The Freak and I (EN Version)

Chapter 29 : the plan

After a few hours of sleep, Sidney awoke in shock, not knowing where she was.

— Calm down Sid, it's all right. I'm here.

Her gaze calmed when she saw her friend, and without saying a word, she threw herself into his arms. While she was resting, Eddie had cleaned her wounds. He had also put on her a sweater and pants of his own to cover her naked body. After a long hug, Sid stepped back to look at her friend who was waiting for her to speak first to explain what had happened. But it was something else altogether that challenged her when she looked down.

— Oh my God, Ed, she said, taking a closer look at her wrists. What have you done ? She passed her trembling hand over her friend's wounds, her face filled with tears. Why did you do that, Eddie ? Is it my fault ? It's my fault. Oh, my God, I'm so sorry. She looked into her friend's eyes, and he was also crying with hot tears. Forgive me, Eddie. I didn't mean to hurt you.

— It's not your fault, Sid. It's mine, I went too fast with you, too far and I thought I'd lost you. But that's not the most important thing, look at you. Tell me everything. Why did he do all this to you ?

Sidney took a deep breath and began to speak. She couldn't hide from Eddie what her father was doing to her anymore. She first told him about the first fight, the one just after the kiss when she had defended him, and the beatings that followed. She explained that she did not know how long she had been unconscious. She gave all the details of the care she was following to the letter and the slowness that the excruciating pains imposed on her. She then spoke of her father's false kindness, his monologues that gave him headaches, and the astronomical amounts of food he had bought. She ended by telling him about the dream she had had, about her mother she had seen, and about this scarf.

— How could I not see that at the time ? My mother wore a wool scarf inside our house. I know him by heart. How could I not see that he was beating her too ?

— You were a kid, Sid ! And I'm sure she made sure you didn't realize anything.

— She wanted to take me that night, you know. I remember it well now. We were both going to get away from him, but I went looking for that stupid imaginary cat.

— You were but a child, Sid.

— But I killed my mother Ed ! She was finally going to be free, and because of me, she died.

— That's not true, and you know it.

Sidney's tears began again.

— I won't forgive myself. Just like I won't forgive myself for resenting her all these years.

— He manipulated you, Sid. He manipulated a child. You don't realize yet how bad he is, how manipulative he is. What kind of man manipulates his own daughter in this way ?

Eddie got out of bed and began to take the hundred steps to calm down. After a few breaths, he sat down again next to his friend and took her hands.

— When you arrived, your nose and lips were bleeding. Did he hit you again last night ?

— He caught me searching his room. I found the scarf, Ed. My mother's scarf. The one she wore that night. The one she should have had on her neck when she left us. But it was there. That's how I understood that she hadn't left. And then he explained everything to me.

— He confessed to the murder ?

— No, not really. But he kept telling me how much my mother wasn't up to it. How much he had tried to turn her into a perfect woman, but she wasn't up to him and didn't deserve us. There is no doubt that he killed her that night.