Chapter Text
Eddie's mom passed away when he was just nine years old; he remembers every detail about that day and the week to follow. Sometimes he wished he didn't, sometimes it hurt too much.
His mom's final moments as her exhausted body had withered away from ovarian cancer; the stone faced look on his dad’s face, as he sat at her bedside.
The strange smells in the hospital, the way his Uncle Wayne held him; with a look of utter devastation in his expression. Holding his mom's hand for the last time and saying goodbye.
He was barely tall enough to peer over the edge of the casket; silent tears sliding down his small cheeks as he looked at his mom.
She didn't look the same at all, the rosy color gone from her cheeks, replaced by a strange gray color showing through her skin.
He ran over to his best friend, Gareth, when he arrived with his mom; after the two hugged, Gareth's mom held Eddie in her arms as they both cried. She had lost her best friend, Eddie's mom and her supported each other through everything.
After getting home from the cemetery, Eddie's dad locked himself in his room; leaving the boy to fend for himself.
Not that Eddie had any kind of appetite anyway, he ended up crying himself to sleep that night.
The next morning however, hunger kicked in; Eddie woke up with red rimmed eyes from crying the night before.
He wrapped himself in a small blanket, before walking down the short hallway to his dads room.
He lightly knocked on the door and his dad answered in a gruff tone, "what is it?".
Eddie stuttered back in reply, "I..uh.." he started to say, shuffling his feet nervously.
"Speak up boy" his dad said, sounding irritated.
"I'm hungry daddy" Eddie answered, nervously, his dad had yet to actually open the door.
"Yeah? well, what am I supposed to do about it?" he said
Eddie was momentarily stunned by his reaction, he had never even used the stove on his own before.
His bottom lip shivered anxiously, "Get me something to eat...please?" he muttered.
Eddie's dad said nothing in return, completely ignoring him; After a few minutes of waiting, Eddie gave up and walked back the way he came, with tears in his eyes.
Eddie entered the kitchen five minutes later; feeling a little intimidated as he glanced up at the cupboards, that were out of reach. He thought for a moment before sliding a chair over from the small kitchen table.
After stepping up on the seat of the chair, he was able to reach the cupboards; he smiled to himself at his small victory.
He wasn't sure what he would find inside (they hadn't been to a grocery store since his mom passed, about a week before); But at least he wouldn't be hungry anymore.
Eddie opened the first cupboard door and found a box of mac and cheese, two packages of ramen noodles, and a can of chili. He looked at them hungrily, but didn't know how to cook them.
He sighed and moved on to the next cupboard, where he found a nearly empty loaf of bread and a half full jar of peanut butter; next to a box of crackers.
He grabbed the crackers, sitting them down on the counter below the cupboard; then the bread next.
It was going good until he got to the peanut butter jar; a few seconds later it slipped out of his small hands, falling onto the floor below and breaking.
His little heart beat fast as he looked at the splattered mix of broken glass and peanut butter.
Eddie's dad was starting to get up when he heard the glass break. He got angry and yanked his bedroom door open, looking out into the hallway.
"Boy, what did you do now?!' he shouted, from the hallway
Eddie's eyes were wide with panic, as he quickly grabbed the box of crackers in one hand and gripped onto the chair with his other hand.
Eddie safely got down from the chair, before he started to run to his room. He knew how angry his dad could get some times. He had witnessed it first hand with his mom.
Just as Eddie was about to reach his bedroom door, his dad starting stomping towards him.
He roughly grabbed Eddie's free arm, as he reached his bedroom door; causing Eddie to yelp in shock.
"Stop daddy, you're hurting me" he cried out, whimpering in pain
When he paused for a few seconds, glancing down at the box of crackers in Eddie's right hand; Eddie took the opportunity to yank his arm out of his dad's grip, and run inside his bedroom.
He shut the door and locked it, getting himself to safety; before his dad fully realized what was going on.
Eddie sat the box of crackers on the floor with shaky hands; as his dad started pounding his fist against the door.
"You come out of there right now, I'm not finished with you yet!' He shouted, as Eddie cupped his hands over his ears; trying to block out the noise.
He sat with his knees bent up to his chest, waiting for it to be over
A few minutes later his dad gave up and walked away; Eddie breathed a sigh of relief, finally letting himself relax.
He opened the box of crackers and started to munch on some, he didn't mind that they were a little stale; he was thankful for them, after being so hungry.
A moment later, Eddie heard a jingle of keys and the front door slam shut; before his dad got in his truck and left the house.
Once Eddie's dad was gone, he slowly opened the door and walked back into the kitchen.
Getting the broom and dustpan, he carefully swept up the broken jar into the dustpan; then cleaned up the small area and emptied the mess into the trash can.
He sat down on the couch, flipping through the channels on the small television that sat in one end of the front room; until he found something to watch.
He cuddled up in an old blanket that he could smell his mom's perfume on; wondering where his dad had gone.