The Bridge To Success

What are you doing here?

Today. Midday.

Eddy just stayed in his room after he and Chen-mama returned from their appointment. There, he holed up, not talking to anyone.

Uneasy, the family went on with their chores. Nothing they said made Eddy come out of his room. They knew he blames himself for what happened and the result it had.

How much his mother and sister urged him to, he didn't come out to eat lunch. Even Chen-papa felt that he had to do something too.

On the dining table, all the people seated had eyes dart to the stairs ever so often, to see if he would come down. Mouths slowly chewed to wait for the person. Breaths held as to listen if one suddenly spoke.

Quietly, the Chens, minus Eddy, went on with their lunch.

The peace, or rather the tension inside the house was interrupted. Through the open main door of the living room, loud stomps barged in. Like a storm that suddenly crashed in, with thunder she came.

"Where the fuck is Eddy?"

Heads turned to the voice's direction. A spoon made a sound as it fell from the daughter's hand same with her jaw. Chen-mama stood up first, approached the visitor. Opposed to the raged guest, she was calm.

"He won't talk to us," Chen-mama put a hand on the guest's shoulder and sighed. She turned to her daughter in the dining room, "Call your brother, his mother-in-law's here."

Nodding, the daughter quickly obliged. She ran upstairs. Knocked on the wooden door of Eddy's room. "Eddy," she called, "Yang-mama is here."

She waited a bit before she knocked again. Still, no reaction from the person inside. "Eddy..."

The sister was silent for a moment, took a deep breath then continued, "You'll be dead whether you go down the stairs or not."

At the end of the sentence, the door swung open. One hell of a disheveled Eddy emerged, eyes puffy and red with wrinkled clothes and tousled hair. Eddy held eye contact with his sister before he went downstairs. She followed.

Descending the stairs, the people on the living room followed Eddy with their eyes. Both mothers, with contrasting moods, we're tight-lipped. The moment his foot reached the last step of the staircase,

"Why are you here?" Yang-mama questioned.

Eddy was genuinely taken aback. In his steps, he stopped. Same for his sister that followed him.

Confused, his eyebrows clashed. This is the Chen residence. He looked around to make sure, it was indeed the Chen-residence. It's not wrong that he's here, right?

Yang-mama spat, "Why the fuck are you here?"

Both the Chen women gasped, with wide eyes they let the scene unfold before them. They held their breaths. Quietly, they faded into the background.

"What the--?" Eddy licked his lip, it felt dry.

With her eyes fixed on Eddy, Yang-mama walked closer to him. Slid past Chen-mama. "Shouldn't you be with Brett right now?"

Eddy opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She was right. He wasn't supposed to be here. As she said, he should be with Brett now, but...

The loud deafening sound of a gun. The way his lover's body fell to the ground. The loud smack of flesh against the porcelain tiled floor. Staining the white tiles, a small pool of blood expanded around Brett.

Around Brett.

Eddy's breathing stopped.

He remembered the moment Brett woke up in the hospital from his two-day sleep. How his name was the first word he spoke of. That Eddy was the person Brett first thought of.

Relieved that his lover was out of danger, he went to him hurriedly. His arms, hands shook as he reached for him. To hug him, to kiss him.

Then the thought of Brett's loud shriek and wails flashed before him. How he clutched to his head, pulled his hair or hit his head to get rid of the pain. His lover's never-ending tears from suffering and frustration. It hurt him too.

The way his eyes were tightly shut. The way he gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw. The sound of sharp hard breaths that escaped him. The exact face Brett made when his unbearable headache attacked.

Eddy's hand began to shake. His breaths shallowed, they came fast as they go. 'I don't want Brett to be hurt,' Eddy thought, 'I don't want to see him hurt.'

He shut his eyes tightly. Amidst the shaking, he took a deep breath. "I want to be with him," he then looked at Yang-mama, "but I can't."

Eddy gulped down, his eyes teary, "Because whenever he hears me, " he tightened his fists, "his head hurts."

Tears fell, flowing. Clenching his teeth, he said, "Because whenever he sees me," his voice raised, his finger repeatedly pointing hard to his chest, "his fucking head hurts!"

All the other people in the room were silent. Their eyes all at Eddy.

"Ho-how am I," sharp breaths escaped him, tears still flowing. "How am I going to stay with him," his eyes questioned Yang-mama, in a low voice, he pleaded, "if I cause him pain?"

Yang-mama searched Eddy's eyes. In a whisper, she said, "But he needs you..."

"Fuck, I know!" Eddy exclaimed arms slammed to the air. "I need him too!" His voice shaky, "I want to be with him too, but--"

In the dining room, the sound of a chair sliding against the tiles interrupted Eddy. In heavy footsteps, Chen-papa approached him, grabbed his arm and pulled him to the door. "Get out!"

Eddy was taken aback, "Wha-what?" He tried to break free from his father, but he was too strong for him.

"Pa!" Chen-mama shouted, ran to the door where her husband pulled their son. Chen-papa signed a 'stop' to her.

The other women gasped and watched wide-eyed.

He threw Eddy out of the door.

Out of balance, he almost tripped over. When he regained his footing, he quickly stood up. Faced his dad, "What is this now?!" he shouted, frustrated.

The others also went to the door, all eyes at Eddy. He who was crying, frustrated, hurt and all. They all just looked, silent, not uttering a single word.

Chen-papa said, "Go to Brett."

"But--!"

"Didn't you say you wanted to be there?"

"Dad..."

"You don't have to talk to him, he doesn't have to look at you." Chen-papa paused, "Just be there. Brett needs you."

"..."

"Go to your husband, Eddy."

Eddy stared at his dad. Then his eyes turned to his mom, sister and Yang-mama. They all had a look on their faces, the look of wanting him to do what he was supposed to do.

Chen-mama mouths a 'go.'

He nodded, wiped his tears and ran off to where he was supposed to.