The Back Harlow Road • Stand By Me

Chapter Eleven "Dead and Deadly"

Billy and Charlie had managed to keep the enormous secret for about thirty-six hours, a personal record for both of them. By noon Ace and Eyeball had told everybody in the gang. I guess for those guys, protecting their mother's good name wasn't a top priority.

"Listen, Ace. Maybe me 'n Charlie shouldn't go," Billy tried to reason and I looked at them confused. Are they serious? They want to back out now? They owe me this after making me keep that secret.

"Yeah, maybe you can go without us," Charlie agreed and Ace rolled his eyes, he obviously didn't have time for fucking around. I leaned against the car, smoking a cancer stick, with my eyebrows raised.

"You guys are actin' like my grandmother having a conniption-fit. I don't see your problem! We go up with a whole lot of fishing gear and if a cop asks what we're doing there we'll just have to take a couple of steelhead out of the river and look what we found!" Ace said and the guys still looked nervous.

"Yeah look what we found, my brother," I muttered under my breath, placing the cigarette back between my lips. It's a mystery to me how I got addicted.

"Yeah, come on, man we're gonna be famous! We're gonna be on every radio-TV-show in the country!" Vince exclaimed and Billy shook his head nervously.

"I still don't think we should go," he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Ace stood up, "okay. Okay. You stated your position clearly. Now I'm gonna state mine. Get in the fucking car! Now! Let's go."

Ace, Billy and Charlie rode in Ace's car while I went with Richie, Vince, Jack and Fuzzy.

The ride there seemed like the longest time of my life. I practically sat on Richie's lap and I was having a panic attack the whole time. My chest tightened and I was scared to see my brother, dead.

I haven't seen him in a while, I honestly don't know how I'm going to react. I just swallowed the anxiety and tried to focus on nothing but my breathing.

Ever since my brother went missing it's been my parents top priority to keep me safe too. Connie don't do this! Connie don't do that! Connie you can get hurt! Connie they're a bad influence. Connie that's dangerous!

I wanted so desperately to say that the only thing that was dangerous was me staying in that house. "I just don't want to lose you too," my mother would say.

I didn't have to worry about thinking too much anymore, because Ace pulled his car slightly ahead of ours, testing us.

"No way, Ace! Not this time! No way!" Vince shouted, but he still raced Ace despite his protests. Richie held a protective arm around me, since I wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and took a swig at his beer.

At this point, it was really anyone's. Well that was until a truck full of logs started going down the same lane, opposite way, as Ace.

"I got him! I got him!" Vince yelled and I could here the nervous chatter from the car next to us.

"Fall back, Ace. Come on. Jesus Christ, Ace, fall back, man!" Charlie shouted. But Ace kept driving forward, and didn't even bat an eye when the truck swerved off the road.

"Shit, man, shit!" Vince said as we fell behind.

"You let him beat you ya cock knocker!"Eyeball shouted, him and I started laughing.

I turned the radio up louder to drain out my thoughts. And that's how everyone liked the radio, we all played it loud.

Not too long after our drag race fiasco we arrived at the Back Harlow Road. I sighed as I got out of the car. Ace, Richie and I were the first ones down there.