Ace wrenched the front door of a small brown bungalow open, and almost shoved me inside. "DON'T touch me," I cried. "I don't NEED your fucking help." Ace gave me another once-over. "You need to stop hangin' around your brother and those pussy friends. You're getting a dirty mouth. You didn't talk like that when you were a kid." He stalked over to the kitchen, opened the yellow-stained fridge, and pulled out a bag of half-frozen peas. He dropped the bag in my hand. "Best we've got. Too fuckin' hot to keep ice frozen in here."
He sat at the kitchen table, put his feet up, and ground out his cigarette. "You better put that on your eye if you want to be able to see tomorrow, Alice." He said my name with slightly more menace than before, making me feel instantly scared again. In my mind's eye, I felt like I was back to being eight years old, watching him, Billy, and Chris's older brother, Eyeball, drinking in the backyard when our parents weren't home and throwing the bottles against the back wall when they were done. One from Ace would have hit me square in the head, had Chris not been behind me to yank me back inside.
I held the bag of peas to my eye, and immediately winced. "Oww, dammit. That really hurts," I groaned. Ace looked at me again. "I got a question to ask you. Why are you so fuckin' scared of me? I never did anything to you that I remember."
I rolled my eyes. "Not to me in particular, but my friends yeah. Remember when you beat the hell out of Gordie? Scared the crap out of Vern so many times I've lost count? Dunno what you did to Chris or Teddy, but I'm sure you and your friends did something." He was glaring at me now. I started backing slowly in the direction of the front door. Two narrow escapes in one day. Could I do it? I was sure I could if I had to. I didn't want to get into anything with him. But he did ask.
"Hard on your pussy friends, well, sometimes they deserve it," he muttered, letting his feet slide of the table into a thump on the linoleum floor. I gave him the once-over for the first time. "Yeah, well, Spencer, sometimes you deserve it." He shot out of his seat like someone lit a fire under his ass. In less than two seconds he was toe-to-toe with me again.
"Don't fucking call me that again, Alice," he whispered menacingly. "Got it?" I stared into his eyes for so long, they were starting to water. "Got it, Ace. Thanks for the peas." He was breathing hard, looking mean enough to kill someone, and I didn't' want it to be me. I was ready to jet.
"'Bye, Alice. You have a good afternoon, now."
"Oh, I will, thanks for EVERYTHING." My hand was on the doorknob. I turned it to the right with a snap of my wrist and stumbled out the door, slamming it behind me.
God, could this day get any worse? Where the hell were friends when you needed them, anyway? The bag of peas was starting to melt, making drips of water slide down my grimy face. I tossed it into some bushes beside the Merrill's house, and ran for it.