The Peach Creek public library has always held a special significance to Edd. He could really be at home amongst all of the books filled with adventure, romance, and most importantly, knowledge. Now the library holds possible information he needed to probe into Matthew's life. He had to begin his search somewhere.
Ed tagged along for the search. He wasn't sure how much help Ed would be in the situation, but he needed someone with him for emotional support. Ed most likely would frequent the comic book section of the library while Edd used the newspaper section of the library, but that was okay with the twenty year old.
"Double D, what are we doing here?" Ed asked looking around with a large goofy smile plastered across his face.
"We're here to research, Ed." Edd reminded Ed. "You can read the comic books in the comic book section while I research in another part in the library."
"But Double D!" Ed whined. "What if I really want to read the comic book more and I run out of time."
"Then you go to the librarian and request a library card." Edd explained. There was some things that had to be explained to Ed as if they had to explain to a child. Lovable oaf.
As soon as they both walked into the library, Edd led Ed to the comic book section. "There we go. If you need anything, Ed. I'll be nearby."
Edd gave one final wave to Ed and headed to the newspaper room. The movies he watched with Eddy always made researching newspapers look so easy, but it was grueling work. It took hours of digging through old newspapers just to find what you are looking for. This was not going to be an easy feat.
As he begun to open one of newspapers, he begun to question. What if the name in the hat was in no way affiliated with Matthew? How would he find out who the person in the photo was? Matthew was not going to offer up any information. He could ask Sasha, but he wasn't sure if Sasha would offer any new information either. About an hour into researching old newspapers, Edd had fallen asleep at the desk.
Edd had found himself back at that old whale trailer that Matthew had owned years ago. He moved his arms to get a good look at them, but screamed in shock at when he got a good look at what he wore. It was a yellow label with the words 'Matthew's Whore' written on it. He was also surprised to find himself wearing the same clothes he wore when he was only twelve years old.
Across from him was Matthew smirking at him. The man looking the same as he did when Edd first met him. The only difference between his memory of what happened eight years ago and this particular scene is that Ed, Eddy, and the cul-de-sac kids were missing. It was just him and Matthew there.
"Well, well, if this doesn't take us back, Princess." Matthew spoke. "You look as good then as you do now. If the brats didn't intervene, I would've took your virginity then and you and I both know it to be true. You were my whore when I first laid eyes on you and you are my whore now, rather you believe it or not."
As Matthew approached, Edd stepped back. "Listen, Matthew, you're not your abuser. Even in that slimy, vile dark heart of yours, you wouldn't molest a child."
"Who said I wouldn't?" Matthew asked rhetorically as he caught up to Edd and lifted Edd up like a ragdoll. Matthew begun to carry Edd into the trailer with Edd kicking and screaming for Matthew to put him down.
"I don't consent! Put me down. Put me down!" Edd screamed. Then he awoke from his nightmare, drenched in cold sweat. He was laying on top of a pile of newspapers on the desk he was doing research on.
"I have got to get those dreams under control." Edd muttered to himself and continued his research, still feeling groggy from the nap. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to wake up from his nap. He briefly called out to Ed to see if the big lug was still in the library. Once he heard Ed's voice, he got back to his research.
After a while, Edd exclaimed. "There you are!" It was an obituary for Roy Lovering. The guy in the grainy black and white picture matched that to the guy in the picture. As Edd skimmed through the obituary, he read part of it aloud. "Roy Lovering . . . Died at the age 44 in 1992. . ." That would've made Matthew just twelve years old when Roy died. "Survived by his sister Joyce Lovering and nephew Seth Lovering . . ." Edd pondered where he had heard the name Seth Lovering. It was very familiar. Then an image of dark hair and tattoos came to his head. It was him, Matthew's friend Seth. Roy Lovering was his uncle.
Edd then probed a little deeper and read a paper from a couple of days before the obituary was published and found Roy Lovering's name mentioned again. He read the article aloud. "Body found near Rethink Avenue . . . Body of 44 year old Roy Lovering was found in the woods near Rethink Avenue . . . Body discovered by two children playing in the woods . . . Coroners ruled the death a suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound . . ." Edd then committed on what he just read. "Oh my! How horrible."
Edd then read one last article that he found on Roy Lovering, still thinking about the previous article while he read the final article that took place weeks ago before Roy's suicide. Roy Lovering had caused a scene at a bar and had to be escorted off the property by police. It was the same bar that Matthew took him to. Edd pondered if anyone at the bar would recognize Roy's Lovering's name. The bartender looked old enough to have been serving at that bar for as long as Edd had been alive. Maybe the bartender could give him some information on Roy Lovering. That bar would be his next stop.
Once Edd made his way out of the newspaper room, he found Ed in the children's reading circle, reading one of his comic books and miming what was happening in the comic book. Edd didn't know rather to laugh or scold Ed for his shenanigans.
"Sir! Sir! That is not appropriate reading material for our small kids. Please go and take that trash book with you." The librarian scolded Ed.
"But I read it when I was a kid. Please! The kids were laughing." Ed pleaded with the librarian. Edd noted that the kids were laughing before the librarian showed up, possibly entertained by Ed's antics.
"No! Go!" The librarian pointed straight ahead of her to indicate that she didn't want Ed in the kid's reading room; The room surrounded by half-walls, all except for the main wall which contained a backdrop of painted trees and animals.
Ed slouched like a dog that got caught chewing up the newspaper and walked out of the reading room with comic book in hand. "It's not fair!"
"Cheer up, Ed. You can still read a comic book to your child when they come into this world." Edd patted his friend on the back. "I still have one more thing I need to do. Would you like to come with me?"
Ed grinned and shook his head eagerly.
The ride to the bar wasn't too bad. The traffic was decent. On the plus side, Ed was pretty chipper. Once Edd reached the bar, he parked his car in the parking lot. The bar was still as shady as Edd remembered it to be. He really didn't want to come back to this bar, but he had no choice.
"Why did we come here? Bars are so lame!" Ed complained. "Nothing but people drinking and watching some lame sport. Bars are bad for Ed!"
Edd sighed. "I just need to get some information. It won't take long."
Ed pouted, but still came along with him inside of the bar. The bar sure had a lot of intimidating bikers that night. The bikers were acting rowdy and chugging down beer like it was going to disappear. Along with bikers were prostitutes. Edd could hear the women peddling their services to the clientele. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to come back to this bar. Hell, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to bring Ed along.
Edd made his way to the bar and grabbed a few napkins to place in his seat. With the napkins in place, he quickly sat down. He drummed his fingers on the bar. He noticed the same bartender from the last time he was there. The bartender had a cigar between his lips and was pouring someone else a whiskey.
"Excuse me, sir. I need to talk to you for a moment if you don't mind." Edd tried to get the bartender's attention. "I'm looking for information on someone."
The bartender sneered at him. "What are you? A cop?"
"No, no. I'm just looking for information on someone." Edd corrected.
The bartender didn't look fazed. "Look, if you want my information, Nancy-boy, you're going to have do a few things around here."
Edd did not like the sound of that, but despite his intuition telling him to remove himself and Ed from the situation, he had to get that information. He wasn't sure, but he was sure that Roy Lovering, Seth's uncle, had touched Matthew. He just needed something connecting Roy to Matthew, besides the picture. "W-what would I have to do?" Edd asked meekly.
"Nothing too demanding." The old, intimidating bartender replied. Edd had a stray thought that the bartender looked to have some Italian or Sicilian ancestry. The balding dark hair and pale complexion of the bartender reminded Edd of the jolly pasta chefs in movies, except the man was much more scary. "You just need to pay for a couple of drinks, pay my boys $15 for a joint, and sing some karaoke on that machine over there." The man pointed his fat fingers towards the karaoke machine at one side of the bar. "That costs money too, but my information ain't cheap."
"A joint? You mean I have to pay for marijuana?" Edd exclaimed. "Also, I'm not really into the music that came out within the last century. I'm more into classical music. Although I do enjoy some jazz music."
The bartender looked disinterested in what he had to say. "Listen, Nancy-boy, I'll pick the fricking song. You just pay for a joint and some drinks and don't just pay for them and leave them either. You gotta smoke the dope and drink the drinks, capisce?"
"Understood. Can I have one drink and then pay for another drink when we talk about the person I'm looking for?" Edd asked.
The bartender shrugged. "I don't see why not."
"Fine." Edd sighed. "I'll order prune juice and vodka." Edd watched as the bartender poured him a screwdriver. "That's not what I ordered."
"Too bad, Nancy-boy. I'll get you the correct drink when we talk about whatever you want to talk about. That'll be $8 by the way. Also, that would be 5 dollars to use the karaoke machine." The bartender replied, coldly. "Now get your ass on the karaoke machine. I have a bunch of boys that need entertainment."
Edd quickly paid the bartender and carried the drink to a table with a bunch of bikers. He was surprised to see Ed about to engage a strong looking biker in a game of arm wrestling. "Hiya Double D!" Ed greeted.
Edd greeted Ed back with a wave of his hand and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, gentlemen. May I purchase a marijuana joint from one of you?"
The bikers looked at him harshly like a bug that needed to be squashed. One biker with a long beard snorted. "Alright, Prissy-boy. That would be 15 bucks." The biker pulled out a joint from his jacket pocket. Edd quickly paid for the joint and tucked the joint into his ear.
When Edd reached the karaoke machine, the bartender was already setting it up for him. "There you go, Nancy-boy, the machine is all ready for you." The bartender headed back to his post. Edd quickly looked to see what the bartender had chosen him to play and didn't know the song at all. It was some song called 'Cradle of Love' by Billy Idol. He hoped for the sake of his health that the song wasn't derogatory. 'This is for information. This is for information.' Edd chanted the mantra in his head as he pressed play on the machine.
The beginning of song started off innocently. Well, maybe not so innocently, since Edd knew what "rocking the cradle" meant. Edd turned bright red when he had to sing the following lyrics. "It burned like a ball on fire. When the rebel took a . . . little child bride. To tease, yeah, so go easy, yeah."
Edd carried on with the filthy and vile song, imagining that someone like Matthew would find the song enjoyable. His face got even redder when he had to sing. "Yeah, flesh for your Romeo. Ah yeah, baby! I hear you moan. It's easy, y'know how to please me, yeah." After those initial shocks, Edd was able to finish the song. He hoped that he would never hear that song again in his lifetime.
"The use of the word 'love' in that song was a joke. The song was just about preying upon a younger person." Edd complained. The song wasn't derogatory, but it was disturbing to Edd. His downed the remainder of his drink before he headed back to the bar.
He heard Ed shout. "You did great, Double D!"
"Thanks Ed," Edd replied back and he took his seat back at the bar. He could hear the bikers laugh and hoped it wasn't at him.
The bartender made no comment on his performance. "Ain't ya going to smoke your joint?"
Edd had completely forgot about that. "Yeah, thanks. Got a lighter?" As the bartender handed him a lighter, he lit up the end of the joint and took a puff from it. He nearly choked on the smoke as he settled back into the bar stool. The bartender mixed prune juice with vodka and handed the glass to him. "That'll be another eight dollars."
Edd fished the money out of his wallet and gave it to the bartender. "So, what do you know about Roy Lovering? I have heard somewhere that he attended this bar."
"Roy Lovering? You mean, 'Crazy Roy?' He's been dead for fifteen years. What do you want to know about him for?" The bartender asked.
Edd quickly replied. "I think I know someone that might have knew him when he was still alive. I've read somewhere that he caused a scene in this bar before his untimely passing. I was just wondering what you knew about that."
"Hmm, a scene here fifteen years ago. You're going to have to forgive an old-timer, it's been years." The bartender looked lost in thought. "Oh yeah, now I remember. Roy was going to kill a son of a bitch that was harassing one of the girls. You know, one of the working girls. Roy always had a soft spot for women, especially prostitutes. Well, some narc called the cops and the coppers took Roy to jail for the night."
"I see." Edd nodded and then asked. "Has he ever brought anyone with him to the bar?"
"He's brought a few cougars to the bar with him. You know, women past their prime who can still get their choice in men." The bartender recalled. "Besides them, he also brought two different kids into the bar with him. One of the kids was a regular tubby and the other one was a beanpole who wore a medical mask. In fact, I think I still have a picture of him with one of kids . . ." The bartender turned around and started looking through old polaroids that were on the wall in front of the bar until he found the one he was looking for. The bartender set the photo in front of Edd.
There was Roy Lovering, having himself a glass of an amber colored alcoholic beverage, looking annoyed that he was having his picture taken. Next to him, was Matthew with a can of pop beside him, looking like he was having the time of his life. Edd had gotten the answer to his question on who Roy Lovering was.
"Thank you." Edd replied. He finished his drink and left a tip for the bartender. He headed to where Ed was and noticed all of the ten dollar bills sticking out of Ed's pockets. "Hey, Double D, I won $100."
"That's nice, Ed." Edd replied, assuming that Ed won that money from arm wrestling those bikers. "I'm ready to head home. You're going to have to drive me home if you don't mind."
"Okey Dokey Smokey!" Ed replied, cheerfully. "That was fun for Ed."
As Edd stumbled his way to the car, he mind was swimming with the information he just gotten. Roy had to have been the one to have raped Matthew. Who else would have done something like that? Who else would not see the inappropriateness of taking children to a bar with bikers and prostitutes of all places? As he gotten into the passenger's seat, Edd pondered if he should ask Matthew about Roy when he got home.