The Freaks - Eddie Munson

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Wheeler

The garage was even worse than the house. Not only were the vines worse, but it stunk like shit.

"Let's get the bikes and get out of here." Steve suggested, pulling two of them out of the tangled vines. Nancy pulled out two more, and Robin scoffed when she saw that was it.

"There's five people in your family with bikes, right?!"

"My dad doesn't ride." I corrected her, "Unless someone wants to ride Holly's tricycle then..."

"You can ride on my pegs." Eddie said, his hand resting on the small of my back.

What.

My stomach did a backflip.

"How about you ride on MY pegs?" he shook his head.

"I guarantee you I'm a better bike rider than you." I rolled my eyes, holding back a pitiful giggle.

"There's no such thing."

"Trust me. I learned to ride a bike before I learned how to smoke." he let out a chuckle, tired of his own sarcasm.

We pulled the bikes out to the street, Robin, Nancy and Steve climbing onto their own bikes while I stepped onto the pegs of my own bike as Eddie climbed onto the seat.

"Hold on, sweetheart." he whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

"That damn nickname again, Munson." I whispered back. I placed my hands on his shoulders to steady myself as we took off, riding towards Eddie's trailer. It was the bumpiest bike ride I'd ever been on, the vines trying to trip up the wheels beneath us. We made it the 7 miles, Eddie allowing me to step down on firm ground before he tossed the bike to the ground, rushing inside first. We all followed, glancing up at the hole in the ceiling. There they stood, Lucas, Dustin, Max and Erica, standing upside down ready with a rope made out of linen.

"This is really cool." I said partially to myself. Dustin pulled a mattress over below the gate, acting as a cushion. It was covered in stains, from top to bottom.

"Those stains are..." Eddie began, looking over at me with a red face. A lump got caught in my throat as I imagined what they were.

"I don't know what those stains are." he finished. Ideas rushed through my head of how long those stains had been there, and who's they were. I forced myself to stop when Dustin tossed the end of the linen rope at us, the awkward gravity pulling it down. It was hovering between worlds.

"Who's going first?" Robin asked. There was silence. "Okay then." She gripped the rope. It didn't budge.

Science is weird.

She began to climb upwards, and once she reached the other side, Robin was flipped upside down and landed on her back on the mattress.

"My turn." I removed my jacket, wrapped it around my waist and gripped the rope. When I got closer I knew immediately they were Eddie's sheets. They smelled like him. I began to climb, using my core strength to pull myself upwards. I reached the opening of the gate, and let myself fall onto the mattress.

"That was fun." I giggled as Robin took my hand, lifting me to my feet. I watched as Eddie crashed down behind me, laughing the whole way down. Dustin helped him to his feet, and Eddie stood next to me immediately. We waited for the next person. Nothing.

"Nancy you coming?" Robin called. Nothing. I wandered back onto the mattress, looking up through the gate to see Steve shaking Nancy's shoulders hard.

"Nancy wake up! Nancy. NANCY!"