It Ends With Us

10.

Eddie

That bitch.

She had some nerve telling Evan to interrogate Chris like that.

She was just looking out for her brother.

"Shut up!" I shouted at him as I got out of my truck. "I don't need Evan, his sister, or anyone else asking questions!"

It was the next day and Evan and Chris were already at school. Which meant Chimney – Mr. Han – was also at work.

So Maddie was home alone.

This isn't right. She didn't do anything wrong.

"I thought I told you to zip it!" I knocked on Maddie's front door and waited for her to answer it.

The front door swung open and there stood Maddie, holding her daughter, Jee-Yun. "Hi Eddie." She looked surprised to see me. Good.

"Hey Maddie. I was wondering if you had a few minutes to talk?"

"Umm," she looked at the watch on her wrist. "Sure, I've got a few minutes before I have to get Jee to her playgroup. Come in, I just put on some coffee." She opened the door wide enough to let me in before kicking it shut with her foot. I followed her into the kitchen and sat down on a stool at the kitchen island. "Cream or sugar?"

"Black please. Thanks." How she managed to make two cups of coffee while still holding Jee, I had no idea, but she did it. She handed me a mug before taking a long sip of her own.

"So...what's up?" She had Jee sitting on top of the island now, putting her shoes on her.

"Well," I put the mug down and gave her a serious look. "I wanted to talk to you about Evan."

"Is he okay?" She put Jee down on the floor and let her run into the living room to play,

"He is...but I'm not." I was standing now, walking closer to her. Once I was towering over her, I started again. "Where do you get off telling him to interrogate my son?"

She chuckled. Once she realized that I wasn't joking, she tried to cover it up with a cough. "Okay, I think 'interrogate' is a little dramatic, don't you?"

"No, the exact opposite actually. My business is my business. If I want anyone to know anything about me, I will tell them directly."

"Eddie, it's really not that big of a deal," she said carefully.

"Yes it is!" I shouted in her face.

Calm down, Edmundo.

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

"I didn't." Maddie said, taking a step backwards.

Just take a couple of deep breaths–

"Just shut up!"

My last outburst must have scared Jee-Yun, because she started wailing then. "You need to leave. Now!" Maddie told me sternly, running over to comfort Jee.

"No we're not finished!" I yelled, yanking her back by her hair.

"Eddie what the hell?!" she gasped, trying to free herself.

"I don't like it when people walk away from me while I'm speaking. I consider that to be very rude. And I don't like rude people. Understand?" Maddie nodded frantically. "Good girl. Now I want you to listen to me carefully, because I'm only going to say this once. I don't like repeating myself. Stay out of Evan's and my business." I snarled.

"He's my brother, he is my business." She tried to pull away from me again, but I yanked her back even harder.

"I said, I'm not DONE!" I slammed her head, face first, into the countertop.

"Ahh!" she screeched.

"Evan's not yours anymore. He's mine. So leave us alone."

"Or what?" she spat.

"I chuckled. "Let's just say, this isn't the worst I can do" I pushed her to the floor and started to walk away.

Halfway to the door, I stopped. I turned around, looking from left to right, confusion clouding my brain. My eyes landed on Maddie's as she looked up at me with hatred. Why was Maddie on the floor? And why was her nose bloody? "Maddie, are you okay? What happened?!" I rushed over to help her up.

"Stay the hell away from me!" she shouted, trying to scoot away from me, angry tears in her eyes. "Get out! Or I'm calling the police!" I was shocked. Why would she call the police?

"Wh–"

"Get OUT!" she screamed even louder.

I backed away from her slowly, carefully. "What did you do?" I whispered. "What did you DO?" I shouted again, mortified. "I'm sorry Maddie. I'm so sorry." Tears streamed down my face.

I turned and fled out the door and back to my truck, wondering how in the hell we were going to get out of this one...