CHAPTER 19: STANDOFF

"Well, look at this, Eyeball," I heard that evil, soft voice comment. I was shaking as I turned around to face the he-devil known as Ace Merrill. I turned to Chris. "I told you so," I said lamely. "Girls are never wrong about danger."

Billy and Charlie came running into the woods and joined Ace and Eyeball. Billy noticed his kid brother and yelled, "Vern, you little son of a whore!"

Vern looked more terrified than he had the entire trip and out his hands up. "No! No, I swear, I didn't do anything!" He then ran off into the forest. I gulped. Ace took a step towards us and I stepped back. Chris said, "Come on, man. We walked through the whole goddamn forest to find him; we got dibs!"

Ace faked a scared expression. "Ooooh, I'm shaking now, Eyeball, they got dibs."

Billy piped up and responded. "Hey, we found him first, you little drips."

Teddy scoffed, "Yeah, Vern told us how you found him." He then began to speak in a high pitched voice. "Oh, Billy, I wish we never boosted that car," he said mockingly. "Oh, Billy, I just turned my Fruit of The Looms into a fudge factory!"

Billy yelled, "THAT'S IT! You- YOUR ASS IS GRASS!"

Ace held them back and said, "Hold it." Ace stared dead at me. I had been laughing at Teddy's comment, and I realized I was the only one making a sound after Ace had said, "Hold it." I shut up right away after Ace started advancing on me.

"What exactly are you planning on doing there, Ace?" I whispered nervously.

Ace pulled a switchblade out of his pocket, flicked it open, and pointed it at me. "You're dead, bitch."

I gulped. "Come on, you're not gonna kill me, Ace."

He stepped ever closer to me. Now, it seemed that everyone was starting to think Ace was behaving a bit rash. Even Eyeball gave a quiet little, "Ace, come on, man."

I closed my eyes and winced, making a mental note to give my last wishes to Chris and tell him I loved him. I could feel the cold blade against my skin when I wondered… "Where was Chris?" All of a sudden, just as Ace was making a deep cut in my face, I felt the searing pain leave me. I dared to open my eyes and saw Chris tackling Ace to the ground and yelling, "THAT'S MY FUCKING GIRLFRIEND, YOU SICK BASTARD!" I quickly rushed forward and pulled the both of them apart.

Ace stood up and dusted himself off. He picked up the switchblade and then advanced towards Chris. "What do you say, Chambers?"

Chris stood tall and whispered, "Why don't you go home and fuck your mother some more?"

I could have smacked him right then and there. Why was he being so stupid? Teddy nudged him and said, "Forget about it, man, this is crazy!"

All Chris said was, "They're not taking him."

Teddy yelled, "HE'S GOT A KNIFE, MAN!" before running off, scared shitless himself. I squeezed Chris's hand and whispered, "Chris, give it up, please."

Chris turned to me, and I saw the angry, tough expression fade from his face. I winced as he touched the spot where Ace had cut me, and wiped the little blood there was away. "Joe, I can't," he said wearily.

I shook my head and ran off. I would have to make funeral preparations once we got back to town for Chris. I ran to where Teddy and Vern were hiding behind a tree. "Oh, God," I whispered as I slumped down against the tree.

Vern looked down and grabbed my hand. "Joe, you okay?"

I rolled my eyes. Did Vern not understand that there were more important things at stake here than some lousy little cut on my cheek? "Vern, I'll be fine." I then leapt up, but Teddy yanked me back down. "Where do you think you're going, Joe?"

"Where the hell do you think I'm going? I'm not gonna let my boyfriend die!" I yelled as I tried to wrestle out of Teddy's grasp. Just as the words left my mouth, however, the sound of a shotgun rang through the air. I gasped and crunched up into a little ball. "Please say that wasn't Chris," I whispered.

Thankfully, Teddy had looked out and responded, "No, it's… it's GORDIE! He… HE fired the gun?"

"WHAT?" Vern and I yelled at the same time. I jumped up and shoved Teddy out of the way. "Let me see!" I yelled as I ran a little closer to the scene. Gordie… OUR Gordie… was holding the gun in front of him. He seriously looked like he was about to kill Ace.

Teddy jumped up and ran next to me. We watched as Gordie cocked the gun, and whispered the words that pretty much summed up what happened whenever Gordie tried to be more assertive: "Suck my fat one, you cheap dime store hood."

Teddy and I looked at each other and burst into peals of silent, yet hysterical, laughter. Teddy was laughing so hard that he literally fell on the ground. Vern grew annoyed and asked, "What's so funny?"

I shook my head. "I'll tell you when you're older, Vern," I laughed.

Vern rolled his eyes and came up to the tree. "Hey, you guys, they're leaving," he said with relief. I immediately ran down to where Chris and Gordie were. "Oh my God, Chris, are you okay?" I said worriedly.

Chris shook his head and smiled. "Joe, I'm fine." He then wrapped me in a hug and whispered, "I'm sorry that I let him hurt you."

I whispered back, "You couldn't have known, Chris." Chris then pulled me into a kiss, whispered, "I should have," and kissed me again. Unfortunately, our tender moment was interrupted by a chorus of, "Ooooooooh!" and "Hubba hubba!" I broke away from Chris, tackled the others and yelled, "SHUT UP!"

After we all had stood up and dusted ourselves off, our minds grew serious once more. "We gonna take him?" Vern finally asked.

Gordie shook his head. "No." And in our hearts, we all knew that he was right: we should let Ray Brower rest in peace. We found a tarp and lay it over his body, deciding an anonymous tip would be the best move.