CHAPTER IX:
germaphobe's nightmare

( March 1986 )

      THE IRRITATING SOUND OF A DOORBELL RANG AS DUSTIN PUSHED ON THE DOORBELL ON THE DOORSTEP OF REEFER RICK'S HOME. After telling her boss, Keith, that she would be taking the rest of the day off, Cleodora, who had swapped her arcade uniform vest for her favorite pink zip up to leave open, took her sweet Audi for a joyride to find Eddie with Robin and Max in her car with her while Steve and Dustin rode together.

      The house was rather old looking, completely made of wood, with possibilities for splinters all over, it was truly a nightmare for Cleodora to even be setting foot in that environment.

"Well, guess that's settled. I guess he's not here," Steve said with a flashlight held at the door.

"If he's running from the police, why on Earth would he answer the door of the house he didn't live in?" Cleo rationalized.

Dustin then went on to begin knocking on the door, "Eddie? It's Dustin!" he announced. "Look, we just wanna talk, okay? No cop, I swear. We just wanna help." He continued to hit the door with his hand in a fist. While the guys stayed in front of the door, the girls, with their own flashlights, went over to the windows that had their blinds open to peek into the house for any signs of life. "Eddie!" he continued to shout into the night. "Rick!" he tried the owner but still no answer. "Reefer Rick!"

      "Don't scream that," Steve hushed.

      "Maybe use put your hand in your sleeve then knock," Cleo suggested. The two boys looked at her confused. "What? There could be splinters and you have no idea was kind of germs could be on that door."

      While Dustin continued pounding on the door, Max furrowed her investigation to the side of the manky old house to find any other indications of a runaway.

"Is that a foot?" Steve asked.

"No, that's just a shoe," Dustin responded.

"Really? I would've thought it was a foot too," Cleo added continuing to look inside.

"Hey, guys?" Max beckoned with her attention elsewhere. The group on the porch followed her attention to a worn-out looking shed with dirt on the sides and vines climbing up it.

"Just what I had in mind. An even grosser place to investigate while we have no protection from parasites or infections," Cleo mumbled.

"HELLO?" Robin had creaked open the door of the shed. The group trod down the small hill to shine their flashlights on the unsanitary shed. "Is anyone home?" she asked the air.

      "What a dump," Steve cringed at the sight.

      "I mean it does belong to a drug dealer, so I think he has other things to think about other than shed cleanliness," Cleo's words were muffled as she spoke through her sleeve that she had been holding up to her face to avoid the inhalation of anything.

      The sound of an oar beating a pile of tarps had startled Cleo and Dustin who were both beside Steve who was initiating the sound.

      "What are you doing?" Dustin hissed. "What are you doing?" he repeated.

      "He might be in here," was all Steve said while continuing to hit the piles.

      "If he is then you're going to give him a concussion with that thing," Cleo pointed at the oar.

      "Just take the tarp off," Dustin whisper shouted.

      "Well, if you're so brave then you take the tarp off," Steve bit back.

The floorboards of the shed loudly creaked with every step taken, Cleo feared before every step she took that she would fall through the floor and maybe get injured. Though the thought of being hurt didn't compare to being as bad as being hurt with the group she surrounded herself with.

Steve and Dustin would most likely argue over what to do with her, Robin would panic and ramble trying to keep herself and Cleo calm, and then Max would yell at all of them to keep quiet so she could actually help Cleo. As laughable as it sounded, she knew the scenario coming to life was more believable than her ever being knocked off of her first chair pedestal in band.

"Hey, look over here," Max's voice brought Cleo out of her thoughts and to a pile of discarded wrappers of food. "Someone was here."

"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran," Robin added.

"Don't worry, Steve will get him with his oar," Dustin sarcastically motioned towards Steve who continued to rummage around with the old oar.

"I know you think you're being funny, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight–" Steve's rant had quickly been cut short by a figure popping out from under one of the tarps and charging forward to pin him against the wall with a broken bottle held to his throat. Eddie Munson.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, Eddie! Eddie stop!" Dustin called out as the girls joined him in front of the two older boys. "Eddie, it's me. It's Dustin. See, Cleo's here too." Eddie skittishly turned his head, the bottle still up at Steve's throat, and got a look at the two familiar faces. Dustin with his hand out trying to calm Eddie, and Cleo sending him a careful and small wave. "This is Steve, he's not going to hurt you, right, Steve?"

"Right, yeah," Harrington quickly said.

"Steve, why don't you drop the oar?" Dustin more so commanded than asked. Hesitantly, Steve looked up and dropped the oar to the side on the ground, but Eddie took that as a chance to get the sharp glass closer to Steve's throat. "He's cool! He's cool!"

"I'm cool, man. I'm cool," Steve agreed.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie spoke and for the first time, they could truly hear how skittish he had been.

"Looking for you," Cleo spoke up.

"We're here to help," Robin added.

"Eddie, these are our friends," Dustin motioned between himself and Cleo. "You know Robin, from band." The girl imitated the trumpet she played. "This is my friend Max, the one who never wants to play D&D." Max quickly threw her hand up to wave. "Eddie, we're on your side." Eddie still hadn't looked convinced. "I swear on my mother! Right guys?"

      "Yes. Yes, we swear," Max quickly said.

      "On Dustin's mother," Robin agreed.

      "Yeah, yeah, on Dustin's mother," Steve said while still being threatened.

      "On Dustin's mother," Cleo said with a slightly questioning tone. With his eyes darting between Cleo and Dustin, Eddie finally lowered the bottle from Steve's throat which made everyone present ease up and sigh in relief.

Steve sat off to the side to calm down from the adrenaline rush he had felt in those few minutes. "You okay?" Cleo asked crouching in front of him. He mumbled that he was but still held a hand to his throat. "Can I take a look?" she asked to which he gave her a small nod. She gently brought her hands up and grazed the spot where the bottle had been for any impacts that Eddie could've made when he pushed Steve against the wall or when he held it tighter after Steve had dropped the oar. Standing up, Cleo shone him a close-lipped smile, "you're all good. No cuts that could lead to infection."

      A few feet away from Steve, sat a slightly twitching Eddie who still had the broken bottle in his grasp. "Eddie..." Dustin crouched in front of him slowly reaching his hand out, "we just want to talk." Eddie flinched when Dustin slightly touched his hand which created a shared flinch amongst all those present.

      Robin slowly crouched more to the side of him while he still kept his eyes to the ground, "we wanna know what happened," she softly said.

      Eddie sniffled and shook his head finally looking at the group, "you won't believe me."

      Max tilted her head, "try us."