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

Chapter 11: Suck My Big Fat One You Cheap Dime Store Hood

    "Coming through the woods, I bet we've saved over an hour," Chris told us as we walked along the tracks. We had to be getting close by now. We all stopped, seeing two poles chained across the path. There was a sign that read 'Absolutely No Hunting'.
     "Teddy?" Gordie called, "Is this the Back Harlow road?"
     I don't know what had gotten into Gordie. The thought of finding Ray seemed to become more of an obsession to him. When he stormed off earlier, he walked in such a way that suggested that he would have gone on, even if we hadn't followed him.
     "Yeah," Teddy replied, looking forward, then turning his gaze towards Gordie.
     "Brower kid must be around here someplace," Chris said, moving his eyes from one side of the tracks to the other, "Teddy, you and Vern watch the left side of the tracks, we'll take the right."
     "Alright," Teddy agreed, heading over with Vern.
     To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to find Ray anymore. Sure, I wanted to get him back to his mom, but I didn't want to have to see him lying there, lifelessly, in the bushes. I didn't want to have to see his eyes without that sparkle of innocence that they always had. I wanted to keep him frozen in my mind as a healthy, happy, bright eyed boy, not a dead corpse.
     It didn't take long for Vern to start shouting, pointing to a pile of branches and leaves.
     "There he is! Look, over there! I see him! I see him!" We all gathered around him to see if he had actually found Ray, but I wanted to be anywhere else at the moment.
     None of us said anything as we stared at the pile of brush. Only part of his legs could be seen from this angle, but we all knew that the rest of him was in there. I felt like my lungs had collapsed, making me unable to breathe.
     Chris pushed through us, walking down the slight dip in the ground to get to Ray. We all followed him, stopping when he did. I felt my eyes burn with tears that I wouldn't let fall as I looked at my childhood friend.
     He was wearing one of his green and red plaid shirts with sleeves that were just a little shorter than his arms. He always had long arms, so his shirts never fit him properly. I could see about an inch of pale skin sticking out, followed by his hands, which were also drained of colour. His blue jeans were muddy and torn in a few places. His feet, though, were only clad in dirty white socks. Hanging from a branch above him, his sneakers dangled by their laces. The train had knocked him out of his Keds, just as it had knocked the life out of his body.
     I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. He wasn't sick. He wasn't sleeping. He was dead.
     Chris picked up a branch and used it to move the one that was covering Ray's face. I could have gotten sick right there.
     His forehead, ears, and nose were smeared with blood. There was a small trail from his mouth too. The red liquid was dried on, showing that he had been there for some time. His short brown hair was all over, caked with mud and blood. The worst though, was his eyes.
     They were the same pale blue, but they were blank. They held no emotion whatsoever. I took a shaky breath, stepping back slightly. My legs felt wobbly, and I surely would have fallen if Chris hadn't wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me into a hug.
     I felt weak as I buried my head into Chris's shoulder, but I didn't care at the moment. I felt numb from head to toe. I could barely feel Chris rubbing slow circles on my back, or Teddy patting my shoulder gently.
     I didn't let tears fall, though. I had to suck it up and get a hold of myself so we could get Ray back home. I pulled away from Chris and smiled sadly up at him. He returned it and let his arms drop from around me.
     "Let's look for some long branches," Chris suggested, "We'll build him a stretcher."
     Wordlessly, we all did as he said. All of us, with the exception of Gordie. He only sat down on a log, staring at the ground in front of him. We all stopped to look at him.
     "Gordie?" I asked softly, waiting for a sign that he had heard me. It took a moment, but he finally parted his lips.
     "Why did you have to die?"
     "What's the matter with Gordie?" Vern questioned, glancing between Chris and I for an answer.
     "Nothing," Chris told them, "Why don't you guys just look over there for some branches," he pointed over to a more densely wooded area. I didn't want to leave, but I knew that Chris was better at comforting people than I was.
     I kept a close eye on the two as I picked up a few branches with Teddy and Vern. I saw Gordie start to cry and Chris sling his arm around him. Gordie eventually looked up at Chris and tried to smile as he said something.
     They were the closest out of the guys. They were like brothers.
     "What the fuck do ya know about this?" Ace Merrill's voice filled our ears. Turning towards where it came from, I saw that Ace and Eyeball both stood up by the tracks. They came down the slight hill and stood a few feet away.
     "Sumbitch," Eyeball sneered, "My little brother."
     "Wasn't planning on taking the body from us, was ya boys?" Ace asked, looking at the guys. I guess he hadn't seen me yet; I was still emerging from the woods. Teddy and Vern had gone ahead of me, already making it to Chris and Gordie. When his eyes landed on me, he smirked, "You brought your whore, too?"
     "Don't call her that," Chris defended me. When Ace took a step forward, he spoke again, "Get away, man. We found him; we got dibs."
     Ace hit Eyeball's shoulder, "We better start running, Eyeball, they got dibs."
     "We earned him, man. You guys came in a car. That's not fair. He's ours," Chris said.
     "That's not fair, he's ours," Eyeball mocked. I wanted to punch his teeth in so badly. "Well not anymore."
     "There's five of us, Eyeball. Just make your move," Teddy spoke up.
     "Oh we will, don't you worry," Ace smirked. Five of their friends appeared near the tracks, making my blood run cold. The guys and I could take a guy each, but seven of them were too many; they outnumbered us.
     "Vern, you little son of a whore," Charlie Hogan exclaimed, walking towards us, "You was under the porch."
     "No, no, I swear," Vern said, backing up with his hands held out, "It wasn't me."
     Billy Tessio took off his belt, approaching us, "You key-hole peeping bum." He held out the belt and Vern took off into the woods behind us, leaving the four of us alone with them. Ace snapped, stopping Billy and the others from coming any closer.
     "Now you have two choices," Ace told us, "You're gonna leave quietly and we take the body, or you stay, we beat the shit out of you, and we take the body."
     "Besides, Billy and I found him first," Charlie said.
     "Yeah, Vern told us how you found him," I scoffed.
     "Oh Billy, I wish we never boosted that car. Oh Billy, I think I just turned my Fruit of the Looms into a fudge factory. Oh-" Teddy mocked in a high-pitched voice.
     "That's it! Your ass is grass!" Charlie shouted.
     "Hold it," Ace held him back. He pointed at Chris, "Okay Chambers you little faggot, this is your last chance." I knew Chris wouldn't give in. "What do you say, kid?"
     "Why don't you go home and fuck your mother some more?" Chris told him calmly, his stare not wavering. Eyeball sighed and Ace took out his switchblade, popping it open.
     "You're dead."
     "C'mon Chris, let's split," Teddy said, backing up some. Chris, Gordie, and I stood our ground, refusing to leave.
     "They're not taking him," Chris replied.
     "Man, this is crazy," Teddy tried to persuade him. Chris wasn't budging.
     "They're not taking him," Chris repeated.
     "They've got a knife, man," Teddy said, then ran off to join Vern.
     "Ace, come on man," Eyeball spoke us as Ace got closer to us. He didn't actually want Ace to hurt his little brother.
     "You're gonna have to kill me Ace," Chris told him, staring straight at him as he approached us. I was frozen, unable to process it all as Ace smirked.
     "No problem." He leaped at Chris, his switchblade gripped in his hands.
     Ka-Bam!
     A shot rang out, making Ace jump back. Gordie stood behind us as he lowered the gun he had just shot into the air. There was no emotion on his face. He came and stood beside Chris, on the opposite side that I was on.
     "You're not taking him," he told Ace, his voice firm, "Nobody's taking him."
     Ace swallowed hard, "C'mon, kid, just give me the gun before you take your foot off. You ain't got the sack to shoot a woodchuck." He stepped forward, making Gordie hold up the gun.
     "No, Ace. I'll kill you, I swear to god," Gordie warned.
     "C'mon, Lachance, give me the gun," Ace tried again, "You must have at least some of your brother's good sense."
     Bad move. The last thing you should do when an angry Gordie Lachance is pointing a gun at you is mention his brother. All of Gordie's intentions to be civil went out the window and down the creek. He cocked the gun, holding it steady.
     "Suck my big fat one, you cheap dime store hood." Ace looked back at the other guys. I could see that he was nervous; he knew that Gordie wasn't just bluffing. If it was a bluff, it was the best one that I had ever seen.
     "What are you gonna do, shoot us all?" he played it off cool, staring at Gordie.
     "No, Ace. Just you," Gordie replied. Ace's smirk disappeared. He pointed his switch at us.
     "We're gonna get you for this."
     "Maybe you will, and maybe you won't," I told him, crossing my arms.
     "Oh we will," Ace persisted. He jutted his head to the side, silently telling the guys behind him to fall back and get in their cars. They all left slowly. Ace turned around, but faced us again, waving his switch. "We're not gonna forget this if that's what you're thinking: this is big time, baby." He left and Gordie lowered the gun.
     "Suck my fat one?" Chris imitated.
     "Whoever told you, you have a fat one, Lachance?" I asked.
     He turned to Chris and I and smirked, "Biggest one in four counties."
     We all let out a laugh, then quieted down as we looked at Ray, who was still lying beside us. Teddy and Vern came back, their heads held low in shame for leaving us.
     "Are we gonna take him?" Vern broke the silence.
     "No," Gordie told us.
     "But we came all this way," Teddy said, disappointed, "We were supposed to be heroes."
     "Not this way, Teddy," I shook my head. I took a sheet out of my bag, unfolding it. With the guys' help, we laid it over Ray's body.

     Ray Brower's body was found, but neither our gang, nor their gang, got the credit. In the end, we decided that an anonymous phone call was the best thing to do.
     We barely said a word on the way home, though I knew that each of our minds were racing with thoughts.