The past few days, I’ve been working on a lil story idea. I’ve written out a first piece. I wanna add a lot more detail and spacing between the two but I’ve written what came to me as it came to me.
I’d really appreciate some feedback or if I should even continue. I haven’t written in years so I’m a bit rusty. If you read it, please let me know what you think!
Don’t ask me how I ended up in Castle Rock, of all places. I couldn’t tell you. It wasn’t part of the plan. The plan was Chamberlain. But that quickly changed. God knows why, he doesn’t tell me shit. That’s the problem with your brother being your boss. He says jump, you start stretching.
My older brother Mikey, whilst not the nicest guy in the world, was all I had left. And it was because of that, that I did as he asked. He told me we were gonna go to Chamberlain, be there a few months until the cops caught wind then move on again. That had been the routine for the past 2 years but I hadn’t minded much. We got to see the country and not be tied down. But I could sense Mikey was getting frustrated with the drifter lifestyle. He wanted his patch, his kingdom. And I just followed.
Upon first impressions of Castle Rock, it wasn’t much to look at. It was your stereotypical suburban town. It didn’t have much going for it in my opinion but Mikey seemed to like it. Or there was something here he wanted. Either way, he wouldn’t tell me.
He sorted us a small, 2 bed house with boarded up windows and peeling paint. The inside was even worse, I’d never seen so much dust in my life. Not to mention I almost lost my foot going through the rotten floorboards in one of the bedrooms. I had asked why we were living in such a shithole when we had money from the last job, Mikey had said ‘we don’t wanna draw much attention to ourselves just yet. Better for people to think we are just down and outs.’ It had taken a few weeks to get the place to a livable state but I didn’t bother to decorate much. Wouldn’t be long before we left. Putting down roots, even if it was just a few picture frames, made it harder to leave.
On my first exploration of Castle Rock, I had cursed my brother for bringing us to such a dead-end town. I was used to the city life. Seeing the same 5 faces everyday didn’t appeal to me. Mikey had been there to help fix up the house then he left. Told me to ‘stay put’ until he called.
So that’s what I did. For a few days at least.
I needed food so I went to the supermarket. Well, supermarket would be an overstatement. It was more of a convenience store. I picked out my food for the week and paid.
“You new ‘round here?” The balding cashier asked, an eyebrow raised.
I hated when people asked questions they already knew the answer to.
“Sure.” I said shortly before picking up my change.
I stopped by the Diner on the way home. It was rather quaint with shiny tables and burgers bigger than my head. I eyed the ‘Help Wanted’ sign before going over to the jukebox. As much as I wanted to eat half my body weight in fries, pancakes and milkshakes, the money Mikey had left me with would have to tide me over for the foreseeable future, he could be gone anywhere from a few days to a month. So I had to be careful, at least until he called. I eyed the jukebox with interest before I started to flip through the songs. Surprisingly, there was a decent choice. As I fiddled with the machine and pretended to be enamoured with the song choice, I took note of the back door that led into a kitchen. Must have a back door through there. The register was close enough to the back door that you could get to it without being seen from the front windows. There appeared to be a standard alarm but that’s nothing that couldn’t be rewired. Interesting.
“I swear to god, if they so much as step a foot into this diner…”
I turned my head slightly towards one of the waitresses, a woman in her mid 40’s with blonde hair and crows feet. She had her arms crossed and was glaring at the door. A younger waitress stood next to her, biting her lip anxiously, eyes also locked on the door. I turned my head back to the jukebox, intent on finding at least one song that would entertain me for a few minutes before I was released back to the boredom this town consumed me with.
I scrolled for another few seconds before a shrill yell echoed throughout the diner. My head snapped up and I watched as the older waitress, who’s nametag read ‘Maureen’ headed towards the door.
“Abolutely not! You are not allowed back in here and you know it!” Her shouts were directed at a group of 4 men. They couldn’t have been much older than me, two brunettes and two blondes. The two at the front smirked at the woman whereas the other two held back, seemingly willing to let the others deal with the situation.
“Now Maureen, that’s not a very nice way to speak to paying customers.” The brunette drawled with sarcastic sadness. He was tall, rather good-looking with a scar below one of his eyes. The blonde that stood next to him was leaning against the door, he stood heads above Maureen and knew it. He looked down at her with a cocky disinterest, as if this whole thing was below him.
“Y’all ain’t customers because you’re banned now get out!” She was ballsy, I’d give her that. It was at that moment, I’d realised everyone else in the diner was watching this interaction with baited breath. Most of the patrons looked nervous, some looked delighted that this group of men were being denied entry.
The blonde one took a step closer to Maureen, a small smirk on his face as he spoke to her lowly. The poor woman was shaking with rage. I couldn’t hear what he said but she eventually moved to the side and let them through. If looks could kill, those men would’ve been dead a million times over. The brunette tipped his hat at her before they moved through the main walkway, towards a booth.
I was rather shocked she had lost that encounter, I was half expecting her to start beating them with her shoe.I took my cue to leave and began walking towards the door. Unfortunately, the group were sat at the booth near the door and as I walked past, a chair was pushed into my path.
Huh.
I stopped in my tracks and looked at the chair before raising my gaze to the men expectantly. I looked at the brunette first, the one who had clearly pushed the chair, before my gaze was drawn to the blonde. His eyes were locked onto mine as a small smirk played on his lips.
“Fancy joining us, gorgeous?” The brunette asked, a grin on his face.
Oh Jesus, did that really just happen? I internally gagged as I maintained eye contact with his blonde friend.
I pushed the chair out of the way before walking out the door, not dismissive to the sound of the other two men making fun of the brunette. As I walked past the window, I noticed the blonde was still watching me, his smirk a little bigger.
This time, I did roll my eyes as I got into my car and drove home.
—---------
The next week was rather uneventful. I did as I was told and kept a low profile. I hadn’t heard from Mikey, not a thing. So I spent my time fixing up my car. It was a ‘52 Buick and she was my everything. It was a gift from our Dad and my Brother had done it up for me for my birthday. I spent most of my mornings that week fixing the engine, adding a spoiler and cleaning the inside. Then in the evenings, I went to a bar called Irby’s. It appeared to be the only place to drink around here and seemed the owner didn’t care much about ID’s when money could be made. I’d somehow made a friend in one of the locals, Bonnie. She was in her mid 20’s, curly, black hair and a killer smile. She had grown up in Castle Rock but often went into Chamberlain. We had instantly hit it off, with her pulling me to her table and chatting the whole night. Since then, I had gone to Irby’s every night. Albeit it had only been 3 nights but it gave me something to do.
This night was no different. I sat down next to her and noticed she had already bought me my favourite, a Whiskey and Coke. I was trying to force myself to like the taste of straight Whiskey but I couldn’t do it. To be honest, I liked a Mai-Tai or a Pina Colada but I doubted Irby’s would know what they were so I went for the safe option.
“This place is Antsville tonight!” Bonnie commented, flicking the head of her lighter and lighting her cigarette. I hummed in agreement, taking a sip of my drink. Irby’s was small so it didn’t take a lot for it to be packed but as it was a Friday night, it was at maximum capacity.
“So how are you finding Castle Rock? Have you spoken to anyone bar me since last night?” She teased.
I shot her a deadpan look before responding “I’ve been working on my car all day so no.”
She rolled her eyes playfully, “Castle Rock doesn’t have much to offer so I don’t blame you but you need to get out more and meet people!”
“Jesus, you sound like my Mother!” I laughed before downing my drink. “You want another?” I asked as I stood.
She shook her head, taking another drag of her cigarette, eyes scanning the crowd.
I began making my way through the plethora of bodies, I got a fair few elbows into the stomach and head but eventually I arrived at the bar. The lights were obnoxiously yellow and the bartop was covered in spilled beer. The owner was mid argument with a patron who had clearly had too much and appeared to have spilt his drink all over himself. As he slurred his way through reasons he should be allowed to stay, I noticed something in the back. On the left of the bar, up a few steps was a couple of pool tables. But it wasn’t the pool tables that caught my attention. It was the group playing. It was the group from the diner the other day. The blonde, the brunette and about 4 others. The brunette and another guy were playing pool whilst the blonde sat in a booth with a cigarette in his mouth, watching his surroundings. Before I could look away, we locked eyes. His face changed from watchful to smug and he sent me a wink before taking a swig of beer. I raised an eyebrow at him before turning back to the bar, the owner now dealt with his sticky patron.
I ordered another round before leaning against the bar. My back was beginning to hurt after being hunched over the engine all morning. Fuck, I should’ve taken some aspirin before coming out. I grabbed our drinks and went back to our table, putting the drinks down.
“I thought I said I didn’t want another one?”
“Yeah, well, I don’t like being in debt to people.” I said, raising my glass to cheers her.
As we began chatting about what little Castle Rock had to offer, the front door opened and a man walked in. I didn’t pay much attention at first, until I noticed Bonnie couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“Friend of yours?”
She grinned before putting her finger to her lips. We watched as the man walked through to the back of the bar and surprise surprise, joined the men I saw at the diner.
“Who are those guys?” I asked, watching as the group of men greeted the man, passing him a beer before one of them got him in a playful headlock.
“They…” She pointed, her barely lit cigarette still between her fingers, “are the Cobra’s.”
I burst out laughing, ‘The Cobra’s? What, was the Rattlesnakes taken?”
She gave me a deadpan look before continuing, “The blonde in the black shirt,” The one who had winked at me earlier, “is Ace Merrill, their leader.” For some reason, his name seemed familiar but I couldn’t place where from. Probably one of the waitresses said something about him earlier.
I had spent many of my formative years in Detroit, a place where gangs run rampant and you didn’t mess with them. Somehow, I found it difficult to take these ‘Cobras’ seriously. I had seen scary men in my time, my own Father being one of them, and hell, my Brother could count as one aswell. Scary men don’t need to try and prove how scary they are. Unlike greased back hair and leather jackets over there.
I took a moment to examine this ‘Ace,’ what kinda name is that? He looked to be in his late teens, early twenties at most. He had slicked back blonde hair, tanned skin and eyes that seemed to hold you where you were. He had left his place in the booth and was now playing pool with the brunette from earlier.
“The guy with him is Eyeball Chambers.” Bonnie continued, motioning to the brunette.
“What kind of fucking names are these?!” I’d really have to hate my kid to call them ‘Eyeball’ or ‘Ace.’
Bonnie slapped my arm lightly, “Let me finish! He’s called Eyeball because apparently,” She took a deep breath as if she was tired of telling this story, ‘his Dad put out a cigarette on his eye when he was a kid.”
Fucking hell.
“Then there’s Billy, Charlie, Vince and Fuzzy.” She pointed out each of the other guys in turn. “I’m not gonna tell you what to do but I’d stay away from them if I were you.”
“Why’s that? They like to give people wedgies?” I drawled sarcastically.
Bonnie burst out laughing, some of her drink coming out of her nose. Damn, she must be drunk because I am not that funny.
“You are too much for me, Sugar!” She giggled, catching her breath. “But no, they’re messed up in some shit. It’s mainly Ace and Eyeball you gotta watch out for. The rest are fairly harmless, just like to pretend they’re tough. Nah, that Merill…” She lit another cigarette, “almost killed a kid last summer. Damn near slit his throat.”
“Fuck, why? What happened?”
She shrugged, coughing a little on her cigarette and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, smudging her red lipstick. “It’s just a rumour but I believe it.”
God damn, maybe I was wrong about this guy. Maybe he is more fucked than I thought. Who the fuck tries to kill a kid? Although, I was a little dubious. God knows how many rumours were spread about me when all the shit went down two years ago.
“But get this…” She starts up again, both of us looking over at the group, “The kid Ace almost got is Eyeball’s brother.”
“There ain’t no fucking way…” I trailed off in shock, “And he did nothing to stop him?”
Bonnie shrugged, leaning back in her seat. “I don’t know the details. Like I said, it’s just a rumour but I’d put money on it.”
Damn, what kind of town was this?! This guy clearly had a reputation, evident from the antics at the diner and now this. I couldn’t tell if he was a ‘tough guy’ or just a plain psychopath. Either way, I intended to keep my distance. I was here for a reason. Granted, I didn’t know that reason just yet but I was not gonna get caught up in some violent prick’s bullshit. I needed to speak to Mikey.
I had been so caught up in my thoughts, I hadn’t realised I was still staring at the group and it wasn’t until Bonnie grabbed my arm did I realise they had caught on. ‘Ace’ or whatever his fucking name was was looking straight at me, an eyebrow raised and a small smirk on his lips. ‘Eyeball’ was murmuring in his ear next to him before looking over at me and grinning smugly.
Awesome. Just what I needed.
I turned back to Bonnie, purposely facing my body away from our spectators.
“You’ve been in Castle Rock all of five minutes, sugar, and you’re already on their radar.”
“Just my fuckin’ luck.” I muttered, taking a sip of my drink.
—------
“Ow!”
Shit, since when was the sofa there?
I clumsily made my way through the house, hitting myself apparently on every piece of goddamn furniture in this place. I had turned on one of the lamps but it didn’t seem to help much. The problem was I had drunk a bit too much. I staggered through to my room and collapsed on the bed. I should make it easy on myself in the morning and get water now but damn, I’m so comfy.
I don’t fall asleep fully clothed with makeup and shoes still on as often as I used to but every now and then, I would. I was so bored. I had nothing to do in this god forsaken town. If drinking didn’t fill the void, what would?
Fuck, I forgot to turn off the lamp in the living room.
I considered just leaving it until the morning but if I got up to turn it off, I could also get some water for my future self.
With a groan, I stood up and wobbled into the living room. I was about to turn off the lamp when I noticed something on the front door mat. I most definitely had beer goggles on, everything was wavy so it took me longer than it should’ve to see that it was a letter.
In hindsight, I should’ve been concerned as no one except Mikey and Bonnie knew where I lived. At the time, I didn’t fully process how weird it was.
I bent down to pick up the letter and tried to look at it more closely. Can I sober up for like 30 seconds please?
There was no address on it, just my name. Well, my old name. The one I was born with. I recognised the handwriting almost instantly.
My brother had a flair for the dramatic, you could say. He always had. He also liked to feel like he was in control. The two were a deadly combination.
It was this flair for the dramatic that made me roll my eyes when I read the note.
Annabelle,
Things are starting. I’ll call tomorrow. Get ready.
M
See what I mean about dramatic? Why not just call me tomorrow anyway? He must’ve been in town to deliver this so why not talk to me? You know, like human beings do? I crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash before grabbing my water and heading to bed.
—---
The next day went as expected. I woke up with a hangover and didn’t leave my bed until lunchtime. When I finally felt like I could rejoin the land of the living, I showered and made some pancakes. The rest of the day was spent watching TV and waiting for Mikey to call.
It wasn’t until the evening did the phone ring.
“Michael?”
“I take it you got my note?”
Obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t have answered the phone by saying your name. “Yeah. What’s happening?”
“I got a job for you.”
“Go ahead.” I was no stranger to Mikey’s little ‘jobs.’ It could be anything from gathering intel for a robbery to befriending a rival. I was still waiting on the day a job for me was to see how much beer I could drink before passing out.
He sighed in irritation, I could see him running his tongue over his teeth, a tell he was pissed. “Chamberlain’s a maybe. Could get some business there. But you don’t shit where you sleep. Castle Rock seems like it’ll be just far enough that they won’t suspect shit. But I hear Castle Rock has its’ own shit.”
I held back a laugh, “They have a gang if that’s what you mean. Or if you could even call it that. ‘The Cobra’s.’ Bunch of idiots with anger issues, tryna prove to themselves that they’re tough. Laughable, not really a threat.”
I heard silence which meant Mikey was probably deep in thought. “I’ve heard similar. It’s not them I think could cause problems. It’s their leader. Goes by the name Ace Merill.”
Fucking ace. Literally, fucking Ace. “I’ve heard of him, seen him around a few times. From what I heard, he almost killed some kid last year so maybe you’re right. The gang don’t seem like a threat but he’s something else.”
“On the money, kid. Kids tryna play in the big leagues ain’t a problem. Merrill seems like he may be a player in the big leagues. I need info.”
I groaned, “Fuck. What do you need?”
“Anything and everything you can get on him. If you can find out what he’s mixed up in, even better.”
“How the hell am I supposed to find out about that?!”
Mikey sighed as if I was the dumbest person in the world, which I’m sure he thought I was sometimes. “Talk to him, be his friend. Make him trust you.”
“I don’t know if you can be friends with a guy like this.” I mumbled.
“Then do whatever you gotta do, okay?! Just find out what he knows.” With that, he hung up.
I was well and truly fucked.
