Hard Habit to Break

Chapter 5

 Fucking Hawkins, Indiana. Home of the Hawkins Tigers and small-minded townies. This damn place was like a thorn in his side. A living, breathing monument to his misery, pain, heartbreak, and loss. A place he swore he'd never step foot in again and now here he was, brought back by the very thing he'd been trying to avoid.

He must be a glutton for punishment, Eddie thought, as the driver navigated down the small main street that ran right through the middle of town. Only one truly sadistic son of a bitch would subject himself to the kind of torment he was about to face. A sane person would have sent flowers and stayed on the other side of the country, safe and sound, reclined by a pool in the sun where the darkness couldn't reach him.

That was probably why he was working so hard to put off seeing her for as long as he could. It sounded good in theory. Giving her the day, after being at the funeral home, making decisions that would mark her mother leaving this Earth, before she was subjected to coming face to face with him. Before he was subjected to seeing the disappointment and horror on her face at the sight of him, back in this town, after she'd practically begged him to leave her alone. But he could only put it off for so long. He knew that. Eventually, he'd have to see her and he had to do it before the funeral. He couldn't allow her to be blindsided like that while she was saying her final goodbyes to her mom.

"Damn, Melvald's is still around?" came Gareth's voice from across from him. "I would have thought that little general store would have gone under by now with all the big box stores opening around here."

"Yeah, well, people here don't like change," muttered Eddie. "If you noticed, the big box stores are all outside the city limits.They like everything to stay exactly as it was in this shithole. Can't have anything threatening their small town morals."

Arty had said he would be sending a car to pick them up from the airport. Instead, they'd found a limo waiting for them. Of course it had to be a damn limo. Nothing was going to stand out in this place more than a limo moving through town. Eddie could see the faces, people gawking as they drove by, squinting, desperate to figure out who was inside. Hawkins didn't see many luxury vehicles. They were a town of pick-up trucks and rusty hondas.

"Man, do you remember when we used to go in there and steal cigarettes? I think Joyce always knew what we were doing but she let us get away with it. I think she had a soft spot for you."

"If she did, it was out of pity," scoffed Eddie, folding his arms over his Black Sabbath tee as he sunk down into the seat.

That was the way it worked in this town for him. People hated him on sight, judging him because of his family, his economic status, and because he resided in the local trailer park where all the trash lived. Or they felt sorry for him, the poor kid whose dad was serving time for selling hot car parts and whose mom ran off before he was even out of diapers. The judgmental stares he could handle. It was easy to brush them off. The looks of pity he could not.

Besides, fuck all of them. Look at where he was now. He could charter a plane with the snap of his fingers. He could be in Hawaii by tonight if he really wanted to. Hell, he could fly around the world to Japan if the mood struck him. He could walk into the local dealership and buy a car for every damn resident in this hellhole and still have money left over. He'd like to see them feel sorry for him now.

"Nah. She didn't pity you. Joyce was good people, man. It's not like the Byers had much either," Gareth argued. "She was a single mom just trying to take care of her kids. Will was a good kid. He fucking worshipped you, Eds, almost more than Henderson. And Jonathan was alright. He always picked Will up from Hellfire and he was friendly. He never exactly fit in either. And I mean, you used to hang with him a lot once he started dating Nancy and you all would go out together. He wasn't one of those dicks like Jason and his crew."