The Cutprice Guignol

If you thought I was going to let horror season pass without another dip into the Stephen King-i-verse, you’re sorely mistaken. Let’s get back to Christine!

We left off last time at the end of Dennis’ POV section, and the beginning of Arnie’s. Part II is titled “Teenage Love Songs”, and we start off with a li’l Chuck Berry action:

We start things off (in third-person perspective now) as Arnie shows off Christine to his parents – or, at least, tries to. He’s met with some less-than-welcoming responses from his parents, especially his mother, who reveals that she’s been snooping in his pocket book to figure out how much money he’s been spending on Christine:

“In the last few months, it’s been all car-car-car and more recently girl-girl-girl. It’s as if you’ve gone insane on both subjects.”

Tensions are mounting in the Cunningham household, as Arnie’s mother puts away several glasses of gin and tells off her husband over the course of a few pages, but, eventually, Arnie manages to counter that he’s gotten a job at Darnell’s to earn the money back, and that his grades are still high enough for him to get into a good college. Christine, though, remains a point of contention:

“…this is the one thing you can’t run, and you fucking hate it, don’t you?”

Arnie’s declaration here is interesting, given that his mother brought up both Christine and Leigh in her criticism of what she sees as his overspending – but still, despite this, there’s only one thing on his mind, and it’s Christine. She’s what he defends here, not Leigh. Christine herself, sitting in their driveway like she’s “come up in the world”, is the biggest point of contention between the family, with Leigh hardly earning a mention.

Regina begins to cry, and we return to one of the book’s running themes, ageing and a fear of the loss of youth – Arnie later tells Dennis that seeing his mother cry was disturbing because it made her look old and weak, an interesting contrast to Arnie’s anger, which Dennis previously tied to his vitality and independence. Either way, Regina insists that Arnie move Christine from the driveway, and Arnie agrees, bringing us to the start of the next chapter, and some Moon Martin:

Arnie’s dad comes to stop him from leaving, and reveals that the reason for Arnie’s mother’s emotional reactions to Christine and his other recent escapades is none other than the menopause. Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the tampon bin, it looks like we’ve got another foray into Stephen King’s Menstruation Nation – Carrie was packed with period imagery, explicit and otherwise, most of it spectacularly and borderline hilariously inaccurate, so when I saw this referenced here, I was…doubtful, to say the least. Mercifully, it’s a brief mention, and it’s more tied in with the ageing themes in the book than it is any commentary on what’s going into or coming out of a uterus, which I’m grateful for.

Anyway, Arnie’s dad eventually gets him to calm down, and asks for a ride to the airport, which Arnie agrees to at once. On the way there, Arnie’s father reveals that he wants to buy Arnie a parking pass for the airport, where he can keep Christine instead of at Darnell’s. Arnie initially protests. complaining that it’s too far away, but Michael is having none of it:

“…he was suddenly grabbed by the neck.

“You listen,” Michael said. “I’m your father, so you listen to me…””

It’s such an interesting contrast between how Michael’s acted previously in the chapter – playing peacemaker between Arnie and Regina, trying his best to cool Arnie off before he drives off in a rage, cracking jokes to ease the tension. But as soon as he gets into Christine, he gets physical with Arnie, and is far harsher and more authoritarian in the way he goes about his suggestions. Her influence is quick and pronounced, especially on a character as previously meek as Michael.

The two argue, as his dad makes the case that he’s too invested in Christine (especially when Arnie insists he would not attend a college that didn’t let her come with him), and eventually, when Michael coaxes him with the promise of his mother being more accepting of Christine, Arnie takes him up on the offer. Once they’ve parked Christine up at her new digs, Michael reflects on what he makes of the car – or, more specifically, how he feels about Arnie when he’s driving it: “somehow arrogant and petulant at the same time, like a weak king”. It’s an interesting descriptor, not exactly what you might imagine for someone coming under the influence of a powerful supernatural force like Christine, but one that’s all the more unsettling (and Roland LeBay-esque) for it.

The next chapter starts with the classique banger Roadrunners:

And a shift in perspective, as we spend some time with Sandy, one of the attendants at the airport parking lot where Christine is now housed. He’s friends with Buddy Repperton (who got kicked out of school after a fight with Arnie), and is keen to take his revenge when he finds out that Christine is road-worthy and out of Arnie’s immediate protection.

And that’s where we leave this section – three relatively short but quite interesting chapters, especially for filling out a little more of Arnie’s home life. We’ll be getting into it with Leigh and Arnie in the next section (for better or worse), and I’m planning to have that up in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned. Have a great Halloween month!

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