Rip - Becoming Whole

Missing

Having left the Peterson's kitchen, Rip went outside, hoping his uncle's truck was unlocked so he could sit inside it for a bit to hide from everyone until his uncle would find him.

He had contemplated going back to his uncle empty handed and tail between his legs, owning up to what he had just done, but there was no way he could do that in front of all these strangers and especially not in front of Chrissy's and Jack's parents. He had sensed that he had made a good impression on them and didn't want to ruin it. He also knew that had he gone back to his uncle, no matter how much he would have tried, it would have been much more like a case of 'all guns blazing' instead of 'tail between his legs' and he knew that this wouldn't do at the best of times and certainly not in public. He needed to calm down.

He was supposed to walk away, his uncle had been quite clear. He was to come to him if anyone gave him a hard time, but that is easier said than done and he wasn't even sure if this counted as someone giving him a hard time. Although he was almost certain that the group of men, he heard talking about him intentionally carried on when they eventually did notice he had entered the kitchen. He shouldn't have been eavesdropping though. He should have walked away instead. Not all of it was directed at him, quite a lot seemed to be about his uncle, things that Chrissie had hinted at a few times in the past but still made no sense to him.

"Did you see how he strolled in here... pompous cowboy... who does he think he is ... standing in the way of progress... Peterson would do well staying away from him, he'll sabotage him, someone should tell him who he's dealing with... this is what's wrong with this valley, thinks he owns it... thinks he makes all the rules and is above the law, that brat he's taken in fits right in with him... he'll corrupt the kids... we should have never let our son hang out with him... gave him the benefit of doubt... were charitable... should have known no good would come of it... no manners... that boy... my wife is convinced that every time he was in our house something went missing... I wouldn't want my daughter dating him... he'll end up in jail just like his old man mark my words... our boys had a lucky escape..." were some of the snippets he picked up from their conversation, utterances that came mostly from Richie's dad.

He did try to walk away and ignore them, and almost succeeded but when he walked past them with the six pack of beer in his hand, Charlie's dad roughly grabbed him by the arm, barking at him, "Where do you think you're going with these, boy!"

Rip didn't lose it completely, but equally rough pushed the beer against the man's chest, so that Charlie's dad nearly lost balance. "They are for my uncle! Why don't 'you' bring them over to him, and don't forget to bring your fucking cheque book with you since you still owe him money for that car he stole, because I am done covering for your arsehole son and his friends," he snarled back at the man with tears in his eyes. At the time he didn't care how many people around him were listening.

In comparison to what he wanted to say, and could have said, what he did say was actually very mild, but he couldn't help himself calling the man a motherfucking bastard as he walked away. He would have loved to tell them that Luka and Charlie were bullies, and that Richie was nothing but a coward who'd go along with anything they'd say because they'd turn on him if he didn't; that it was Charlie's older brother who had given them the dope, and that he supplied the whole school; that Luka had brought the alcohol; that they had stolen the car and came up to Richie's house where he and Richie had been hanging out; that Richie and he didn't even want to be part of it in the first place but Charlie and Luka talked them into it; but there was no point. It wouldn't have changed anybody's mind, and  those people that actually mattered knew he'd been treated unfairly. He also knew that in the end he had to admit that no one forced him to go along. But the real reason why he wasn't saying any of this was because he was heartbroken and too upset.