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When Ed walked out of the room, his mother was cooking pancakes and chatting with Sarah, who was sitting at the table, impatiently waiting for them to be done.
"Morning!"
There was no response to him. The other two kept talking about something concerning a new fashion shop at the mall; surely Sarah wanted to go there some time, and their mother was guessing they could go there and see if there was good stuff. Ed sat by his sister's side. Too close for her taste.
"Eh, get off me, you stink!" Sarah punched him away from her. Their mother had her face turned to them but seemed to be blind at that gesture.
"Almost done, treasure." She said.
Of course, she was talking about Sarah. Once the pancakes were done, she divided them in two plates. One was for Sarah. Ed saw his mother sit in front of them with the second. Since there would be no pancakes for him, he stood up and walked to the fridge, to see what he could have for breakfast. He eventually decided to eat that chocolate cake which was getting dry after days in the fridge.
"Hey, don't you dare touch my cake!" Sarah looked at him like she was going to bite his arm off for touching it.
"But you haven't touched your cake." Ed replied, meek as a lamb.
"I will eat it later!"
"Ed, eat another thing, that's your sister's cake." Their mother intervened, looking at Ed with a frown.
Ed left the cake back to where it belonged and got milk, to eat a bowl of cereals.
"I've seen your report, Ed." The woman continued to stare at him as he sat down to eat it. "And I'm not happy."
"He failed five or six subjects again, huh?" Sarah giggled.
"I'm sorry, mom..." Ed mechanically said.
"If you were really sorry, you'd do something about it." His mother said. "I thought hanging around the boy of the Vincents all day long would help you, but I see you don't get any good ideas, ever."
"He and his friends are always acting like clowns, mommy." Sarah joined the conversation—well, the whipping.
"That's what I thought. Look at your sister. She spends time with Jimmy but doesn't let that affect her grades. Keep going like that and you'll end up in the streets, living on government grants or asking us for money all weeks. Or worse: in jail, just like your uncle Tom."
"Yeah, you'll be in jail at eighteen." Sarah pinched him with her fork.
Ed bore it all without speaking. He just ate. He made the tiny rolls disappear in a wink and drank the milk almost in one gulp. He was so quick on purpose, so he could stand up sooner.
"Bye."
"Yeah, bye. And you'll be back for dinner, as always..." His mother shook her head. "Well, when you're back, bring an egg carton and orange juice. Will you remember?"
"Yep."
"No, he won't." Sarah mocked him.
"Probably. Forget it, son. I'll go." His mother turned to Sarah and sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. Ed turned his back to her gesture and Sarah's response and walked out of the house.
"Good morn-Oh, wait, silly me..."
Of course no one would reply. Once again, Double D woke up to find himself home alone. His father went to work very early in the morning and returned very late at night. His mother left some hours before to get a flight to Washington, for a congress. She promised she would bring him a present. For the moment, she had left him a little something on the counter.
«Dear Edward please clean the kitchen LOVE, MOM»
Yeah. Love, Mom.
Edd made himself poached eggs on toast and ate them reading. He had thought of reading Stephen Hawking while having breakfast, but the huge amount of sticky notes he found all over the kitchen gave him enough to entertain himself with.
«Be careful not to leave the fridge open»
«Dust the house»
«I am expecting a package»
«Don't forget you have dentist tomorrow»
«If you leave the house, close the door well»
«Vacuum the carpet of the living room»
«Buy another set of glasses, I left you the money next to the phone»
«Wash the phone»
«Change our sponges»
«Wash the toilet»
Edd finished his breakfast and hadn't even finished reading them all. He had a lot to do, so he was quick to finish. He washed the dishes, decided what he would cook for himself for lunch, left it cooking while he did the rest: cleaned the windows, the television, all surfaces in the house, vacuumed every room, changed his bed linen, hanged up the laundry...
He allowed himself to stop for one second to check the clock. Oh, dear, he had to hurry up!
There were things he could leave for later. After all, he had all day. He finished cooking his meal, then did the bathroom, opened the windows to let the fresh air in, polished his shoes...And he still had so much to do!
But it all could wait. He put on decent clothes, his sneakers and made his way outside.
He stopped, finding at the hall a last note on his signed report card.
«Good job. An A on Maths? It could have been an A+ and you know it, but I'm still proud. LOVE, MOM.»
Sighing quietly, he left those where they were and walked out, making sure the house was well closed in his absence.
It could have been an A+...An A+...She was right. What was wrong with him? How could have he been so distracted? What did go wrong? He wouldn't be admitted into a good university if he didn't work hard...He had to work, Edd said to himself. He had to...
"Hey, Double DDDDD!"
Oh, there was Ed. He had to tell him he was wearing his shirt was the other way round.
"Hahaha! Dance for me, monkey!"
Not only did Eddy's brother steal his bacon: he also wanted to make him beg for a bit of it. Darn it, Eddy was hungry and loved bacon for breakfast, but he didn't want to beg for food like he was a dog or something.
"Come on, dude!" He protested, trying to reach his plate.
"I said dance!" His brother stomped on his foot, making Eddy let out a howl of pain and jump on his other foot, in what looked like a dance. The older laughed at his gestures.
Their father came into the kitchen and, as always, that didn't make things better. When he saw Eddy screaming of pain, he looked at his other son with his thick eyebrows furrowed.
"How many times do I have to tell you to leave your darned brother alone, idiot?!"
"Go back to sleep, you drunkard!" Eddy's brother replied, and with that the morning fight commenced.
"Say that to my face! Say it again!" His father walked to him like an angry, massive bull, and was about to slap him when Eddy's brother pushed him.
"Drunkard! You'd drink the water from the flower vases if we had any! Sewer rat!" Eddy's brother said.
"Go get a job and leave already, you piece of crap!"
Eddy took advantage of this, getting his dish and running away from the kitchen. His brother hadn't left much, just a couple of strips, one of them bitten, but it was better than nothing. He walked to eat them in the safety of his room.
"SHUT UP YOU TWO, I'M ON THE PHONE!" His mother showed herself from a second, not wearing make up and with hairs which made her look like she had been electrocuted, before shutting the door with a bang.
The storm continued, Eddy heard. And it finished like always, with his father going to work almost smashing the door, and his brother shouting.
"I hope you crash your car and die, old man!"
Which meant he had to be quick, because he didn't have his father to defend him anymore and his brother would keep on bothering him, even worse than before, now that there was no one to stop him. He left the dish on the carpet of his bedroom and jumped out of the window, still munching the bacon. He was out when he heard his brother calling him, trying to get in. Just in case he ran off faster.
He finally swallowed what was inside of his mouth and pressed his lips, containing what was on his mind, thoughts which were not good for him and he wanted no one to see.
Thoughts which disappeared as soon as he saw two familiar figures waiting for him at the park, by the slide.
"Hey." He greeted Ed and Double D, raising a hand.
"Hi, Eddy!" Ed showed him his biggest smile.
"Good morning." Edd made a gesture with his head.
"So, any news? This morning is so nice I want to puke. Let's make a fuss or something." Eddy said.
All was well, finally.
THE END