Ace's Redemption
We all walked into the room single file. My eyes instantly went to the bed against the furthest wall. None of us could see anything; it was almost pitch black. Mrs. LaChance pulled up the blinds. I blinked as milky-white light streamed into the room. Now I could see him. I almost tip-toed over to Chris's bed, when the other boys stood huddled in a group by the bathroom, not quite sure what to do. There was a man shadowed by curtains on the other side of Chris, and he let out a loud galumphing snore making Vern jump.
"Oh, God," I whispered. His head was propped up by two pillows, and lolled over onto his right shoulder. Gordie had been right about the bandages. There were strips of gauze covering his face so only his eyes, mouth, and nose showed. His arm that had been cut had an IV needle sticking out from the wrist. His skin looked very white. My heart going out to him, I touched him ever-so-gently on the arm that wasn't sore. His blue eyes flickered open.
"Alice," he wheezed, and then coughed. Teddy stepped forward from the huddle. "Me too, man." Chris lifted his head carefully. "Hey, Teddy," he said in a low voice. I grabbed for the glass of juice that was on his night table, half-empty. "Here, drink this," I ordered. "Then you can talk." Chris finished off the juice in one gulp and I put the glass back. "How are you," I asked softly. He looked me right in the eyes. "I'll live," he said, the corners of his mouth raising in a smirk. It was all I could do not to punch him in the shoulder.
"I gotta tell you guys something. But you gotta promise not to say this to anyone." Chris gave a quick look to Mrs. LaChance. She got the hint, and exited quietly. "I'm going to get coffee. I'll be back in ten minutes."
"Tell us what," Vern asked, stepping closer to Chris's bed. Gordie was sticking close to Vern, as if scared to leave his side. He probably didn't want to be in here at all, knowing the last time he was, someone close to him had died.
"Hold your horses, Vern," Chris said, pushing himself in an upright position. "Okay. Guess who came to visit me yesterday?" We all looked at each other, and shook our heads. "Ace fucking Merrill. Can you believe it?" Gordie started choking, and Teddy thumped him on the back to make him stop. "Ace," Gordie croaked, giving Teddy the evil-eye, and rubbing his back. "What the fuck did he come here for? Did he slam on you in the hospital? Jesus, man."
"Nope. He talked to me. Just talked. Then he walked out, and I felt like all was right with the world." I looked at Chris more closely, and touched my hand to his forehead. "D'you have a temperature, or something? Should I get the nurse?" He waved my hand away. "Naw, Alice. Seriously. The stuff he told me made me see him in a different way. And I think you guys should too."
"But," Vern started. "But what did he tell you? Come on, man, you can't just leave it at that! Sincerely!" Chris sighed, but looked apologetic. "Sorry, guys. I promised him I wouldn't tell him the big stuff that he told me. I think he's changed a little, but if I told everyone, I'd be right back in here, for sure. You understand?" We all nodded, but I'm sure each of us, especially me and Gordie, were having a hard time believing Ace might have 'changed' or had an 'epiphany'.
Chris changed the subject. He wanted to know if anything boss had happened while he'd been out, skirting over his accident at home. I wanted to talk to him about that, but I'd decided to wait until he got back home. We told him the happenings over the past couple of days(which wasn't much, but now looking back, Ace and Billy had decidedly been out of the picture.).
Mrs. LaChance came back into the room, and announced it was time to leave. She patted Chris on the head like a puppy dog, and said, "We'll see you soon, Christopher." He winked at me, and I had to smile. At least he was okay. And he seeemd more at peace with things than he had in a long time. "See you, guys," he said. Vern, Teddy, and Gordie all grunted a goodbye, and I waved to him. We all left the same way we came in; single file, following Mrs. LaChance.
It was now July 1st, Independence Day. Fireworks and barbecues and sprinklers turned on to run through. Even though the guys would think it highly nerdy to wear a red t-shirt with white stripes and blue shorts, I did anyway. I even skipped out onto the front lawn; a move that was so girly, Teddy pretened to faint. I swatted at him. I had been in a pretty good mood. Things were slowly, but surely changing in Castle Rock, and for the better.
In the past two weeks, Chris had gone back home to find his dad had left. His mom had thrown divorce papers in his face; told him to get the hell out, and never come back. Chris still had a horrible black eye, but even that was starting to fade. He told me how free he felt now that "The bastard was finally gone." I'd given him a big hug, and told him, "It can only go up from here, Chris. I think it's starting to change for all of us."
My friends and I walked with our parents, and half of Castle Rock to Grove Field where the fireworks were going to go off. I felt so good about everything that I grabbed who was closest to me(happend to be Teddy), and gave him a big smooch on the cheek. "Euck! What the hell's wrong with you, Tessio," he hollered, wiping off his cheek. I laughed. "Nothing, Teddy. I'm great, thanks for asking." Gordie snickered, but kept a good two feet distance from me and him, making sure I wouldn't kiss him next.
When we got to Grove Field, the half of the town that hadn't been walking with us were already there. Blankets were strewn about, polka-dotting the sunburnt grass, and kids were running around, squirting water guns at each other.
Gordie found a spot closest to where the fireworks were usually let off. "Here's a great spot," he said. Our parents were still gossiping with each other, stopping only to sit down on the quilt. We passed around food from the picnic basket and ate our fill.
It was slowly starting to get dark. Twilight was always my favourite time of day; when the fireflies and grasshoppers made their apperance, and the sun turned blood red on the horizon. I was so inthralled by the sunset, that I didn't notice a shadow standing next to me. It was Ace. He crouched down so he was at my level.
"D'you want to come and sit over with me," he asked. "It's just me, no Billy, or Charlie, or...," he stopped, and for the first time ever, looked embarrassed.
I looked around at everybody. They hadn't even noticed Ace's presence. I'm sure they wouldn't even miss me if I sat somewhere else. That was when I officially decided to give Ace another chance. I knew he wasn't going to beat up on me. He just wanted company. And I could give him that.
"Sure," I said, hopping up from the blanket. Ace looked surprised, but the look passed quickly; still deep down trying to look tough, and he led me to where he had his own blanket and basket set up. "I was kind of hoping I'd have someone to sit down with tonight," he said, handing me a plate. He sat down next to me, tucking his long legs underneath him.
"Well, you have somebody," I said quietly, meaning what I said in more ways than one. He gave me that surprised look again, his grey eyes going dark. "I've never had anybody," he mumbled. Not believing my ears that he'd confessed that, I repeated what I'd just said, "You do now." And before I could change my mind, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, much less sloppy than the one Teddy'd recieved earlier.
"Thanks, Alice," he said, his entire face relaxing. He squeezed me next to him at the exact moment the first firecracker went off, and I knew that I'd remember that sound for the rest of my life.