Chapter 6: Angry

"Eddy open this window right now!" I shouted at the window. I was not in the mood to deal with any more jumping through hoops and ladders. I needed to see him right away. The blinds that covered the window from the inside lifted up a small bit to reveal the eyes of a human inside. Of course I knew from the beginning who it was. He studied me for what was likely a quick moment, but felt never ending. Then as quickly as the blind had been pulled up, it dropped swiftly back down to hide the inside of the room away from the outside world. Before I could angrily bang on the glass some more, the back door opened. Out of it, the head of Eddy peeked out. Eddy looked as if he'd just woken up with the neatness of his usual yellow sports shirt and his two strands of hair atop his head. He then turned and looked at me.

"You have five seconds to enter before the door closes. Five, four…" He went on, sounding rather bored with what was happening. I quickly ran in through the doorway to the bedroom and landed on Eddy's bed. I then stood up quickly, not wanting to look too comfortable and make Eddy uncomfortable. Eddy then stood in front of me.

"Whoa Sockhead. I couldn't tell at all from the window, but man you've gone really casual." Eddy began, eventually bursting into a light laughter before long. "What's with that? Not really your style right?"

I grunted rather audibly, annoyed that this was the very first thing we'd be talking about. "I had an incident today and I needed to change urgently. This is definitely not my first choice stylistically."

Eddy then nodded sporadically, either indicating agreement or indifference. Regardless I continued on. "Where have you been lately?" My voice began to take on a much harsher tone then it did in the opening minutes, and it clearly hit Eddy too as he began to squirm a little. "Well?" I asked.

He then looked at my eye and twitched back a little bit. "Uggh, what's with the shiner on your eye?" It clearly grossed him out in the same way the sight of blood grossed me out. I wanted my answer more than to answer him, but I figured it would open things up easier.

"It was the urgent incident from earlier. I was attacked and it could have gotten worse if Sarah and Jimmy had just been passing by and helped me out." I said.

"Who got you?" He asked. I shot a glare for a moment hoping it would indicate to drop it but after two minutes of a stare down I saw this was going nowhere.

"Who would you pick to beat up an Ed?" I asked. "I think we both know the answer."

He looked out the window again, looking at a particular house for some reason. It must have helped him gather his thoughts. "Kevin?" He asked.

"Duh." I said back. "Who else?" I had a "pretty obvious" look on my face. Eddy's face showed a look of grave concern and maybe a tinge of fear.

"H-H-H-HOLY CRAPOLA!" He yelled at me while jumping up to grab me by my shirt. "If he's doing that to you, what's he going to do to me!? Oh man Double D, this is really, really bad. We need to start packing our bags for the big guy upstairs!" He was truly terrified, shaking all over his body, his normal cool guy façade completely melted with my words. I didn't move one bit before I spoke once more.

"Relax." I said, my tone soft and calm with a gentle volume to try and bring the heat down. It didn't work as he just started his fearful rambling once more. It was at this point just mumbling and crying mixed in and I could tell calm and collected wasn't going to get the job done. So I picked up the chair Eddy had in front of his desk in his room and threw it down hard on the ground. Although my lack of strength caused practically no damage to the chair, it got Eddy's attention and he cooled off considerably.

"If you would have let me finish I would have been able to explain to you that I was specifically targeted because I really enraged Kevin back at the hospital on the day Ed went to the hospital." I said very matter of factly. Eddy looked at me with a surprised look on his face.

"What did you to anger him that bad? Over explain the science of blood flow or something at the wrong time?" He asked with a smirk on his face. Now thinking back on the incident back at the hospital, I should have seen the red flag with how mad he got at such a morbid moment in our lives.

"W-well, I-I…" I started to get nervous, knowing Eddy would either think I was full of it or would just laugh it off. "Well, he was mad because I was trying to be friends with Nazz and he got jealous I think. I made it worse by standing up to him." I started to tear up a little, remembering the moment the punch came down. Wiping my eyes out, I saw exactly what I feared: the little guy was laughing his butt off at me.

"Oh man Double D, that's a good one!" He said. He then saw my face and realized I was serious.

"But whatever, because that's not why I'm here. I'm here because you won't be there for Ed! What is wrong with you?" I yelled at him, clenching my fist.

He then backed up, eventually sitting on the floor in front of his bed. "B-B-Because-s-se it's my fault. I can't stand knowing everything is my fault! I don't want to be liable!" He said, but as I heard this, I felt his voice didn't match his words. He didn't sound like an emotional wreck like I did initially, or a depressive mess like Sarah had been. He just sounded like normal Eddy, like nothing was wrong and he was preparing for the next scam.

In all honesty, I didn't believe him at all. But I couldn't let this be the end, his words were just one thing. His actions were another.

"Eddy, you need to grow up. This isn't about you, it's about everyone else. One of your best friends may die any day now and you're too scared to visit him? People aren't like that, I'm certainly not like that, and…" I feared to continue, but I couldn't turn back now. This had to be delivered. "… and my friends aren't like that either." He looked at me, his eyes turning red, one of the first real showings of emotion all night. "Tomorrow, I'm going. That's your last chance to prove to me that you can grow up with the rest of us." I then stood up and walked towards the door.

"Goodnight Eddy." I didn't look back once after that.

XXX

Later that Night…

When did Double D become such a jerk? I thought to myself. Who is he to just come into my house and tell me how to act and what to do? When did he change from my friend into my dad!?

Everything about Double D was pissing me off lately. Talking to girls? Standing up to Kevin? Being the sympathetic one? "

THAT'S MY JOB!" I yelled loud into the ceiling, not realizing that no one was there to hear. However I immediately got an earful from Dad.

"Shut up and go to bed Eddy! It's almost midnight!" He screamed from the living room.

I could tell because I'd had this happen so many times over and over. My parents were the worst, always yelling and telling me not to be another Travis, who is my brother. They tell me he's a deadbeat working odd jobs, currently with the local circus, but I know their lying. He's too smooth for that sort of dead end lifestyle. Too cunning to be in one spot. I bet he's a spy or something with his skills. Yeah, he's that kind of awesome.

But Double D was right about one thing, and only one thing: I needed to see Ed. I wanted to see how bad the damage could be mitigated. Could I explain away my mistake? Maybe chalk it up to a mechanical error? Maybe catch Double D in something and deflect it all away from me? All of these were significant possibilities, but none of them could become fully realized without being able to see Ed. So while I was pained to go to that hospital and face mortality itself, it must be done I thought. I would tell Double D in the morning that I would come with him.

XXX

The Next Morning…

The morning after getting the tar beaten out of you is almost as bad as the actual beating itself. I just wanted the pain to go away. The pain is continuous without any letup in length or severity, with the overly bruising wound itself a constant reminder of the event that brought it about. Thankfully for me the swelling around my eye was considerably better to the point to the point where it looked less like an attack wound then just any other sort of eye injury, at least to the untrained eye. I could open it a bit more than before too, so maybe the usage was getting back too. Nonetheless it still would be a few days before it really got back to normal I realized, so I kept ice one when it was possible. It was only 11:30 when I finished cleaning the toilet bowl, my main chore of the day, so I went up to study some of my biology sets. I had until 2:00 before I would go with Sarah and Ed's father to the hospital, so I had time to kill. It'd been awhile between all the scams and everything else in life that I'd had the chance to just sit down and continue my scientific pursuits.

Unfortunately today would not be the day. I hadn't even finished pulling out the set when the doorbell rang. I quickly rustled my way down the stairs to see who was at the door. It was Eddy, looking like his usual self.

"Good day Eddy." I said. "What are you doing here?" He was dressed in a black and white striped collared shirt while also wearing waist high cargo shorts. It really didn't fit with the shirt, but knowing Eddy he likely knew and didn't care. He wore his fake smile like a door to door salesman at that moment as he did throughout life.

"Well I thought about what you said to me last night and you're right. I need to see the big lug at his time of need, regardless of what could happen next. Can I come with you when you go to see him?" He asked, sounding a bit more somber then he had the night before. Something still kind of left me uncomfortable with where was possibly taking this, but I also knew Ed was one of the "Ed boys." There had to be a soft spot right?

"Well, I'll have to make sure with Sarah and Ed's father but it can probably be arranged. Meet us at Ed's house at 2:00 alright?" I said. He then brightened up quite a bit.

"Alright you got it Sockhead! See you then!" He then just kind of made his way out with little explanation and looking a lot more upbeat then when he was when he arrived. It was that sort of thing, along with his stupid never-ending smile that gave me unease about him.

I then took a look at the front yard and saw that Eddy had recklessly run through the geraniums in the flower bed. He had trampled through the soil and hit part of the flowers, greatly weakening them.

Dammit Eddy! I thought to myself. You can be so irresponsible sometimes! I put my heart and soul into this flower garden!

I walked up to the flowers and saw that it was a little better than it seemed; the main damage seemed to the soil and ground the flowers were nested in, not so much the actual flowers themselves. I began making a note to sod over the soils and flowers again before leaving when I heard a sound. I knew it instantly: It was the sound of a bike and it didn't take a huge guess to realize who it was. This time though, he wasn't alone. He brought Nazz along with him.

"Hey Double D, how's it going?" she asked, happily oblivious to the pain her friendship had brought me. Of course I wouldn't break that, certainly not with death staring right at me.

"G-Good." I said, taking a huge gulp in and out as I said it.

"What's up with your eye dude?" She asked. Kevin's smile lit up. "Yeah, it looks really bad man. Maybe you should see a doctor about it man." He was able to sound almost entirely sympathetic, but I knew the lie he was heading.

"Just took a rough fall down some stairs. I'm starting to get better already, so hopefully it continues that way." I struggled to not being anything beyond the collected façade I was heading.

"Well hopefully you continue to get better dude, and we'll see you later!" She said enthusiastically. Kevin then nodded, and they began to ride away. Just as they were passing the next house over I looked over and saw Kevin mouth to me the words "double dork. HAHA!"

I didn't do anything except walk back into the house. As I walked in, I felt anger. Not the normal annoyed displeased sort of anger you get from a bad test grade or being told you have to clean the refrigerator and the toilet bowl in the same day. No, this was the wronged sort of anger. The anger you get when you know someone is walking around with a smirk on their face knowing what they have done and maybe even enjoying it. Kevin definitely was that sort of person. My anger built up quick and I wanted to yell so badly, but I didn't want to alert anyone around the house. I walked around the living room, grunting mindlessly in a haze of sorts before I finally acted. I walked up to the wall of the living room and just punched it. I gave it no thought, just punched the wall with all my might, all my stored up, trauma induced anger. Dust floated in the air around me and I couldn't believe the sight when I finally had a good look: The area in the wall I punched was almost entirely demolished. It went from just about 5 inches off the divider on the floor to almost the middle of the wall, exposing the plumbing and other wires that ran throughout the wall. I never even realized I had any strength, and now I began to see there was something hidden in me. And then before I knew it, I passed out.

XXX

When I woke up, I had a humongous headache. The wall still had a giant hole there, even more shocking now that I was calmed down then during my rage before. It was deep, almost the outside wall of the house and deep in the structure. I guess I'd come up with a ridiculous explanation later I thought at the moment. I walked into the kitchen and looked at the clock.

"1:33! AYE CRUMBA…. No wait…" I abandoned that thought and ran up to my bedroom and got dressed in preparation. By the time I was done with that, it was 1:50 and it was just about time to go. I was looking forward to see Ed again, maybe hopefully his condition had improved or something had changed in treatment to give some optimism. It was pretty unrealistic, but I had to hold some sort of hope for the future. Just anything to keep things alive in my mind. I was also mostly glad that Eddy was coming, but now concerned with his attitude. He seemed too nonchalant and relaxed to be so supposedly concerned for Ed. I know people have their own unique ways of grieving, but Eddy's seemed either fake and forced or extremely peculiar. Regardless though, this would be the moment of truth for us all. As I finished collecting my thoughts I grabbed my ID and left the house to cross the street towards Ed's house. Waiting next to the car was Sarah, her Dad, Mr. Tanner, was in the car starting it up. I looked around quickly and soon enough saw Eddy running right towards us. Sarah groaned.

"Uggh, what are you doing here you buffoon?" she asked in an aggravated tone.

"Aren't you guys going to see Ed? I want to come too!" He said, again way too enthusiastic for it all.

Sarah caught on to it too. "So now you want to go see him? Where were you the day it happened? Why just now huh Eddy!?" Eddy clearly got angry and got up into Sarah's face and looked like he was about to rip her a new one, but I stood in the way to be the peacekeeper.

"I mentioned that I was going to him, I probably should have asked." I sounded quite scared actually, like I broken a trust with her that I didn't even realize was there. "We don't have to bring him, but I'd suggest we give him a chance at least." Sarah then went up and talked to Mr. Tanner for a moment, before coming back.

"He can come. This time only though." She said, with a downtrodden expression as though she had lost a battle of sorts with her father. I can assume she didn't want Eddy to come, and Mr. Tanner objected otherwise. All of us then got into the car and began to drive to the hospital.

XXX

The car ride began rather unassumingly as no one talked for the first five minutes. Everyone was either somber about what could be going on with Ed, or thinking about other things otherwise. What is your ruse Eddy? That was the thought running through my head. You're not sad or upset about this. You just want something out of this. What is it I ask? Quietly out of the blue, Mr. Tanner started talking to Eddy.

"So you're Eddy, the scammer of the Ed boys huh?" He asked. Eddy seemed lost in thought but caught up to task quite quickly.

"Oh yes sir! I think up a lot of our genius schemes, but they often kind of fall apart because of our audience's indifference…" Eddy sounded so arrogant, so proud of himself and his ideas. Who says these kind of things to the dad of someone you indirectly hurt? Is this who the real Eddy was? Then when the car hit a stop light, Mr. Tanner looked back, right into Eddy's eyes.

"So you're the incredible mind who thought of using the car?" He said, angrily and sarcastic. Eddy began sweating a little bit, producing not his conman-like smile but the nervous smile of a thief caught red handed.

"Well, did you? Did you use the car?" Eddy was beginning to shake all over.