Ringo Wheeler had enough problems - she was named after a member of a band she doesn't even like, she can't find her favourite record in any store along the East Coast and she pissed her parents off enough to be shipped to Indiana.
Now, she has a ne...
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"I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T GET TO COOK," Marsha apologised profusely, probably for the fourth time, as she placed down the bucket of KFC on the table. "I was gonna make that baked ziti you two like so much, but I just forgot about the time. And before I knew it, oh my god it's five o clock."
"It's fine!" Nancy assured with a kind smile, while Ringo nodded her head and reached for a chicken leg.
"It's great!" She beamed as she messily took a bite of the breaded chicken, "if it didn't make my chin break out like a World War I would eat KFC every day."
The Holland parents smiled politely, chuckling in amusement at the blonde's words. They seemed to be in much better spirits than usual today, which made the dinner itself ten times more bearable.
"So," Nancy began, pushing her food with her fork. "I noticed a 'For Sale' sign in your yard. Is that the neighbours, or...?"
The two shared a look, Marsha visibly excited at the news she was about to share as she set her drink down and leaned in.
"We hired a man named Murray Bauman," she explained. "He was an investigative journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times."
"He's pretty well known," her husband fished out a card from his pocket to hand to Ringo, who was slowly setting down her half-eaten chicken as she realised what they were insinuating.
"Anyway, he's freelance now and he agreed to take the case."
Ringo slyly handed the card to Nancy and used the interaction to make eye contact with her, their glance speaking volumes.
"Um," Nancy hummed, swallowing harshly as a lump began in her throat. "What exactly does that mean?"
"Means he's gonna do what that lazy son of a bitch Jim Hop-... sorry. What the Hawkins Police haven't been capable of doing. It means we have a real detective on the case."
Ringo reached for her coke and brought it to her lips, silently wishing it was somehow laced with vodka as she proceeded to down the whole thing out of nervousness.
"We're going to find our Barb," Marsha added, a light in her eyes that broke Nancy's heart.
"He already has leads, by God, he's worth every penny."
Every word they spoke weighed heavier on the two girls, but perhaps so much more so on Nancy. Ringo attended these dinners to support her, after all. As much as she sympathised for Barb, she hadn't even really known the girl well enough to be as crushed by her disappearance as Nancy was.
