change of pace

trust

chapter seven

After the school bell rang for the final time, I walked my way over to Eddie's car to wait for him.

"Well hello, sweetheart. Are we ready to ride?" Eddie opens his arms big walking over. I smiled.
"How about we grab some food?" he asks making his way over and wrapping his arms around me.
"Yes PLEASE!" I respond.

We drive to a nearby burger joint and grab our food to go. Eddie glances at his watch and we make our way back to the car. He blasts music the whole way there, but turns it down as we reach Holland Rd., and he turns into Forest Hills Trailer Park. A dog barks loudly as his tires screech their way in.

"Isn't it magical?" Eddie says slyly opening my door for me. I hold the bag of our burgers and he grabs my backpack for me.

He opens up the door for me and I am welcomed to a dimly lit trailer with hats and mugs lining the wall. "My room's over to the back, don't worry, my uncle just left for work." he says shutting the door behind him. I head my over and find a room full of band posters and amps against the wall. A Judas Priest Defenders of the Faith poster lines against a mirror which is hooking a beautiful red and black crackle finish guitar.

"That's my other sweetheart. My B.C. Rich Warlock." he notices me examining and jumps at the opportunity to talk about it. I turn to find a bed with an old blue and white comforter laying atop messily. I sit down holding the food. Eddie takes off his jacket to reveal his pale tattooed arms.
"So what happened earlier?" I ask which he immediately sighs.
"Jessie, it's nothing. I promise."
"You said you would tell me." I set down the food on a low table balancing a lamp. He sits down next to me.
"Listen. I don't want you too look at me differently."
"Eddie I promise I won't." I reassured him. "Look at me, I promise." his sad eyes look at me as he takes a minute to think.
"I get cash...through...Um. Selling. Selling drugs." he finally says and stares down at the ground.
"Oh..."
"That's why I didn't want to tell you. I don't want you to feel...unsafe." Eddie sighs now putting his head in his hands. I look at him, vulnerable, for just a moment. My arms wrap around him, resting my chin on his shoulder.
"I trust you." I say and he looks up at me. I look back at him and he pulls my face closer for a kiss.
"Let's eat!" I say playfully pulling his arm to switch the conversation, I could sense his anxiety.

I took my shoes off and sat cross legged on the bed. The bag smelled like heaven when I opened it up and I handed Eddie his burger and grabbed my own. While eating my own, I noticed Eddie practically shoving his down his throat, cleaning his fingers off with his mouth. He noticed me staring and ran to get a rag from the kitchen. I laughed and didn't notice the sauce dripping directly on my shirt.

"Oh shit!" I said with my mouth full, snatching the rag from his hands. I tried wiping it off but the bright yellow mustard stared back. My eyes met Eddie who smiled.
"I got an idea." he runs up to his drawer and grabs a Black Sabbath shirt. "It's clean, I promise." he jokes. I take the last bite of my burger, wipe my hands with the rag, and start taking my shirt off to change. Eddie yelps and quickly turns around, throwing the shirt at me. I roll my eyes and put it on.
"You can look now." I start gathering the trash to put back in the bag.
"Well, look at you, beautiful." Eddie says smiling slowly walking back over. He grabs the trash and heads to the kitchen, I follow.
"So you and your uncle live here?" I say looking around.
"Yeah, my parents aren't...around. Never really were. So my uncle took me in." he says pulling me in close. "What about you?" he asks, slowly swaying me back and forth.
"It's just me and my dad. My mom died, two years ago." I say out loud for the first time ever. Eddie looks down at me.
"Was that the woman in the picture?"
"Yes, one of very few that I actually have with her."
"She looked really nice."
"She was, even at the end. You would never guess there was something going in her head but...it got the best of her." I say not realizing I had a tear streaming down my face which Eddie wiped away.
"Let's go lay down for a bit, okay?" he says and I nod.

We make our way back to his bed and he helps tuck me under the covers before stopping to take his shoes off and join me. He lays up against the wall with his hand behind his head. I lay my head on his chest and he uses his other hand to play with my hair.

"Is your uncle nice?"
"He's...the best. He works really hard to make sure we're alright. Your dad?"
"I think he sensed me trying to distance myself, and respected it. He's been trying to reconnect with me recently." I said pulling the comforter over us.

We laid there talking for over an hour before eventually deciding to complete the map. We took turns trading sides to complete. At the end, we backed away from our art work and smiled at one another.

Eddie huffs in appreciation. "This may be the best campaign we'll have yet." he smiles down looking at it.
"What's next?" I ask, not fully knowing how it works. He kneels down to start rolling up the paper to place aside.
"Well, I could teach you some things..." Eddie slides his way over to me.
"Don't get carried away with yourself there." I joke now only a few inches away from him.
"Well, do you have any other ideas?" he says resting his hands at my hips.
"How about you play me something." I say wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Gladly!" he smiles, kissing me and pulling away to grab his guitar.

Eddie pulls his Warlock off the hook on the mirror and takes one of the cables to connect it to the amp. He adjusts the knobs to allow for it not to wake the neighbors. The amp lets out a whirring vibration, and every time he lightly touches the strings, a sharp noise appears. Eddie begins the first few notes and slowly allows his body to become one with the music. I examine the way his fingers fast along the neck of the guitar which makes it seem so easy. He strums the last few notes then takes a gracious bow. I clap aggressively and start cheering which makes him possess a smile to me.

"Do you want to try?" he begins to lift the guitar strap over his neck.
"Oh, god no. I can't do what you just did."
"How about I teach you?" he motions the guitar towards me.

I pause for a second to think and decide to take on his offer. Eddie helps lift the instrument over my head helps place my hands. The wood and metal was a lot heavier than I thought it would be. He moves over to right behind me to begin moving my fingers. It sounded messy as I didn't know what I was doing, but Eddie was determined to help me learn.

"Baby, you just played guitar!" he says excitedly shaking my shoulders. I smiled handing him back the guitar.
"What song was that?" I ask watching him carry the guitar back to the hook.
"It was Slayer...At Dawn They Sleep." he says while cautiously placing his beloved Warlock back.
"Is it one of your favorites?" I ask and he smirks.
"It's one of my favorites. We play it sometime at our shows."
"Wait, you perform?"
"Oh, you've NEVER heard of Corroded Coffin? Jessie, Jessie, Jessie...your life is about to change forever. I'll pick you up on Tuesday night. We play at the Hideout, me and the other guys from Hellfire."
"So you're a little rockstar." I giggled.
"You bet your ass, I am." he leaps onto the bed.
"Tuesday, then."
"Tuesday." he nods.
"It's a date." I say and he smiles wide.