electric // mike wheeler

NO CHERRY. NO DEAL.

It had been 45 minutes since Joyce's amazing rant at Murray, and Hopper had finally returned from his mission to get the group food. Alexei refused to talk unless he got food, which was fair enough.

Upon returning, hopper had a two drinks in hand and a bag from Burger King between his teeth. He put the drinks on the table as he opened the bag, beginning to pass everyone their food, "Two Whoppers, extra ketchup, two large fries, pack of Marlboro Reds, and two extra-large Slurpees," he says, handing Tee a blue slurpee and her fries, and Alexei his whopper and slurpee, before getting out the rest of the food for himself. Tee and Joyce were sharing her fries, neither one of them having the biggest appetites.

"Burger King is nowhere near the 7-Eleven, by the way," Hopper said to Murray, slight venom in his voice as Tee nibbled on a fry. She wasn't really paying attention to the adults, her head was rested against Joyce's leg with her own legs hung over the arm of the couch. She was watching the looney toons on the old tv as she mindlessly ate, Not a care in the world.

"Never said it was," Murray replied with a coy smile.

"Let's try this again," Hopper began, pointing at Joyce, "Joyce."

At this, Joyce moved her body to face Alexei, this made Tee groan slightly at the shooting pain in her arm. In response, Joyce began to comb Tee's hair with her fingers in one hand, the other being used to steal Tee's drink.

"Alexei, the generators, what are they powering?" She asked.

"And tell him that we know it is not the Starcourt Mall, so he can stop selling us that crap," Hopper added, his mouth full.

Murray nodded and turned to Alexei, talking in Russian. However, before Alexei could answer, he spat out his drink, shouting in Russian in disgust.

"What's wrong?" Tee asks, looking over without moving her body, looking at an upside down Alexei as he wipes his mouth.

"He says, "It's strawberry."" Murray tells them.

"I'm sorry?" Hopper asks, growing more and more annoyed by the second.

"His Slurpee. He says it's strawberry."

"So what?" Hopper asked, on the verge of tears by how annoyed he was towards the situation.

"Hop, he did ask for cherry," Joyce defended the Russian man.

"Well, they didn't have cherry. They didn't have it," hopper began, his last piece of sanity diminished, "And it doesn't matter, because it all tastes the same, okay? It is sugar on ice. You tell him that."

"Tell him what?" Murray asked.

"You tell him that it all tastes the goddamn same!" Hopper yells.

More words were spoken in Russian as Tee laughed at the show on the Tv, Alexei joining her.

"It's not the same at all, and he would like - cherry," Murray told the man.

"Oh, yeah? You tell him he can forget it," Hooper says, finishing his whopper in record speed.

"He says, No cherry no deal." Murray says. Tee sighs to herself, already knowing this would tip hopper over the edge.