What if I ain't no violinist?

169. Twoset Bedtime Story

Eddy was lying in his bed, checking his Instagram account. His bedroom was dimly lit with his bedside lamp. He heard a knock on his bedroom door. He had left his door ajar and when it was pushed open, Eddy took his eyes off from his screen and glanced towards the door to see the only person he could have expected to be there, his flatmate and best friend Brett, in his sleepwear, T shirt and boxer shorts, clutching his pillow.

"Brett? Wassup?"

"Eddy, I can't sleep"

"...That's rather unusual for you.. innit?"

"Yeah..."

"Hmm.. well, is there anything I can do to help..?"

" Um.. yeah maybe..I mean, that's why I came over. Um.. Eddy, could you tell me a bedtime story?"

Eddy raised an eyebrow. This was highly unusual. For as long as Eddy had known Brett, he was usually out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow. The word insomnia didn't exist in Brett's dictionary. Insomnia was Eddy's "thing". And another thing. Brett was Mr Independent to the tee. It was usually Eddy that would freely whinge and whine to Brett, taking full advantage of his best buddy Brett being much more nurturing than he ever was and also the fact that Brett was a year older than Eddy. So while Eddy was used to dishing out childish antics himself, such behaviour by Brett, was highly unusual, albeit very endearing.

Maybe he just had a bad day.

The two were best friends since their early teens but now they each held different jobs in different fields and Eddy didn't have much appreciation of Brett's struggles he may be having at work as Brett didn't talk much about them.

Eddy shrugged and scooted across to make room in his bed.

"Fine. Jump in."

"Thanks."

Brett lifted the dooner (duvet) and climbed onto the bed. As he positioned himself next to where his best friend lay, he already felt his body relax a bit when he felt the remnant warmth from the mattress where Eddy had been lying on. It's been a while since they've shared a bed like this or was confined close into a small place to sleep, they had many times when they were much younger such as when they had sleepovers or gone camping but of late as adults it was a bit strange, though if Brett was to share anything with anybody, he would have chosen to share it with Eddy, no questions about it. Still, Brett felt a little bit weird lying next to Eddy so he propped up his pillow behind him against the headboard and sat up in bed next to where Eddy was lying down.

Eddy glanced up towards Brett and understood right away what Brett was thinking. He got up onto his elbows and put his phone on the bedside table.

"Brett.. you're supposed to try to fall asleep with a bedtime story.. you should be lying down. I'll sit up, okay?"

"Um.. okay.. thanks."

Once Brett managed to lie down, he felt Eddy's hand on his forehead. The simple gesture was soothing, enough to make Brett feel accepted and cared for, which Brett had no doubt Eddy did. He felt it all the time even without any contact. But of late, he wasn't sure if he could keep going the way things were going, teetering on a delicate balance of denials, lies and his head stuck into the sand where he had forced it to stay.

"So Brett.. a bedtime story.. have you ever heard the one about the little boy and the big bad wolf?"

Brett furrowed his brows.

"...Wasn't that a little girl that wore red?"

Eddy let out a little chuckle.

"Nah, different story. So, once upon a time..."

Brett closed his eyes as he enjoyed Eddy's words wash over him and the gentle pats he received on his forehead.

..."And so the little boy who cried wolf was eaten by the big bad wolf. ..And that's the end of the story. So, the moral of the story is..."

"...Eddy... was that true?"

Eddy furrowed his eyebrows as he cast a confused look at Brett.

"...What do you mean by that, Brett?  What are you asking was true?"

"Was the little boy who cried wolf really eaten by the big bad wolf?"

Eddy was taken aback.

"Um.. well yeah, when the wolf really came along, the little boy cried wolf  louder than ever because this time it was for real but no one came to his rescue because he had already cried wolf a few times beforehand when it wasn't true.. he had pissed off the villagers and lost their trust and so none of them believed him this time even though he was telling the truth."

"Hmm..."

"...What is it, Brett?"

"..Well Eddy, maybe, just maybe, the villagers got so sick and tired of the lying boy who kept crying wolf that they killed him."

Eddy's jaw dropped.

"I.. beg your pardon?"

"Yeah.. maybe the villagers killed the little boy because they thought he was a lying schmuck. I think that's what happened.. and they all decided that should there be an inquiry from a larger jurisdiction..."

"...Say what?"

"Y'know, if they found anything suspicious about the boy's death and perhaps it leads to a state inquiry, the villagers would tell any authority outside the village that he was killed by a wolf..."

"...A state inquiry..!?"

"Yeah... so the villagers had a discussion before the inquiry to have their stories straight, right?"

Eddy was speechless.

F*ck, Brett must be really tired or really messed up.

"I got it Eddy, so the boy died because of his lie.. but the village was saved by a lie.. the moral of the story is the appropriate use of lies."

Eddy stammered.

"N, no...!! B, Brett...!!"

"..What?  Did I get it wrong..?"

Eddy stared at the person lying next to him. He looked paler than usual. His eyes glistening with tears that had welled up.

"Brett.. what's the matter?"

"Nothing..."

Brett blinked and let his tears fall along the sides of his face.

Eddy traced the side of Brett's face and touched his tears.

"Brett, this is not nothing..."

"Y'know what Eddy, maybe we need lies to save face."

"Huh!?"

"I mean, sometimes the truth could mean doom."

"Brett.. I have no idea what you are talking about."

Brett bit his lower lip.

"Brett.. have you been lying about something?"

Brett flinched. Eddy saw Brett's delicate hands that were resting on the dooner clench into shaking fists.

"Brett.. mate, you do realise you can tell me anything. If you've been lying about something and if that's been eating you up, you can tell me anything and I won't get mad, I promise."

"I.. I think I'm good now to go back to my own room.. thanks Eddy..."

"Brett...!!"

Eddy would have grabbed him but Brett was too quick to slip out of Eddy's bed and run out of his bedroom. After a few seconds, Eddy heard Brett slam his bedroom door shut. Of all the years Eddy had known Brett, he had never heard the older slam a door.