Eddy gave a much exaggerated start, as if he had had the scare of his life. He landed a few meters behind, on his back. He rubbed his eyes to see if it wasn't an illusion, but the image didn't change. He just couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was trying to make sense of it and couldn't, however, there he was. His eyes couldn't fool him.
He wondered how it was that, even if it was something crazy and strange, what was in front of his eyes must make at least a little sense — because if not, it wouldn't be true. Perhaps because he was one of the few who had not been robbed. And in fact, he was the only one in the neighborhood who loved to wear a tie.
It was Double D.
Eddy just looked stunned at his friend laughing. You could tell that it amused him a lot.
"Don't put that face. At least I gave you a hand, be a little more grateful."
His voice was no longer the friendly, fragile voice that highlighted his usual fragility. This was a deeper, more sinister voice, its tone was much lower and if you closed your eyes you would easily mistake it for the voice of some villain from the movies Ed had.
"S-S-Sockhead?"
"'S-s-sockhead?' Didn't you want to see a friend? And that's how you treat him."
But what stood out the most about his new appearance were his eyes. They no longer had the color they used to be. His irises were silver, almost white. His eyeballs were surrounded by a dilated border of skin of a darker, reddish hue. They appeared to be dark circles. It was as if he hadn't slept for days.
Then an idea popped into his head, and he began to laugh.
"What are you laughing at? What's wrong?"
"Oh Double D! Double D... You're so funny when you dress up and put on that thick voice." And he continued to laugh.
Eddy was on the gravel, still not standing up. Double D approached him, still without changing his face and then he let him see the depth of his eyes. They no longer conveyed that soothing feeling of warmth or friendliness. There was not a hint of humanity in his gaze. In fact, they conveyed nothing, just an apparent big void, in contrast to the rest of the expressions on his face, which were those of a small child planning some evil. What Eddy felt the moment their eyes crossed, the moment he could see his soul through his eyes, would be compared to what one would feel if one were being sucked into a black hole, or plunging into an ocean of black liquid at high speed. There was no way of knowing what was in that place, but of one thing he was sure: it was infinitely immense and absolutely dark.
"Are you done?"
"Double D..." he blurted out, amazed. "What happened to you? I don't understand anything!"
Double D approached him silently, still with a non-benevolent smile on his face.
"You see? I didn't take off my mask for you to understand, just for you to stop kicking like a baby, because we have a lot to talk about."
Eddy just stared in disbelief at his friend, or whoever was in his friend's body. Double D's gone crazy? Just looking into those eyes, Eddy had understood in that instant that it was not a joke. He didn't do these things.
"Oh, just look at you, his friend said as he shook his head. "How well they have treated you, Eddy."
Eddy clutched his head in his hands. Double D was not the type of person who liked to make these jokes, much less in a situation like this. He just couldn't find an explanation, nor did he want to. He just wanted to believe that what he saw was only a product of his imagination because of all the fatigue dragged on. But again, he opened his eyes again and there he was. There was Double D.
"It's not true... It can't be! It makes no sense! Exhaustion makes me see illusions. You ain't Double D! You're an impostor!" It was clear to Eddy; or he was losing his sanity, or he was in the presence of something never seen, his eyes were not deceiving him and Double D... Double D was the one who had lost his sanity. "It can't be you! Yesterday we were both together trying to find the real culprit among the others. Don't tell me now that it was all planned! And where did you get that strength? You're a weakling!"
Who would have thought that finding out the identity of the masked thief was only going to bring up more questions than answers? Double D raised his silver eyes, thinking about what he was going to say. Then he began to speak slowly.
"Let's just say I've opened my eyes, and you wouldn't believe what I saw if I just told you. That's why I decided to let you experience it yourself," he commented, referring to everything Eddy had gone through in the last twenty-four hours. All the robberies, all the plans, had only one objective, which had nothing to do with reselling said objects, as some would have claimed, nor was it to harm Eddy. Everything was so that Eddy could see what he had not seen in all this time.
"Why?" Eddy tried to hold back the tears. "Why did you do it?"
Double D smiled again. He was taking him where he wanted.
"We have lived in a lie all this time, my friend. It was time for us to wake up. I did it, you know? And look at me... all these years of injustice... I've been suppressing this feeling somewhere inside of me... you know, when I still believed in friendship and such banalities. But everything has a limit. I have endured everything they did to us all this time, until my tolerance, my patience ran out, and then... Then finally it was me, not the kind idiot who helps everyone, but just me and everything you see now. As they still say in some part of the world, I rose from the ashes. Can't you see my smile? Now I am happy, finally."
Eddy was horrified by what Double D had just told him. He could not accept the idea that all this time he had lived with someone he didn't know. He had always believed that his friend's outstanding virtue would never end, and for that reason it was a virtue. But apparently it all ended sooner or later. If what he was saying was true, it could be quickly deduced that Double D sacrificed his own judgment by suppressing all that... hatred? Or whatever that negative feeling was. Because that's what he saw in his smile. This is not how someone who found happiness smiles. This is how a monster smiles, a madman, a psychopath. Someone bad.
"Oh, by the way, you haven't thanked me yet," he said proudly in his sinister voice.
Eddy took his head again, agitated. He stifled a chuckle that expressed nothing but desperation.
"What the hell are you talking about? Wake up from what? Thank you? Why?! For having turned the whole world against me?! For robbing us all?! For stealing my wallet?! Even the stupid Kankers are looking for me and you were probably behind that too. We had managed to get accepted after so much, and you... you in less than two days ruined everything! You ruined me! What do you want me to thank you for ! That you have ruined my life?! I trusted you! We all trusted you! Why did you do it?! Traitor!" Eddy lowered his head, letting a tear escape.
Double D laughed out loud again. He stopped to watch Eddy and then continued laughing. Eddy just watched, not knowing what to believe.
"It's so funny, you take it as a loss when all I did to you was a favor." With a finger he wiped away a tear of laughter.
"What? Are you crazy?! Where's the favor?!"
Double D stopped laughing and became serious.
"Those you call friends are just a bunch of treacherous leeches who discard you like a garbage bag when they don't like you. You wouldn't believe everything they think."
"What are you talking about? You don't know what you're saying!"
"You know it very well, you always have. We spent a lot of time trying to get into their sad circle of friendship, socializing with them, adapting to them, their fashion, their way of thinking, we even helped them... but they didn't give us a chance. They always kept us away from them, just like mangy dogs. Then we didn't have much remorse when we scammed them, because for of them we had already exhausted all resources to bond with them. You understand? I have opened my eyes a very short time ago, I saw the truth and now I am showing it to you, Eddy. I didn't ruin your life, as you say. Let's say I just took your image for a while and made some modifications to it. That way, I got them to stand in front of you and remove their masks…" He spread his arms, seeking Eddy to appreciate what he had discovered. "They didn't hesitate for a second to incriminate you. That's how they really are. Do you think it was just the confusion? What you just experienced hours ago was nothing more than reality. They showed you their true face. The one they wore a long time ago."
Eddy was replaying the insight he had given him, and it seemed to make more and more sense. From some perspective, the other kids had been unfair to them too, perhaps especially Eddy and that was what Double D couldn't bear. But the latter apparently would have been able to accept reality, while Eddy didn't, not so suddenly. Until now he had been wondering why everything that was happening was happening, if the storm was supposed to have ended when the three of them made peace with the kids of the cul-de-sac. Now many things made sense. The answer was on the tip of his nose, it had always been there. It was all a lie. And that hurt.
"No, that's not true." His attitude now was that of an infant covering his ears with his hands while making noise, like someone who didn't want to listen anymore. But he was still hearing it, clearly. 'Why are you running from the truth my friend? Just accept it. The sooner you do it, the sooner you will resurface. Just as I have.'
"This whole stealing thing was just an excuse, Eddy. The truth is they've wanted to get rid of you for a long time. They couldn't take you anymore, they never did." Double D leaned down a little, to get closer to Eddy, who was still lying on the ground. The expression on his face was one of pure horror, just plain. He remembered when, yesterday, everyone was gathered at Rolf's house, trying to find the person responsible. And all the accusations had fallen on him, simply for being him. 'You're Eddy, that's just why you're a suspect.' It was like that, wasn't it? It had to be that way. "Just imagine if instead of you, I had put Jimmy, or Rolf. Or even Kevin. Finding any of them at the scene of the crime, the others would have doubted, as anyone would doubt their friend if they found him in a suspicious attitude. Instead, with you there was no doubt, do you understand?"
Another thought conflicted with the previous one to defend that little and dying hope he had left. If he didn't even finish believing in what was in front of him, why should he believe in what he was saying? This Double D was not that Double D. Everything he said could only be a lie.
"Shut up! You know nothing! How can you know about what they believe or not? It may be true that they didn't like us, but that's in the past! After that incident, everyone understood why we were doing it, and they forgave us! We got to be friends! Everyone! But you had to come and say stupid things, seeing things where there're none, ruining everything that we worked so hard to achieve. If they're chasing me now it's your fault!" Eddy stopped for a while to catch some air. Double D began to approach him. "I don't know what happened to you, Double D. Who did this to you? It was the Kankers, right? What did they do to you? Tell me! I'd told you that it was a bad idea to approach them! And you didn't lis-!"
Double D took Eddy by the jaw and pulled him close. He felt a stabbing pain in that place: the tension of the moment had made him forget that no more than two hours ago he had crashed against May's teeth.
"You were nothing more than trash to them! Just like Ed, and like me! They never understood us…" Double D was now looking at the horizon, serious. "We wasted a lot of time trying to fit in with them, and all for what? Do you think it was worth it? Just look at how they left you..."
"No ... It's your fault!"
"If it's a lie, tell me, how many times did one of them say 'I like you' or something like that?"
Eddy was silent and Double D smiled once more. Releasing his jaw, he sat up and went to the chair that lay sprawled a meter from both of them.
Eddy had leaned back on the gravel, sobbing. Again, he didn't want to believe him, but he was Double D. The person he trusted the most, trying to make him see the truth, as painful as it was, as a friend was supposed to do. 'Didn't Double D always know what he was doing? So?' He no longer had the strength to get up. Some clouds have completely covered the sun.
There were a few seconds of silence, in which Eddy, lost, didn't know what else to say. Double D grabbed the chair, still hanging from the scraps of rope he had cut, and dragged it away.
"But there we went. The three of us, Ed, Edd and Eddy, hand in hand and singing, playing with others, trying to be part of them," he intoned, laughing, as he hid the chair in a large thicket. Then he turned to Eddy. "Ed, the friendly fool. You, the impulsive, visionary leader, and I the brain who is gentle with people, because that's what I was. So we went. And do you know what we get in return? Nothing." He sniffed his right pocket and grimaced, then pulled an air freshener from his beanie. "Nothing has changed since day one, and I know you've noticed it as much as I have. Sarah hates us, Nazz hates us, Jonny hates us. Jimmy, that little rat... he liked to abuse my kindness. Kevin is the worst of all. And then there're those three sisters... Tell me, would you miss any of them?"
"..."
Eddy opened his mouth to say something, but the words didn't come out. He had nothing to say. Every word he heard made him feel worse, so he just lowered his eyes.
"Let tell you something," He finished spraying his pocket and put the air freshener away. "You have something that others don't, in addition to being honest in your own way. Ed and you were the only ones who ever loved me for who I was… well, besides Marie…" He grabbed Eddy's arm and began to drag him. He didn't resist, just listened. "But even if it is something I regret now, Eddy, I value that. So I'm going to give you a chance. So far you have taken care of the vast majority of our plans, like the good visionary and impulsive leader that you were. What if now you continue with the plan that I already proposed?"
He left his friend tucked in one of the bushes of a small thicket, at a considered distance from the other bush where he left the chair next to the ropes.
"They gave you pain and suffering, so now you must give them something in return to pay off the debt. An eye for an eye." he told him as he took the slingshot from his hat, opened his hand to place it there, and closed it, and then stood up again and admired his figure. "Black looks perfect on us, don't you think so, Eddy?"
"I thought... I thought... that after all..." Eddy said between sobs, "they were beginning to like me."
"I know..." Double D replied, still in his deep, evil voice. For a moment he felt sorry for him "…but don't forget what I told you. In the next few hours, you will be able to see for yourself everything we talked about."
And in the same way that he came to rescue him, he stood up and began to walk away. Eddy no longer wanted to follow him, or kill him or anything like that. He didn't want anything anymore
"We've already passed these rocks four times, Nazz! How many times do you want to see it?" Kevin snapped.
"But I feel like we were walking almost in a straight line all this time."
"Well, no. We wouldn't see the same white rocks over and over again if we were."
Kevin believed they hadn't strayed far enough. They had come a long way, so following a straight line was not as easy as it seemed. The sun was obscured by clouds, so they couldn't orient themselves from it, assuming they knew how. And Nazz was not wrong.
"Well, Mr. Reason. Let's do what you say," she said and crossed her arms trying not to hear him anymore.
As they continued to tilt their direction to the right, Kevin asked.
"Hey... are you angry?"
"No." She was walking in front of him, a little away and trying not to look at him. She felt a strong need to let him know, in some way other than directly, that she was angry. A few seconds of silence passed.
"You're angry," he pointed out.
Nazz watched him out of the corner of her eye without pausing.
"Are you asking me?"
"No. I'm affirming it. You always get like that when you get mad." and he was right-. "What's your problem?"
"None, but it seems you have several."
"What does that mean?"
"You know..."
Here we go again, Kevin thought.
"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. I'm interested in knowing," he told her as he took her arm to stop her. If there was one thing that experience had taught him, it was to honestly face their differences whenever possible, especially if it was a girl. Lying would only complicate things, although sometimes there was no other way.
"Oh, now you care about your friends?"
"What are you talking about? I don't understand your point, Nazz. If you were a little clearer with..."
"First you force us all to walk around without stopping for a second. Then you refuse to help find Jimmy," his friend finally spat.
"Oh, is that it?" Kevin asked, slightly surprised, though he somehow expected it.
"'Oh, is that it?' Nothing else?"
It turns out that he too had a limit, and she, more by nature than habit, had crossed it.
"What do you want me to do? Cry because Jimmy got lost there? I do my best but that isn't enough for you, you only know how to ask and ask 'Kevin this, Kevin that'! I don't know why they can't understand it." He paused for a second to better address his friend. "Do you want me to apologize for my lack of solidarity? All right! Sorry for being the only one deciding priorities! Sorry to be the only one to dare to admit that none of us had time for Jimmy, even though we were all thinking the same thing! Happy?"
She expected him to throw a little tantrum over what happened, but he didn't. She wasn't expecting him to be honest with how he felt. Had she been so unfair to him? Or was he just exaggerating? Relatively, he was right. He had been shouldering the responsibility of the mission voluntarily, deciding where to go, what to do, how to search. It's all him.
"Yes." Nazz crossed her arms again.
"Listen..." Kevin put a hand on her shoulder, trying to regain confidence, as if there was something delicate to fix. "Jimmy is fine, he must have been distracted by some silly butterfly. You know how he is," he said, trying to calm the mood. "Now you tell me one thing."
"What?" She asked curiously.
"If it's true that I seem like an inconsiderate and bad friend for not accompanying Sarah and you're upset about it and blah, blah... then why are you still with me? Why didn't you go with them?"
"Because... well..." Nazz covered her face. "Oh, you already know that, Kevin. I couldn't leave you alone."
What he heard from his friend really surprised him. He thought that, since they were letting their thoughts out without filters, she would confess something like 'I follow you because I love to make you angry'.
"Really…?"
"Yes! I mean, if it's true that there's a madman on the loose kidnapping people, I can't let you go around alone. Someone has to take care of you. Get it?"
'Ohh that's it. Take care of me? A woman? Yeah, whatever you say...'
For an instant Kevin was physically and emotionally reduced to a five-year-old, like one of those brats she tends to take care of when she works as a babysitter.
"Take care of me?" Nazz let out what sounded like a disinterested "aha." Kevin gave a little laugh. "Look, girly, I mean, Nazz. I really, uh... I appreciate your concern for me but, first, there is no 'loose madman' out there in this forest, and second... I know how to take care of myself. Don't be offended, but I think it would be the same."
Nazz asked if he was sure and Kevin said yes. They continued walking for a few minutes, in silence.
"So... Kevin can take care of himself..."
"Is there a problem?"
Nazz grabbed his right arm and, using her back, pulled forward, causing the boy to turn around and fall on his back, headfirst. And quickly, she held him back by getting on top of him.
"It shows," she laughed.
"You do like to cheat. I wasn't ready," Kevin complained, spreading his legs, causing her to lose her balance and fall to one side. Now Kevin had her on the floor. "What about now? Does the princess need me to rescue her?"
Nazz kneed him in the groin to free herself from him.
"Who's the princess now, Kevin?"
Kevin fell to his knees, writhing in pain as she scrambled back to her feet.
"It's... not fair, you're a girl, I can't hit you... no, no, no, wait!" His friend had started throwing several random punches and kicks at him. Kevin tried to dodge and stop them with one hand while he resented the pain with the other.
"So what? Are you going to let a girl beat you?"
Kevin used to recognize himself as a grown man, even as he was just entering his teens. He couldn't hit women, but he could defend himself.
He deflected one of her blows, placed one foot behind her legs, and with a little force brought her to the ground again. She didn't give up so easily. She got up from the floor, climbed up to take his neck with her arms and brought him down again using her own weight. Then they both started going round and round until they were exhausted.
Again, Kevin was on the ground.
"Stop it, Nazz. You have an advantage, you already won," he said, agitated.
"See, Kev? You need a girl by your side, don't deny it."
Kevin had been really amazed at Nazz's abilities, even if he let her win, she was just great.
"That's not true. I only need you."
She didn't say anything. She wasn't expecting to hear that, but now that she had heard it, she had really liked it.
Kevin caressed her face, delicately, thus managing to draw a big smile. She had the boy where she had ever imagined having him: on the floor, motionless, at her mercy... and a few inches from her mouth. He also realized that. He started calling out to her with his eyes, asking her to come closer.
They both closed their eyes. She was approaching him shyly, expecting to meet his lips at any moment.
Then Kevin took her by the arms again, placing his foot next to her knees to bring her back to the floor.
"Ha! Nobody beats Kevin so easily!" He exclaimed victorious.
Nazz felt quite foolish for falling into his trap. She broke the balance of Kevin's arms with a slap to free herself again and, with another accurate elbow, slammed him to the floor. This time without measuring her strength.
"Let's go now, Kev."
Eddy was still sobbing in the bush where Double D left him. The reality was harsh. But it was reality, he thought. And worst of all, deep, deep down, he knew everything Double D had told him was true, or at least that was the feeling he had. His friend only helped him to accept it in part. Now he would have to see for himself: he hadn't realized until now that he was back in the cul-de-sac.
From his position he could see the houses. To his right, about twenty meters from him was the street, the first one to cross the alley on the way out. In front of him was Double D's house, and to the right, Rolf's. Everything was in silence.
"I'm through. It's over."
He heard a noise. He quickly searched for its origin and found it: it came from the window that overlooked Double D's kitchen.
It's Marie. Eddy watched her open the window and go into his house.
He didn't know at what moment she had appeared there, he hadn't heard her arrive, and if she had seen him, she wouldn't have continued on. Although, to tell the truth, nothing mattered to him now.