An Unforeseen Ed, Part Two
Eddy and Edd trudged home in silence. It was more from listening for Ed than anything else and Eddy was grateful for the excuse not to talk. There was no way to paint around what happened. The Kankers saved his life.
Eddy tried to concentrate his mental energy on the coins he lost just to distract himself. How could fate stymie him so?
Edd noticed Eddy's rare prolonged silence. "A penny for your thoughts?"
"Going rate is a quarter."
"Greed intact. Check."
Ed still hadn't turned up. The boys assumed he'd already made his way home when they reached the Cul-de-Sac. The two boys paused in front of their homes and looked around again before Eddy shrugged. The neighborhood was quiet since most or all of the kids were inside for dinner and homework. With the sun below the horizon, their damp clothes felt even chillier.
"I'd invite you in, but I'm headed for the shower. Whaddya' say we call it a day?"
"Eddy?"
"Yeah?"
"You were submerged for so long, how did you manage to stay alive?"
Eddy wasn't ready to admit to himself what happened. "I found some trapped air."
A palm lightly landed on his shoulder. "I'm glad." Edd restrained himself from hugging his soggy friend.
"Yeah. Night."
_
A shower and change of clothes didn't ease Eddy's mind. Kankers wouldn't do anything without expecting something in return. He knew they'd turn up the harassment until Eddy somehow paid for the deed.
He thought about cartoons he'd seen. One character saves another and the grateful party becomes a servant. His stomach turned cartwheels at the thought of what they'd ask him to do.
He wasn't a man of honor. He knew that. It was his idea to trick them and steal his money jar in the first place.
Sleep, when it eventually came, featured dreams of being trapped underwater again. Only this time, he was tangled in Kanker tentacles.
_
Edd marveled at the thick mist enveloping the Cul-de-Sac as he made his morning paper route. Off all the seasons, Fall had the best mornings. It was chilly enough to sharpen the senses without being overly cold. He paused in front of Eddy's house. "Odd." Eddy's bedroom light lit the edges of his blinds. It was uncharacteristic for him to be awake that early. He usually had to be dragged from bed before he grudgingly dressed for school.
Edd barely had a mitten removed before Eddy's slider opened. A surprised yelp escaped both of them before the door slammed shut.
"Eddy?"
"What? Go away!"
"Come on Eddy. It's me."
"It's six in the morning, Sockhead. Go home."
"I'm well aware of what time it is. I saw your light was on."
"So what? Come back when it's time for school."
"Eddy," Edd knocked with his still-unmittened hand. "I'm your friend. If something's wrong…"
Eddy's door snapped back open. "Nothing's wrong, okay? I have some private business and I need to do it alone. Now GO AWAY." Eddy shot Edd a nasty look before shutting the door again. This time, he clicked the lock.
"Eddy, what could you possibly have to take care of at this hour? Don't tell me you have a paper route," he chuckled.
No response issued back.
Edd knocked again. "Eddy?"
The room remained silent. Edd scratched his head at the new mystery and wandered to the side of the house. He confirmed his suspicion when he saw Eddy's footprints in the frosted grass. He slipped out the back door and over the fence before Edd caught on.
Edd tried to catch up, but Eddy was nowhere to be seen once he made it to the lane. "What in the world is he up to?"
-
Eddy expected the trailer park to be silent in the chilly dawn, but nothing could be farther from the truth. More than one car or truck idled fitfully in the cold; belching clouds of thick exhaust into the air. The Kanker trailer was no exception. A woman who appeared to be their mother snarled obscenities at her reluctant old truck as she continually cranked the starter and finessed the gas. After several minutes of muttering, a slammed truck door and an opened hood; the old junker finally kicked to life with a half-hearted rev and almost died again. Winning the battle to start the truck didn't lighten the woman's mood. She placed a rock on the accelerator and slouched against the front fender to light a fresh cigarette.
"HEY! YOU THREE UP YET?!"
"Yeah…"
"I DON'T SEE YOU CLEANIN' THAT KITCHEN! GET A MOVE ON."
"We got it, Mom."
"DON'T YOU LITTLE BITCHES SASS ME!"
Eddy crept to the trailer door under the cover of the revving truck. He carried two of his most precious treasures. In one hand, he carefully palmed a silvery souvenir lighter from the Calgary Stampede; an artifact from his brother. His other hand cradled his lava lamp. Buying off his freedom was far more important than his prized possessions. A hastily written note accompanied his offering.
Eddy waited until the woman stared off into the dawn and took a few long drags on her cigarette. His heart crawled into his throat as he slipped from the truck to the trailer door. All that was left to do was place his offering at the stoop and slip away unnoticed. He hoped with every fiber of his being that this would be enough to buy them off.
A cough and smoke-addled voice issued behind him as he reached the screen door. "You lost, Boy?"
Eddy tried to run, but the woman caught his collar and yanked him back to the stoop. "You pigs keep gettin' earlier and earlier, don't ya?"
Eddy caught an acrid blast of smoke in his face as Candy Kanker forced him to sit. She pointed her mouth past him and yelled through the screen door.
"HEY! GET OUT HERE! ALL OF YA!"
None of the three sisters leapt to the door. Marie shuffled out first, followed by May and Lee. Their pajamas were hardly adequate cover in the cold. Within seconds, Eddy could see goosebumps, but what happened under their shirts caught his attention more effectively. 'Turkeys are done,' he thought.
"Any of you want to explain why there's some boy sniffin' around here right when I'm goin' to work?"
The three sisters looked at each other. They looked just as surprised as Eddy. Candy took another drag on her cigarette before cuffing Lee's curlers. "START TALKING!"
"Um, Ma'am?" Eddy shocked himself with the sound of his own voice. "I can explain."
"Oh, you can?" Candy waved her cigarette within inches of Eddy's nose as her lips curled into a tobacco-stained snarl. "Pardon me if I don't take you up on that. I've had enough men 'explain' things to me."
Candy rounded on her shivering daughters. "You three think I'm running a whorehouse?"
"It's not like that," Marie started.
"SHUT IT," Candy snarled. "I know all about how it's not like that! I also know I'm done raising God-damned kids. Any of you get knocked-up, you got a one-way trip to Child Services! You got that?!"
Candy stared expectantly. Lee looked straight ahead while Marie buried her hands into her armpits for warmth.
"I DIDN'T SAY THAT TO HEAR MYSELF TALK, DAMMIT!"
"Okay Mom," Marie managed.
"Watch your lip, Missy."
Candy looked at the butt of her cigarette before flicking it to the ground and stamping it out. Her eyes returned to Eddy. "What's with the stuff?"
"Heh-heh… Marie and May did me a solid yesterday."
Candy's eyes shot back to the shivering sisters. May's toes looked like they were turning blue.
"Anyway, I wanted to pay 'em back."
"How sweet." Candy looked over the lava lamp and the lighter. "We got enough power-suckin' things around here." She brusquely shoved the lava lamp back at Eddy. "You can keep that." The lighter she spent extra time on. She turned it over in her fingers and flicked it open in one swift motion and checked the flint. "I could use a new lighter, though." In another slick motion, the lighter flipped closed and slid into a new home inside her bra. "Thanks."
Despite its usefulness, the significance of Big Bro's cool lighter would've been lost on her.
"Get your asses back inside."
The three sisters kept their immense relief to themselves as they stepped past Eddy and back into the trailer.
"And you best hit the road, Buddy. I don't wanna' catch you creepin' around here again."
___
End of Part Two.