Ace spat blood on to the sidewalk. Bear and his friend had finally left. He'd almost completely forgotten about that waste of space. Eyeball wiped his face with his shirt, suddenly realising his nose was bleeding.
"So you gonna tell me who those fuckers were?" he said sitting down on the pavement.
"Just some asshole who's tire I destroyed and I guess somebody passing themselves off as his friend."
"What do you mean destroyed his tire," Eyeball said, finding it funny even in his current state.
"I mean I slashed it," he said.
"Fair enough," Eyeball said lighting a cigarette, "that son of a whore really knocked the wind out of me."
"I gotta go," Ace said, stretching out a little, "wanna walk?"
"Yeah I got someone who I'm sure will be happy to take care of me," Eyeball winked.
Ace nodded briefly and walked over to his car. He drove home and had his second shower of the day, washing some blood out of his hair which he quickly checked wasn't his.
He changed his clothes and decided to head over to Laura's a little earlier than he'd planned.
He opened her front door and he nearly knocked her over as it swung towards her.
"Jesus," he said, pulling it back in time, "you okay babe?"
She pulled the door open herself and looked at him with worry.
"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked when he seen her expression.
"Are you okay?" she replied, her tone full of concern.
"What do you mean?" he said a little surprised, "I'm fine...you seen didn't you?" he realised.
"Not very much," she admitted leaning her head against him as he closed his arms around her. "Why was someone fighting with you?"
"He's just got a problem with me," Ace assured her, "I'm sure he's got it out of his system now."
"I hope so," she said.
"The way you're acting I must look terrible, I didn't think he got me that bad," he teased her.
She stepped away from him to try and inspect the damage, "you look the same as you did this morning," she said a little surprised.
"See don't worry about it, that guy couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag."
"He looked huge," she said pulling his hand to come sit down on the couch.
"Size isn't everything in a fight," he reminded her, pulling her on to his lap. "That guy's just hopeless at it."
"I think my mom's angry at you," Laura said.
"Where is she?" he asked, realising she wasn't there.
"She went over to Mrs Anderson's to tell her I'm moving home. I was going to go and join them but" she said snuggling against him, "I think I'll stay here."
He tipped her chin so he could kiss her before standing up, "I'm going to go talk to your Ma," he said, "make me lunch, I'll be back soon."
He kissed her again and headed out the door as Caroline was walking back to the house. He walked over to where she stood waiting for him.
"Laura tells me you're not happy with me," he said, getting to the point.
"How do you know that man?" she asked firmly.
"Through my Uncle," he replied.
"I know him," Caroline said finally, "I know who he is and I know what he does. If you are mixed up with him I'd like you to tell me now," she said seriously.
Ace ran his hand through his hair before replying, "I did a few jobs with him for my Uncle but that was months ago. I hadn't seen him again until today."
Caroline sat down on her front step. "Do you intend to marry my daughter?" she asked sharply.
"Yes," he replied just as seriously.
"Well you listen to me," she said staring him straight in the eye, "You get yourself away from whatever it is you've been doing with these men and get a proper job. You're no good to my daughter in prison," she said harshly.
"Consider it done," he said, knowing her sharp tone was just the result of worry.
"That includes keeping away from your Uncle if he's getting you wrapped up in this."
"Not a problem," he assured her, he hadn't planned to see him ever again anyway.
"Also," she said more softly, "you have to wait until she graduates. I want her to be in a position to look after herself if god forbid something were ever to happen to you and she needed to find work."
Ace was taken slightly aback, he never even realised this was a possibility before, but he nodded his head in agreement anyway.
Caroline lost all the seriousness in her expression and stood to give him a hug.
"So you're not mad at me," he joked.
"Don't push it," she said.
"How do you know him anyway?" he asked curiously.
"He's married to a friend of mine and I couldn't stand it if Laura ended up like her."
Ace's expression darkened, "Hey, I would never do that to her," he said warningly.
"I know," she said looking at him more kindly than before, "really. But you can't blame a mother for worrying."
Ace felt a little odd as he went back inside. Did he really just agree to marry Laura? He hadn't really thought about it much before but as soon as Caroline had asked him he knew exactly what his answer was.