Imagine Us » Eddie Munson

One

Eddie rubs over his face, wishing the grogginess of a Monday morning would wash away as his alarm begins to sound for the third time this morning. It's loud and sharp. The noise he's always found to be obnoxious, shoots a pain through his skull with each ring, he reaches over to hit the snooze button once more before rolling out of bed. His bare feet hit the carpet of his bedroom before he takes a deep breath. Barely any sleep, but he's gotta get the ball rolling. Moving with ease, he's sliding into the cleanest set of coveralls and socks he has. Soaked in oil stains that won't come out no matter how many times he's washed them. A once over in the mirror hanging above the dresser has always been long enough to sort his bangs out. And then he's off, padding down the hall, he stops at the second bedroom door. The only other occupied room in the trailer he's been calling home since leaving his Uncle's.

Opening the door as quietly as possible, he peeks inside, seeing the tops of two heads of dark brown hair cuddled up with one another. Both on the bottom bunk. He smiles, pulling the door shut as he works his way into the kitchen, turns on the coffee pot. He catches sight of the manila envelope with the papers he's been itching to sign and return inside. And that might've pulled a smile to the corner of his lips. Soon he wouldn't be tied to her. Soon he won't be a married man. And he couldn't wait— not to say he hasn't been on a few dates here and there, but a single dad? his kids are only away from him two weekends out of the month, when does he have time to start anything new with anyone? He remembers ten years ago when he met her, a freshly turned 22 year old, getting out of Hawkins for the first time in his life. He remembers the way her hair fell in curls that framed her face, the way her sweater was worn and had a hole in the sleeve, how she yelled her name over the music. Laura. He remembers how she hung on his arm and whispered good luck to him and pressed a kiss on his cheek. A girl he'd just met, a girl he married a year later. A girl he settled down for.

He forces every pleasant thought of her away when he remembers just what tore them apart— Eddie pushing in the door of their trailer. Her dress on the floor, another man's shoes on the mat. His daughter's were asleep in the room next door when he caught them. His wife fucking someone who he couldn't even remember the name of, he doubts that she does either, in his bed. Eddie saw red then. How could his wife, the mother of their children, let another man into their home for a quick lay with them asleep through the thin walls. He can admit, maybe he wasn't the most attentive to her feelings, maybe he worked longer and harder than he should have. Maybe he didn't love her the way he did in the beginning. Things got distant between them. But he always showed her he cared in the ways that naturally came to him. He sat a glass of water on her night stand every night while she was in the shower, he had her coffee ready every morning before they went to work. Always a kiss on the head, squeeze of the hand, and a rushed, "I love you." as she would rush out the door to get their oldest to school on time.

Eddie's eyes catch on the flashing green numbers of the microwave clock and he's sighing, walking over to the girls' bedroom. He leans down, his spine creaking with each move, reminding him just how much strain his job and age is putting on his 32 year old body. He shakes the thought and twists on the little pink lamp on the bedside table. "Girls? Time to get up." His voice is softer, lighter than anyone in this town that had ever known Eddie could imagine his voice being. He smiles down at the brown eyes peering up at him— hair every which way. If he was any other parent, he might've gotten choked up at the thought of it being his five year old's first day of school. "Jane." He says again, the lightness of his tone beginning to melt away, replaced with something a bit more stern— with more urgency. They'd be late if they didn't get a move on. And that's the last thing he needed, to give her another reason as to why he shouldn't have custody of them.

His eight year old, Jane, sits up slowly. Who he can soon hear a groan of annoyance coming from and he knows he's done his job. He can hear Alice, his youngest, squealing as she gets dressed— too excited for her first day. He smiles at that. He quickly pops a few pop-tarts into the toaster, darting into the bathroom himself to finish getting ready for the day as quickly as he can. He reaches into the jewelry dish on the back of the sink and slides his rings on— except for the one he loathes to see but can't bring himself to get rid of. He couldn't throw ten years down the drain like she could. "Daddy, can you do my hair?" Eddie looks down next to him where he hears Alice's voice. Her smile stretched wide across her face, revealing that she had lost one of her bottom front teeth. Eddie nods, setting her up on the edge of the sink. Her legs are folded neatly in the bowl as he grabs her hair brush and a ponytail holder. He brushes her hair quietly, seemingly lost in his own head. He can hear the quiet hums coming from Jane across the hall as he braids Alice's hair quickly. It turns out to be a very messy end product, but the smile on her face tells him all that he needed.