Different Seasons - Stephen King [220]
'Fuck it I'm walkin' across. If I get hit by a train I won't have to watch out for fuckin' Ace Merrill'
We all walked across it-plodded might be the better verb. No train came. When we got to the dump we climbed the fence (no Milo and no Chopper, not this early, and not on a Sunday morning) and went directly to the pump. Vern primed it and we all took turns sticking our heads under the icy flow, slapping the water over
our bodies, drinking until we could hold no more. Then we had to put our shirts on again because the morning seemed chilly. We walked-limped -back into town and stood for a moment on the sidewalk in front of the vacant lot We looked at our treehouse so we wouldn't have to look at each other.
'Well,' Teddy said at last, 'seeya in school on Wednesday. I think I'm gonna sleep until then.'
'Me too,' Vern said. I'm too pooped to pop.'
Chris whistled tunelessly through his teeth and said nothing.
'Hey, man,' Teddy said awkwardly. 'No hard feelin's, okay?'
'No,' Chris said, and suddenly his sombre, tired face broke into a sweet and sunny grin.
'We did it, didn't we? We did the bastard.'
'Yeah,' Vern said. 'Your fuckin' A. Now Billy's gonna do me: 'So what?' Chris said. 'Richie's gonna tool up on me and Ace is probably gonna tool up on Gordie and somebody else'll tool up on Teddy. But we did it'
'That's right,' Vern said. But he still sounded unhappy.
Chris looked at me. 'We did it, didn't we?' he asked softly. It was worth it, wasn't it?'
'Sure it was,' I said.
'Fuck this,' Teddy said in his dry I'm-losing-interest way. 'You guys sound like fuckin' Meet the Press. Gimme some skin, man. I'm gonna toot home and see if Mom's got me on the Ten Most Wanted list.'
We all laughed, Teddy gave us his surprised Oh-Lord-what-now look, and we gave him skin. Then he and Vern started off in their direction and I should have gone in mine but I hesitated for a second.
'Walk with you,' Chris offered.
'Sure, okay.'
We walked a block or so without talking. Castle Rock was awesomely quiet in the day's first light, and I felt an almost holy tiredness-is-slipping-away sort of feeling. We were awake and the whole world was asleep and I almost expected to turn the corner and see my deer standing at the far end of Carbine Street, where the GS&WM tracks pass through the mill's loading yard.
Finally Chris spoke. 'They'll tell,' he said.
'You bet they will. But not today or tomorrow, if that's what you're worried about. It'll be a long time before they tell, I think. Years, maybe.'
He looked at me, surprised.
'They're scared, Chris. Teddy especially, that they won't take him in the army. But Vern's scared, too. They'll lose some sleep over it, and there's gonna be times this fall when it's right on the tips of their tongues to tell somebody, but I don't think they will. And then you know what? It sounds fucking crazy, but I think they'll almost forget it ever happened.'
He was nodding slowly. 'I didn't think of it just like that. You see through people, Gordie.'
'Man, I wish I did.'
'You do, though.'
We walked another block in silence.
'I'm never gonna get out of this town,' Chris said, and sighed. 'When you come back from college on summer vacation, you'll be able to look me and Vern and Teddy up down at Sukey's after the seven-to-three shift's over. If you want to. Except you'll probably never want to.' He laughed a creepy laugh.
'Quit jerking yourself off,' I said, trying to sound tougher than I felt- I was thinking about being out there in the woods, about Chris saying: And maybe I took it to old lady Simons and told her, and maybe I got a three-day vacation anyway, because the money never showed up and maybe the next week old lady Simons had this brand-new skirt on when she came to school The look. The look in his eyes.
'No jerk-off, daddy-O,' Chris said.
I rubbed my first finger