The October Music, Stanza 2 - Day 6

Can’t Stand Losing You

            Eddie was as mama’s boy as a mama’s boy could be. His daddy had died years ago when he was just a little ‘un. Eddie never really knew him. He s’posed he was a good man, at least a smart one. After all, he married Mama! That showed some brains after all. Who wouldn’t want to marry her, be in love with her, love her in all the ways a man can love a woman? Eddie sometimes wished in those private moments he was allowed that he had been his daddy so he could have had what his daddy had. Foolish but it never went away as an idea. Instead, he contented himself with the time he had with her.

            Sunday dinners stayed a constant light in his life. Eddie would leave his tiny apartment and go to Mama’s house in the suburbs. He would bring chicken and rice or maybe an apple pie. He and Mama would sit at the table with a place still set out for Daddy and would talk quietly and eat their meals. Eddie loved those Sunday dinners. He wanted to ask if they could have these meals more often. He didn’t need to live in an apartment. Not really. He could move home and take care of Mama, be the man around the house she deserved. She always smiled and patted him on the arm and told him that big boys needed to be on their own sometimes and that she was perfectly fine. She always seemed to mean it too which hurt something awful.

Life goes on as it will, though. Time ticks by unceasing. One day, Eddie stopped by with some cookies he had bought. He wanted to surprise Mama. She had seemed so distant lately. Maybe she was missing Daddy. He understood. So, on that day, he let himself in with the key under the rock. He wanted to get the cookies and milk set up. Then he heard noises coming from Mama’s bedroom. Noises that he knew from naughty videos. Noises that adults made when they were in love. Mama didn’t sound like she was in trouble – he knew that much – but his heart shattered all the same. Without interrupting, since that would have been rude, Eddie took his cookies back and left the house, though he stayed outside in the car.

An hour later, he exited Mama’s home. A tall man with gray hair straightened his tie and brushed his hair back. Eddie felt his chest tighten and his eyes go blurry. When he came to his senses, the man’s gray hair was soaked with red and Eddie was dangling him over the bridge. He let go and watched the man fall. He made a splash.

The next week, Mama called Eddie in tears. Said she had been seeing someone, maybe Eddie’s new daddy, but he had just disappeared. Left her alone. He had broken her heart. Could Eddie come keep her company?
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Why, yes. He supposed he could.