Stand by Me

I deliver perfection...|and don't brag about it! :D

I was 12 going on 13|the first time I saw a dead human being.

It happened in the summer of 1959...

... a long time ago...

... but only if you measure it|in terms of years.

I was living in a small town in Oregon|called Castle Rock.

There were only 1,281 people,|but to me it was the whole world.

It's the Bossman Bob Cormier.|It's a beautiful Friday morning in Portland.

It's 90 KLAM degrees and getting hotter.

Up the ladder with another platter.|It's Bobby Day with "Rockin' Robin"...

... it's boss.

How do you know a Frenchman's been|in your backyard?

I'm French, okay.

Your garbage cans are empty|and your dog's pregnant.

Didn't I just say I was French?

- I knock.|- Sh*t.

Twenty-nine.

Twenty-two.

Piss up a rope.

Gordie's out, OI' Gordie just bit the bag|and stepped out the door.

Come on, man, deal.

Teddy Duchamp was the craziest guy|we hung around with.

He didn't have much of a chance in life.

His dad was given to fits of rage.

One time he held Teddy's ear to a stove|and almost burned it off.

I knock.

You four-eyed pile of sh*t.

The "pile of sh*t" has 1,000 eyes.

What?

What's so funny?|I got thirty, what have you got?

Sixteen.

Go ahead, keep laughing.

You're down to your ride, pal.

Chris Chambers was the leader of our gang|and my best friend.

He came from a bad family|and everyone just knew he'd turn out bad.

Including Chris.

That's not the secret knock.

I forgot the secret knock. Let me in.

Vern.

Come on, you guys, open up.

Man, you guys are not going|to believe this. This is so boss.

Wait till you hear this.

You won't believe it. It's unbelievable.

Let me catch my breath. I ran all the way|from my house.

"I ran all the way home"

Come on. Listen to me, this is boss.

"Just to say I'm sorry"

Okay, forget it.|I don't have to tell you nothin'.

Hold on, you guys. Hold on.|What is it, man?

Great, you won't believe this, sincerely.

"I ran all the way home"

Screw you guys. Forget it.

What is it?

Can you camp out tonight?

I mean, if you tell your folks|we're gonna tent out in my backfield?

I think so.

Except my dad's kind of on a mean streak.|He's been drinking a lot lately.

You got to. Sincerely,|you won't believe this. Can you, Gordie?

Yeah, probably.

So what are you pissing and moaning|about Vern-O?

- I knock.|- What?

You liar! You ain't got no pat hand.

You didn't deal yourself no pat hand.

Make your draw, shitheap.

You guys want to go see a dead body?

I was under the porch digging, you know?

We all understood|what Vern meant right away.

At the beginning of the school year|he had buried a jar of pennies...

... underneath his house.

He drew a treasure map|so he could find them again.

A week later his mom cleaned out|his room and threw away the map.

Vern had been trying to find those pennies|for nine months...

... nine months, man.

You didn't know whether laugh or cry.

Jesus, Billy, we gotta do something.

Why? Who cares?

- We saw him.|- So?

It's nothin' to us. The kid's dead|so it's nothin' to him, neither.

And who gives a sh*t if they ever find him?|I don't.

It's that kid they're talking about|on the radio.

Brocker or Brower or Flowers,|whatever his name is.

The train must have hit him.

Big f***ing deal.

We had all followed|the Ray Brower story closely...

... since he was a kid our age.

Three days before, he left to pick|blueberries and nobody'd seen him since.

I think we should tell the cops.

You don't go squawking to the cops|after you boosted a car.

They'll want to know how we got way out|on Back Harlow Road.

They know we don't got no car.

It's best we just keep quiet,|then they can't touch us.

But we could make an anonymous call.

They trace those calls stupid. I seen it|on "Highway Patrol" and on Dragnet.

Yeah, right.

I wish we never boosted|that goddamned Dodge.

I wish Ace had been with us.

- We could've said he was in his car.|- He wasn't!

- Are we gonna tell him?|- We're not going to tell nobody.

Nobody, never. You dig me?

I know the Back Harlow Road.

It comes to a dead end by the Royal River.|The train tracks are right there.

Me and my dad fished out there.

If they had known you were under there,|they would've killed you.

Could he have gotten all the way from|Chamberlain to Harlow? That's really far.

Sure. He probably started walking on the|tracks and followed them the whole way.

Yeah, right.

And then after dark, a train must have|come along and "el smako".

I bet you, if we find him,|we'll get our pictures in the paper.

We could even be on TV.

- Sure.|- We'll be heroes.

I don't know. Billy will know I found out.

He's not going to care.|'Cause it's gonna be us that find him.

Not Billy and Charlie Hogan,|and the boosted the car.

They'll probably pin a medal on you.

You think so?

Sure.

What'll we tell our folks?

Exactly what you said.

We'll tell our folks|that we're tenting in your backfield.

You tell your folks|your sleeping at Teddy's.

Then we say we're going|to the drag races the next day.

We're rock solid|until dinner tomorrow night.

Man that's a plan and a half.

But, if we find the body in South Harlow,|they'll know we didn't go to the races.

We'll get hided.

Nobody will care...

...because everybody will be jazzed|at our discovery...

...it won't make a difference.

My dad will hide me anyway,|but it's worth it.

- Sh*t, yeah.|- Let's do it. What do you say?

- All right.|- Gordie?

Sure.

Vern?

I don't know.

Come on, Vern-O.

- Okay.|- All right.

Too cool. Very cool.

I wanted to share my friends' enthusiasm,|but I couldn't.

That summer at home,|I had become The Invisible Boy.

Mom, do you know where my canteen is?

Mom?

It's in Denny's room.

In April, my older brother, Dennis,|had been killed in a jeep accident.

Four months had passed...

... but my parents still hadn't been able|to put the pieces back together again.

Gordie, I got something for you.

This, my friend, is for you.

- This is your Yankee cap.|- No.

This is your Yankee cap.

It's a good luck cap.|Know how many fish we'll catch?

- How much?|- A bazillion.

A bazillion fish.|It looks good on you, too. Just like that.

- No. I'm going blind.|- Don't start with me. Give me a hug.

You found it.

You found it.

Why can't you have friends like Denny's?

Dad, they're okay.

Sure they are. A thief and two feebs.

Chris isn't a thief.

He stole the milk money at school.

He's a thief in my book.

It was almost noon as we set out to find|the body of a dead kid named Ray Brower.

Right here's cool.

- Thanks a lot.|- Sure thing.

- You want to see something?|- What?

- You okay?|- I'm fine.

What is it?

- You've got to see this.|- What is it?

What is it?

You want to be the Lone Ranger|or the Cisco Kid?

Walking, talking Jesus!

- Where'd you get this?|- Hocked it from my old man's bureau.

It's a.45.

I can see that.

You got shells for it?

I took what was left in the box.

My dad'll think he used them himself|shooting at beer cans while he was drunk.

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