LOUD MOUTH → PETER PARKER ✓

Chapter Seven: Edelstein Interlude

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍: EDELSTEIN INTERLUDE

a few months in the future

Mrs. Edelstein didn't ask Callie to dog sit for the next few weeks, sensing she needed time to grieve. When she did ask her though, nearly a month later, she asked her to come an hour early to talk, which she assured she'd pay her extra for. Callie tried to refuse it, but Mrs. Edelstein was anything if not persistent.

At first, she just let Callie sit there for a bit, collecting her thoughts and figuring out what she wanted to say.

Finally, she took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "I've been thinking a lot about parallels recently."

Mrs. Edelstein's painted brows furrows. "Parallels?" she asked. "Is that something they teach you in your fancy science school?"

"No, I mean parallels as in . . times when history seems to repeat itself." she clarified, her eyes trained on her converse. "Like, the night Ben died. I didn't notice it at the time, but I had a feeling that this had happened before. Not deja vu, because I realized later that it did. Well, sort of."

Mrs. Edelstein nodded, letting her continue.

"When I was little and my mom was working late, I used to stay at the Parker's for the night. I remember this one night in the middle of summer―there had been thunderstorms going on for almost a full week. Uncle Ben . . he felt bad that we had to stay inside the whole time, so after hours of begging, he finally agreed to let Peter and I watch a horror movie. May was asleep, of course. She wouldn't have let that happen. But he made a deal with us: if the movie freaked us out so much that we couldn't sleep, that was it. No more scary movies. Obviously we took the deal, I mean, we thought we were the bravest idiots on earth.

"I don't remember what that movie was now, but I do remember that it terrified me to the point of literal tears. And every ten minutes, Ben would say 'You sure you're not afraid?', and I would shake my head because I couldn't tell him the truth―that I had never been more terrified. And Peter was scared too, but he wouldn't admit it either.

"Afterwards, we had to complete the deal and go to bed without a single freak out. The storm was getting worse, which only added to it all. Peter and I literally barricaded ourselves in his room, with flashlights and a baseball bat. Whatever monster that tried to kill us was getting clubbed. But then, the flashlight went out, and it was completely dark. And I remember Peter and I just holding onto each other. He told me we were going to be okay, even though I could tell he was scared shitless too.

"And I didn't notice this until years later, but Ben didn't check on us once that entire night. I mean, he had to know we were actual chickens and that the movie freaked us out―we were seven, and he's not stupid. For so long I couldn't guess why he didn't check to see if we fulfilled our end of the deal, because we didn't, but I think I figured it out."

Tears were now falling down her face. "He didn't check on us because he knew we had each other, and that because we did, we'd be fine." Callie let out a sob, wiping her face with her sleeve. She took another deep breath and continued.

"But the night he died, I was holding Peter. We were both crying. May didn't come to check on us, that night, either, for the same reason I think Ben didn't all those years ago. Because she knew we'd be okay because we had each other.

"I remember that I told Peter everything would be okay, but I had that feeling that I get when my mom is late and forgets to call―only it was worse. So bad that I was actually sick of my stomach. And even though I told him it would be okay, I felt like my entire life was folding in on itself. What's that called?" she asked, looking up at Mrs. Edelstein for the first time.

The woman gave her a sad smile. "It's called losing someone, dear."

Callie's brows furrowed. "But . . he wasn't mine to lose. I mean he-he was like Peter's dad, it was the worst for him. It wasn't my loss to cry over. I don't . . I don't have that right."

"You have the right to miss him, Callie." Mrs. Edelstein said. "He may have been Peter's uncle, but you said it yourself―you knew Ben longer than you knew your own father. It sounds to me that you saw him as a father as much as Peter did."

"S-so that's why I felt so horrible? Why I still do? Because I'm afraid of losing people?"

"No, Callie." Mrs. Edelstein said sweetly. "I've known you long enough to know that you're tough. You're not afraid of losing people, because you know it wasn't your fault. What happened to Ben wasn't your fault. You're afraid of what you have no control over. You're afraid of people leaving you."