Chapter 8 - Broken
It was the end of April and graduation was only a few weeks away. Homework was at a minimum for the seniors and they reveled in the misery of the students who had to spend the upcoming weeks preparing for finals. Eddy had gotten his grades up and passed with solid Cs. Ed was receiving mostly Cs with a few Ds. Edd had never gotten anything less than an A and was going to be valedictorian of their class. They were all enjoying the free time they had at the end of this year.
One night after school, the three of them, plus Dea, were all over at Eddy's house, hanging out. They sat around in Eddy's room for a while, talking and listening to music. Eventually they had decided to go to the kitchen and get dinner. None of this was out of the ordinary, but the boy's end of school mischief was about to kick in and cause serious trouble.
The four of them had prepared a dinner of sandwiches, chips, and soda, and had gone into the living room to eat while watching TV. There wasn't much on, just some old monster movie re-runs on the sci-fi channel. That was enough for Ed's over zealous imagination, though.
"I'm a monster! Roar!" Ed stuck two chips in his face like bad fangs.
"You're a lump," Eddy replied.
"Monster!" Ed argued. He picked up a handful of chips and threw them at Eddy.
"Hey!" Eddy picked up some chips and threw them back.
"Aaaarrrrggg!" Ed was in fantasy world again. He picked up a sandwich this time and hit Eddy in the head with it. Eddy grabbed a pillow off the sofa and leaned across Edd (who was in the middle of all this) and hit Ed back with it.
"Stop it, Ed! You're makin' a mess!"
"Terminate the enemy!" Ed shouted. He tore into the pillow with his teeth, just like he had done to Jimmy's Mr. Yum-Yum years ago. Eddy, Edd, and Dea stared at Ed, aghast. Eddy was the first to recover.
"Hey! Stop messin' up my mom's stuff!" he yelled.
He jumped over Edd and knocked Ed off the sofa. They continued to wrestle around on the ground and bump into furniture. Edd and Dea remained on the sofa. They stared at the other two with a mixture of amusement and confusion. At last Ed escaped from Eddy and stood with his arms raised triumphantly in the air. He still had a chunk of pillow fluff hanging out of his mouth, which completely contradicted his serious expression.
"Victory is mine! For I am Ed!"
"You're Ed and dead!" Eddy shouted.
He grabbed what was left of the pillow and threw it at his buddy. Only it didn't hit Ed. Ed dodged it and it hit the trophy on the shelf behind him, knocking it to the ground and shattering it. Eddy gasped and ran over to the broken mess.
"Oh no...Ed, look what you did!"
"You threw it, Eddy."
Eddy didn't respond. He knelt on the floor and held the broken pieces in his hands. He looked absolutely horrified. This prompted Dea and Edd to go stand beside Ed and see what damage had been done.
"My dad's gonna kill me," Eddy whispered, trembling a little, "Maybe I can glue it back together and he'll never know..."
Dea and Edd looked at each other nervously. Eddy stood up from the mess and backed up by his friends. They all stared at the remains of the trophy in silence.
"Oh, who am I kidding?" Eddy cried out, "I can't fix this! He's gonna murder me! That's it, it's over, I'm dead!"
"Eddy, I think you're over exaggerating a little bit. It was an accident after all," Edd said.
"That doesn't matter! That was his Salesman of the Year trophy, Double-D!"
There was a long pause and they all stared at the pile of rubble, as if staring at it could undo the past somehow.
"What am I gonna do?" Eddy asked himself out loud.
"I think we all just need to calm down and try to forget about this for a little while," Edd said.
Eddy reluctantly went with them back to his room. Their efforts to calm him down and make him laugh did little good. Their support helped him a little, but fear was still nagging at his mind.
Around 6:00 that evening, a car pulled into Eddy's driveway. The front door opened and then closed again. Eddy jumped at the sound and that horrified look returned to his face.
"Dad's home," he said, "you guys should leave."
"Friends don't abandon each other in times of need," Edd said.
"You guys don't understand," Eddy pleaded, "I don't know what he's going to do when he finds out- you should all leave, especially you, Dea."
"If you don't know how he'll react then it's all the more reason for us to stay," she said.
Eddy looked at her desperately. He didn't want anyone to get hurt. Well, actually, he doubted his father would ever attack an outsider. The truth was, he didn't want them to see when he got hurt. He didn't want to be humiliated like that in front of them.
"Who the hell did this?"
Everyone in the room jumped at the sound of the angry voice. Eddy began to tremble all over again. He knew it was only a matter of time now. Heavy footsteps were heard in the hallway and soon Eddy's door was thrown violently open. A squeak of terror escaped him as he turned to face his father.
"Did you do this, you little shit?" the giant of a man shouted. He was clutching the base of the shattered trophy tightly in one hand.
Eddy was too scared to answer. His two best friends and significant other were frightened out of words too. The whole atmosphere was cold and surreal.
"Answer me!"
"...y-yes."
The man grabbed Eddy roughly by the arm and drug him from the room. The last thing the others heard before the door closed again was Eddy yelling, "It was an accident! I swear to God it was!"
They all stood frozen in place, hearts beating out of their chests. A few minutes later they heard a rumble in another room, like a fight was taking place, and muffled shouts and curses. Edd looked terrified, like he might scream or cry. Ed put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Dea ran to them from her spot across the room, looking near frightened tears herself. She whimpered softly and Edd hugged her protectivly. The noise died down and they all watched the door.
"What's happening?" Dea whispered, shaking.
They all started when the door was flung open again. They heard a sharp crack and Eddy was thrown roughly to the ground inside the door.
"Please, stop it!" he cried, shielding his eyes.
"If you ever touch any of my stuff again, I'll kill you!" the man shouted. He slammed the door shut and left his son alone at last.
Ed, Edd, and Dea found themselves again unable to move. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Eddy was horribly bruised all over his face and there were cuts all over his arms. He still lay on the floor, shielding himself. One wrist was bent at an unnatural angle and his face was wet with tears.
The trio stared at him, gaping. Sobbing again shattered the silence in the room. Eddy painfully rolled over on his side and curled into a ball as he sobbed into the floor. Dea was kneeling beside him in an instant, and Edd followed shortly after. They placed their hands on him gently, trying to calm him, but he still cried and shook uncontrollably.
"Eddy, how bad are you hurt?" Edd asked, "Can you sit up?"
No response. Eddy's sobbing subsided and turned to whimpering and shallow breathing.
"Eddy, it's Dea. Can you answer us? C'mon, babe, help us out here. What do you want us to do?"
Again there was no answer. Dea looked at Edd hopelessly. Eddy whimpered and shifted again, drawing their attention back to him.
"...I-I can't breathe," he informed them.
Dea looked at Edd. Her eyes were shining with the tears she fought to hold back. Edd slowly stood up.
"I'll call an ambulence," he said quietly.
Dea managed to pull Eddy partly into her lap. His blood stained her clothes, but she didn't care, she still held him close.
"You'll be Ok," she said, "just try to calm down."
Eddy grabbed the carpet painfully in one hand. He wasn't moving the other hand and Dea guessed his wrist was broken. She grabbed his good hand and held it tightly. Edd knelt beside them again.
"The ambulence is on its way," he informed them.
He resumed helping Dea in her efforts to calm Eddy down and keep him from passing out. Ed had been watching all this silently. He still stood in the same place and seemed to be outside all that was happening. He looked like a statue, but his brain was working twice as hard as it ever had. His eyes narrowed and he walked out into the hallway, without anyone even noticing.
After what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance finally arrived. Eddy was terrified and couldn't seem to focus on anything, try as he might. Fear and pain were overwhelming him. He saw flashing lights outside his window and heard foot steps and voices in the hall. It all seemed horribly familiar to him. The last thing he saw was his brother's face, then darkness.
A/N: Read, review, and stay tuned for the next chapter where stuff will happen...