[voiceover]
As time went on, we saw less and less of Teddy and Vern until, eventually, they became just two more faces in the halls. Happens sometimes, friends come in and out of your life like busboys in a restaurant. I heard that Vern got married out of high school, had four kids, and is now the forklift operator at the Arseno Lumberyard. Teddy tried several times to get into the Army, but his eyes and his ear kept him out. Last I heard, he had spent some time in jail and was now doing odd jobs around Castle Rock.
I'm never gonna get out of this town, am I, Gordie?
You can do anything you want, man.
[Staring at each other for a moment]
Give me some skin.
[They share their handshake]
I'll see ya.
[voiceover]
Chris did get out. He enrolled in the college courses with me and, although, it was hard, he gutted it out like he always did. He went on to college and, eventually, became a lawyer. Last week, he entered a fast-food restaurant. Just ahead of him, two men got into an argument. One of them pulled a knife. Chris, who had always made the best peace, tried to break it up. He was stabbed in the throat. He died almost instantly. [typing on his computer] Although I hadn't seen him in more than ten years, I know I'll miss him forever.
Gordon's Son: Dad, can we go now?
You ready?
Gordon's Son: Yeah, we've been ready for an hour.
[laughs]
Okay, I'll be right there.
HF His Friend
He said that a half hour ago.
Gordon's Son: Yeah, my dad's weird. He gets like that when he's writing.
[Continues typing]
I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?
[a montage of scenes as they hike]
Alright, alright, Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, Pluto's a dog. What's Goofy?
If I could only have one food for the rest of my life? That's easy-Pez. Cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it.
Goofy's a dog. He's definitely a dog.
I knew the $64,000 question was fixed. There's no way anybody could know that much about opera!
He can't be a dog. He drives a car and wears a hat.
Wagon Train's a really cool show, but did you notice they never get anywhere? They just keep wagon training.
Oh, God. That's weird. What the hell is Goofy?
[to himself]
Why did you have to die?
What's the matter with Gordie?
Nothing. Why don't you guys just go for some long branches, okay?
[Chris sits beside Gordie.]
Why did he have to die, Chris? Why did Denny have to die? Why?
I'm no good. My dad said it, I'm no good.
[begins to cry]
He hates me.
No, he just doesn't know you.
He hates me. My dad hates me. He hates me oh oh God. [cries]
You're gonna be a great writer someday, Gordie. You might even write about us guys if you ever get hard up for material.
Guess I'd have to be really hard up, huh?
I mean, you could be a real writer someday, Gordie.
**** writing! I don't wanna be a writer. It's stupid. It's a stupid wasted time!
Bulltrue! I know how your dad feels about you, he doesn't give a shit about you. Denny was the one he cared about, and don't try to tell me different! You're just a kid, Gordie...
I wish the hell I was your dad. You wouldn't be going around talking about taking these stupid shop courses if I was. It's like God gave you something man. All those stories that you can make up, and He said, "This is what we got for you kid, try not to lose it." But kids lose everything unless there's someone there to look out for them. And if your parents are too **** up to do it, then maybe I should.
Come on, you guys, let's get moving!
Yeah, by the time we get there, the kid won't even be dead anymore.
I'm never gonna get out of this town am I, Gordie?
You can do anything you want, man.
Yeah, sure. Give me some skin.
[voiceover]
Chris did get out. He enrolled in the college courses with me, and although it was hard, he gutted it out like he always did. He went on to college and eventually became a lawyer. Last week, he entered a fast food restaurant. Just ahead of him, two men got into an argument; one of them pulled a knife. Chris, who'd always made the best peace, tried to break it up. He was stabbed in the throat. He died almost instantly.
About Stand by Me (film)[edit]
[after shooting a gun into the air]
You're not taking him. An' nobody is taking him.
Ace Come on kid, just give me the gun before you take your foot off. You ain't got the sack to shoot a woodchuck.
Move Ace. I'll kill you I swear to God.
Ace Come on, Lachance, gimme the gun. You must have at least some of your brother's good sense.
[quietly, aiming the gun at Ace]
Suck my fat one, you cheap dime-store hood.
Ace [mocking]
What are you gonna do, shoot us all?
Hey, Vern, looks like your mom's been out driving again.
That's so funny, I forgot to laugh.
Stand back, men! Paratroops, over the side! [the boys toss their bags over the fence, then begin scaling it]
[voiceover]
"No trespassing" was enforced by Milo Pressman, the junkman, and his dog, Chopper, the most feared and least seen dog in Castle Rock. Legend had it that Milo had trained Chopper, not just to sic, but to sic specific parts of the human anatomy. Thus, a kid, who had illegally scaled the junkyard fence, might hear the dread cry, "Chopper, sic balls." But right now, neither the dread, Chopper, nor Milo was anywhere in sight.
Maybe you could come into the college courses with me.
Yeah right, that'll be the day.
Why not? You're smart enough.
It's what everyone thinks of my family in this town. It's what they think of me. I'm just one of those low-life Chambers kids.
Oh wait, it is. No one even asked me if I took the milk money that time. I just got a three day vacation.
Yeah, I took it! I mean, you knew I took it. Teddy knew I took it. Everyone knew I took it. Even Vern knew it, I think. But maybe I was sorry and I tried to give it back.
You tried to give it back?
Maybe. Just maybe. And maybe I took it to Old Lady Simmons and told her, and the money was all there. But I still got a three day vacation because it never showed up. And maybe the next week, Old Lady Simmons had this new suit on when she came to school.
Yeah, yeah! It was brown and it had dots on it.
Yeah. So let's just say that I stole the milk money, but Old Lady Simmons stole it back from me. Just say that I told this story. Me, Chris Chambers. Kid brother to Eyeball Chambers. Do you think that anyone would've believed it?
And do you think that that bitch would have dared try something like that if it had been one of those douchebags from up on the view, if they had taken the money?
Hell no! But with me?... I'm sure she had her eye on that skirt for a long time. Anyway, she saw her chance, and she took it. I was the stupid one for even trying to give it back. [begins to cry] I just never thought a teacher... Oh, who gives a **** anyway? I just wish... that I could go some place... where nobody knows me. I guess I'm just a pussy, huh?
[comforting]
No way. No way.
Milo HEY! Hey, you kid! What are you doing there?! Come over here! [Gordie starts running] You! You come back here! COME BACK HERE, GODDAMMIT! I'LL SIC MY DOG ON YOU!
VC Vern, Chris, and Teddy
RUN, GORDIE, RUN! RUN, GORDIE!
Milo Chopper! Sic him! Sic him, boy!
[voiceover]
Now he said, "Sic him, boy." But what I heard was, "Chopper, sic balls."
[Gordie keeps running and starts screaming as Chopper goes after him. Gordie scales the fence and Chopper tries to jump after him. The boys are surprised by Chopper's appearance]
That's Chopper?
[voiceover]
Chopper was my first lesson in the vast difference between myth and reality.
Come on, Choppy! Kiss my ass, Choppy, kiss my ass! Come on! [Chopper starts biting Teddy's shirt] Bite shit!
Come on, Choppy! Sic balls, Choppy!
Milo Hey, you kids! STOP TEASING THAT DOG! YA HEAR ME?! STOP TEASING HIM! [to Teddy] Sonny, I'm gonna beat your ass, teasing my dog like that!
Yeah? I'd like to see you try to climb over this fence and get me, fat-ass!
Milo Don't you call me that, you little tin weasel. Peckerwood loony's son.
Milo I know who you are. You're Teddy Duchamp. Your dad's a loony. A loony up in the nuthouse at Togus. He took your ear and he put it to a stove and he burnt it off.
My father stormed the beach at Normandy.
Milo He's crazier than a shithouse rat. No wonder you're acting the way you are, with a loony for a father!
You call my dad a loony again, and I'll kill you.
Milo [mockingly]
Loony, loony, loony.
[yells and jumps on the fence]
I'M GONNA RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AND SHIT DOWN YOUR NECK!!!! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!!! [the other boys restrain him]
Milo You come on and try it, you little slimy bastard!
He wants you to go over there so he can beat the piss out of you and then take you to the cops!
Milo You watch your mouth, smart guy! Let him do his own fighting!
Sure, you only outweigh him by 500 pounds, fat-ass!
Milo I know your name. You're Lachance. I know all you guys. And all your fathers are gonna get a call from me, except for the loony up in Togus.
[lunges again, but the others restrain him again]
I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!
Milo You little foul-mouthed whoremaster!
YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU! [the boys begin walking away]
Milo Come back here! Come back here, you hear me?!
Nobody ranks out my old man!
Milo Come back here!
My father stormed the beach at Normandy!
Milo I said come back here!
HE STORMED THE BEACH, YOU ****!
Milo Come back here!
Have you guys been watching The Mickey Mouse Club lately? I think Annette's tits are getting bigger.
Yeah, I've been noticing lately that the "A"and the "E" are starting to bend around the sides.
Annette's tits are great.
This is a really good time.
[voiceover]
Vern didn't just mean being off limits inside the junkyard, or fudging on our folks, or going on a hike up the railroad tracks to Harlow. He meant those things, but it seems to me now it was more and that we all knew it. Everything was there and around us. We knew exactly who we were and exactly where we were going. It was grand.
[Teddy spits water at Vern; Gordie and Chris laugh]
Great! Spit at the fat kid. Real good. What time is it, Gordie?
Um... [checks his watch] It's 1:15.
We better go get the food. Junkyard opens at 3:00. Chopper will be here.
[to Vern]
You go. You can pick us up on the way back.
I'm not going alone. We should all go.
Yeah, man, I'm not goin'. I'm not goin' all the way out there.
Girls, girls, girls, cool it. We'll flip for it.
That's you, Gordie, odd as a cod.
[to Chris]
Flip or eat lead.
[The four boys flip their coins, and all have landed tails up]
Four tails! Oh, Jesus, man, that's a goocher.
Oh, come on, Vern. That doesn't mean anything. Let's go again.
No, man, a goocher. That's really bad. Remember when Clint Bracken and those guys got wiped out on Weed Hill in Durham? Billy told me they was flippin' for beers, and they came up with a goocher before they got into the car. And bang! They all got totaled! I don't like this, man, sincerely.
Vern-o, nobody believes that crap about moons and goochers. It's baby stuff! Now come on, flip again. [to Vern] You gonna flip, or not?
[They flip their coins again, and this time all show tails except for Gordie]
You lose, Gordie! [cackles] Gordie loses! Oh, Gordie just screwed the pooch! [laughs]
Does the word "****" mean anything to you?
Gordie, go and get the provisions, you morphadite!
Don't call me any of your mother's pet names.
[Gordie gets up to leave]
What a wet end you are, Lachance!
VC Vern, Chris, and Teddy
I grow up, and when I look at you, I throw up! [They point at each other's open mouths making gagging sounds]
And then your mother goes around the corner and she licks it up.
VC Vern, Chris, and Teddy
Ooh!
[voiceover]
Finding new and, preferably, disgusting ways to degrade a friend's mother was always held in high regard.
[looking at a pond in their way]
Told you we should've stuck to the tracks.
Is it me, or are you the world's biggest pussy?
I suppose this is fun for you.
No... but this is. [reaches up and dunks Vern while laughing crazily] You want some more?!
Come on Teddy, act your age!
This is my age. I'm in the prime of my youth and I'll only be young once!
Yeah, but you're gonna be stupid for the rest of your life.
[grinning]
All right, get him!
All right, Chambers, you just signed your own death warrant. You die, Chambers! [Teddy and Vern both lunge at Chris, dunking him and laughing loudly, as Gordie disgustedly wades off] Get him! Get Vern! Vern's gonna die!
Hey, I'm kinda hungry. Who's got the food?
Oh, shit! Did anybody bring anything?
Not me. Gordie? [Gordie shakes his head]
Oh, well, this is great! What are we supposed to do, eat our feet?
You mean, you didn't bring anything either?!
Shit, this wasn't my idea, it was Vern's idea! [to Vern] Why didn't you bring something?!
What am I supposed to do, think of everything?! I brought the comb!
Oh, great, you brought the comb! What do you need a comb for?! You don't even have any hair!
I brought it for you guys...
HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY! Let's see how much money we got. [the boys sit down to count their money] Okay, I got $1.02. [Chris and Teddy hand Gordie their money] 68 cents from Chris. 60 cents from Teddy. [Vern hands Gordie his money; he looks at Vern in disbelief] Seven cents, Vern?
I haven't found my pennies yet.
Well, 2.37's not bad. Quidaciolu's is at the end of that little road that goes by the junkyard. I think we can get some stuff there.
