Free Wintertide: A Novel by Debra Doxer Page B

guy
though, am I?” he responded, suddenly looking annoyed. "And I'm not a
smart college boy like the two of you. I never will be, and I'll sure as hell
never make the kind of living that will buy me anything more than a broken down
shack right here in our quaint little town.” He grimaced, as though his own
words had left a bad taste in his mouth. His resentful eyes were intent on
mine.
    Seth then decided to enter the conversation.
"How could someone have all this wealth and just lose it? It's one thing
to never have had any money, but what’s it like to have all this and then watch
it disappear? Maybe it would be better to never know what it's like to be rich.
Then you don't know what you're missing."
    "You're so full of crap,
Cooper," Eddie said angrily. "You'd rather never have money than have
it and lose it? That's such bullshit. I’ve never had anything, and believe me I
know exactly what I'm missing. Your parents may not be rich, but you've always
gotten whatever you wanted."
    Seth bristled at that. "Give
me a break. You don't know anything about my parents."
    "I know your daddy has enough
money to send you and your sister to college and pay for his whore on the
side."
    "Screw you!" Seth yelled
at him.
     Eddie stood and put his face close
to Seth's. Close enough to force Seth to take a step back. "What did you
say?"
    Our quiet evening had quickly taken
a sharp left turn. "Come on, relax," I said trying to ease the
tension. "All our fathers are sons of bitches. We all got screwed in the
dad department. All right?"
    Eddie turned his anger on me. "You're
such a goddamned hypocrite. Don't you ever compare yourself to me.” His eyes
were bloodshot. The heavy iron fireplace poker swung loosely in his hand. "Your
father never laid a hand on you. He never came home in the middle of the night
with some drunk bitch and kicked you out of the house into the snow. He never
put you in the hospital because you forgot to take out the garbage. You both
make me sick. You have no idea what real life is like. You have no fucking
clue!”  
    Eddie now gripped the poker with
both hands and smashed it against one of the chairs. When the material ripped
easily, he hit it again with more force. The wooden armrest splintered with a
satisfying crack. Eddie slammed the poker into the chair again and again. Seth
and I stood there shocked. I started to back away toward the open window. The
chair's legs finally broke off completely. Fresh wood lay in pieces on the
floor. He was now tearing at the cushions. The white stuffing poured out,
getting caught on the sharp tip of the instrument Eddie brought smashing down
while he grunted loudly. Seth now stood between Eddie and I, looking back and
forth, realizing that I meant to leave him there. Eddie and I weren’t friends.
I had no intention of calming him down or trying to make him feel better about
his miserable life. I wanted to go home and go to sleep. Seth looked at me
again, seeming torn at first, but then he made his decision.
    He had just started walking toward
me when a light came on. The four walls of the room jumped out at us without
warning. We all froze. Eddie, who was breathing hard, turned to look toward the
doorway. A man stood there in red flannel pajamas. His straight brown hair hung
down into his face. He had obviously just woken up.
    "What the hell are you doing
in here?” He didn't seem frightened by us, only angry.
    I was next to the open window that
had been our entrance, and I fully intended to save myself, perched to dash out
and run back down the hill. But then the man looked at Eddie. If he hadn't said
anything else, maybe we could have all gotten away successfully. The night
would have ended and I would have remembered my last time with Eddie and Seth
as simply another close call. But that’s not what happened.
    "I know you," the man
said pointing at Eddie who stood there defiantly, his eyes still filled with anger.
"You patched a tire for me on my way into town. You