It was around twelve-thirty, and the heat still blistered. Ace, Rebecca, Billy Tessio and Charlie Hogan were currently in a game of mailbox baseball. The game was a hit with juvenile delinquents all over Oregon much to the annoyance to the local folks. Rebecca sped down Warren Place without a care in the world.

"Hey, Charlie. You wanna go with me to that new diner opening tonight?" Rebecca asked. She kept a sly eye on Ace, who gripped his bat and swung, hitting the post.

"What, like a date?" Charlie gulped.

Rebecca glanced over her shoulder at him and shrugged.

"Will ya keep your attention on the road, Chambers? I'm three bases away from home and on a four-game streak. I ain't having you striking me out." Ace spat out his toothpick and replaced it with a cigarette with his free hand.

"Gee, Ace, cool it! You think you're Joe DiMaggio, or somethin'?" she teased with a laugh. "That kid's Yankee cap would come in real handy right about now."

"Bite me."

Rebecca was about to insult him back when Billy interrupted, "Jesus! I'm on fire." He tapped the side of the car. "This flip-top ain't no use when the sun's getting in the way."

"You wanna walk, Billy?" Ace said.

Billy shrunk back in his seat. "No."

"Then I suggest you don't insult the car."

"I was just saying I feel like I'm on fire."

"Yeah? Well, pity your game ain't on fire too." Ace cranked up the radio, and Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis blared out. He struck the Roslans' mailbox with the bat, and it fell to the ground.

Rebecca watched from the corner of her eye as Ace hit another mailbox and was now on his last one for home. "So, what do you say, Charlie?"

"Yeah, I guess. But-" Charlie was interrupted by wood from a mailbox smashing.

"Ah, shit, I'm out. Goddamn it." Ace tossed his cigarette to the sidewalk and leaned back in his seat.

"Shouldn't have gone for a wooden one; they always bust," Rebecca snickered, and then gulped down some of her beer. It wasn't like Ace to be out of the game.

Ace leaned into her. "Why don't you tell me something I don't know, babe?" The hairs on her neck stood up as she felt his breath on her neck and she had to stop herself from shivering. Ace then shoved the bat to Billy. "Billy, you're up!"

"Nah, you guys go on. I don't wanna play no more."

"Hey, you can't quit! We only played three innings! That would be a nonofficial game." Rebecca scowled. "Besides, me and Ace are both out. You guys can take this one!" Billy had been acting strange all afternoon, and it wasn't like him to turn down a chance of beating Ace at an inning.

"Who's team are you on, Chambers?" Ace glared at her.

"Ours."

"Well, then act like it." Ace exhaled. His patience for the day was almost gone.

"Hey, Ace, uh, me and-" Charlie was cut off by a furious looking Billy, who nudged him in the chest.

"What's with you homos? You've been acting psycho all day." Ace eyed up both of them. "What is it?" he demanded.

"It's nothin', it's nothin'," Billy told Ace. He then turned his attention to Charlie. "It's nothing, right?"

Charlie nodded with defeat.

"Then if you gentlemen don't mind, I'd like to finish this game before I start collecting my goddamned social security, okay? You're up, Billy. Move it." Ace's eyes fixed on him, and when Ace stared you always obeyed.

"All right, give me this fuckin' stick." Billy grabbed the bat from Ace and stood up.

"Let's play ball!" Ace smirked. He turned his attention back to the road and puckered his lips, cutting loose to the music and nodding his head to the beat. The song had always been a favorite of his.

Billy swung at a mailbox, and it dangled from the post. "Foul ball," Rebecca laughed. She watched Billy hit another and knock it off. "That doesn't count."

"Too right it counts!" Billy glared at her.

"Hey! If you swing a foul you gotta miss the next box," she said. "Everybody knows that!"

Ace smirked with her. "Three strikes and you're out, Tessio, so you better make this one count." He watched Billy swing at another and miss. "Stttttrrrike!"

"Batter out!" Rebecca cackled. "Which means you forfeit the next game, dip-shit!"

"You can't make the game up as you go along. Those ain't the rules." Billy shoved the bat in Charlie's hands and sat back down. "The bitch is cheatin'."

"Not my fault you can't swing a hit for shit," Rebecca replied with a smile. She flicked her burned out cigarette out of the window. "You're a real pussy-wussy sometimes, Tessio."

"What, are you afraid to lose if you stop cheatin'? Or is it that a Chambers just can't stop cheatin'?"

"I'm gonna pull over and pummel you," she spat.

"Would you two shut the fuck up?" Ace snapped. "You're yappin' like a couple of pre-schoolers."

Rebecca and Billy instantly stopped and backed down.

"Rebecca, pull over."

Ace gave Rebecca a look that made her immediately obey. She slowed the car and pulled it to the curb.

"Swap seats with Billy," Ace ordered.

"What? But I don't like the backseat-"

"That's not what all the guys are saying around here," Billy chuckled before hoisting himself up and over the side of the car with ease.

"Go screw." She hurled her beer at him but missed and the bottle shattered to the ground.

Charlie snickered. "Nice pitching arm, Rebecca."

Ace chuckled as he popped the lid off another beer.

Rebecca seethed. "You know, I don't have to put up with this." She got out of the car and slammed the door after her. "I'm going home."

"Ahh, Jesus! Rebecca, I was just teasin'," Charlie grimaced.

"Yeah, I was too," Billy said just before she shoved her way past him. "It ain't like I meant anythin' I said. I was just playin' ya."

"Cool it, assholes." Ace flicked the lid of his lighter off and lit a cigarette. "Rebecca can't take a joke; that's just the way she is. Ain't that right, Becca?"

She glared back at him, and he gave her a smirk as he took a long drag and then exhaled. "Get in the backseat."

"No." She flicked away the hair that was in her face and stood with pride. "Go find someone else to play with."

"I ain't in the mood for one of your huffs, Rebecca. Get in the fucking car."

"I told you I'm walking home!"

"You put one foot on that sidewalk, and I won't think twice about mounting the curb and runnin' you down."

"I'd like to see you try," she taunted. She turned her attention to Charlie and said, "Pick me up at eight, yeah?"

"Uh-" Charlie stuttered. "Yeah, I guess."

"Great! It's a date," she smiled. She gave Ace one last glare and walked across the road while calling out behind her, "See ya later, girls."

Ace's eyes darkened with anger as he watched her walk down the road. He shifted over to the driver's seat and pushed Billy - who was about to get in the car - away with two fingers.

"Jesus! Ace, what ya doing?" Billy yelled. He watched as Ace slipped the car out of neutral and drove to the other side of the road. He clipped the curb, put the car back in neutral, pumped on the gas, and the engine revved as the car rolled behind her. He was in full control.

Rebecca screamed as she jumped out of the way and fell into the Wheelers' front yard. Her heart pounded, and it took her a few seconds to realize what had just happened.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" she yelled as she laid sprawled out on the grass and watched Ace speed away.

Billy rushed over to her.

"Did you see that?" she panted as her heart started to return to a normal pace.

"Shit!" Billy exhaled. He held out his hand and she grabbed hold of it and he pulled her up. "The car wasn't actually driving, Rebecca. It just rolled."

"Well, how would I know that?" she spat. "Pass me a smoke, Billy. I think I need one." She took off her jacket and snatched the cigarette out of Billy's hand. "Walk me home, will ya?"

*An hour later - Ace's backyard*

The Cobras all watched as Billy made his way over to them. Ace was in the middle of carving 'Cobras' onto Jack Mudgett's upper left arm.

"How's Chambers? Charlie told us what Ace done to her," Jack smirked.

"She's pissed." Billy sat himself down next to Vince and yanked the dirty magazine that Vince was reading out of his hands. "Never stopped moaning when I walked 'er home."

"She'll calm down," Ace smirked. "Bitch has been acting strange all summer."

"Probably in heat, or somethin'," Jack cackled and they all laughed with him. "Maybe, you'll be able to sort that out tonight, Charlie. No doubt she'll spread those legs of hers." Ace carved harder into his arm and winced at the pain.

Charlie looked up from his magazine. "You really think she'll put out?"

"It's Rebecca. 'Course she'll put out. That skank would put out a fire if it smiled at her," he snorted. Ace whacked him round the side of his head. "Hey, what'd you do that for?"

"You ain't paying attention. You want a fucked up snake?" Ace spat.

Jack looked down at his arm and shot up from the car in anger. "You've jacked up my whole arm! Give me the fucking razor!" he said, holding out his hand. "I could do a better job myself!"

"You keep moving your arm around; 'course it's gonna be jacked, you fag."

"Well, it ain't my fault you can't use a blade-"

Ace grabbed Jack's wrist with his left hand and pulled him in. His right hand held the razor and he brought it to Jack's nose. He tilted it slightly and Jack felt the blade dig in, but not enough to draw blood. "Does it look like I can't use a blade, Mudge?"

Jack shook his head, his eyes never leaving the blade.

Ace smirked and brought the blade away. "Well, then sit back down, before I carve 'idiot' on your forehead!"

"You taking a broad to the diner tonight, Ace?" Vince changed the subject. "Word around town is there's a whole bunch of girls that are just waitin' for you to ask. And they're not just looking for a chocolate malt, if you catch my drift," Vince smirked. He flipped the lid off the bottle of beer he had just helped himself to and gulped down the first chug. He sighed with delight, "Nothin' like a cold Miller on a hot day."

"Well, I got my eye on someone, so those chicks are just gonna have to wait their turn," Ace answered.

"The chick better watch out, 'cause when Merrill's on the prowl, she ain't gonna be safe," Jack sniggered.

Vince and Fuzzy leaned into each other, clinked their beer bottles together and both howled, "Arh-wooooo!"