dogfight : reddie

hometown hero's ticker tape parade

ben, richie, and bill found themselves outside of a tiny room. mike and connor had joined them, will off somewhere else. currently behind the dingy curtain was connor and the woman they had come to visit. the others were sitting in what one could call was a living room, on milk crates.

connor walked out from behind the curtain, smug and self-satisfied. all the other boys knew what had happened.

"who's next?" connor asked, ben saluting to him. bill looked over to ben and laughed, elbowing richie in the side.

"how was it?" ben asked, reaching out for a high five with connor, but richie brought his hand down, shaking his head. ben looked to richie innocently, but hardened his gaze as he turned back to connor.

"the best she ever had," connor said, turning around as the girl came out from behind the curtain. the girl had bright red, short hair, and she was wearing a little robe. richie noticed how tired she was, her entire demeanour slumping.

"good evening, i'm ben," ben introduced himself formally, bill still snickering at ben's innocence. the girl pursed her lips. 

"and i'm bev, but sweetheart, i'm sorry. i hate to do this, but i gotta change our plans." bev spoke up, looking ben up and down. ben's facial expression changed to one of concern.

"how do you mean?" ben asked, bill cracking his knuckles. 

"it's been a long night. a girl can only take so much, you know," bev explained, ben suddenly breathing much more heavily, panicked. bill put a hand on ben's shoulder and walked up to bev.

"you kidduh-ding with this shit?" bill growled, bev barely backing up at all. richie assumed she was used to this kind of behaviour. 

"you don't like it, there's the fuckin' door." bev replied, gesturing off to the side of the room. 

connor laughed and slapped bev's ass, "make 'em and break 'em, that's what i do," he said, ben pouting.

"we're united states marines, ma'am. can't you make a little exception?" ben asked politely. 

"not tonight." bev stated, setting her boundary. bill rolled his eyes, and richie tapped his foot nervously. 

ben shook his head, "but tonight's all i got! i can't gp ever there a-a" ben got all worked up, and bill turned him around. bill pulled him close by his shirt and whispered a little something in his ear. ben turned back to bev, "i'm gonna do it if it kills me."

"not with me, you ain't," bev stated, but ben was getting more and more aggressive. richie looked around to mike, and then connor, and then bill, then back to beverly and ben.

"let's go, hanscom, we'll find you one who will." richie interrupted, pushing bill's hand off of ben's shoulder to put his own hand there. ben turned around quickly.

"i'm ready now! c'mon, it's not fair: we got money, we got fucktons of it!" ben whined, pushing richie off of him. he turned back to bev and got in her face, "it's no big deal, just one more," he went to take her by the waist but she backed up.

"watch it, peanut!" she said, yelping and ben picked her up. ben was determined not to fail now, not with all his friends watching. he had grabbed her by the waist, and she squirmed in his grip.

"you give it out all the time, no problem. so what, you think you can just jerk me around--" ben complained, getting angrier and angrier by the second.

"listen, you little piece of--" bev pushed against his chest, but it didn't work.

ben threw her against her own mattress, "i'm not a little anything," he snarled, bev crawling away from him. she tried to stand up, but ben put his hands on her chest.

"ben, wait," richie tried to interject, but ben groaned.

"get your paws off of--" bev continued trying to push him away. 

"he asked y-yuh-you nice," bill shouted at her, richie pushing past all of them to ben.

richie yanked ben off of her, "ENOUGH," he shouted, all the marines in the room freezing in their spot. ben turned around to richie, glaring. richie was fuming. bev surveyed the room, she was clearly out numbered. richie looked to her with pity. 

"fine. just you. fifty bucks," she said to ben, who sighed in content. at last, he had won. richie shook his head in disbelief. 

"you t-tuh-take your time, now," bill said, with a fraternal sort of energy. ben took one last look back at bill.

"semper fi, do or die." ben said one last time. he followed beverly behind the curtain. 

bill turned behind him to richie, who was shaking in anger. he shook his head at bill, who was smirking.

"he's gotta learn. that's huh-how it's done. my dad, your dad, all the fuckin' dads." bill repeated richie's statement from earlier, and richie scoffed. 

"fuck you." richie said one last time, grabbing his jacket and walking out. he slammed the door, and only bill looked back at him.