Leap of Faith
Waylon stared down at the murky water that bubbled below him. This was it. He had made his choice. Taking a deep breath he tossed his briefcase into the air watching as it hit the water after a few seconds. He swallowed harshly as he lost sight of it before walking towards the edge. For a moment he hesitated simply staring down at the water, did he really want to do this?
What do you have to go back to? A traitorous part of his mind asked.
That part of his mind was right however. Just last week his wife (ex-wife) finalized their divorce. He'd hoped that they would be able to work things out. He still loved her after all. But she had given up on her love for him. She'd said so as much when they met with their lawyers. Ruefully Waylon knew that was mostly his fault. His job was a demanding one that kept him away from his family for weeks on end.
His job.
Another reason he was standing on this bridge looking down at the water. He was one of the best when it came to his job. He was a computer software developer and had been one for the past eight years. Waylon loved his job computers had always been the one thing he had been best at. With his skinny frame and lack of stamina Waylon had never been good at sports so really reading and computers were all he had growing up. Now though all that seemed like a waste of time since he'd been fired for exactly that reason. Waylon had been put as top developer on a new project when it hit the public however there were serious bugs that nearly ruined the whole line. It wasn't his fault but he was fired anyway for "allowing" it to happen. Looking back on it all Waylon couldn't help but feel stupid for everything he had missed working for his former employer.
Birthdays. Soccer games. Anniversaries.
Shaking his head Waylon looked out at the river in front of him. This was for the best. Lisa would move on, maybe get married to someone who would cherish her. His sons would have someone to rely on instead of a father who always let them down. The world wouldn't miss a cog like him.
"So you going to stand there all day?" A voice asked from behind him.
Turning slightly Waylon was startled by the person leaning against one of the pillars behind him. The teen regarded him curiously as he continued to stand on the edge. The sound of cars rushing across the bridge echoed around them as they stood there silently. After a moment Waylon turned back to the water and shrugged.
"You shouldn't be here kid it's dangerous." He said bracing himself on a nearby beam.
"First I'm not a kid thank you, I'm eighteen almost nineteen. And two if it's so dangerous then why are you here?" The teen asked snorting.
"It doesn't matter if it's dangerous for me because I'm not going to be around much longer. You should get out of here." Waylon said eyes locked on the water.
"You dying or something?" The teen asked getting more comfortable instead of leaving.
"Look kid, there are some things that you wouldn't understand." Waylon sighed a little exasperated.
He just wanted to end things and here was this kid interfering. Well in a way. Actually the teen hadn't made any move to stop Waylon or call for someone who might be able to. Instead he was simply standing there asking him questions. It was only Waylon moral code that held him back from jumping. He just wouldn't feel right killing himself in front of a kid.
"I told you I wasn't a kid," The teen snapped breaking his thought process, "And I understand a lot more than you think."
"Oh really?" Waylon couldn't help the snort that escaped him.
"Yes really. I'm guessing you're out here because either your wife left you or you lost your job. Maybe both. Am I right?" The teen asked sneering.
Waylon stiffened in surprise turning to glare at the teen who had a smug look on his face.
Brat.
"Look kid I'm sure you have somewhere to be right now and if you haven't noticed I'm kind of busy at the moment and you're distracting me." Waylon snapped turning so his back was towards the water and he was glaring at the teen.
"Even better reason for me not to go. You may be okay with dying but I don't want to have your blood on my hands when I could have stopped you." The teen shrugged flashing him a slight smile.
"What gives you the right? Shouldn't you go back to your cozy little home where your mother is no doubt wondering where you are?" Waylon snapped fed up with the teen in front of him.
"I don't have a mother. Don't really have a father either." The teen replied playing with a stray piece of hair on his face.
Waylon stared at him in utter silence. Surely the boy was jesting. Even if he was eighteen, as he claimed, that was still too young to be out on his own. Even he didn't move out of his parent's place until he was twenty-one (mostly because his father was sick but that hardly matters). He couldn't imagine what had caused the boy to be out on his own like this. Unfortunately he didn't have to imagine since the teen decided to inform him anyway.
"Yeah my mom died when I was five. She killed herself while I was at school by swallowing a bunch of pills. My dad was the one who found her. Must have messed him up pretty bad. I mean their marriage wasn't perfect but you could tell they loved each other somewhat. I guess adding me to the equation messed all that up. At least that's what my loving father would scream at me whenever he hit me." The teen said reciting everything as if he was reading from a script.
"That's horrible." Waylon said his face twisting in disgust at the idea.
He wasn't completely naive when it came to the world around him. Waylon knew that a good percentage of parents hit their kids. Growing up his friend Arthur had gone through something similar. Then again once Arthur's aunt learned what was going on she took his father to court and won custody of him. Looking closer at the teen Waylon felt there'd been no one to stand up for him.
"No one noticed?" He couldn't help but ask.
"Oh they noticed. Wasn't like I could hide the black eyes and broken arms. No they just didn't care. We lived in a small backwater town and my dad was kind of a big deal there. He was the fire chief and no one wanted to go against him. So for a good couple years I was in and out of the hospital. Then one day my uncle came to live with us." The teen continued pausing when he came to the end.
"Did the beatings stop?" Waylon wanted to know desperately wishing for a happy ending to this story.
"No actually what followed after his arrival made me miss the beatings. At least with those my dad stopped after at least ten minutes. I could always count on that. After my uncle came to live with us though things only got worse." The teen replied with a shrug.
"How could they possibly get worse?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"Huh? Oh my uncle started using me as his personal fuck toy." The teen replied instantly his face blank as he spoke the crude words.
"Dear god." Was all Waylon could say.
"Yeah I get that alot. After awhile I said screw it and left. My dad never came looking for me and I never went back. I won't lie it's not easy living on the street. You never know where your next meal is coming from. There's always the chance someone could knife you. It dangerous but honestly I prefer it." The teen said glancing over at him.
Waylon didn't know what to think. He'd thought his life was bad. Thought that his problems were the worst. Hearing this kid (because he was still very much a kid in Waylon's eyes) talk he realized just what a fool he was being. Nearly half the world had more problems than he did. Killing himself would solve nothing.
With a final look back at the water Waylon climbed down his face red as he stopped in front of the teen.
"What did my pitiful story finally reach through that stubborn head of yours?" The teen asked smirking.
"I just realized I left the stove on. Wouldn't want to start a fire or anything like that." Waylon replied straightening his tie in an embarrassed manner.
"Sounds like a lame excuse but hey it's your life man," The teen said though he never lost his smirk, "So where you taking me out to eat?"
"Excuse me?" Waylon asked as they made their way back to safety.
"Well I figure since I just saved your skinny ass you might like to reward me but taking me out to eat. Come on I know this great place that serves cheap Chinese." Waylon rolled his eyes at the response but let himself be dragged away from the bridge.
Later that evening as they sat around eating at his apartment out of paper containers Waylon realized something important. Glancing over at the teen who was currently watching some stupid reality show on his t.v. he couldn't help but ask the question that was settled on the tip of his tongue.
"What's your name?"
The teen stiffened in surprise before turning to level his gaze on the other.
"Eddie. Yours?"
"Waylon. Waylon Park." He replied turning the other's name over in his mind.
"Hmmm. Park I like that. It's a good last name. I guess I'll just have to go by that now." Eddie responded crossing his arms behind his head and laying back.
"Excuse me?" Waylon asked in an amused voice.
"Well I gotta stick around for awhile and make sure you don't try and off yourself again. It'd be a real shame if someone with such a nice ass like you threw your life away." Eddie winked causing Waylon's face to heat up.
"This is only temporary." Waylon said turning back to his meal.
Eddie waved his hand in the air in a "yeah yeah" motion his eyes once again glued to the television. Waylon just shook his head at that watching the other fondly. Really Eddie was probably going to be more trouble than he wanted right then but he knew he was stuck with the other. That thought however didn't seem to bother him as much as it should.