.
     "Even if she goes to hell because you lied?" I gave Gordie a disapproving look and his eyes flickered towards me. He had been staring at Chris, just as Chris was staring at him.
     "Yeah, I swear," Chris was getting fed up, though he hid it well. He wasn't one to get mad easily, but his mom was a bit of a touchy subject, even though Gordie didn't realize it. Chris was really close to his mom, but she died when he was four from lung cancer.
     "Pinky swear?" Gordie treated it like it was the most serious thing in the world and I had to hold in my snicker when I saw him lift his right pinky.
     Chris rolled his eyes before nodding, "Pinky swear." He kissed his pinky and held it up.
     Just like that we were on our way again, but we only got a little ways before we ran into the definition of trouble: Ace Merrill and one of his followers, Eyeball Chambers. He was Chris's big brother, but only by blood. They didn't look, act or sound the same in anyway.
     "Hey girls where are ya going?" Eyeball asked us, staring Chris down. We tried to pass, but Ace took Gordie's hat.
     "Hey c'mon man, my brother gave me that hat," Gordie stood up to Ace, reaching for his hat, but Ace was too tall.
     "Well, now you're giving it to me," Ace replied, his cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he spoke.
     "Give it to me!" Gordie shouted, jumping for it. "C'mon man! It's mine!" He almost had it, but Ace put his hand on Gordie's chest and pushed him back with ease.
     "You're a real asshole, you know that?" Chris spoke up. I gave him a look, warning him to stay quiet. Ace passed me and looked at him, taking a drag on his cig and throwing it to the ground without stamping on it.
     "Oh, your brother's not very polite, Eyeball," he told his friend, tossing him Gordie's cap.
     "Now Christopher, I know you didn't mean to insult my friend," Eyeball said, acting innocent. He had put the hat backwards on his mop of black curls, which were one of the many differences between the brothers. Chris had short, straight, light-brown hair.
     "I know he didn't mean to insult me," Ace said, looking at Chris, "That's why I'm gonna give him the opportunity of taking it back." When Chris didn't say anything within five seconds, Ace took a hold of his shoulders and brought him to the ground.
     He put his mouth by Chris's ear, while Chris muttered, "Oh shit," under his breath.
     "Take it back," Ace told him, still holding him down.
     "C'mon man, stop it you're hurting him!" Gordie yelled.
     "You bastard, let go man," Chris said, but he got quiet when Ace picked up the cigarette he had thrown down and held it close to his face.
     "Ace, stop it!" I warned, my voice stern, "Drop that god damn cigarette and let him up, you greasy bastard!" I knew that he wasn't used to being spoken to like that by a girl. He looked up and me, but still held Chris down.
     "Take it back, kid," he continued, putting the cig closer to Chris's face.
     "Cut it out!" Chris shouted. His face was red from struggling, "Okay, okay I take it back," he finally gave in. Ace threw the cig onto the street and pulled Chris up.
     "There," Ace said, "Now I feel a whole lot better about all of this," he looked at me, "Except for you." I glared at him, showing that he didn't scare me. 
    In reality, I was scared witless, but I wasn't about to let him see that. "What the hell do you want, John?" I called him by his birth name, smirking. I knew that he wasn't past hitting a girl, but we were in the middle of town and would most likely get arrested. Not that anyone was really in the streets at the moment, but there would be quite a few people if I let out a scream. Because trust me, I can scream very loud.
     He got right in my face and grabbed me by the neck of my shirt, lifting me up some. I looked him straight in the eyes, just as he did to me. Our gaze was unwavering for a few moments, the both of us stayed silent, until he spoke.
     "I'd watch it if I were you, little girl. You could get into a lot of trouble talking like that," his voice was smooth, but it had an edge to it; he was warning me, but I just smirked.
     "I'll go a lot further in life without your advice," I told him, then smiled innocently, "Thanks anyway." He roughly let go of my shirt, making me tumble backwards, right into Chris, who kept me steady. Ace turned and began to walk away, while Eyeball smiled cruelly at us. As he turned, I reached for Gordie's cap and swiped it off his head. He was about to say something, but instead just jogged to catch up with Ace.
     I handed it to Gordie and he put it on his head, smiling thankfully. We watched them round the corner, then continued to talk through town.
     "We picked a good one, Gordie," Chris said, laughing as he slung his arm around my shoulders. It seemed as if he had forgotten what had just happened to him.
     I scoffed, "You chose me? Really, cause I remember it the other way around," I joked, grinning, "You okay, Chris?" I asked, looking at his face to see if Ace had actually burnt him.
     "Yeah I'm fine, Liza," Chris rolled his eyes playfully. As we were walking, he kicked Gordie on the backside, while Gordie tried to do the same to Chris. I laughed at them, shaking my head. 
     
     A little while later, we met up with the others at the train tracks. Vern and Teddy both had their packs and Chris had shown them the gun.
     "Well what do we need a pistol for anyway?" Vern asked, clueless.
     "It's spooky sleeping out at night in the woods," Chris told him, "We might see a bear."
     "Or a garbage can," I cut in. We had told the guys about what had happened on our way hear, except for the part where we ran into Ace and Eyeball. Teddy had laughed his crazy laugh for a while, but he eventually calmed down.
     "I brought a comb," Vern spoke up, taking it out of his pocket to show us.
     "What do we need a comb for?" Chris questioned, looking at Vern oddly.
     "You know, when we get on TV. We wanna look good don't we?" Vern explained, "And I know how girls like to brush their hair all the time, so Liza can use it too." He held it out to me, but I pushed it back toward him.
     "Thanks, Vern, but I have my own," I lied to him. I didn't bother bringing a comb, since I could easily just run my hands through it. Vern sighed and looked down. "But hey," I tried to cheer him up, "I'm sure that Teddy, Chris, and Gordie really appreciate that you thought it through." Teddy was about to make some smart aleck comment, so I gave him a look to be quiet, which he reluctantly obliged to.
     "Liza's right, that's a lot of thinking, Vern. Thanks," Gordie agreed, smiling.
     Teddy brought his hand up suddenly and Vern flinched. Teddy punched Vern's arm twice, smirking, "Two for flinching."
     We all stopped in front of a small bridge. Once we crossed it, there would be no going back until we found Ray.
     "How far to you think it's gonna be?" asked Teddy, looking as far down the tracks as he could.
     "If we follow the tracks all the way into Harlow, it'd be about twenty miles," I answered, looking at Chris to see if I was right. He knew more than me when it came to anywhere outside of Castle Rock. I only knew the basics. He nodded, agreeing with my answer.
     "Sound about right to you, Gordie?" Chris questioned just in case.
     "Yeah, it might even be thirty," he said, looking at the tracks that seemed to go on forever.
     "Gee, maybe we should just hitchhike," Vern suggested. We all shook our heads, beginning to walk along the tracks.
     "No way, that sucks," Teddy told him, following us.
     "Why not? We could go out Route 7 to Harlow Church and down the back Harlow road, we'd be there by sundown."
     "That's pussy," Teddy replied, but Vern defended himself.
     "Hey, it's a long way."
     "Did your mother have any kids that lived?"
     I chuckled under my breath and I heard Chris and Gordie doing the same, but Vern didn't understand.
     "What do you mean?" he questioned, but Teddy ignored him and kept on walking. Vern eventually followed.