Chapter Five
"It was so strange Sarah, they were all there, going somewhere," Jimmy told her wide-eyed.
"Wow, Jimmy, we should really tell our parents," replied Sarah.
"You mean get Kevin in trouble?" trembled Jimmy. "They're all bigger than us Sarah."
"I'm not scared of Kevin, Jimmy, and you shouldn't be either," said Sarah.
"I think something big's going on," insisted Jimmy, "and if we tell our parents, we might never find out what it is."
"Something big?" questioned Sarah.
"Bigger than the usual things," confirmed Jimmy. "I think we should investigate ourselves and find out."
Sarah smiled. "You might just be right Jimmy."
When Eddy got up he found his mother asleep in the kitchen. Deciding it would be best not to disturb her, he crept to the cupboard and opened it. Of course, as luck would have it, a box of Chunky Puffs fell to the floor, and his lightly sleeping mother woke with a start.
"Oh here you are," she glared. "Where were you last night?"
"Ed saw a spider; I needed to catch it for him."
"And Ed usually wakes you in the middle of the night to catch spiders?"
"Yeah, I'm surprised this is the first time you noticed," Eddy lied, his face open and flawless.
"And it usually takes you hours to do?"
"You know me Mom; I'm not great with spiders myself."
His mother sat still and stared for a few moments, until Eddy thought she had frozen in time and he could leave and never have to worry about her again. He loved his mother as much as any son did, but this idea was strangely appealing. It scared him.
"You went to see Arnie didn't you."
Eddy didn't see the point in lying any more. Arnie was his brother; he could see him if he wanted to.
"Yes."
"Remember what I told you Eddy," his mother said in a restrained voice, trying to be both understanding and threatening at the same time, and not really managing either. Her tone was like a veiled threat, and Eddy found it frightening. "He's a bad influence on you, and remember how sad you were when you woke up and found him gone. We want you to remember the good things about your brother, and that means not seeing what he's become."
"He's still the same person!" screamed Eddy. "So what if he dances in clubs and humps everyone in sight!? He's still my brother, he's still a good brother, and I still want to see him! He left, but now he's back, and I'm going to make the most of that!"
"We know what's best for you and-"
"I want to know my brother and know where he is! I want him to be a part of my life. You want to pretend he's not here, like he's dead, and I bet that's what you'll tell me some day! You want to break us up! You want to break up this family and take away the only person who really knew me! Who showed me everything I know! What'd you ever teach me Mom? Is that really what's best for me?"
She had never heard an outburst like this from Eddy before. With a shudder, she realised just how alike he and Arnie were. Knowing she had to make a move but unsure what, she did the first thing that came to her head.
"You're grounded young man!" she screeched. "Get to your room now!"
"Get bent," muttered Eddy, heading for the front door.
"Come back here!" she yelled and chased him down the hall.
He began to run, threw open the front door and ran into the street, slamming the door into her, hitting her in the face. She saw the dark blur crossing the street through the frosted glass, fell to floor and cried in the silent hall.
Inevitably, Eddy found himself gravitating towards Edd's house. He thought of the day before, when the strangeness and sadness of the world melted away before Edd and smiled.
He went to the back door, where the two usually met, but he felt tears begin to burn behind his eyes when he heard raised voices there too. He crept a little closer, and what he heard shocked him. Genuinely shocked him into silence and stillness.
"You mad bitch, I told you this would happen!"
"You never tried to stop it did you, you whore-sucking pussy thief!"
"I told you you should never have kept him!"
The door slid open and Edd fell into the back yard and began to cry. Eddy took a few steps closer, holding out a hand to Edd, but before he could say a word Edd threw himself at Eddy and flung his arms round his neck, crying deep into Eddy's shirt.
Because of his taller height, Edd's face hung down, close to Eddy's. A thought struck Eddy. Something to cheer Edd up. Show him he really was loved. His lips touched Edd's, but Edd jumped away in shock. His big blue eyes stared at Eddy in shock and disbelief.
He didn't mean to, it was only meant to cheer him up, he loved him, he wouldn't do anything her didn't like, he thought he wouldn't mind, it wasn't a bad thing.
So many thoughts ran through Eddy's mind but he couldn't say a thing. Edd ran away behind his house, and Eddy thought better than to follow him.
Instead he wandered the cul-de-sac, but no one was there. Ed was not in his room. Sadly he turned into the lane, and saw May Kanker sitting there on an old crate, thinking, tranquil.
He smiled at her, and she smiled back, but made no move. He sat down on a smaller crate next to her. He couldn't speak for a moment, and just looked at her. Her shiny clothes and glittery makeup were gone, and in there place was the simple, plain face and scruffy clothes of the May he had come to know.
He opened his mouth. She smiled. "So… what'd you think of last night?"
"I loved it, thank you Eddy," she replied. "I never realised your brother could sing like that. We usually only hear him screaming."
"Did your mom get angry about you going out?"
"No, she doesn't care."
"Wow," sighed Eddy. "Mine did."
"What happened?" asked May.
"Tried to ground me, so I ran out," he answered.
May sighed.
"At least your mom treats you like a grown-up," complained Eddy. "Mine still thinks I'm a child. Whatever I do, it's childish. When Arnie ran away, it was childish. Until he didn't come back. Now they'll say I'm childish, even though I made my decision and went with it."
"That's not what being grown up is," said May. "It's about…"
"That," finished Eddy.
"What Arnie does."
"It's not even that much. You just get naked and move. I bet we could do it."
May looked at him. She giggled. "It's usually us who say that." She checked herself. "Was us."
Eddy looked into her purplish blue eyes. "Wanna come to the junkyard?"
"Okay."
They set off together, the streets still deserted.
When they arrived at the junkyard, Eddy took May to the van where he, Ed and Edd came sometimes to play, or scheme, or get away. The sat on the wobbling mass of the waterbed, laughing at the motion, coming closer and closer, eventually holding each other as the mattress moved them up and down.
And lips came together, hands caressed fabric and flesh, clothes came off, and they grew up together.
It hurt at first, just as May had heard it would, but then the pain went away, and was replaced by pure pleasure, greater than anything she had ever known. As her eyes flickered open and closed, she saw from Eddy's face that he felt it too. She started to scream, like she had heard Lee do in the night, and she heard him join in, and they lay and screamed together, safe in the knowledge that there was no one around to hear them.
They lay in silence. They breathed heavily. They were exhausted. They were on top of the world. No one could ever take this pleasure away. It was too much for other people.
When they finally got up, they were shaky.
"Ooh," gasped May, holding her stomach. "That felt weird."
"What?" asked Eddy.
"This weird feeling in my belly. Does it always do that?"
"I don't know," replied Eddy. "I'm okay." Something dawned on him. "You don't think…?"
"We didn't think to use- no!"
They stared at each other in shock for a moment.
"We'll have to check!" cried May. "Come on!"
She ran out of the junkyard, Eddy in tow.
Outside the chemist's, May flashed a smile at Eddy. "Still some good things about being a kid," she said.
She walked confidently into the chemist's. "Hi," she said brightly. "I'd like a pregnancy test please." She emptied her pockets. "I have… nine dollars and eighty-seven cents."
The chemist looked at her. Eddy saw her visibly swell with excitement. "Oh, I'm so excited!" she squealed. "My Mommy's going to have a baby! I hope she has a little boy, because I've got two sisters already and I'd love a little brother!"
The chemist smiled and found the appropriately priced pregnancy test, and took the money. May left with it.
She looked at Eddy, and the two burst out laughing in unison.
They ran to the construction site near the cul-de-sac and, careful to avoid any passing builders, snuck into a portapotty.
"What do you do with that?" Eddy asked.
"I think I'm supposed to pee on it," May answered, looking intently at the instruction leaflet.
Shrugging, she pulled down her jeans and sat on the toilet, holding the test under her. "Here goes nothing," she said, her voice shaking slightly, and let a burst of urine fall onto the test. She stood up, holding the soaked test between the tips of two fingers and pulling up her jeans with one hand.
"How long do I have to wait?" she asked.
Eddy studied the instructions. "About five minutes," he answered.
There was silence.
"I think it'll be negative," May said eventually. "You're supposed to be sick if you're pregnant."
"I thought that was only in the mornings," replied Eddy.
The truth was, neither knew. Both were youngest children, and they had never known anyone particularly close to them become pregnant.
Eventually, May noticed the test begin to change colour. Their breaths short, she and Eddy watched the change closely, begging and praying for negative.
"It's gone blue," May observed.
"That means…" said Eddy, looking again at the instructions. "It's negative!"
"Thank God!" cried May.
Eddy threw his arms around May, and she attempted to hug back.
"Watch out for the test, Eddy," she warned. "It's got pee all over it."
They broke apart, giggling. May disposed of her pregnancy test and washed her hands, and they left the construction site, to see if there was anyone there.