No Surrender | Eddie Munson

Chapter Six: The Flea and the Acrobat

CHAPTER SIX: THE FLEA AND THE ACROBAT

Knockin' On Heaven's Door — Guns N' Roses

Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is comin' down
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door

——————

My mother has always been beautiful.

Even when she is at her worst, it is true. But all I see when I look at her is that picture — when she was Rebecca Britt and not Ruth Smith, not my mother.

She sits in front of the mirror. Her sunken eyes are barely open. I pull the brush through her hair, watching the white streaks shine. The rest is not as red as mine, the light curls falling past my shoulders. A herbal, earthy smell still clings to it.

"Mom?"

She offers a quiet hum in response, staring blankly at her reflection. She hasn't seen me in so long. Not properly.

"Why don't you have any pictures of me?"

No reply.

Sighing, I set her hair with a little spray and take the pearl necklace that hangs from the corner of the dressing table mirror. "I just thought it was weird. I mean, I'm your only child and there are no photos of me anywhere. Not even from when I was a baby. What was I like when I was little?"

Her dry lips part, stained a deep red in an attempt to bring some colour to her face.

The front door rattles.

It was bad timing anyway.

"Come on, Mom," I mumble, helping her up.

Eddie waits outside, twisting his rings anxiously. His favourite Hellfire Club t-shirt — designed by him for his D&D group, a detail that he has proudly stated several times — is replaced by a plain, black one. He sharply turns to us when he hears the door close and moves to let us down the steps. I don't miss the way he looks at my mother, like she could fall at any moment, like she's fragile. He offers her his hand. "Hey, Ms Smith. I'm Eddie Munson, a friend of your daughter's."

Still, nothing.

I help her into the passenger seat of his van and take the one closest to him. "Thanks for doing this."

"Don't mention it. Like, seriously, don't. If people find out I'm driving girls and their mothers around town, not speeding like a maniac, my reputation'll be ruined."

"Hilarious. But I really mean it, Ed. Thank you."

——————

Eddie leaves once he is sure we have reached the cemetery. I still keep a firm, guiding hold on my mother as we walk towards the small group that has formed in front of an open grave.

I greet Joyce and Jonathan with tight hugs but only offer Lonnie a curt nod of my head. I don't trust him. Whatever he said to Jonathan made me dislike him and that only grows when I see him here. I push it down, though. He is here to bury his twelve-year-old son, he doesn't need anything right now.

We take our place between the Byers and the Sinclairs. I send the two children an awkward smile which Lucas returns. His little sister, Erica, remains stone-faced but I know that it's just an act. This has her shaken, maybe even scared. I don't blame her.

The pastor recites some scripture that I barely pay attention to. That kind of thing never helped me anyway but today is worse.

Something really doesn't feel right.