Disclaimer: Not mines, anything mentioned by name isn't mines. Except the OCs.
'A clickity clack and answering back the blues in the night'
The radio was crooning Blues in the Night (I remember the Martian Queen singing that on Duck Dodgers) as I pick up some more glasses and plates as I scan the room. Tonight was the night of the rumble and I had a feeling I could get out early. There were very few people in today despite it being a Friday so it look like a light crowd. I kept glancing at the clock between pick-ups to see how much longer before the rumble was to begin. Only twenty minutes to ten...
"Hey!" I turn to look at Willy. "What's with ya? Y'er lookin' at the clock like ya got a date or somethin'?" He asked with a skeptical look.
"You could say something like that." I muttered as I pick up the remaining dishes while heading towards the back. Glancing at the clock, thirteen minutes to ten... "Hey Willy?" He glace up from the counter to look at me.
"Hm?"
"Since it looks like we're in for a slow night, can I possibly cut out early?"
Willy just waved me off. "Sure, I got everythin' handled." Smiling, I nodded and headed towards the door.
It was dark out but thankfully I've been here long enough to know where everything is so I headed to the baseball. The breeze was cool and was starting pick up. The air was starting to smell different so I could tell it was probably gonna rain pretty soon, a light rumble only confirmed that. I kept going and the wind started whipping. Suddenly some headlights shine behind me and I hear a car coming down the road. Turning I see it's Ace in his Black Ford. Without a word, I get into the passenger and we drove off.
We had reach the field and I could see the other Cobras had showed up but couldn't find Leslie and his cronies.
"Okay Bryce for this I gonna need you to let it all out. No holding back this time, let that anger out." Ace told me and I nodded.
"You think this will be enough to handle this?" I asked him as I motion over to the guys. He gave me a glance.
"Trust me, my boys can handle this."
"Hey, you know I was wondering, how did you guys came to be?" I asked Ace as he turned to look at him. "I mean, how did the Cobras form? How did you guys meet?"
Ace briefly looked up at the sky in thought before answering me. "It wasn't nothing big. I knew Eyeball from around the neighborhood but we really didn't start hanging out until back in Ninth Grade when we both got detention he found us a way to sneak out. Since then, we stuck together ever since.
"Fuzzy and Jack practically begged me to let them hang out with me and Eyeball and I jokingly told them if they can steal me the rims of ten Chrysler Imperials in under one hour, I let them in. They succeeded in under forty-five minutes.
"Now Vince, that one hard to explain. I snuck into the liquor store one night, tried to steal myself a bottle when Vince appeared and had the same idea, except we both grabbed the same bottle. One minute we fighting in the store, knocking shit over, throwing punches, next thing we know we're sitting outside the store splitting the bottle and having a smoke like we were longtime pals."
"Wow..." Was all I could say as Ace shrugged and we reached the others.
"Man are these guys are gonna show up or what? It's starting to sprinkle!" Vince shouted.
"What's the matter Vinny, afraid you're gonna melt in the rain?" Fuzzy teased and Vince flipped him the bird.
"Quit whining, a little rain ain't gonna hurt ya, the six of us got this covered." Ace proudly proclaimed.
"Make that seven!" A new voice called out. We all looked and couldn't believe who was heading towards us.
"Denny?" I called out.
"Didn't think this was your kinda thing Lachance?" Fuzzy asked him but Denny had his eyes on Ace.
"Ace, I know the two of us will probably never be friends..."
"You can subtract the 'probably' out of that sentence." Ace told him.
"But," Denny continued as if he wasn't interrupted, "For this insistence, let's put our difference aside and work together." After finished, Denny stuck a hand out. Ace stared at it before grasping it.
"You got yourself a deal Lachance." And with that, they shook hands. Everybody stared and even a few audibly gasped. I doubt anyone there thought they lived to see the day Ace Merrill and Denny Lachance shook hands. It be like if Superman shook hands with Lex Luthor or if Batman fistbumped the Joker.
"C'mon, I told you they were here!" Another new voice came in and we all saw... Billy Tessio and Charlie Hogan?
"Why the fuck are you two here?" Eyeball demanded. "Jesus, why don't we just invite the whole town here!"
"Hey we heard you guys were getting into a rumble and thought we help out. Show some solidarity." Billy said.
"Really because I thought you said if we join in then maybe Ace will let us jo- OOPHM!" Charlie tried to explain before getting jabbed by Billy. Everybody snickered and Ace just rolled his eyes. That's when the rain really started to pour down; you could barely see your hand infront of your face. That's when we all saw a serious of headlights and the roars of engines. A bunch of cars had rolled up and stalled for a minute before the lights went out. A series of doors opened up and out came Leslie and his groupies. We all brace ourselves as they slowly made their way over to us.
"Really glad you're here man." I whispered to Denny.
"Someone gotta back you up when you're doing something stupid." He whispered back witha cheeky smile and I smiled back.
Leslie finally reached us, a smug smirk on his face. By then, everybody was drenched head to toe.
"Didn't think you were gonna show." Ace told him.
"Like I would miss out putting you in the dirt where you belong." Leslie replied back.
"You talk a big game but can you actually play it?" Ace asked/challenged him.
"I can take you. We all can, right guys?" Leslie shouted towards his groupies and outcame a chorus of cheers. By now it was so wet everybody's hair was sticking to their foreheads.
"Then let's start." And with that Ace threw the first punch and the rumble was on. Everybody just started grabbing at each other and throwing punches. The rain had made the ground slippery so half the guys were falling down while scraping. Eyeball was punching a guy, Vince was getting pinned down by two guys, Denny rolling on the ground with some guy but it was getting so dark I could barely make out the others.
I was starting to feel like the odd man out until I got tackled to the ground. This one guy had me on my belly and was dying to push my face in the mud. I could barely breath so I jabbed him in the rib hard and I gave him a backhand smack. Once he was disoriented, I lifted myself up and he rolled off. After shaking his head, he glared and lunged at me again but this time I was ready. As he came forward, I gave him a sharp fist to the stomach then started rapidily punching his face then up and down his chest and stomach before giving one last punch that knocked him down.
It was getting hard to tell who was winning and who was loosing thanks to all the rain and mud until a hard object struck me in the head with enough force to know me to the ground. I looked up and saw none other then Leslie staring at me cracking his knuckles.
"You're mines Anderson."
Picking myself up, I nodded and put my fists up. We stared each other down but I lung to take a swing but he dodged. I ran up and started swinging left and right but Leslie evaded each swing and punched me in the gut. I shot a fist out and he caught it before giving me an uppercut. My teeth clacked painfully and I think I might've bit part of my tongue. Before I could react, Leslie elbowed me hard square in the chest before givng me a hard right swing.
Right away I could tell fighting Leslie was gonna be a different experience then fighting Ace. Ace was more direct and relied on brute force, Leslie actually strategizes so I was gonna have to change how I fight.
"Is that all you got Anderson? I can't believe you almost beat that Ace Merrill. Either it was dumb luck or Merrill is that weak." Leslie spat out.
"Fuck you!" We could hear Ace shout in the background.
"Alright Fancy Pants." I grunted before running up and taking a swing. I could see he was ready to dodge so I surprised him by stopping mid-swing and gave him a sidekick. Temporarily loosing his balance, I took the opportunity to punch him twice in the stomach and then a hard hit to the forehead. That got Leslie really going as he started swinging but I was able to block some of them and get a few hits in.
"You could've been one of us!" Leslie shouted between swings.
"Picking on kids ain't something good people do!" I shouted back.
"So you rather stick with Merrill?!"
"At least with Ace you know where you stand!"
With a roar, Leslie tackled me to the ground and started punching me. Thankfully I learned from my fight with Ace and kneed him in the crown jewels. Seeing him curled over gave me that familiar feeling I had with Ace but shook it off. I wasn't gonna loose control this time again. Waiting him to get up, I hit me again. Getting red in the face, Leslie gritted his teeth and just let it all out. He started swinging and kicking wildly. I tried defending myself but Leslie wasn't having it. Even when I tried stepping back Leslie just kept charging.
That familiar feeling came back and this time I let it consume me since there was no way I was getting out of this fair. Just like before, it was like time stopped and everything around us got silent as it was just me and Leslie trading blows and blocking punches. It felt like neither of us were gonna stop until only one of us was still standing. It actually felt good not to hold back anymore and just let instinct take over. We kept going what hours until I saw Leslie give a straight punch so I ducked and punched him hard in the nuts. He doubled over and even fell into the mud again. This time I pounced and started punching everywhere. If I wasn't so into the moment, I almost laugh at his feeble attempts to defend himself. By the end Leslie was lying on his back breathing hard, having two black eyes and bruises all over his face. I pulled a fist back and locked it. Just one direct punch to the face and it'll all be over.
I winded my fist back to land the finishing blow. It was almost all over yet my fist started to shake. It was like something was trying to stop me and as hard as I was trying to fight it, my fist just wouldn't move. Dropping the fist, I got off of him and settled for just kicking him over.
Coughing and hacking up a mixture of phelp and blood, Leslie got up and made a run for me. Looking around I saw the other members of his group getting up and following suit. We watched them get into their cars and drive off. It was silent for a minute before the baseball field erupted into cheers. I looked around and saw the Cobras as well as Billy and Charlie all shake hands and pat each other on the back. Denny simply nodded until Eyeball came over and patted hard against the chest and Jack and Vince dogpiled him.
"Way to go Slugger!" Ace exclaim as he wrapped an arm around me. I smiled at him.
"If this is what you guys get into on a day-to-day basis, then this whole Cobras thing gonna work out pretty sweet." But after I said that, I noticed Ace had a look on his face.
"Yeah, about that, it's not happening." Either Leslie messed up my hearing or Ace said I wasn't joining.
"What? Why?"
Ace poked me in a chest. "You got too much heart." I must have looked confused to him, so he explained further. "I saw how you and Leslie fought. You had to chance to finish him for good but didn't take it. You keep holding yourself. To be a Cobra, you got to willing to let go and ignore those pesky morals. Jesus if I let you in it'll make me look bad. You'd make a lousy Cobra."
Wow, hearing that, I feel disappointed. But Ace's face soften.
"But, you're alright in my book. So if you wanna hang with us, you can." With a pat on the back, Ace went off. "Hey Tessio, Hogan, you guys still interested?" I heard him shout as he left. Well, got rejected, not sure how to feel about that. The others started to make their leave and Denny tapped me on the shoulder and motion for us to make out leave.
We drove in silence until we reached Sukey's.
"So how you gonna all this to your folks?" I asked indicating the bruises on his face.
"I'll think of something." He simply stated. Nodding, we said our goodbyes as I got out of the jeep. On my way in, I could have sworn I saw a light pass by and I know it didn't belong to Denny.
A week had passed since the rumble and it's hard to say much really changed since then. Leslie and his group hadn't seen much since then but otherwise it was the same old, same old. I was coming into Sukey's when I notice Willy staring at me with a smirk.
"What?"
"Nuttin' just that ya got company waitin' for ya upstairs." He told me. Weird, who would be waiting upstairs for me. I made my way until Willy put a hand on my shoulder.
"Here, yer might be needin' it." He slapped something into my hand and gave a wink. I gave him a puzzling look as I made my way upstairs. Looking down into my hand, I saw it was... a condom?
I open my door and saw a figure sitting on my bed. I stood there shock and notice the figure was... female.
"Irene?" I asked as the figure looked at me and came into the light. "Wait... Marie was it?" Indeed, it was Ace's... can she be call a girlfriend?
She smiled sweetly. "Hey Bryce."
"What are you doing here?" I asked as I closed the door.
"I wanted to give you these." She said as she held out a metal tin. I took and opened it up. Inside were little cookies. "I baked them myself." I took a cookie out and bit it.
"This is pretty good." I complimented her. Gotta admit, she didn't strike me as the type to bake, but then again 1950s and all.
"It was my mother's idea." She said. That explains it. "I wanted to do something special after what happen with you and Leslie."
"You know about that?" I asked her as I went to sit down on the bed. She nodded.
"Yeah it's getting around town. How you stood up to Leslie and was willing to help Ace despite everything he and his gang have done to you. Folks are seeing as a bit of a hero." Hearing that made me blush a little. I wouldn't necessary call myself a hero, it just between Leslie and Ace, Ace's probably the lesser of the two evils. "And heroes deserve a reward."
"Thanks." I told as I kept eating the cookies.
"Like I said, the cookies were Mother's idea, but I had something else planned in mind." She explained. I swallowed the cookie and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" As I said that, Marie sat down really close to me. She smiled and started caressing my cheek.
"When I first you, I thought you were pretty cute." She told.
"R-Really?" I asked as she leaned in a little closer before closing her eyes and slightly opening her lips before giving me a small but sweet kiss. Okay I wasn't expecting this. She kissed me again and started to sit on my lap. I ended up dropping the cookies filled tin. I could feel myself start to lean down on the bed as Marie kissed me deeper and I felt her hands make their way to pants to unbutton them.
Good thing Willy gave me that condom huh?
"Well you sure are a happy one today." An elderly woman commented as I was checking her out.
"Really?" I asked her, having a big smile on my face.
"It looks good on you. You should smile more." She told me sweetly as I finished checking her groceries out and gave her her change. I don't know why but after last night I was in a chipper mood. All day I had people complimenting me on my smile.
"You've been smiling a lot Bryce, any reason why?" Denny asked me as he sat the bar watching me work.
"I don't know man, I really don't know." I told him.
"I know." Willy said with a wink.
"Oh?" Denny asked him.
"Yeah, he had himself a good night last night." He said with a laugh.
"It was nothing, really. Just a good night's sleep." I tried to explain.
"I bet yer were sleepin' real good." Willy laughed some more.
"What is he talking about Bryce?" Denny asked.
"It's nothing really." I tried to get the subject dropped.
"Really? I don't think that Marie thought that." After hearing that, Denny's eyes widen.
"Marie? Marie Nickles? You were with her last time?" I felt my face start to heat.
"Yeah, she came over last night and didn't see her again until early this mor-."
"Okay Willy, let's get back to work!" I shouted dropping the subject. Willy laughed some more and waved me off. Denny just gave me a knowing look and raised eyebrows.
Suddenly the door burst open.
"Is this the right place?" We heard a voice say. We turned and saw it was Harold.
"Harold what are you doing here? You don't strike me as a bar person." I told him as we came over.
"Bryce, I got good news." He said ignoring what I said. "I found a way."
"A way what?" I asked. He leaned in and motioned for us to come closer.
"A way for you go home." Hearing that made my heartbeat stop.
"Home?"
A/N: Next chapter is the penultimate chapter. Hope y'all had fun reading the fight as much as I did writing it.