Chapter 04

Changes

On a Friday afternoon just before the mid-year holidays of the following year Ernie skips most of the cheerleader practise for the first time, ever. Melissa is now a few months over eighteen and Ernie is a few months over seventeen. Melissa is worried because he’s never missed one of her practises since they met; never, until today. Adding to her worry is the fact no one has seen him since lunchtime, and he didn’t mention anything to her about being away. It’s clear her concern is affecting her practise and the whole team knows why, so they let it slide by.

There’s just a few minutes to go when she sees Ernie running to the field. When he reaches the low fence separating the playing field from the spectator area he takes a running dive over it to do a forward roll and jump up again. Reaching her he sweeps her off her feet and into his arms for a kiss, and brings the whole practise to a halt. Over the last year and a half Ernie hasn’t filled out any at all, but he has grown some and is now as tall as Melissa. They stand there, kissing.

Breaking the kiss he pulls something out of his pocket and places it in her right hand while saying, “Here, this is for you.” She looks down at a stone the size of a peach pit he just placed in her hand. She gives him an odd look, and he says, “Last week Emily asked me, ’Isn’t it about time you got Melissa a stone?’ So I got you one. That’s not a common rock, that comes all the way from my home town, from our first home there. I had to organise for an old family friend to send it to me by special delivery.” The whole team laughs at the joke.

She laughs as loud as the rest before she says, “I think Emily had a different sort of stone in mind at the time.”

“Oh, she may have, but if she’s not going to say what she means how am I going to know what she means?” After handing her the rock he took her left hand in his and has been playing with her hand all along. When she bends down to put the rock in her sports bag and pick up the bag he lets go of her left hand.

Nancy has been watching her and Ernie because this behaviour is well outside his normal actions. When Melissa stands up and reaches up to straighten her hair Nancy shrieks and yells, “Where the fuck did that come from?” They all turn to look at her, and notice she’s looking at Melissa, who’s giving her an odd look. Waving her hand at Melissa’s head she blurts out, “Your hand, your hand. Damn, it’s blinding.”

Shaking her head Melissa looks at her left hand, and stops dead with a stunned expression. On the ring finger of her left hand is a very brilliant diamond ring, a ring that wasn’t there a moment ago. Looking up at Ernie she gives a soft croak, “What’s this?”

With a very wide grin he says, “Well, from here, that looks like the diamond engagement ring I bought you.” He leans in a bit and gives a slow nod of his head, “Yes, that’s it, all right!” The whole cheerleader squad starts screaming and yelling, even the teacher. Even though everyone has been expecting it, it’s still a bit of a surprise, so was the method of delivery.

After gulping she asks, “And just when were you going to ask me to marry you?”

He smiles, “Well, I have a bit of a problem about that. Some months back I raised the matter with Dad, and he said I wouldn’t be old enough to ask you to marry me until I turned eighteen and he made me promise I wouldn’t ask you to marry me until after I turned eighteen. I know you’re going to marry me, you know you’re going to marry me, heck, the whole city knows you’re going to marry me, it’s a fact of life. I couldn’t wait until next year to ask you, but I couldn’t break a promise, either. So I figured I’ll give you the ring as acknowledgement of the known status quo. So we can just go ahead and organise the wedding for whenever you want it to be, and Dad has nothing to complain about.”

With a huge grin she rushes into his arms and kisses him while the rest of the team laugh. After breaking the kiss she says, “It’s Friday, I hope you’ve booked a hotel room with soundproofing for the weekend.”

The whole team have wide eyes at her clear intent, because Melissa is the only girl on the team over sixteen he hasn’t had sex with, and it’s clear that’s about to change. He gulps, and replies, “But I thought we had to look after Emily all weekend while your parents are away?”

“So we do, so we do. We can stay at home and show Emily how it’s really done.” This causes more laughter while they leave the sports field.

On the walk home Ernie makes the others promise not to say anything to the rest of the family because he wants Melissa to let them know in her own time. Melissa and Emily are down to eat dinner with the Cables tonight, so it should come out by then.

Telling Families

When they arrive at her home Mr and Mrs Watson are just putting the last things in the car before driving off for a weekend away by themselves. They stand beside the car to say goodbye and give some last minute instructions. Melissa has Ernie stand right in front of her mother then she stands behind him to wrap her arms around him and pull him back against her while she rests her head on his right shoulder, something she’s often done over the last year or so. However, she makes a point to have her left hand on Ernie’s right shoulder with nothing covering her hand. Mrs Watson turns from Emily to speak to Melissa and Ernie, and the first thing she sees is the ring. She’s stunned and speechless, for a moment.

Mrs Watson gulps, and says, “That’s an interesting ring on your hand, Melissa. I happen to know Mister Cable made Ernie promise not to ask you to marry him until after he turns eighteen. Has he broken his promise?” On hearing the start of this Mr Watson is very fast to come around the car and see the ring for himself.

Melissa says, “Ernie hasn’t asked me to marry him yet, because he made that promise to his father before he really knew what he wanted. However, everyone knows we’re going to get married but we just haven’t made the engagement official. Ernie decided to recognise the status quo and just slipped the ring on my finger at the end of cheerleader practise today. I agree with him and I’m keeping it on.”

Mrs Watson laughs and gives them a double hug while she kisses them in turn. “Now we can see about organising the wedding for just after the end of year exams so you can spend the summer holidays on your honeymoon.” Everyone smiles at their acceptance of the situation.

Mr and Mrs Watson get in the car and drive away while the three teens wave to them. Melissa checks the house is locked up tight and they walk across the road.

When the group crosses Aunt Mary’s backyard she calls out to them and asks them to come in for a moment. Once inside they find Nancy and Pearl sprawled in chairs laughing while Nancy says, “Well stone the crows, here comes the stonemason now. This is becoming a real rocky matter, isn’t it, Sis?”

Mary asks, “Can any of you make any sense out of this pair, or should I get them checked for drugs?” Melissa and Ernie are standing the same way they were for Mrs Watson, but Aunt Mary is still staring at her twin daughters.

Just then Margaret comes into the kitchen, she graduated high school last year and now attends the local university. She looks at the group and her eyes go wide before she screams with joy. This just confuses Aunt Mary further because everyone else is laughing at her. In the end she turns around to speak to Ernie, then she spots the diamond. Her eyes go wide, and her smile wider when she steps over to give them both a hug and a kiss before saying, “I’ve just got to come over and see how your father takes this.” Causing another round of laughter.

With wide grins a much bigger contingent heads for the Cable house. Melissa is on Ernie’s right with her left hand hidden in his right hand while they walk. They arrive in the kitchen just when Lucy is about to take some large bowls of hot vegetables through to the dining room to be placed on the table.

Ernie says, “Let us do that for you, Mum.” He lets go of Melissa’s hand and reaches out for one bowl while Emily gets a second and Melissa grabs a third. Lucy is turning away when she gets a glint of something out of the corner of her eye so she turns back to see what it is. When she sees the ring on Melissa’s hand she smiles and starts to laugh real hard.

With a huge cheeky grin she grabs a big platter of cooked meat and says, “Melissa, I want you to put that bowl down right in front of Henry, and make sure you do it from his right so he gets a good view of the ring. You just won me a nice holiday for Christmas.” The rest give her an odd look, but do as told.

They walk out in a file and start putting things on the table, the rest of the family are at the table. Melissa steps around Ernie to turn and put her bowl down. Lee is on the other side so she can’t see Melissa’s left hand.

After the bowl goes down Henry starts to look up to thank Melissa. When he spots the ring he gulps and glances at Lucy, then Ernie. In a very calm voice he says, “Ernie, you gave me a promise last year. Why have you broken it?” Lee goes very tense because she hasn’t seen the ring yet and she can’t figure out what’s happening, but the whole family is very tense because keeping promises is a very big thing in this family.

“I didn’t break it, Dad. I never asked the question. We all know the true situation, so the question isn’t really needed, is it?” His father looks up for a moment, then he gives a slow nod while he thinks. “So I just obtained the societally accepted item of recognition of the status quo and placed it where it belongs. I did that today, after cheerleader practise. No question asked, no promise broken.” Everyone else is smiling, and Lee is still lost because she doesn’t understand it at all.

Lucy says, “I told you so, Henry. I did tell you before you did it that it was a stupid promise to make him give. And afterwards I told you he’d find a way around it without breaking it, and he has. I’m pretty sure he came up with the way within a few hours of you forcing it out of him. The delay has been the choice of the right ring and saving the money for it. I happen to know how much that one costs because I saw it at the jewellers, and I also saw the price tag attached. I’ll even bet he’s got it insured as well, because it really needs it. Now, Melissa, please be a good girl and show Lee your engagement ring.” Lee’s eyes pop with the last words, and she screams when she sees it.

Before she realises what she’s saying Lee says, “Oh, yes. I’ve seen it in the shops, too, Mum. And I agree with Ernie’s judgement, having that on Melissa’s hand is much better than a new car of his own.”

A gulping Melissa says, “New car! How much did this cost?”

Ernie responds, “Don’t you know it’s bad luck to tell a fiancée how much her engagement ring costs. Nope, I’m not going to risk the bad luck by doing that.” They all sit down to eat while Mary and her daughters leave with huge smiles.

While slowly shaking his head Henry gulps, and says, “You win the bet. Which cruise do you want to take?”

The rest turn and look at Lucy because they don’t understand - beyond a bet being involved. Lucy says, “I bet your father Ernie would find a way around that stupid promise in a manner that he could get married before eighteen and Melissa would have an engagement ring for months before the wedding. We didn’t say anything to anyone about it. Because I won the bet he’ll sign the under-age wedding approval papers and we go on a cruise over Christmas this year, just your father and I. You lot can fight over what you do for Christmas, as long as someone is with Tom for the whole holiday period.” They all laugh and smile.

Melissa adds, “Mum wants to talk to you about a spring wedding just after the exams.” Lucy nods to show she heard while they all start organising their plates of food for dinner.

After dinner Ernie gets the overnight bag he packed that morning and escorts Melissa and Emily back to their house, because they’ll be staying there together until the Watson’s return very late Sunday night.

For months Melissa and Ernie have slept together on the weekends, at both houses, but no sex. When they get ready for bed Melissa picks up her contraceptive prescription and makes a show of dropping it in the bin. Making a very clear statement of intent. Ernie and Emily just smile and nod while the three of them get into bed together.

For the next four months life is perfect bliss for Ernie and Melissa. After a long talk with both sets of parents together Melissa moves into Ernie’s room with him full-time. What’s a surprise for most parents is the number of nights Emily sleeps over with them as well.

Bank Problems

At eleven thirty on a Tuesday in October, the second day of the time off from school for seniors to study just prior to the exams, Melissa, Emily, and Ernie are in the centre of town at the bank when a very large gang of roughs enters the bank with machine pistols and shotguns. They order everyone to freeze, then move them to one side before proceeding to take all of the money in the bank from the tellers and from the vault.

When they’re ready to leave the bank one of the gang members says, “Let’s grab a couple of cunts for fun while we hide out.”

The gang leader points at Melissa and Emily while saying, “Grab those two pretties.” Everyone had been subdued and he didn’t expect any last minute heroics, especially from the weedy looking high-school kid with the girls. Two of the gang approach the girls.

Ernie waits until the view of him by the rest of the gang is blocked by the two approaching members, then he springs into action. Jumping forward he slams an open hand under the jaw of the gang member carrying a bag of money instead of a shotgun. Ernie snaps his neck while moving in on the other one, and is very fast in turning him around while he yells, “Down.” All of the bank customers and the staff drop to the floor just before the shotgun in the hands of the robber Ernie has turned around discharges into the stomachs of the two robbers standing two metres behind him. Because Ernie is so quick in turning him around the shotgun is facing the robbers and not the customers.

The leader of the gang had brought his machine pistol up to shoot at Ernie, but he finds his mate in the way when he pulls the trigger, so the shotgun wielder takes a three round burst of nine millimetre slugs in his chest instead of Ernie. When he releases the robber Ernie pulls a pistol out of the man’s belt and points it at the main group of robbers near the front door. He opens in rapid fire while moving fast across the floor toward his left, to the next nearest robber.

Pandemonium breaks out amongst the robbers near the door, and many fire their weapons by reflex when wounded by the shots Ernie took at them. Due to the crowd of them he does manage to hit four, but none of the hits are fatal. However, two of the men hit have sawn off shotguns and they pull the triggers in response to being hit, this results in five of their mates taking fatal shots in the stomach and groin area, some from behind. Another man wounded by Ernie fires a three round burst from his machine pistol into the back of the man in front of him, killing him. The fourth wounded by Ernie is hit in the knee and falls to the side. He has his machine pistol on full auto when he falls, and he empties his whole magazine into what remains of the crowd of robbers near the door. This burst kills the other three Ernie wounded and two others. Leaving only two robbers near the door, the guy on the floor changing his magazine and one other cringing behind the wooden door which had taken two rounds from the other guy’s machine pistol. Around the bank’s public chamber are the gang leader and three other robbers. That’s six still active and fourteen dead in the opening rounds of this fight.

Ernie’s pistol is empty so he drops it just before he reaches the man he’s after. He’s fast, so fast the robber he’s going for isn’t able to turn toward him before Ernie is on him and making his neck look back over his shoulder while he snaps it. He takes the opportunity to grab this man’s machine pistol. This slows Ernie down and the gang leader now has time to put a three round burst into Ernie’s side as Ernie spins away. While a little bit off balance from being hit Ernie turns toward the other two robbers in the bank’s main area and he gives them each a short burst from the machine pistol. Although not a pistol marksman he has had some weapons practise and is accurate enough to give them both chest modifications while dodging more fire from the gang leader.

Ernie isn’t avoiding the gang leader because Ernie is simply taking out the bad guys when he tracks on to them while drawing the weapon around as he moves to dodge return fire. Next in line is the guy hiding behind the door. He’s still watching his mate on the floor, so he takes three rounds in the side of the chest without even knowing he’s in danger. Ernie tracks onto the gang leader just when all three armed people open fire.

Both the gang leader and the one on the floor open fire on Ernie when he opens fire on the gang leader. All are reasonable shots and they hit their targets. Ernie takes six rounds in the body while the gang leader takes one in the shoulder, missed by one, and one in his right eye.

When the action started one of the tellers went to his cage to get his bank issued pistol. By the time he’s ready it’s almost all over, but he takes aim and he puts two nine millimetre rounds into the chest of the armed robber on the floor, killing him before he can do any more harm. That’s all of the robbers dead.

When quiet descends after the shooting Melissa stands up and runs across the bank to Ernie. Emily goes over very close behind her. Dropping to the floor Melissa takes him in her arms and cries.

Ernie opens his eyes, and says, “Love, I thought I saw Mister Mason here, get him, please.” Mr Mason is the local Anglican Minister. Emily hears Ernie and looks around. Seeing Mr Mason she calls out for him to hurry over. Ernie half smiles at him and says, “Inside coat pocket, on the left, get it out.” Reaching down Mr Mason pulls out some folded papers, no bullet holes, but some blood on them. Opening them up he sees it’s the paperwork for a marriage, all filled in and ready to go with two fifty dollar notes clipped to it. He looks at Ernie and is told, “Right hand pants pocket, rings. No time left for anything else. Please do it now.”