CHAPTER VIII:
adventures in investigating

( March 1986 )

      "HOW MANY PHONES DO YOU HAVE?" Dustin asked as the three young adults entered the video store.

      "Two, why?" Steve answered while getting behind the counter.

      "Three if you count Keith's," Robin added from beside Cleo.

      "Yeah, three works," Max turned to Dustin nodding.

      Dustin then began taking off the backpack that he had been wearing. Steve furrowed his brows watching the younger boy, "what- what are you doing?" he asked. Dustin didn't answer and instead climbed over the counter knocking over a stack of tapes in the process. "No, no, my tapes!" Steve disappointedly threw his hands up in the air. "What are you doing, man?" He rushed over to Dustin who was taking over a computer that was stationed on the counter.

"Setting up a base of operations here."

"Base of operations?" Cleo and Robin spoke in sync while nearing the computer.

"Dude, get off," Steve said while trying to shoo Dustin away.

Dustin swatted his hands at Steve's, "no, I need it."

"For what exactly?" Cleo asked completely confused.

"Eddie's friends' phone numbers," Dustin answered. Cleo's interests had been immediately piqued at the mention of the boy's name.

      "Your new best friend you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?" Steve jealously spoke of Eddie while Robin and Cleodora shared an eye roll.

      "Yes. I never said that," Dustin sarcastically started.

"Seriously guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it's Saturday," Robin began as she picked up things Dustin knocked over from the floor, "It's our busiest day."

"Not to pick sides, Rob, but there's barely anyone in here," Cleo said as she turned her head on a swivel to look at the lack of customers. Robin pressed her lips into a thin line at the girl who put her hands up in surrender.

"Robin, I empathize, but this cannot wait until Monday," Dustin said while still being in front of the computer.

"Oh my God," Steve mumbled rubbing his hands over his face.

"Calling Eddie's friends is an emergency?" Robin questioned.

"Correct! And since Cleo is his girlfriend I decided coming here would be the best option," Dustin smugly said the last bit while the girl with braces widened her eyes at his words.

"I will punt you."

"Girlfriend?" Robin turned shocked to her close friend. "And you didn't tell me?"

"Because it's not true!" she exclaimed.

"But last night-"

"He was my excuse!"

"What happened last night?"

"This is not important right now!" Max interjected the banter.

"Can you fill them in while I do this?" Dustin finally got back to his earlier task while clicking away on the computer.

"Fill us in on what?"

        "HEY GUYS, I MIGHT HAVE A LEAD," Max set down the phone she was using as Steve returned to the group after a pathetic attempt at getting a date with a girl.

"That was really sad to watch," Cleo mumbled to Steve with her arms crossed but he quickly shushed her. "Like, sadder than the Titanic."

Dustin snapped his fingers in their faces to gain their attention to which they sarcastically snapped their fingers behind his back. "Seriously?" Dustin spun around in the spinning chair he had stolen.

"Yeah," Max said with hope, "apparently Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick and Eddie crashes there."

Cleodora shook her head sighing and mumbling, "sounds like him."

"That sounds promising," the group sat up more at the sign of hope, "where does this Reefer Rick live?" Robin asked.

"See, that's the thing. No one knows," Max answered. "He's more of a...legend than someone that people actually know."

      "Way to crush my dreams, Max," Cleo said while leaning back against the counter.

      "Last name?"

      "I don't know that either."

      "I bet the cops know a last name," Steve suggested with his back turned. The group of four surrounding him stared at him as if he were stupid.

"What?" Max asked.

"I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point," Harrington reasoned. "Means he's in the system."

      "But that completely goes against Max saying that he's like a legend," Cleo said as she crossed her arms.

      "The cops? Really, Steve, that's your suggestion?" Dustin asked incredulously.

      Steve shrugged, "I think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on."

      "Oh yeah, and why don't we tell them about the inter-dimensional creature that has been after Hawkins for the past three years, not to mention that there is a child with telekinetic powers and that we had a part in the closing of the Starcourt Mall," Cleo sarcastically said while waving her hands around. "Sometimes you should just not speak." Steve may have had some ideas to contribute to the group, but that never meant they needed to be shared.

      "Well, not all of that-"

      "You think he's guilty, don't you?" Dustin asked hurt.

      "Woah, Woah, Woah, I believe in innocent until proven guilty and all that constitutional shit," Steve defended, "I just, you know, don't think we can rule it out."

      "Yeah, well, I do." Cleo sat herself on top of the counter.

      "Thank you," Dustin said to Cleo.

      "That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve," Max said obviously.

      "And maybe, we'd have a little more luck if you spent a little less time trying to find a girlfriend and more time trying to find Eddie." Dustin became slightly irritable with the older boy.

      "Well, someone has to attend to the customers," Steve waved a hand towards the door.

      "Especially if they're babes, right?" Robin shot him a wink while Cleo let out a small laugh.

      "Hey, not fair, okay?" Steve pointed a finger in the girls direction, "I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We've got a very big selection here."

      "Oh, but when I offered to help, you said were perfectly fine?" Cleodora made a face at him with squinted eyes.

      "That's not important, it can be very overwhelming for these people."

      "Yeah, it can be," Robin said with an idea popping into her head. She turned around to the computer that Dustin had been working on and began quickly typing away.

      "What are you doing?" Max asked as they all gathered around her and Steve came behind the desk.

      "Maybe we don't need a last name." Robin continued to type at the keyboard. Multiple people under the name Rick had filed onto the screen in green. "Twelve Ricks have accounts here."

      "Lot of Ricks."

      "So let's narrow it down."

      The group continued to go through the list of Ricks that Robin had pulled up based on the different videos they had rented from her place of work.

      There was Rick Alderman whose last rental was Annie and Dumbo. Probably a man with kids who wasn't a drug dealer.

      Then Rick Conroy; Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, and Romancing the Stone...Definitely not.

      Next came Rick Joiner; Mask, Footloose, and Grease. Not likely of being a drug dealer and more so a Broadway obsessor.

      Rick Kimbrough; The Blue Lagoon and Splash. They all laughed at that and moved on.

      Finally came Rick Lipton; Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams, and Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke. Bingo.

      "Lipton?" Max questioned.

      "Spelt like the tea," Robin said as Cleo thought of the idea of having a Lipton Tea with her at that moment. "2121 Holland Road."

      Dustin smiled at their lead, "that's out by Lover's Lake."

      "Middle of nowhere," Max added.

      "It's a perfect place to hide," Robin grinned at her friends.

      "Well done Velma, you really Scooby-Doo'd this shit," Cleo said while high-fiving Robin.