Disclaimer: The Cobras, Castle Rock, etc. belong to Stephen King and Columbia Tristar. Katherine, her parents, Maggie, Sarah, and Jennifer belong to me.
Author's Note: I wrote this alternate ending for me, but a few people asked for it, so after thinking about it I decided to post it. I like the original (to me, real) ending better, but I wanted to let the people who have read and left so many great reviews decide for themselves.
Alternate Ending
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Ace
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It all could've ended right there. And it did, in a way. The sort of plans I'd made, the plans for a better life for me and Kitty-Kat, just didn't turn out that way. Hey, that ain't to say what happened turned us inta some kinda bums, but it damn near could've.
The blade went into her shoulder and she just fell to the ground. Tom and his boys fled the scene like the scared little pansies I always took 'em for. But the best, oh the fucking best was seeing *my* boys flee not ten seconds after that. Kat's girls looked like they were rooted to the ground with the exception of Sarah. She was on the ground on the other side of Kat.
I just couldn't believe this was all happening. "Ace?" Kat whispered.
"Kitty-Kat, I ain't leavin. I'm right here," I said to her.
"I can hear sirens. Ace, you'd bettah get outta here."
"Uh-uh, no way babe. There ain't no way I'm leavin ya like this."
She closed her eyes briefly and it scared me like nothing else. Then her eyes opened again. I looked over at Sarah and her eyes were filled with tears as she gently held and stroked one of Kat's hands. I took Kat's other hand and kissed it gently. "Ace, I won't get in trouble. You can leave," Sarah said gently.
"There ain't no way, Sarah," I said again firmly. This was all my fault, and for once I was gonna take responsibility for my stupid actions.
She just looked at me, a new respect in her eyes. "Okay, Ace."
Then the cops were there. I pressed a kiss to Kat's pale lips, and she returned it softly. "God, but I love you Kat," I whispered.
"Ace…" she said and trailed off. Whatever she might have said to me then…I couldn't hear it.
"Okay, young man, I think you've done enough for one night," a cop said as he pulled me off the ground and wrenched my hand from hers.
"Ace? Ace!" Kat called softly.
As I was pushed into the patrol car I turned to look at her. I was so sure then that I would never see that sweet little face again.
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When I woke up just a couple hours later, I was so disoriented. I had no idea what was going on. I was in a hospital, in a cold hard bed. Someone had changed me into one of those funny paper gowns, and my car keys were no longer around my neck, but on a table next to the bed.
"Kat, oh thank God you're awake!" Sarah exclaimed from where she was sitting.
"Sarah? What happened? Are my folks here?" I asked.
Sarah dragged the chair next to my bed and took my hand. "No, not yet. The hospital people are trying to look for 'em."
"Well, they did go to a party tonight," I said. "They probably won't be back before dawn."
We sat in a sort of silence for a couple of minutes before I thought something horrible. "Sarah, what happened to Ace?"
Sarah chewed her bottom lip nervously. "Kat…they, well, they arrested him. He was the only guy there. I think they're gonna make him the fall guy for everything!"
I sat up too quickly, and had to lay down again. I was just too dizzy. "We have to clear him, Sarah. He can't go to jail for somethin that wasn't even his fault!"
"I know, I just don't know what to do."
I looked over at the table where my car keys were, and that sparked an idea. "You gotta go get my car and get me the fuck outta here. We gotta get to the station before they take him somewhere where we won't be able to find him."
"Me?" Sarah asked, her eyes wide. "I can barely drive, Kat."
"That don't matter. Sarah, you're like my sister. If you can't do it, you know no one else will," I said and grabbed the keys. I pulled my hand from hers and pressed the keys into it instead.
She took them reluctantly and got up. "I'd better go now if we're gonna get there in time."
"I know. Hurry, please!"
She rushed out the door and I leaned back into the bed, trying to gather my strength. The knife wound to my shoulder was pretty bad, but not so bad that I wouldn't be able to walk out of there on my own. My clothes were folded on a chair by the door, and I pushed myself into an upright position slowly so that I could get them. I managed somehow to grab my pants and shirt, and I pulled the pants on. I wouldn't put the shirt on until Sarah got back, so that I wouldn't tip anybody off as to what I was doing.
I don't know how long Sarah was gone, but boy was I glad to see her when she got back. "Sarah, what took you so long?" I asked with a small smile.
"God, Kat, you look like hell!" she exclaimed and then blushed sheepishly.
"Hey, thanks a lot. I didn't have time to get my makeup on."
"How are we gonna get out of here?" Sarah asked me.
"First, help me get my shirt on," I said.
I pulled the IV painfully out of my arm and Sarah gingerly lifted the paper dress over my head and helped me into my blood-soaked t-shirt. It was pretty gross, but all of my other clothes were in the trunk of my car.
We peaked out of my room and the hallway was clear, so we began walking as quickly as possible to the elevators. Sarah held onto me to give me support, and we walked a little slower because of me. I know now that what we did was completely irresponsible and dangerous, and sometimes when I think about it I'm totally amazed that we weren't caught the second we stepped onto the ground floor. But we weren't. We got out of the elevator and walked quietly and discreetly out of the door, into the brisk night air.
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The ride to the police station was hair-raisingly frightening. I hadn't really realized just how bad of a driver Sarah really was until those moments when I was sure I was gonna bite it right there on the road. Luckily the station wasn't too far from the hospital and she managed to get us there in one piece. She parked sort of lopsided in a parking space and we walked as calmly as possible through the front doors and to the main desk. I was so scared at that moment that I was sure they would see my hands shaking like I was using a jackhammer. "Excuse me?" I said.
"One moment, miss," the officer at the desk said without turning around.
"Excuse me!" I said it a little louder this time but there was still no response.
"I need help!" Sarah yelled and that got his attention. He took one look at my blood-spattered t-shirt and came right around to help me into the main area.
"Miss, please tell me what happened. Can I get you anything? Can I call an ambulance? Your parents?" he asked.
"No. Ace Merrill. Where is he?" I asked.
His face got stony. "He's in the holding tank. He's gonna be shipped to the state juvenile facility come morning."
"Why?" I asked, and Sarah squeezed my shoulder to show her support.
"He was involved with the stabbing of a young girl earlier this evening and the assault of one of our more promising young people," he said, and eyed me carefully. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because," I said and took a deep breath. "None of that was his fault."
"And how do you know this?" he asked.
"I'm the girl that got stabbed. Want to see the hole in my shoulder?" I asked.
"No thank you, young lady. Just why am I supposed to believe you?"
"Because she's telling the truth!" Sarah blurted out. She blushed but kept her head high.
"Please, sir, you have to believe me. Ace might have fought with Tom, but Tom fought with Ace too. And it was Tom who stabbed me, not Ace," I said. I hated pleading and seeming weak, but it looked to me like the situation was getting pretty desperate.
"The Malone boy stabbed you? Now why do I find that hard to believe?" the officer asked me, an annoying smugness in his voice.
"I don't know. All I know is that he stabbed me with Ace's knife."
"It was Ace Merrill's knife?" the cop asked, and both me and Sarah shifted uncomfortably under the man's hard glare.
"Yeah, it was. Why would I tell you he had a knife if I was lyin?" I asked.
"All right, young lady, that's enough. Is there anyone else who can corroborate this story of yours? Someone halfway credible?"
I didn't like the slight mocking tone in his voice but I just swallowed the urge to belt him in his snoot and gave him the names and numbers of a couple of kids who had been there but weren't friends with either Ace or Tom. I didn't give him Maggie or Jen's numbers because I didn't want their parents to freak.
About five or six kids were called down that night, one after the other. I guess the police were really eager to get Ace out of town so they just woke up people and made them get their kids to the station to give their versions of what happened. During all this time me and Sarah just waited in the waiting area. Sarah's parents knew that she was with me, and that I was at the police station because I got stabbed, but other than that they were pretty clueless, kinda like how they always were. Finally, in the really early hours of the morning, the sergeant called us into a small office. "Okay ladies, this is what we've been able to piece together: Mr. Merrill and Mr. Malone were fighting. At first it was an even and fair fight, but one of Mr. Malone's friends got rowdy and turned the one-on-one fight into a brawl. The fight was dying down on its own when we were called to the scene. Only some of the kids we talked to saw this part, but the ones that did see it told us fairly similar stories: Mr. Malone had what they recognized to be the weapon that Mr. Merrill usually has on his person. Mr. Merrill's "steady," who I would assume is you Miss. Reyes, was accidentally stabbed with Mr. Merrill's own knife by Mr. Malone, who then fled the scene with his friends. Does that sound accurate to you?"
My heart was beating so fast in my chest I thought that it might just come leaping out of my throat. They knew the truth! Ace was going to be cleared! "Yes, sir, that is how I remember it happening," I said.
"So do I," Sarah said.
"Then I suppose that there is really nothing left for me to do but to release Mr. Merrill, as he appears to be innocent, regrettably, of all charges," the sergeant said and stood up.
I noticed how he had slipped in that 'regrettably' after the word 'innocent,' but I was just too happy to care. Ace was free, and so was I! I knew in that moment that there was no way we would be able to stay in Castle Rock any longer. I stood too, and the sergeant called over an officer and spoke to him briefly. The officer asked me to follow him and I did, down a short corridor to a hallway which held only four cells. I saw Ace right away and, man, I don't think I was ever more happy to see his face than in that moment, for the rest of my life. "Ace!"
His head was bowed and his hands were clasped, and he was leaning on his knees. He looked almost like he was in prayer. I didn't know whether or not he heard me that first time, so I called his name again, louder this time. "ACE!"
His head shot up that time, and the look on his face then was something I'll never forget. It was one of complete amazement and utter shock. It kinda looked like someone had just hit him over the head real hard with a solid steel baseball bat. That was how shocked he looked. "Kat?" he asked softly.
"Oh god, Ace, I was so worried about ya!" I exclaimed and rushed over to the cell. He got up too, and we clasped hands through the bars, like in one of those real romantic star-crossed lover movies.
"You was worried about me? I thought maybe you'd died or somethin! Kat, I dunno what I'd've done if I'd lost ya!" he exclaimed and leaned in to kiss me.
As he was about to, the officer that was standing there made a coughing noise. "Why don't you wait until you're outside to do that, all right?"
I pulled away from the bars and nodded. The cop motioned for me to step away and I did. "What's goin on?" Ace asked. He looked real upset.
"Mr. Merrill, you've been cleared of all charges. You're free to go," the cop said, sliding the key in the lock and turning it. He opened the cell and stood aside, allowing Ace to walk out into the open.
"I'm free?" Ace asked, not fully believing it, I think.
"Yes. Apparently some witnesses came forward in your defense. Their stories checked out," the cop replied, and looked at me with some thinly veiled disdain.
"Kat, you didn't!" Ace said.
"I did. Can we get out of here now?" I asked the officer.
"Be my guest," he answered, and no sooner were those words out of his mouth than me and Ace high-tailed it out of there.
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As soon as we were out in the clear night, Ace wrapped his arms around me and twirled me around in the air happily. My shoulder was aching really badly then, but I just didn't care. Ace was out of that shit-hole, and we could do whatever we wanted. "Are you all right?" he asked me when he put me down.
"Well, my shoulder hurts somethin awful but other than that, I'll be okay."
He looked at me seriously. "Kat, you shouldn'ta come. What if somethin had happened and your shoulder got worse?"
"Ace, I couldn't just let you rot if I had the chance to clear you. How would I have lived with that, huh?"
He didn't get to answer that because just then Sarah pulled up, albeit kinda badly. "You guys do want to get outta here, don'tcha?"
"Definitely," I said.
Ace took one look at Sarah in the driver's seat and shook his head. "Hey, Sarah why don't you hop in the back and let me drive, okay?"
Sarah gave him a relieved smile and scrambled into the back seat. "Thank god, Ace. I just hate driving!"
"I think driving hates you too," he said and we laughed. It was so good to have him back. Things almost felt normal.
"What are you guys gonna do?" Sarah asked after a couple of minutes of comfortable silence.
"Don't really know," I said, and looked at Ace.
"Hey, don't look at me Kitty-Kat. You're the one who skipped out on the hospital to get your j.d. boyfriend out of jail," he answered with a smirk.
"Yeah, well you should thank your lucky stars that I did," I shot back, but smiled at him.
"Believe me, babe, I do," he answered and put his hand on me knee and squeezed it.
"Are you gonna stay here in Castle Rock?" Sarah asked.
"I don't see how we can," I said softly.
Ace looked at me sidelong and I knew he was probably a little surprised by my answer. "I think I'm gonna have to agree with my girl here. I didn't really wanna go, but how can we stay around here? Maybe this is the push we need."
"Where will we go?" I asked.
His answer was quick, so I knew he'd probably been thinking about this even before the fight went down. "My sister called earlier this month and asked me again to come live with her. I told her about your deal and how I couldn't leave you here. She told me to bring you with me."
"And what did you say?" I asked, trying to hide my shock. I had had no idea that Ace had been planning on asking me to leave with him.
"I said I would think about it. So, are you ready to go to Massachusetts?"
"That's where she's living now?"
"Yeah, and doin damn fuckin good. We can stay at her place for awhile, least until we get on our feet," he answered.
I didn't know what to say, and before I could answer Sarah leaned over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Kat, you've gotta do this. You could go back to your place and pretend like nothing happened, but do you want to?"
"Besides," Ace said. "My fuckin Cobras betrayed me. I don't wanna see their ugly mugs ever again."
I nodded silently. I knew what I had to do. "Okay, Ace. Let's go."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," I answered.
"Fuckin A!" he exclaimed. "Sarah, we gotta drop you off at your place. You okay with that?"
"Of course. You guys gotta leave tonight. But you have to promise to stay in touch. I want to know what's going on with you," she said with a sad smile, her eyes misting with tears.
"Oh, Sarah, of course I will! I'll definitely make sure you always know how to reach me!" I said and turned around to give her a hug.
"Girl, come on, enough with the mushy stuff," Ace said and we all laughed.
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I said a long goodbye to Sarah, and gave her the letters that I had written beforehand to give to Jen, Maggie, and my parents. I also gave her the letter I had written for her, even though I didn't think she would really need it. She had already seen what had gone down firsthand. We hugged one last time, extra hard, and then Ace told me it was time to go. It was so weird, saying goodbye to Sarah. Even today, she's the best friend I have. We became even closer that night, if that's even possible.
I got into the car with Ace, and as we drove out of Castle Rock I didn't look back. There was no need to.
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30 Years Later
So that's the whole sordid story, give or take a few sordid details. Ace and I got married the next day, in the next town over, and we've been married ever since. When we got to Ace's sister's house, I was surprised by how warm and welcoming she and her husband were, especially considering what Ace's parents were like. Louisa and Eric, as it turned out, had made a nice little life for themselves. They had one child, a boy named Matthew and each had a pretty good job, he as a foreman for a construction company and she as an elementary school teacher. They let Ace and I live with them for awhile, and helped us figure out how to get high school diplomas. Eric got Ace a job with the construction team, and I worked at a grocery store during the day and went to college at night.
I ended up contacting my parents a few months after we got to Layland Falls, and what surprised me most was that they weren't angry. On the contrary, they actually seemed happy to hear from me, and eager to work things out. I guess the old saying rings true: you don't know what you got till it's gone. Anyway, we did eventually reconcile and I get along pretty well with my father nowadays. My mother passed a few years back. And you know, what my mother said to me about my father's temper was true. I was a lot more like him than I ever realized.
It makes me very happy to tell you that all's well that ends well. Ace eventually took to opening his own construction business with Eric as his partner, and it's still doing well today. After not knowing what I wanted to do for a long time, my father helped me get a job in one of the banks around here (he has a ton of clout), and now I run one myself! How's that for irony? We have kids, four of them, the oldest being 27 and the youngest being 17. My 17-year-old is always getting into all sorts of trouble, but I try to keep calm. After all, it's not like she's running around with the toughest hood' this side of Maine, or getting into fights and ending up with a stabbed shoulder. I think I'll probably save those stories for when she's a bit older.
"Kitty-Kat, what are you doing?" Ace peers over my shoulder and looks at the computer screen. He still calls me Kitty-Kat after all these years, and every time he does it still makes me melt.
"Writing out our history for posterity," I answer.
"Who the hell would want to read that?" he asks, and I look over my shoulder at him and give him a peck on the lips.
"It's a classic 'star-crossed lovers' story, honey, except with a happy ending. I think prospective readers might dig it," I answer, slipping in some old slang for good measure.
"'Dig it?' What are we, back in the '60s?" he asks with a laugh.
"Well, I have been recounting our story for the past few hours. Give me a minute to get back to the present," I say and save our story before shutting the computer off.
"So, was it nice to go back there?"
I put my arms around him and smile. "In a way. Knowing how the story ends helps a lot."
"This story ain't over yet, babe. Not by a long shot," he tells me, and as these two old crazy kids kiss I know it's true. There's a few more chapters to go before we'll see those two little words.
The End
Author's Note: I wrote this alternate ending for me, but a few people asked for it, so after thinking about it I decided to post it. I like the original (to me, real) ending better, but I wanted to let the people who have read and left so many great reviews decide for themselves.
Alternate Ending
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Ace
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It all could've ended right there. And it did, in a way. The sort of plans I'd made, the plans for a better life for me and Kitty-Kat, just didn't turn out that way. Hey, that ain't to say what happened turned us inta some kinda bums, but it damn near could've.
The blade went into her shoulder and she just fell to the ground. Tom and his boys fled the scene like the scared little pansies I always took 'em for. But the best, oh the fucking best was seeing *my* boys flee not ten seconds after that. Kat's girls looked like they were rooted to the ground with the exception of Sarah. She was on the ground on the other side of Kat.
I just couldn't believe this was all happening. "Ace?" Kat whispered.
"Kitty-Kat, I ain't leavin. I'm right here," I said to her.
"I can hear sirens. Ace, you'd bettah get outta here."
"Uh-uh, no way babe. There ain't no way I'm leavin ya like this."
She closed her eyes briefly and it scared me like nothing else. Then her eyes opened again. I looked over at Sarah and her eyes were filled with tears as she gently held and stroked one of Kat's hands. I took Kat's other hand and kissed it gently. "Ace, I won't get in trouble. You can leave," Sarah said gently.
"There ain't no way, Sarah," I said again firmly. This was all my fault, and for once I was gonna take responsibility for my stupid actions.
She just looked at me, a new respect in her eyes. "Okay, Ace."
Then the cops were there. I pressed a kiss to Kat's pale lips, and she returned it softly. "God, but I love you Kat," I whispered.
"Ace…" she said and trailed off. Whatever she might have said to me then…I couldn't hear it.
"Okay, young man, I think you've done enough for one night," a cop said as he pulled me off the ground and wrenched my hand from hers.
"Ace? Ace!" Kat called softly.
As I was pushed into the patrol car I turned to look at her. I was so sure then that I would never see that sweet little face again.
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When I woke up just a couple hours later, I was so disoriented. I had no idea what was going on. I was in a hospital, in a cold hard bed. Someone had changed me into one of those funny paper gowns, and my car keys were no longer around my neck, but on a table next to the bed.
"Kat, oh thank God you're awake!" Sarah exclaimed from where she was sitting.
"Sarah? What happened? Are my folks here?" I asked.
Sarah dragged the chair next to my bed and took my hand. "No, not yet. The hospital people are trying to look for 'em."
"Well, they did go to a party tonight," I said. "They probably won't be back before dawn."
We sat in a sort of silence for a couple of minutes before I thought something horrible. "Sarah, what happened to Ace?"
Sarah chewed her bottom lip nervously. "Kat…they, well, they arrested him. He was the only guy there. I think they're gonna make him the fall guy for everything!"
I sat up too quickly, and had to lay down again. I was just too dizzy. "We have to clear him, Sarah. He can't go to jail for somethin that wasn't even his fault!"
"I know, I just don't know what to do."
I looked over at the table where my car keys were, and that sparked an idea. "You gotta go get my car and get me the fuck outta here. We gotta get to the station before they take him somewhere where we won't be able to find him."
"Me?" Sarah asked, her eyes wide. "I can barely drive, Kat."
"That don't matter. Sarah, you're like my sister. If you can't do it, you know no one else will," I said and grabbed the keys. I pulled my hand from hers and pressed the keys into it instead.
She took them reluctantly and got up. "I'd better go now if we're gonna get there in time."
"I know. Hurry, please!"
She rushed out the door and I leaned back into the bed, trying to gather my strength. The knife wound to my shoulder was pretty bad, but not so bad that I wouldn't be able to walk out of there on my own. My clothes were folded on a chair by the door, and I pushed myself into an upright position slowly so that I could get them. I managed somehow to grab my pants and shirt, and I pulled the pants on. I wouldn't put the shirt on until Sarah got back, so that I wouldn't tip anybody off as to what I was doing.
I don't know how long Sarah was gone, but boy was I glad to see her when she got back. "Sarah, what took you so long?" I asked with a small smile.
"God, Kat, you look like hell!" she exclaimed and then blushed sheepishly.
"Hey, thanks a lot. I didn't have time to get my makeup on."
"How are we gonna get out of here?" Sarah asked me.
"First, help me get my shirt on," I said.
I pulled the IV painfully out of my arm and Sarah gingerly lifted the paper dress over my head and helped me into my blood-soaked t-shirt. It was pretty gross, but all of my other clothes were in the trunk of my car.
We peaked out of my room and the hallway was clear, so we began walking as quickly as possible to the elevators. Sarah held onto me to give me support, and we walked a little slower because of me. I know now that what we did was completely irresponsible and dangerous, and sometimes when I think about it I'm totally amazed that we weren't caught the second we stepped onto the ground floor. But we weren't. We got out of the elevator and walked quietly and discreetly out of the door, into the brisk night air.
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The ride to the police station was hair-raisingly frightening. I hadn't really realized just how bad of a driver Sarah really was until those moments when I was sure I was gonna bite it right there on the road. Luckily the station wasn't too far from the hospital and she managed to get us there in one piece. She parked sort of lopsided in a parking space and we walked as calmly as possible through the front doors and to the main desk. I was so scared at that moment that I was sure they would see my hands shaking like I was using a jackhammer. "Excuse me?" I said.
"One moment, miss," the officer at the desk said without turning around.
"Excuse me!" I said it a little louder this time but there was still no response.
"I need help!" Sarah yelled and that got his attention. He took one look at my blood-spattered t-shirt and came right around to help me into the main area.
"Miss, please tell me what happened. Can I get you anything? Can I call an ambulance? Your parents?" he asked.
"No. Ace Merrill. Where is he?" I asked.
His face got stony. "He's in the holding tank. He's gonna be shipped to the state juvenile facility come morning."
"Why?" I asked, and Sarah squeezed my shoulder to show her support.
"He was involved with the stabbing of a young girl earlier this evening and the assault of one of our more promising young people," he said, and eyed me carefully. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because," I said and took a deep breath. "None of that was his fault."
"And how do you know this?" he asked.
"I'm the girl that got stabbed. Want to see the hole in my shoulder?" I asked.
"No thank you, young lady. Just why am I supposed to believe you?"
"Because she's telling the truth!" Sarah blurted out. She blushed but kept her head high.
"Please, sir, you have to believe me. Ace might have fought with Tom, but Tom fought with Ace too. And it was Tom who stabbed me, not Ace," I said. I hated pleading and seeming weak, but it looked to me like the situation was getting pretty desperate.
"The Malone boy stabbed you? Now why do I find that hard to believe?" the officer asked me, an annoying smugness in his voice.
"I don't know. All I know is that he stabbed me with Ace's knife."
"It was Ace Merrill's knife?" the cop asked, and both me and Sarah shifted uncomfortably under the man's hard glare.
"Yeah, it was. Why would I tell you he had a knife if I was lyin?" I asked.
"All right, young lady, that's enough. Is there anyone else who can corroborate this story of yours? Someone halfway credible?"
I didn't like the slight mocking tone in his voice but I just swallowed the urge to belt him in his snoot and gave him the names and numbers of a couple of kids who had been there but weren't friends with either Ace or Tom. I didn't give him Maggie or Jen's numbers because I didn't want their parents to freak.
About five or six kids were called down that night, one after the other. I guess the police were really eager to get Ace out of town so they just woke up people and made them get their kids to the station to give their versions of what happened. During all this time me and Sarah just waited in the waiting area. Sarah's parents knew that she was with me, and that I was at the police station because I got stabbed, but other than that they were pretty clueless, kinda like how they always were. Finally, in the really early hours of the morning, the sergeant called us into a small office. "Okay ladies, this is what we've been able to piece together: Mr. Merrill and Mr. Malone were fighting. At first it was an even and fair fight, but one of Mr. Malone's friends got rowdy and turned the one-on-one fight into a brawl. The fight was dying down on its own when we were called to the scene. Only some of the kids we talked to saw this part, but the ones that did see it told us fairly similar stories: Mr. Malone had what they recognized to be the weapon that Mr. Merrill usually has on his person. Mr. Merrill's "steady," who I would assume is you Miss. Reyes, was accidentally stabbed with Mr. Merrill's own knife by Mr. Malone, who then fled the scene with his friends. Does that sound accurate to you?"
My heart was beating so fast in my chest I thought that it might just come leaping out of my throat. They knew the truth! Ace was going to be cleared! "Yes, sir, that is how I remember it happening," I said.
"So do I," Sarah said.
"Then I suppose that there is really nothing left for me to do but to release Mr. Merrill, as he appears to be innocent, regrettably, of all charges," the sergeant said and stood up.
I noticed how he had slipped in that 'regrettably' after the word 'innocent,' but I was just too happy to care. Ace was free, and so was I! I knew in that moment that there was no way we would be able to stay in Castle Rock any longer. I stood too, and the sergeant called over an officer and spoke to him briefly. The officer asked me to follow him and I did, down a short corridor to a hallway which held only four cells. I saw Ace right away and, man, I don't think I was ever more happy to see his face than in that moment, for the rest of my life. "Ace!"
His head was bowed and his hands were clasped, and he was leaning on his knees. He looked almost like he was in prayer. I didn't know whether or not he heard me that first time, so I called his name again, louder this time. "ACE!"
His head shot up that time, and the look on his face then was something I'll never forget. It was one of complete amazement and utter shock. It kinda looked like someone had just hit him over the head real hard with a solid steel baseball bat. That was how shocked he looked. "Kat?" he asked softly.
"Oh god, Ace, I was so worried about ya!" I exclaimed and rushed over to the cell. He got up too, and we clasped hands through the bars, like in one of those real romantic star-crossed lover movies.
"You was worried about me? I thought maybe you'd died or somethin! Kat, I dunno what I'd've done if I'd lost ya!" he exclaimed and leaned in to kiss me.
As he was about to, the officer that was standing there made a coughing noise. "Why don't you wait until you're outside to do that, all right?"
I pulled away from the bars and nodded. The cop motioned for me to step away and I did. "What's goin on?" Ace asked. He looked real upset.
"Mr. Merrill, you've been cleared of all charges. You're free to go," the cop said, sliding the key in the lock and turning it. He opened the cell and stood aside, allowing Ace to walk out into the open.
"I'm free?" Ace asked, not fully believing it, I think.
"Yes. Apparently some witnesses came forward in your defense. Their stories checked out," the cop replied, and looked at me with some thinly veiled disdain.
"Kat, you didn't!" Ace said.
"I did. Can we get out of here now?" I asked the officer.
"Be my guest," he answered, and no sooner were those words out of his mouth than me and Ace high-tailed it out of there.
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As soon as we were out in the clear night, Ace wrapped his arms around me and twirled me around in the air happily. My shoulder was aching really badly then, but I just didn't care. Ace was out of that shit-hole, and we could do whatever we wanted. "Are you all right?" he asked me when he put me down.
"Well, my shoulder hurts somethin awful but other than that, I'll be okay."
He looked at me seriously. "Kat, you shouldn'ta come. What if somethin had happened and your shoulder got worse?"
"Ace, I couldn't just let you rot if I had the chance to clear you. How would I have lived with that, huh?"
He didn't get to answer that because just then Sarah pulled up, albeit kinda badly. "You guys do want to get outta here, don'tcha?"
"Definitely," I said.
Ace took one look at Sarah in the driver's seat and shook his head. "Hey, Sarah why don't you hop in the back and let me drive, okay?"
Sarah gave him a relieved smile and scrambled into the back seat. "Thank god, Ace. I just hate driving!"
"I think driving hates you too," he said and we laughed. It was so good to have him back. Things almost felt normal.
"What are you guys gonna do?" Sarah asked after a couple of minutes of comfortable silence.
"Don't really know," I said, and looked at Ace.
"Hey, don't look at me Kitty-Kat. You're the one who skipped out on the hospital to get your j.d. boyfriend out of jail," he answered with a smirk.
"Yeah, well you should thank your lucky stars that I did," I shot back, but smiled at him.
"Believe me, babe, I do," he answered and put his hand on me knee and squeezed it.
"Are you gonna stay here in Castle Rock?" Sarah asked.
"I don't see how we can," I said softly.
Ace looked at me sidelong and I knew he was probably a little surprised by my answer. "I think I'm gonna have to agree with my girl here. I didn't really wanna go, but how can we stay around here? Maybe this is the push we need."
"Where will we go?" I asked.
His answer was quick, so I knew he'd probably been thinking about this even before the fight went down. "My sister called earlier this month and asked me again to come live with her. I told her about your deal and how I couldn't leave you here. She told me to bring you with me."
"And what did you say?" I asked, trying to hide my shock. I had had no idea that Ace had been planning on asking me to leave with him.
"I said I would think about it. So, are you ready to go to Massachusetts?"
"That's where she's living now?"
"Yeah, and doin damn fuckin good. We can stay at her place for awhile, least until we get on our feet," he answered.
I didn't know what to say, and before I could answer Sarah leaned over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Kat, you've gotta do this. You could go back to your place and pretend like nothing happened, but do you want to?"
"Besides," Ace said. "My fuckin Cobras betrayed me. I don't wanna see their ugly mugs ever again."
I nodded silently. I knew what I had to do. "Okay, Ace. Let's go."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," I answered.
"Fuckin A!" he exclaimed. "Sarah, we gotta drop you off at your place. You okay with that?"
"Of course. You guys gotta leave tonight. But you have to promise to stay in touch. I want to know what's going on with you," she said with a sad smile, her eyes misting with tears.
"Oh, Sarah, of course I will! I'll definitely make sure you always know how to reach me!" I said and turned around to give her a hug.
"Girl, come on, enough with the mushy stuff," Ace said and we all laughed.
-----------------------
I said a long goodbye to Sarah, and gave her the letters that I had written beforehand to give to Jen, Maggie, and my parents. I also gave her the letter I had written for her, even though I didn't think she would really need it. She had already seen what had gone down firsthand. We hugged one last time, extra hard, and then Ace told me it was time to go. It was so weird, saying goodbye to Sarah. Even today, she's the best friend I have. We became even closer that night, if that's even possible.
I got into the car with Ace, and as we drove out of Castle Rock I didn't look back. There was no need to.
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30 Years Later
So that's the whole sordid story, give or take a few sordid details. Ace and I got married the next day, in the next town over, and we've been married ever since. When we got to Ace's sister's house, I was surprised by how warm and welcoming she and her husband were, especially considering what Ace's parents were like. Louisa and Eric, as it turned out, had made a nice little life for themselves. They had one child, a boy named Matthew and each had a pretty good job, he as a foreman for a construction company and she as an elementary school teacher. They let Ace and I live with them for awhile, and helped us figure out how to get high school diplomas. Eric got Ace a job with the construction team, and I worked at a grocery store during the day and went to college at night.
I ended up contacting my parents a few months after we got to Layland Falls, and what surprised me most was that they weren't angry. On the contrary, they actually seemed happy to hear from me, and eager to work things out. I guess the old saying rings true: you don't know what you got till it's gone. Anyway, we did eventually reconcile and I get along pretty well with my father nowadays. My mother passed a few years back. And you know, what my mother said to me about my father's temper was true. I was a lot more like him than I ever realized.
It makes me very happy to tell you that all's well that ends well. Ace eventually took to opening his own construction business with Eric as his partner, and it's still doing well today. After not knowing what I wanted to do for a long time, my father helped me get a job in one of the banks around here (he has a ton of clout), and now I run one myself! How's that for irony? We have kids, four of them, the oldest being 27 and the youngest being 17. My 17-year-old is always getting into all sorts of trouble, but I try to keep calm. After all, it's not like she's running around with the toughest hood' this side of Maine, or getting into fights and ending up with a stabbed shoulder. I think I'll probably save those stories for when she's a bit older.
"Kitty-Kat, what are you doing?" Ace peers over my shoulder and looks at the computer screen. He still calls me Kitty-Kat after all these years, and every time he does it still makes me melt.
"Writing out our history for posterity," I answer.
"Who the hell would want to read that?" he asks, and I look over my shoulder at him and give him a peck on the lips.
"It's a classic 'star-crossed lovers' story, honey, except with a happy ending. I think prospective readers might dig it," I answer, slipping in some old slang for good measure.
"'Dig it?' What are we, back in the '60s?" he asks with a laugh.
"Well, I have been recounting our story for the past few hours. Give me a minute to get back to the present," I say and save our story before shutting the computer off.
"So, was it nice to go back there?"
I put my arms around him and smile. "In a way. Knowing how the story ends helps a lot."
"This story ain't over yet, babe. Not by a long shot," he tells me, and as these two old crazy kids kiss I know it's true. There's a few more chapters to go before we'll see those two little words.
The End