35READ THIS: At the end in the little epilogue section, picture an adult Gordie as an older Wesley Crusher version. Since, you know, they're the same actor."
And MERRY CHRISTMAS!
In the end, we left the body there, covered in a blanket. Even though we had come all this way to become heros, Gordie insisted that we should leave the body alone. "Not like this," he told Teddy who argued with him. "Not like this."
If you must know, no one; not our gang or Ace's got the credit. We decided to make an anonymous phone call, reporting where the body lay. Ace wasn't so happy that neither one got the credit, but in the end, he let us go.
We began the walk back, silent and thoughtful. Running into Ace's gang had taken a toll on us, and we just wanted to be alone for a while, lost in thought. Entering the forest once more, we walked on until coming to a stop at the leech infested stream.
"Great," Teddy cursed, his eyes eyes narrowing. "How the hell are we supposed to cross now?"
"I'm not going in there again," Vern said, shaking his head vigorously. "Never. Nu-uh!"
Feeling bad for the fellow, I set a reassuring hand upon his shoulder. "Don't worry Vern, we'll think of something." The boy smiled.
"In fact," Chris murmured, a smirk quirking up the corners of his mouth, "I think I found a solution."
"Oh really?" I challenged. "Because last time your idea ended with our blood getting sucked."
His smirk fell. "Chill sis! This'll work, I promise." Throwing down his bedroll, he walked some ways down the bank, picking up the ends of two long thick branches, embracing them to his chest as he dragged them back towards us. Gordie jogged over, lending a hand. Once the two got back, Chris instructed, "We'll push them across the water until they create a bridge like structure."
Finally, after the branches were set (which believe me, took a while), we huddled around one end, feeling skeptical.
"Hey, don't worry," Chris assured us, shouldering his bedroll once more. "Watch." And he slowly, carefully, balanced himself on the two branches, wisely walking with a slow pace across the stream until he jumped off onto the opposite bank. "See," he shouted.
I was next.
Gulping down my fear, I took a reluctant step up onto the branches, shakily standing up, then looked to my brother for further instructions.
"Don't look so doom and gloom, Tess!" he declared. "Just walk across. You'll be safe!"
"Says the guy who said it was fine before," I remarked, scowling. But not wanting to delay the party any longer, I walked across, taking my time until I was at the end. Chris, being the gentleman that he was, offered his hand as I jumped off onto the bank.
"I told you it was safe," he smiled smugly.
I cuffed the back of his head. "Don't get cocky."
But I wasn't teasing, for I felt funny, almost sad, even frightened. I tried pushing it down, gulping once more as I watched the others balance their way across the leech infested stream.
We silently followed the tracks once more, except this time leading us home. As the sun set, the hurt feeling in my chest started to push down on my lungs, and the air suddenly felt too hot. I could feel my heartbeat in my back, pounding through my ears and in my throat.
I felt something wet slip down my cheek.
A tear.
Quickly brushing it away, I cleared my throat, trying to stop more tears from appearing.
But they kept on coming.
A wail broke the silence, followed by sobs.
It took awhile to realize, it was me.
"Tess!" Chris, who was ahead of our group ran back to me, and I realized I had fallen slightly behind everyone else. "Sis, what's the matter? Talk to me!" His tone, usually calm, was now hard and tense, frantic even.
But for some reason I couldn't talk. I tried (honest to god I tried), but my chokes clogged my throat, jumbling my words into strange mumbles. My twin's arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I collapsed to the ground, pulling him with me, not caring if a train came or not.
"You guys go on," Chris demanded. "We'll catch up."
"Ya sure?" Teddy asked, and proceeded forward at his leader's nod.
Once the others were at a safe distance, Chris's attention turned back to me. "Theresa, what's wrong?" he whispered fervently.
Through my bleary sight, I sensed another form sitting beside me. It was Gordon. He said nothing, but waited patiently for my answer, his knee touching mine.
If you ask me now, I wouldn't know the answer to why I was crying. Was it the bloody mangled body? The unfortunate coincidence with Ace? The leeches? Jumping off a bridge? The kiss? Teddy and Vern's squabbling? Honestly, I didn't know. Perhaps it was all of it, all the pressure building up to a breaking point. I was only twelve back then, and now, thinking back, I had been through a lot, tolerated a lot, lived through a lot.
Chris was still whispering, "Talk to me. Talk to me."
"I...I don't know," I managed to finally mutter, gasping, choking on my own tears. "I just — wanna be home."
Heaving a sigh, Chris pulled me into his embrace, and said, "We will soon, I promise." After a moment, he hauled us both up, letting me lean on his side as we walked the way back to Castle Rock.
Our feet tired, sauntering under the welcoming gate, everyone stopped. I breathed slowly, in and out, in and out, in and out.
It was a little past five o'clock, Sunday morning.
We had been gone for only two days, but somehow the town seemed smaller, stuffier, not so special anymore. I finally let go of Chris's side, balancing on my own two feet.
No one knew what to say, but this time the silence was peaceful.
I cherished the moment until Vern spoke.
"Well, see you in school," he said, shuffling his feet.
"Yeah."
Teddy gave a little wave, "See ya in Junior High."
We watched as Vern sauntered off. Barely getting a few feet, he leaned down and picked something off the street. "A penny," he cheered, and walked off.
I shook my head, amused. Vern Tessio seemed happier after the trip, almost braver. I silently wished him good.
"Well guys," Teddy announced. "I better get home before my mother puts me on the Ten Most Wanted list." Slightly chuckling to himself, he began to slump away, then stopped, turned, and muttered, "Hey, Chris — no hard feelings, okay?" His face for once, looked vulnerable.
"No way, man," Chris replied softly.
Teddy Duchamp walked along the street, singing "Have Gun Will Travel". The rest of us listened until we could here him no more.
Gordie, Chris, and I walked along until we finally stood under the tree house, thoughtful, hopeful, silent. We stood on that little hill, the dried grass crunching beneath our feet, looking out over the brush at Castle Rock.
"I'm never gonna make it out of this town, am I, Gordie?" Chris muttered, his voice sad and wistful.
Gordie turned towards his best friend. "You can do whatever you want, man," he replied, voice soft, eyes dark. The wind blew, brushing his bangs, which had fallen over the trip, to the side.
"Yeah," Chris chuckled. "Gimme some skin." The two brushed the palms of their hands.
As they stepped back, Gordie said, "I'll see you."
My brother smirked knowingly, playfulness returning in his eyes, the sun making him seem to almost glow. "Not if I see you first." And he turned, walking back towards home, happier than before.
Silence.
"Aren't you leaving?" Gordie asked, glancing my way before returning his sight back onto the town.
I shook my head, shaking off some pieces of black hair that stuck to my face. The sun beat down on my shirt, and I was more than hot already. "Not yet." I said, walking over to Lachance's side until I was almost brushing his shoulder. The two of us just stood there, looking over the hill.
"Gordie?"
"Yeah?"
"Promise me, when you become an author, you'll write about us, ya dig?"
There was a pause in the air. I held my breath.
"I dig."
We smiled, watching the other until Gordie stepped a bit closer, and brushed his lips across my cheek. My smile grew.
"You better get going, or Chris will have my ass," he whispered.
I laughed pulling him into a hug. "See ya at school."
"Yeah."
And I let him go, following my brother's footsteps home. When I looked up, I realized Chris had only walked about two to three blocks before waiting patiently for me. As I approached, his expression was impassive, but I could see the laughter in his eyes.
"Shut up," I stated.
"Will do," he replied.
We walked home, arm around one another's shoulders until we reached the front door.
Oh! If you're wondering, the Yankees ball cap was never found — until twelve years later.
"You okay, Theresa?"
At the sound of her name, the woman turned, coming face to face with her husband, who had woken not too long ago was dressed in his pajamas and a light t-shirt.
"Yeah," she reassured him, and smiled; a small, sad, smile.
To no surprise, he reflected the sad smile, and the two stared, watching thoughts of the summer in 1959 running through each others gaze. After a few silent moments, Theresa turned back around, gazing out at the streets once more.
It seemed like hours until a soft touch to her left hand made her jump.
"Sorry," Gordon muttered apologetically before wiggling the mug out of her grip.
"Remember when I told you "I would never know what it's like to lose a close sibling'?" She stood there, stiff, feeling distraught.
He nodded. "Yeah, at Quidaciolous."
"Well," she choked, feeling hot tears rush down her face, and she closed her eyes to make them stop. "I know what it feels like now."
Pulling her into his embrace, Gordie closed his eyes, feeling tears drip on his shirt. "When you told me that, back in 1959," he whispered, caressing the small of her back with his thumb, "I hoped you would never have to know what it feels like...I'm sorry." After a pause, he said, "Chris was the greatest friend I could ever ask for." Waiting for a reply, he stopped, but when came nothing, he added one finale sentence. "You were lucky to have him, Tess."
Laughing slightly, she let go of his neck and wiped her tears, stubbornly wanting to appear tough. A habit Gordie noted she always had since he could remember.
"He always wanted peace, didn't he," she said, but it was not a question. "I told him his kindness would get him into trouble." Tess heaved a sigh. "But not like this," she whispered. "I never imagined it to end like this."
Gordie spoke not a word. He did not have too. Instead, he wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulder, leading her back inside the house. "Did you save some coffee for me?"
She smiled. "Of course."
Oh. My. Goodness! I finished! I actually finished a story!
IF THERE ARE ANY MISTAKES, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IN A REVIEW OR PM! Thank you.
Right now you don't know how excited I am! WOW!
I have a question for you guys to answer in a review. If you would leave a review, that would be great, thank you.
The question is: Did the reality of River Phoenix's life woven into the reality of Chris Chamber's life affect you anyhow?
Because for me, I was shocked.
Thank you so much for sticking with me through it all, and mostly thank you for being patiently waiting for my slow updates. I apologize for that.