On Thin Ice


The lot of us piled out of four cars and burst through the front door of Irby's as an unruly, raucous mob of teen spirit. The place was already jam-packed for a Friday night (which, for such a small premise, doesn't take a lot of patrons) but adding in another fifteen of us really lowered the oxygen levels. Seriously, it was hard to breathe in there.

But despite the numbers, no matter how busy his bar was or how rowdy it got, Joe Irby saw everything. Always. Irby's Billiards had been handed down to Joe through four generations. Looking after that place wasn't just a job, it was his purpose in life. His fathers before him expected him to keep the infrastructure in top shape as well as its reputation. And Joe was good at it. It was in his blood. But, according to Ace, the billiards bar went through a rough patch where it was losing money. Joe needed to make some cutbacks.

A couple of months later, the cops raided a truck coming into Castle Rock and found it packed to the sides with alcohol that had no paperwork. The driver talked to save his own ass. He told them the destination of his delivery. The cops were all over Irby's like a bad rash. They gathered all the evidence they needed to prosecute Joe and bring his precious establishment to its knees.

Ace got word of this and - after being kicked out of there several times - decided to make himself and anyone he chose, permanent residents. There are definite advantages to knowing which cops are the crooked ones. Especially the ones that would help cover up a crime for a very reasonable price.

"Cass, grab a cue," Ace said. There were other guys we didn't know playing on our table, and one of them had just taken a shot as Ace rudely started racking up the balls as if the table was free.

"Hey, can't you see we're playin' here?" one of them said. He was a skinny hillbilly type wearing farmers clothes, and unless he had some kind of martial art hidden under his belt, Ace would floor him easy. Billy, Charlie and Fuzzy gathered around the table too, backing up Ace from all sides.

The guy looked around at them all, wisely deciding not to take them on. "Joe!" the guy called. "This guy ain't even old enough to be in here – what goes?"

Joe had been watching, of course, but he turned his back and started to serve one of the other guys at the bar.

"This is bullshit," the guy spat, throwing his cue down on the table.

"If you want it back, play me for it," Ace said.

The guy gave Ace a dirty look and then walked over to Joe to make some sour, verbal complaint, and then he and his buddy left.

Joe left his post and came over to us. "Watch yourself, boy," he said to Ace. "You just lost me a customer, and for no damn reason."

"This is my table," Ace shrugged. "Now. You're feeling generous, aren't you Joe? So generous you're offering to serve all of us here, free tonight. Why don't you start by lining us up some shots. There's a boy." And he slapped Joe on his big, round shoulder.

Joe smirked an insidious smirk. "One day, Merrill. One day the tables are gonna turn, and I'll be rid of the lot of ya. For good!"

"Whatever old man."

Joe went back to the bar and poured some shots before continuing to serve his customers. I looked at Ace who leaned down on the table and made his first break of the night. OK - so, Joe owed Ace a lot - that was true. But I felt like Ace was getting too cocky. Like he was starting to push him too hard.

"How much you got on you?" Ace asked me.

"I thought we could play for fun tonight. I need to make my second payment in a few days, and I'm not spending a cent more until that's done."

"Hmm..." he said, scanning the table for his next shot. He came behind me and pressed his chest into my back as he spoke in my ear. "Well, you must have something I want..."

"You just assume you're gonna win?"

"You ain't beat me yet."

"There's a first time for everything."

Ace ran the fingers of his free hand around the rim of my shorts and undid the button. I gave an embarrassed chuckle and looked around the room to check no one was watching as his hand brazenly dipped down the front. I was sure he did it purposefully. I was sure he wanted everyone to see. It was my fault, though. My teasing little flirt with Charlie earlier had brought out Ace's possessive side. I had to deal with multiple public displays of 'affection' that night, each getting braver.

I caught June watching us right then, and her eyes flicked away when she noticed me notice at her. She didn't look like she'd gotten over Ace yet. She still had that pining look on her face like she was disappointed at being taken for a ride and then pipped at the post. I sympathized with her for having to see us together. She had organized a ride home with a couple of guys from Chamberlain, but with a promise of cheap alcohol in a bar they technically weren't allowed in, they weren't in a rush to leave. June's friend wanted to stay longer too. Things were getting pretty steamy in Jack's corner of the booth.

I turned to face Ace, forcing his hand out. He put his pool cue aside and was getting noticeably worked up now. He backed me into the pool table, looking me over like he was about to pounce on me like a pit-bull on a rump roast.

"Are you ever gonna tell me what happened tonight?" I asked him.

"About what?" Ace kissed me like he only cared about one thing, and I tilted my head away.

"I heard you rescued that girl over there from some asshole boyfriend."

Ace sniggered. "I hate to burst your bubble, but I didn't do it for her. Me and her boyfriend go way back. Long story short - some shit happened between us, and now we hate each other. I saw them arguing, he was being a jerk, and I knew she'd be an easy steal. I did it to piss him off - that's it. Best thing was, we outnumbered him, and so there wasn't jack shit he could do about it. You should've seen his face," Ace laughed.

"You might have found it funny, but now poor June over there is scared to go back to Chamberlain. She thinks her boyfriend might... take his anger out on her. Natalie talked to June's friend, and she said this Kyle guy is making a bad name for himself treating girls this way. Lots of her friends think he's a creep."

Ace nodded more seriously. "Yeah. He's always been like that."

"So, what are we gonna do?"

Ace stared at me and heaved a conceding sigh. Then he looked over at June, then back at me. "We'll deal with it later." He tried to get my zipper down, but I grabbed his hands to stop him.

"We're not doing it here!" I chuckled.

"Why not?" he grinned. "No one's looking." I knew he was only teasing me. Even Ace wouldn't go that far – acting possessive or not.

"Ace. Ace!" Billy had come up to us and was trying to get Ace's attention. I cleared my throat and made myself fully decent again. "That guy's back," he said lowly. "And this time he's brought friends."

"Can't you see I'm busy here?" Ace spat at him.

"Just sayin'," Billy shrugged before walking off. I assumed Billy was talking about the hillbilly, and I wasn't concerned about him either.

"Fuck this," Ace said in my ear. "Let's ditch this place."

"Mine or yours?" I whispered back.

He laughed. "Never a time you're not hot to trot."

"But we have to come back for June."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Here's the son-of-a-bitch!" Naturally, I jumped at hearing the sudden, insolent voice of whoever had just walked up to us. "Well, would you look at this? This asshole steals my girl and now he's got another one! Where is she?"

The guy took one threatening step closer, and that's when he and I got a first good look at each other. When I recognized him, I felt the blood drain from my face. From all of me. I literally stopped breathing for a bit.

"Holy mother of..." the guy murmured. He looked between Ace and I and back again like his brain was quickly resolving some intricate puzzle.

"It wasn't my fault!" I squeaked.

"Oh, this all makes perfect sense now! It had to be!"

"What the fuck are you gripin' about, Kyle?" Ace said.

"It was you! You stole my Chevy!"


Someone killed the jukebox and the room fell silent. I felt eyes on us from all around, and I happened to glance at Joe who was leaning on his bar, looking particularly interested.

"Blue '55 Chevy. Mint condition. My baby."

Before that night, Ace never knew who the Chevy he stole belonged to. I hadn't seen the owner since to point him out, and Ace later assured me it hadn't been another move to piss off his old acquaintance. In the moment that all was revealed, Ace held it together, his poker face giving nothing away. He didn't so much as flinch. "Dunno what you're talkin' about."

Kyle stepped right up to Ace with his fists balled and his blue eyes reddened with rage. "Yeah, you do. She was actin' like she was havin' trouble with her engine. She blocked us in so you could get away."

My heart was racing, and I felt myself turning red. Unlike Ace, I don't have a poker face. I probably looked guilty as sin.

"When was this 'sposed to have happened?" Ace asked him.

"A month ago."

"Me and Cass ain't been together that long. Ask anyone."

"That don't mean nothin'."

"And you can't prove nothin'."

"Maybe I don't need to. 'Cause I know. I know you. I bet you're still in business. I bet you sold my baby for a pretty penny. Didn't ya? Is that what you're into now, Ace? Cars?"

"Get the fuck outta my face."

"You better watch your back. I love a good slice of revenge. And I'm good at it, baby – don't you know it."

"You fucked up last time..."

Eyeball sniggered beside me. I hadn't seen him leave the booth and come over. All five of the boys had gathered behind Ace, fists at the ready to back him up if any physical trouble ensued. Kyle only had four of his gang to back him up, and I was relieved they were the ones outnumbered.

Kyle stared Ace down with a gritty grin. "Then I'd better think of something doubly good to make up for it." Kyle glanced at me and I noticed the corner of his mouth slyly rise. "Come on, boys."

As Kyle turned and went to walk away, Ace shoved him hard from behind, making him stumble into his group of friends. "Maybe you need to watch your own back," Ace laughed.

Kyle, looking red-faced, turned and lunged at Ace, only to be held off by his buddies and warned against it. "Come on, man," they told him. "We'll get him another night."

"Hey, Kyle," another one of his buddies nudged him. "Would you looky over there." He pointed in the direction of the booths, and I winced as I realized who he'd seen. Natalie was sitting on the end of the seat with Jack's girl beside her and, keeping a low profile behind them both, was June.

"Hey baby," Kyle said, his voice thick with contempt. "There you are." He walked over to the girls, and Eyeball was there, lightning quick, to stand over Natalie. "Are you comin' with us, or what?"

June had found a loose thread, maybe off her dress, and was twirling it around her fingers as she stared blankly at the table.

"You have to get back to Chamberlain somehow, and we're goin' there right now."

She said nothing to him, just slowly shook her head no.

"She doesn't want to go with you," Natalie told him sternly. "She has already organized a ride and she can get home just fine."

"Well, ain't you a peachy little thing?" Kyle went to stroke Natalie's cheek with his finger, but Eyeball batted it away.

"Don't talk to her," he spat.

"Come on, June baby," Kyle said. "Look... if you still wanna go out for a burger, I'll take ya. I dunno why you had to make such a big deal out of it. It's just a fucking burger."

Kyle kept at her for a while, jabbering on like their argument was her fault, justifying what he did, blah, blah blah. And all the while, June's piece of thread was being pulled at and wound around her fingers with rising speed and enthusiasm. Her hands had noticeably stiffened, and her breathing became ragged as she wrenched the thread to its limits.

And then she snapped. No, not the thread. Her. "Get out!" This girl who had seemed shy and maybe a little bit insecure earlier screamed so loud and stern that she could have blown the top off a tent. For everyone in the bar who'd lost interest, she'd just regained their full attention.

June stood up and looked Kyle right in the eyes, her stare so sharp she could have sliced the front of his jet-black ducktail clean off. "I'm not comin' with you. And I ain't your baby no more, so stop calling me that."

"What, you're breaking up with me? After all I've did for you?"

"Leave, Kyle. And if you ever come within five feet of me again, you're gonna regret it."

He snorted. "Why? What are you gonna do? Huh?"

"You know we weren't just arguing over a burger! And if you don't get out right now, I'ma tell every soul here what we were really talkin' about!"

I swear Kyle's face looked like a hot kettle on the boil. You could hear the steam whistling from his ears. His fists tightened, and I was scared he might jump on the table and start laying into her right in front of everyone. One of his boys placed a hand on his shoulder, and it startled him a little, I think snapping him out of the depths of his rage.

"Come on, man," his buddy said. "You don't need this."

It was then that I noticed Joe approaching our little drama group, and he discreetly shoved something into one of Kyle's buddy's hands. It was a piece of paper, and the guy read it and then stuffed it into his jacket pocket.

"Alright, we've all heard about enough of this," Joe said, exercising his authority. "You, you, you and you," he pointed to Kyle's group, "out of my bar."

Kyle looked all around him and saw that every single face in the place was staring at him. I was waiting for him to say something to us all. To explain himself. But he just curled up his top lip, shook his head in disgust, and tore out of that bar like he'd tossed back a shot of nitro when we weren't looking.

"Who's she ridin' with tonight?" Ace asked me, and I pointed out the two guys who'd offered to take June and her friend home. Ace shook his head, no. "Grab your friends. We're going to Chamberlain."


Hmm... the plot thickens! We're really starting to make some connections now. And the smaller details in this chapter might hint about what's to come. The next two chapters are coming along, but I need to spend more time on one of the sections in the first chapter before I can post it. So it might be a few more days away, but know that I'm always working on it :)

If you're still enjoying it, please let me know in the reviews or head over to wattpad and vote. Every little bit of attention motivates me more haha. Thanks for sticking with me on this!