We arrived at my house at 3pm, both wearing pullover hoodies so my mom wouldn't see the hickeys. My mom was in the dining room tidying, the radio in the kitchen was booming Motley Crue, she never even heard us come inside. With a finger on my lips signalling for Eddie to be quiet, I crept up behind and spooked her, earning a dictionary load of curses and a startled scream. "Rain Laurel Wheeler, don't you ever shock me like that again, Jesus christ!" She panted as she wrapped her arms around me, when we pulled apart my mom caught sight of Eddie leaning against the door frame with an amused smile splayed on his lips. "Uhh mom this is Eddie, Eddie this is mom." I introduced them quickly, hoping to get the awkwardness out of the way early, grab my things and head back to the trailer. It wasn't that I didn't want my mom and Eddie spending time together, I just knew she would either highly embarrass me with stories of my schoolkid crush on him or she would go into CIA mode and interrogate him within an inch of his life. "Pssh, I know who Eddie Munson is," my mom waved a hand in my face and bounded over to Eddie to give him a hug, "Mike's been idolising you since he started high-school, Karen told me all about it." Eddie seemed surprised by the hug but squeezed her back anyway and responded, "oh really? Well he's a cool kid - they all are. It's great to meet you. Uhh why don't I wait in the hall?" Eddie cocked an eyebrow at me and I nodded, moving past him to the stairs. I was three steps up when my mom cleared her throat, feather duster in hand, "You wanna tell me what's going on?" Eddie was studying the family photos hanging in the hallway, but half turned towards my mom when he spoke, "I asked Rain if they wanted to spend the next couple days at my place, so we're getting whatever they need to..." He trailed off when my he saw my mom's sickly sweet smile; I knew this smile all too well, this was the 'what the fuck, Rain?' smile. She followed me up to my bedroom.
Behind the closed door wafted the feather duster at me in annoyance, "How many times do I have to tell you to call and let me know you're safe! I thought you might go home with him but a call still would've been nice." I sucked in a short breath and said, "Sorry mom I should've called earlier to explain. Eddie's uncle is away so I'm gonna stay with him for a few days." My mom arched a brow at me and snorted,. "I get it, I was young once too y'know," My face flushed and I turned my back to her, ferociously packing stuff into a hold-all. My mom had never been prudish when it came to things like talking about sex; she gave me 'the talk' multiple times from the age of six and made sure I knew exactly who to tell if any adults tried to take advantage of me. As I got older she also instilled in me the values like never letting anyone try to shame me for my sex-life, and that masturbation is a normal part of life. Thanks to this life-time of a no-shame approach to all things sex related, I'd never been embarrassed to talk about it with her, until now. "Lalalalal I can't hear you!" I sang. Relishing in embarrassing me, she continued with, "by the way - you're walking funny." I almost died right there and then, frozen on the spot but feeling my face burning as she howled.
Eddie was still gazing at the photos in the hallway, standing in front of my graduation picture with a small smirk on his face, as we descended the stairs. "Ready to go Munson?" I patted him on the shoulder, heading towards the door. My mom rested a hand on Eddie's arm before he could follow, "Any plans for Thursday?" she asked. "Uh not really. Usually go fishing with my uncle and grab a beer or something but he's not home until Friday, I'll probably get a TV-dinner and watch the fireworks from the trailer." Thursday is the 4th July - instead of going to any parties or carnivals my mom and I have always spent the holiday pigging out in front of the TV with a movie marathon, then sat in the backyard with hot chocolate to watch fireworks. Eddie's plans for this year sounded awfully lonely, and I desperately wanted to include him in ours. Mom beat me to it, "Be here by 4pm - Movie marathon starts at 4:30 and we'll order take out at 5." Eddie's face lit up but he seemed speechless, just nodded his head enthusiastically. Driving back to the trailer, Eddie opened his mouth a couple times as if about to speak, but never actually said anything. "What's up?" I eventually asked when we began pulling into the trailer park. Eddie tossed his head back against the headrest, blowing thick hair out of his face, "Was she serious about inviting me over on Thursday?" Confusion spread across my face, "Of course, why wouldn't she be?" I responded. A small exhale floated through Eddie's lips, he turned to me with a meagre expression and said, "Most mom's of people I date take one look at me and slam the door in my face; never been invited to spend the holiday with anyone before." I leaned over to stroke Eddie's cheek and say, "Well my mom just did."