September had swung by hard and fast and before anyone knew it it was nearing the end of October.
Jack had just finished his last beer and he tossed it in the trashcan. He frowned, when he noticed a familiar car Ace was working on. "Is that Rick Stronghold's Chevy? I recognize the plate."
"I gave the asshole a deal too good to refuse," Ace replied, coolly.
Jack squinted his eyes. "Since when do you deal with douches from Chamberlain? You hanging around with Anacondas; that shit don't sit right."
"Go back to painting fences, Mudge. It's all your good at."
"I'll have you know, I'm the best handyman in this town," Jack smirked. "No screw goes loose. No door goes unhinged."
"Oh, yeah, then why you back to painting your old mans yard?" Ace looked at Jack's paint ridden overalls.
Jack sniggered, "Hey, it's not my fault that husbands can't control their wives... they just can't resist me." He took his comb out of his back pocket and began fixing his duck's ass, his black hair still greasy as ever.
Ace scoffed and then he ushered Jimmy Reynolds, one of the many kids Pop had taken under his wing, over to him. "Drive the Chevy to Fairview." He tossed the key to Jimmy and then shoved the address in his hands.
Jimmy looked down at the piece of paper he then drawled, "Does Pop know about this?"
"Is Pop here?" Ace spat. "I don't intend to tell him, and you don't either. So, once you're done take the rest of the day off."
Jimmy shrugged his shoulders and strolled over to the Chevy.
No questions asked.
It happened fast, and before Rebecca knew it, she was out every night with Bobby and his shiny Pontiac Bonneville.
She noticed everyone in this town listened to him, not like they way they listened to Ace. With Ace they had to, but with Bobby they wanted to.
Rebecca couldn't shake the feeling that she was trying to be someone else. Since Bobby paid for everything there was no more stealing, no more dodging the bill at the Blue Point, no more swindling a free game of billiards at the bar. And that was all Rebecca was good at.
And with The Cobras out of her way there was no more fighting. It had been weeks since she had got in a fist fight with some chick who had bumped into her. Weeks since she had had a spat with Jack Mudgett, not that she missed him; he was nothing but a thorn stuck in her side.
Rebecca stared out of the window of the Pontiac as they drove through town. Her eyes bulged when Bobby pulled up outside Pop's Tires.
She knew Ace worked on a Friday. She gulped, "What are we doing here?"
"Some punk snapped my radio antenna right off. Just gonna buy a new one." He stepped out of the car and then looked through the window at her. "You coming?"
"Nope," she smiled and prayed he wouldn't see through her. "I'll just wait here."
Bobby walked up to the shop and was instantly graced with Ace Merrill's presence. Jack Mudgett eyeballed him up and down from the desk.
"You got any radio antennas?"
Ace shrugged, puckering his lips, "No."
"You didn't even check!"
"I don't have to," Ace said, smiling his gentle smile. "I know the stock like the back of my hand."
Bobby scoffed, "Call this place an auto-shop?" He walked over to the wall on his left and picked up one of the radio antennas that sat on the shelf. "You guys couldn't even tie your own shoelaces," he chuckled, pulling a ten dollar bill from his slacks. He shoved it in Jack's hands. "Keep the change." He smirked before walking out of the place.
"Son-of-a-bitch! That's the asshole Rebecca's ditched us for?" Jack gawked. "That's the motherfucker? We should go out there and rack him up." He shot up from the desk ready to rush out there and pound the guy.
Ace walked over to him and they both stared at Bobby. Ace said, still smiling, "That's your problem, Mudge." His eyes caught Rebecca's and she quickly turned away. "You don't know how to wait."
It was a quarter past six and Rebecca was in her room getting ready, for wherever Bobby would be taking her that night.
She had just finished plucking a stray hair from her eyebrow when Chris stopped by her room, his arm broken and in a sling.
"What do you want?" Rebecca sighed, seeing him from the corner of her eye.
"Mrs McGinn left a note at the door," Chris said, leaning his good arm against the doorway. "Mom called her and asked her to leave a message; mom and Debbie will be back tomorrow."
"So?" she mumbled, looking over at the empty cot. She hadn't missed the screaming baby waking her up every morning. "Well, at least I get the Buick back."
"You should clean up the mess you made in the bathroom."
"Go ahead. I ain't cleaning! Not for that witch!" she spat. She turned around and looked up at him. "Why do you care what she comes home to? It's not like she cleans the house herself, she makes everyone else do it. What she ever done for you, huh?"
"She never beats the tar out of us," Chris replied. "Or put me in hospital for breaking a window."
"That was your fault! You cost Daddy a months wage," she said, primping her hair. "And you know what your precious darling mother does when he beats the shit out of you?" She glared. "Nothing! She just runs out the room and if she can't... she looks the other way."
"She's scared of him. She-"
"No, she's not," she laughed. "He never raised his hands on her. She gets to go around pretending that her life is all sunshine and roses, because she refuses to think anything different. What she doesn't see, doesn't happen, right?" She turned back to the mirror and grabbed her lipstick. "Now, shoo." She waved her hand at him.
Grudgingly, he leaned off the door. "Just remember that you look the other way too!" he said, as he disappeared from the corner of her eye.
In Rebecca's eyes a woman who stood back and watched her husband beat the life out of their kids, was just as bad as the man himself. But, Chris was right, it had been years since Rebecca had helped her brothers hide from their father's lashes.
It took her another hour to get ready. She was wearing her favorite get up - black tapered pants and a red checkered blouse rolled at the sleeves - and she was putting the finishing touches to her outfit when Bobby blared the horn.
Grabbing her purse, she rushed down the stairs and slammed the door shut behind her.
Bobby grinned at her from the drivers seat, the blouse and pants combo really accentuated the curves of her body, and he enjoyed the view.
Rebecca leaned her chin on the cue stick as she watched Bobby take his shot. She sighed, for the last few years all her life had been was playing pool and drinking at bars, she thought Bobby would have been different to all the losers in town, it turned out he was just the same, but he was kind and he treated her good.
She giggled when he mistook his shot. "Do you let me win? Or are you just that bad?" she joked.
"I guess, that's for me to know and for you to find out," he chuckled. He walked over to her and planted a kiss on her lips.
"Well, isn't this nice?" Ace's voice echoed through her ears.
She tensed. "What are you doing here?" She looked him up and down with disgust. Jack stood on his left and Amelia on his right. She scowled, "You know this isn't Irby's, right?"
Ace smirked staring Bobby straight in the eye, he scoffed, "This place is just as faggoty as I remember."
Bobby stared right back at him. "You got a problem, Pal?"
"Just seeing what all the fuss is about," Ace soothed and he swaggered over to the bar with Amelia joined at his hips. Jack shoved past Bobby and gave him a good hard knock with his shoulder before joining Ace at the bar.
Bobby chuckled, "I grew up with assholes like that in California." He studied Ace at the bar. "In twenty years time that douche-bag will still be the same, just more bitter and with a fat ass to go with that mouth."
Rebecca groaned, "Let's just go."
"We ain't leaving because of those jerks!" Bobby frowned. "I ain't scared of them, and you shouldn't be either."
Rebecca wasn't scared of Ace. She knew exactly what kind of guy Ace was, she knew he'd ruin her night and she wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction of wrecking her shot of happiness, not again.
But it was too late to leave; Jack was already blocking their path. He took the cue stick from Rebecca's hands and smirked at Bobby. "We'll take over from here."
Ace confidently approached Bobby. Bobby stood tall and scoffed, "I ain't looking for a fight. So, if you want to take over our game... I suggest you ask nicely."
Ace chuckled, "Oh, I ain't asking!" He shoved Bobby's chest with his fingers and then snatched the cue stick from his clutches. "Beat it, Pal."
"And take the trash out with you!" Amelia spoke, she blinked at Rebecca. "I wondered where that stench was coming from."
Rebecca glowered, "You think because you fucked him!" she paused to look at Ace. "It makes you tough? You're nothin' but a spoiled poodle-skirted hag. I'll show you what tough is!"
"And there it is! The Chambers' way of speaking," Amelia smiled. "Didn't mommy ever teach you any manners?"
Rebecca seethed, "That's it! I'm gonna shove your own fist down your own throat!" She shot over to Amelia ready to grab at her, but a hand grabbed her wrist, thinking it was Bobby, she was surprised to find that the hand belonged to Ace.
He stared at Amelia and his grip around Rebecca's wrist tightened.
Amelia stepped back and turned to Bobby, she said, "I'd watch yourself, if I were you. She'll drag you down!" She grinned, looking back at Rebecca. "Just like her father did to her mother. It's the talk of the town! We all know how her mother used to be this pretty little thing until she got caught up with a drunk that was Mr. Chambers and he dragged her down. It's kind of like a fairytale, don't you think?"
All Rebecca knew was that Ace had released her wrist and that she was now swinging hard punches at the air. She grabbed a hold of Amelia's black hair and tugged her hair, screaming profanities and mumbled words on her way. The two screeched - like two alley cats in a tussle - both landing hard blows to each others arms and pulling at each others hair.
Ace pried Amelia off of her.
Jack grabbed Rebecca, his arms wrapped around her torso. She lifted her feet off the ground, kicking her legs so hard that one of her high-heels fell off of her foot. "Get your greasy hands off me, Mudgett," she spat, trying to wriggle herself free but he was too strong. "This bitch is gonna need a set of braces when I finish bashing her teeth in!"
"Get her out of here!" Ace snapped.
Jack smirked lifting Rebecca over his shoulder, she clawed at him trying to get him to let her go, but he was out of the door in record time.
Bobby went to follow but Ace stopped him by blocking his path, he placed two fingers on his chest. "Don't even think about it," he drawled. He pushed him with the two fingers and walked away, picking Rebecca's heel up from the ground he then stepped out of the bar.
Just as the door had swung shut, it swung back open and in walked Jack. He smirked at Bobby and picked up a cue stick from the nearest pool table and pointed it at him. "I'm gonna rack you, baby!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the bartender said, walking out from behind the bar. "I've called the cops!" He walked over to Amelia who had sat herself down on the bar stool, she sniffled and fixed her hair, pulling out a big clump that Rebecca had torn off her head. "You should press charges, miss," he comforted.
She sobbed, "He left with her!"
"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess he likes his girls insane."
This story isn't complete yet. There's two/three chapters left I will upload once rewritten and beta'd. I hope you're enjoying the story/rewrite there's more drama to come! :D