xxxxxx
Chapter 2
xxxxxx
Dinner was mostly uneventful. After Eddie helped Mr. Salinger cook, Patrick and Henry came home from school and were mostly silent themselves while the four of them ate at a dining room table like the kind of families Eddie saw on tv. Mr. Salinger led the conversation for the most part, and the boys pretty much only answered questions asked directly to them. Eddie wondered if the other boys were normally this quiet or if they just felt weird because Eddie was infringing upon their space.
Eddie couldn't really tell if Henry and Patrick were nice or not just from their dinner conversation. Henry looked kind of mean... and Patrick was pretty quiet, in a way that was a little weird... but Eddie was quiet too. He couldn't judge Patrick for that. He couldn't fairly judge Henry for looking mean either. That's just what his face looked like. Maybe he was actually really nice.
When they were done eating, Mr. Salinger suggested that Patrick and Eddie wash the dishes together while he and Henry folded some laundry. Eddie could tell the man was trying to get the boys to all make friends. It was awkward and forced, but Eddie was too scared to flat out refuse.
"How old are you?" Patrick finally asked once he and Eddie were alone at the sink. Eddie had agreed to wash the dishes while Patrick dried and put them away - since Patrick knew where they all went.
"Thirteen." Eddie answered. He already knew how old Patrick was. Mr. Salinger already told him. He wondered if he should ask just to be polite though.
"I'm eighteen." Patrick answered the question before Eddie could ask it. "You look really young. I was thinking you were like ten or something. But this is a house for teenagers, so I knew you couldn't be."
"Oh..." Eddie looked down at the soapy water in the sink. "Um... I guess I might look younger than I am..." He agreed. Patrick wasn't the first to have told him that. Eddie was pretty small for his age. It seemed to make him a great target for abuse, unfortunately.
"So why you here? Why don't you have parents?" Patrick asked rather bluntly.
Eddie swallowed nervously, scrubbing at a plate and then rinsing it before handing it to Patrick. He didn't like talking about his past. It was painful... But he wondered if he should share with Patrick, get the older boy to share his story too... see if he really might be able to connect with someone, make an actual friendship - something close to what it would be like to have a brother. A good brother - not an abusive foster brother. Eddie felt like he was being naive hoping for that...
But Patrick was in a similar situation as Eddie. Patrick wasn't the biological child of a foster-parent. He was a foster kid too. Patrick also had no family. Maybe he'd been searching for love and care for years just like Eddie had - maybe for quite a bit longer since he was eighteen.
"Where were you before this?" Patrick asked when Eddie failed to answer his first question. "Did you come straight from your parents' house or is this one stop in a long chain of shit?"
Eddie couldn't help a soft laugh. Patrick had described that pretty accurately... a long chain of shit. That sounded about right. Maybe it was stupid of him, but he felt like Patrick might be someone who would understand him. Sharing his life story with this boy didn't seem like as big of a risk as it had just a minute earlier. If anyone would get it, it would be another foster kid, another person who went though something very similar.
"I was at a foster home before this." Eddie finally answered. "I've been to four different ones, and temporary stuff between. My dad died when I was little. I got taken away from my mom a while after... and it's been foster homes ever since."
"Right... I get that." Patrick nodded. "I've been in like six foster homes. They get sick of me fast. My parents died in a house fire. I was sleeping out in my tree house. I was twelve... So I wasn't in there when the fire started. They were..." Patrick shrugged as though it barely bothered him. Of course, that would have been six years ago. It was old news.
"I'm sorry." Eddie whispered, scrubbing his dish rag across another plate.
"It's okay. Things haven't been too bad since then, really. Why'd you get taken from your mom?" Patrick asked.
"Um..." Eddie hesitated, not wanting to tell this boy too many details. He looked up at Patrick, who stared back down at him. Patrick was really tall. He seemed alright though. And his life had been shitty just like Eddie's. His parents died in an accident. There was nothing he could have done to prevent it. He just had awful luck. Eddie supposed there'd be no harm in just telling him the rest.
"My um... My mom..." Eddie started, looking down, not wanting Patrick to look into his eyes as he explained. "She made me sick on purpose... So she could take me to the doctor and tell everyone how sick I was. She liked the attention, I guess?" He shrugged and forced a laugh.
"Wow. That's fucked up." Patrick frowned.
"I guess so..." Eddie breathed. "I thought I had all these sicknesses. She had me taking pills for all this stuff I didn't really have, and some of the pills I think actually made me sick when I wasn't before. Some of them were gazebos."
Patrick smirked.
"It's not funny." Eddie glared.
"No... I think you mean placebos." Patrick laughed.
Eddie narrowed his eyes. "What'd I say?"
"Gazebos. Like those wooden patio things at parks or in people's backyards." Patrick laughed again. "Sorry though... You're right. It's not funny that she made you sick on purpose."
"Yeah..." Eddie shrugged. "I really do have asthma though."
"You do?" Patrick cocked his head to the side. "Is it bad?"
"Sometimes." Eddie shrugged, handing Patrick another clean plate.
Patrick dried to plate and put it away. "You won't like die from it or anything, will you?"
"I've got an inhaler. I know how to use it, and when to use it." Eddie told him. "I should be fine."
"Good." Patrick smiled.
Eddie smiled back, finishing the last dish and handing it to Patrick. "What about Henry? How'd he end up here?" He wondered.
"His mom left when he was young. And his dad was physically abusive. Used to beat him, yell at him... Really hostile stuff. He lost all the rights to custody of him. That's why Henry's kind of a douche bag." Patrick laughed slightly.
Eddie stared with wide eyes, swallowing nervously. "What does Henry do? Is he mean?"
"He can be." Patrick shrugged. "He's got a lot of pent up rage. His dad was a real dick, and Henry just kinda never got past it. He does seem to target younger kids. I think because he was always the victim with his dad. He wants to feel in control. Just try to stay on his good side."
Eddie nodded. His plan of action now, regarding Henry, was to avoid him as much as possible. That would probably be the wisest response to what Patrick was warning him about.
"Maybe he'll be nice to you though. He and I get along okay." Patrick noted.
"Well, you're not smaller than him." Eddie frowned.
"I'll put in a good word for you." Patrick laughed, turning and heading toward the door. "I gotta go do some homework. You starting school tomorrow?"
"Yeah." Eddie frowned. He had taken the day off to move in here. He actually was going to the same school he had always gone to. Just walking from here instead of where he'd been living before.
"Middle school's right by the high school, so we can walk together." Patrick offered. "You going up to your room?"
"I guess... If there's no other chores or anything I have to do." Eddie stared.
"He'll let you know if there's anything else." Patrick shrugged, leading the way upstairs and walking into his own room. "See ya in the morning."
"See ya..." Eddie forced a small smile then headed down the hall into his own room. He didn't really have anything to do. He had no homework of his own at the moment. He had no books, no paper to write or draw on. He just had his clothing and his inhaler.
So he laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Things at this house were actually eerily calm right now. No one had yelled or shoved him or threatened him. It was so unexpectedly gentle and low-pressure that Eddie almost didn't believe it. Patrick had been nice, Mr. Salinger was nice... It couldn't possibly be real.
Eddie wasn't naive. This wasn't the first time he moved in someplace new with people he didn't know. He understood that there was often a weird honeymoon phase which didn't properly represent how life was actually going to be. He knew just because things were good now didn't mean they would stay good.
His very first foster-home was like that. He actually called the man and woman he lived with there 'Mom' and 'Dad.' He was a lot younger then. He thought because they were nice during the first couple weeks that they were actually nice people in general. He had been wrong.
They started off treating him okay. Then slowly they started being more rough, not letting him eat until they and their older son were finished. Sometimes they ran out and Eddie didn't get anything. When the dad caught Eddie sneaking crackers out of their pantry, the dad would hit him for it. The dad hit him for taking too long in the shower too, for using too much warm water - then he had to shower outside with cold hose water for a week.
Then Eddie outgrew his shoes and they wouldn't buy him new ones. He had to keep wearing the ones that were too small, even when their son got new ones. Eddie complained about his feet hurting at school and a teacher called his foster-mom. He got in a lot of trouble for that... for making her look bad at school... He got some cheap new shoes after that, but he also was forced to stand outside in the snow without shoes on that night, for what he felt like was a really, really long time... and his foster-dad hit him again for that - quite a few times. They said he should feel lucky he had shoes at all - because he wasn't even their child.
Eddie frowned as he continued staring at the ceiling. He wondered what might set Mr. Salinger off... Eddie tried not to be needy, tried not to ask for extra food or new clothes. His showers were quick. He didn't complain at home or at school, kept bruises hidden... He always made sure to quietly do his chores, get his school work done, and generally just stay out of the way. He learned long ago that there were so many ways to piss off a grownup. He tried to avoid all of them at all costs... But sometimes just existing was enough to make a foster-parent want to slap you.
"Hey." A low voice spoke up from Eddie's doorway, startling him from his thoughts.
Eddie breathed in and sat up on his bed, staring toward the voice. Henry stood in the doorway. He didn't look happy, but not necessarily angry either. He just stood and stared.
"Hi." Eddie whispered back. Henry had barely talked at dinner. Patrick said he was mean sometimes. Eddie wasn't sure what to expect from him.
Henry paced into the room, looking around and frowning. "You don't own hardly anything." He noted, subtly closing the door behind him.
Swallowing nervously as he watched the door close, Eddie shook his head. "J-just my clothes..." He agreed.
Henry nodded. "So I gotta talk to you... Set up some ground rules." He started, taking a step toward Eddie.
Eddie pressed his lips together and stared up at him. Henry was pretty tall - maybe normal for his age, but tall compared to Eddie. He had a bit of muscle - again, maybe normal for his age, but compared to Eddie, Henry looked pretty strong. He could hurt Eddie if he wanted to... Hopefully he didn't want to.
"This is my fuckin' house. Okay? I've been here a lot longer than you have. You're getting into my space. I need you to understand that I get priority over you. I've been here longer. I'm older. I'm bigger." Henry started. "When I want to go through the hallway, if you're coming the other way, you move over. If I want to take a shower and you're in there, you fucking get out. If you've got a sandwich and I want it, you hand it over. Get it?"
Eddie frowned, wondering if he should just quietly agree or stand up for himself. It was always a gamble. Sometimes letting someone tell you what to do once was a huge mistake that led to them bossing you around forever. Sometimes arguing back once was a mistake that got you hurt quite a bit.
"Do you fucking get it?" Henry asked again, louder and slower this time.
"Yeah." Eddie finally squeaked, shrinking back. Standing up for himself sounded nice in theory, but with Henry right here, right now, towering over him, yelling at him... He figured it was smarter to just say whatever the older boy wanted to hear.
"And-" Henry went on, reaching down and grabbing the front of Eddie's shirt in a fist. Eddie winced, feeling himself freeze in fear. "You don't fucking tattle on me to Salinger. No matter what. If you piss me off and I punch you and you've got a big bruise on your face, you tell him you got in a fight with somebody at school. Don't tell him, a teacher, any of your dumb ass little friends. Don't you fucking ever tell on me, to anyone, or I'll kill you."
Eddie felt tears stinging his eyes as he stared up at the older boy. "Okay..." He promised. "I'll just stay out of your way... Th-then there won't be any reason for you to do anything to tell about..."
Henry's mouth twitched slightly, as he balled his hand into a fist and suddenly slammed it painfully down against Eddie's ribs.
Eddie let out a small noise, trying hard not to be loud, as he bent forward and blinked back tears. Henry's fist connecting with his ribs had knocked all the breath out of his lungs. Sharp pain shot through his body as he winced a pained breath. He hugged around his stomach, whimpering softly.
"I don't need a fucking reason to do something to you, faggot." Henry growled, grabbing Eddie's arm and pulling him back from his defensive position.
Eddie let out a tiny, choked noise, shaking his head and raising his hands defensively. "I won't tell..." He promised in a small voice. "Don't hit me again..." He added, shrinking down.
"Don't tell me what to do." Henry growled, punching Eddie against his ribs a second time, seemingly even harder than the last.
Eddie bent over again, choking out a breathless cry. Henry was really strong. "Please stop..." He whimpered.
"You keep any bruises that show up hidden, and you keep your mouth shut. You got it?" Henry growled, squeezing Eddie's arm in a hard fist and pulling hard, jerkily forcing him to sit up more fully, then grabbing his face with his other hand.
"Okay..." Eddie whispered, feeling tears stinging his eyes.
Both he and Henry jumped slightly when someone started knocking a the door. Henry quickly let go of Eddie and took a step back away from the bed as Eddie struggled to sniff back and wipe away his tears.
"It's me." Patrick's voice spoke from the other side of the door.
Eddie watched as apprehension seemed to melt off of Henry. He must have known he didn't have to hide anything from Patrick. Maybe he told Patrick not to tell on him too. Maybe he threatened to hurt him like he hurt Eddie. Or maybe he didn't have to threaten Patrick. Maybe Patrick was much more Henry's friend than he was Eddie's. Maybe Patrick wouldn't care that Henry hurt Eddie.
"Can I come in?" Patrick asked.
Eddie looked nervously toward Henry. He didn't know what to say. Was he supposed to pretend Henry never even came in here? Henry said not to tell anyone about anything Henry did... Could he tell Patrick to come in?
Henry must not have cared what Patrick knew or saw. He reached out and opened the door himself. "Hey, Pat. Just getting acquainted with our new friend. Making sure he knows his place. See ya." He walked out.
Eddie sniffed back tears and looked away, not wanting to explain any of this to Patrick.
"You okay, Eddie?" Patrick frowned.
Eddie just stared down at the floor. He knew something good happening for once wasn't realistic. His suspicion that happiness and safety was impossible was turning out to be true... Just like it always did.
xxxxxx