#wayne county jail

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Fontaine Is Extradited,” Border Cities Star. June 7, 1932. Page 3. ---- Rushed From Sandwich Cell Into States By Secret Route ---- Will Face Trial ---- Suspected Brains of Jail Uprising Held In Wayne Jail ---- Snarling at his escort and reluctant to quit the comparative security of the Essex County Jail, Harold ‘the Monk’ Fontaine, crossed the international boundary at 10.30 o’clock this morning, en route for the United States penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. 

SECRET ROUTE Strict secrecy attended the removal of "the Monk,” who is wanted for alleged complicity in the break of seven dangerous felons from the Kansas prison last December. Handcuffed and manacled and accompanied by three United States marshals and a posse of other American secret service operatives, he traveled in an armored car, and while the route from Canada was not even disclosed to jail officials at Sandwich, it was understood the party rushed through the tunnel. 

“The Monk” is to be taken to the Kansas penitentiary as speedily as possible, it was learned, as the authentic! are not anxious to court any interference with their plans by gangsters with whom, they charge, Fontaine had been associated before and since the December break. 

Naturally enough, "the Monk” who, through his counsel, had put up a losing battle against extradition, was unwilling to leave the Essex County Jail today. He did not put up any physical resistance, however, nor did he protest. He seemed resigned. 

FEARS DEATH "The Monk’s” fear of death is shared by the American officers. Tha latter suspected an attempt by his former associates to "rub him out before he reaches the safety of tha Kansas jail, so that he could not ‘squawk’ about them at his trial. 

But "the Monk” feared gang vengeance for another and probably the true reason survivors of the band which broke out of Leavenworth claim he put them on the wrong course to be followed after their delivery, with the result that they took the wrong highway and were intercepted by a, posse which captured three of this party and cornered three others who killed themselves 

One of the septet, Steve Turrell, is still at liberty and U. S. secret service men say he Is leading a gang which, they suspect, may attempt to ambush the party somewhere between Detroit! and Kansas. 

WATER ROUTE HINTED There was a report this morning this American police would whisk Fontaine across the county to Kingsville or Leamington or another port and remove him by boat to Toledo or Cleveland, in an effort to outwit any band of desperadoes who may be planning rescue or a "bump-off” expedition. 

While Fontaine is charged with tha attempted murder of Warden T. D, White of Leavenworth prison, the U. S. authorities claim he arranged with other men for the shipment into tha penitentiary of guns and explosives which were afterwards used in the escape. Warden White was abducted, shot and left on the highway of the fleeing bandits. He lost an arm and will head the welcoming committee for Fontaine at Leavenworth if Fontaine gets there. 

Fontame w'as given a brief hearing by a board of special inquiry at the Detroit end of the Detroit-Windsor tunnel and then taken to the Wayne county jail.

[thefreakandthehair]

(don't bother) calling me when you're sober | rating: m | wc: 1.5k

content warnings: future fic, parental alcoholism ("falling off the wagon"), past parental neglect, minor character death (i've committed wayne crimes i'm so sorry but it's not shown, just mentioned), emotional hurt/comfort, ends on a happy, hopeful note despite the tags

“My dad called.” 

Eddie walks into the room, pinched eyebrows and flared nostrils lit up by the multicolored Christmas lights they string on the tree every year, one hand balled into a fist. The reaction  wouldn’t surprise Steve so much if this happened years ago, when Al Munson was still living in the bottom of a bottle of Jack, but now? 

It’s been eighteen years since he’d gotten sober, nineteen years since his last stint at Hawkins County, and fifteen years since making a genuine attempt to right the wrongs of Eddie’s childhood and build a relationship with his son. 

Fifteen years after Eddie let him in, let him try, let him earn Eddie’s trust. 

Fifteen years is a long time and to see Eddie so vitriolic in the doorway of their apartment’s living room— hands shaking, body shaking— Steve knows something must’ve gone wrong. 

“What happened?” Steve asks, standing from the couch and meeting Eddie where he stands, holding the hand not curled tightly around itself. 

“He’s drunk. He called, and he was drunk.” 

Steve’s chest pulls tight, his heart racing. What does someone say to that? What can someone say to assuage that kind of deep anger, pain, and betrayal? His thoughts are scattered as they try to make sense of what Eddie just said, and he’s even more grateful now that Ronnie wanted a sleepover with Aunt Robin tonight. 

“Eddie, fuck. I’m so— ” Before he can finish his thought, Eddie leans back against the doorframe, ripping his hand out of Steve’s and tangling his fingers in his hair, tugging. 

“How could he? How fucking could he?!” Eddie bellows, eyes squeezed shut. “He knew! He knew that if he ever did this again, I’d be done. For good. For forever. And he did it anyways! After eighteen fucking years!” 

His eyes fly open and Steve stands still and nods him on. There are just no words to fix this, and trying for the sake of filling the silence has never served him well.

“He did it anyway! Two days before fucking Christmas, a week before the anniversary of—” He chokes and cuts himself off. 

He knows what Eddie was going to say. A week before the anniversary of Wayne’s death. It’s been on his mind, too, of course. On his mind and in their conversations over breakfast with eccentric mugs of coffee, over the tangled lights that Wayne could always figure out. The year hasn’t been the kindest to them, particularly Eddie, and Steve wants to protect Eddie as much as he can from whatever he can. 

But he can’t shield him from this. Al Munson skips to the top of his shitlist.

“That son of a bitch!” Eddie rams his fist sideways against the door jam, leaving a sharp, red mark along his pinky. “He promised, and I believed him. Why the fuck did I believe him, Steve?”

Steve takes a step closer and grabs both of Eddie’s hands, carefully soothing the angry mark. “It’s been almost twenty years, babe. Trusting him with so much time invested makes sense. Hell, I did, too.” 

“I’m— I’m in my 30s, hurt and angry about the same shit I was hurt and angry about as a fucking kid. All the nights I slept in the backseat of the car because he blew his money at the bar, all the car accidents and court appearances and jail time, all the mornings I missed school because he didn’t know what fucking day it was,” Eddie rants, stopping to take a breath before picking back up, Steve’s own heart cracking and raging the more he speaks. 

“And every time he’d get sober, he’d always promise. He’d promise it would be the last time, and it never was. Not once could he choose his fucking son and I didn’t understand it then, but now that we have Ronnie, I understand it even less. If I was sick enough to walk away from her, I’d walk my happy ass to the nearest fucking rehab. I get that it’s a disease, I get it, I get it, I get it. But I can’t— I can’t do it again. Not this time. Eighteen years just down the fucking drain because of his company’s holiday party? How can I ever believe him again? Or trust him again?” 

Eddie’s voice grows raspier, breath shallow and quick, eyes watery. “Every time this happened when I was a kid, I always had Wayne. He’s the only person who really got it, y’know? The only one who lived it with me and now, I don’t even have him. My dad’s drunk, slurring his way through who fucking knows what on the phone, and no one else can fully understand the magnitude of what that feels like for me.” 

He squeezes his eyes shut again and drops forward toward Steve, forehead on his shoulder and arms loosely hung around Steve’s waist. Steve still doesn’t have words that bandage this up, but he knows how to show his husband love in other ways. Ways that, over the years, have become a language all their own. Steve pulls him in tight, one hand near his waist, the other cradling the back of his head. Fingers slide carefully beneath the hem of Eddie’s tee-shirt and rub little, repetitive circles into the small of Eddie’s back while he cards his other hand through Eddie’s hair, scratching his scalp and holding him to his chest to feel the rhythm of Steve’s own heartbeat until his breath returns to a steady pace. 

It’s only then that Steve speaks. 

“I don’t know what to say, Ed. It’s fucked up, and if you want to me like, hit him with my car, you know I’m game.” Steve feels Eddie laugh— just a few puffs of air through his nose but it’s a laugh all the same. “But I’m here, and we’re gonna figure it out, okay? Whatever you decide to do, we’ll do it together.”

Eddie nods and lets himself be led to the couch, Steve tucking Eddie into his side and pulling the afghan up over them. 

“I never want to be what Al was to me to our daughter,” Eddie whispers, not looking away from the tree. 

“Well, you’re ahead of the game, because she’s already older than you were when he started hitting the bottle hard. And I know there’s the genetic piece to it that everyone talks about, but nurture counts for a lot of who we become, too. Shit, I owe Joyce Byers a huge thank you for being more of a parent to me than my own were because she’s probably the reason I didn’t turn out like Dick Harrington. Ronnie’s never going to have an Al Munson in her life, because you weren’t raised by Al Munson. That’s not whose legacy you’re passing down. You’re passing down love, not pain.” Steve presses a soft kiss to Eddie’s temple and feels his whole body sag into him. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Eddie’s voice is quiet now, a far cry from his earlier venomous edge. 

Silence nestles onto the couch with them, a comfortable addition, as they watch the basketball game Steve had on before Eddie told him about the phone call. Watch is a loose description, actually. They're more just looking at a moving, flashing screen. 

“My hand really hurts, by the way,” Eddie announces, holding up the hand he’d used to punch the doorjam. “That was fucking dumb.”

“Maybe a little bit, but I get it,” Steve untucks a hand from beneath the blanket and outstretches his palm. “Lemme see?”

Eddie plops his hand into Steve’s and Steve takes a look, mentally working down the check list he’s memorized from his decade plus of EMT work. No obvious breaks, nothing looks crooked, Eddie’s able to move each finger and flex his hand without severe pain. 

“If anything, it’s just gonna be bruised tomorrow. But I’ll fix it,” Steve grins and lifts Eddie’s fist to his lips, carefully kissing each knuckle and paying a little extra attention to the pinky that delivered most of the blow. 

“I’m so in love with you, Steve.” Eddie rests his temple on Steve’s shoulder. “You know that, right?” 

“I know,” Steve agrees, chest fluttering despite the circumstances. “And I’m in love with you, too. You know that, right?”

Eddie snuggles in and wraps Steve up, full koala, as though he’s trying to get as close as possible without actually cracking Steve open and climbing inside of him. 

“Definitely.”

The next morning, Aunt Robin brings Ronnie home and together, they decorate the gingerbread cookies that only vaguely look like people but are good enough to pass for a seven year old. Halfway through, Eddie’s cell phone rings and the caller I.D. reads Al. Steve watches, worried that Eddie’s going to answer in the middle of their decorating. That he’ll forget Ronnie’s having the time of her life, and that in his righteous indignation, Eddie will leave the table to go fight and argue.

There’s so much to be said, and Steve wouldn’t blame him, but he breathes a sigh of relief when Eddie simply declines the call and sets about pouring more edible glitter onto his design with a smile down at their daughter. 

[stvolanis]

Don’t Wanna Grow Up.

( one shot )

PAIRINGS: Rockstar! OC X Mean! Jim Hopper

WARNINGS: guys Hopper is really mean in this, small plot, OC is in a band (corroded coffin), she’s Eddie’s best friend/step-sister, age gap (OC is 19 and hops in his 40s), dubcon, drinking, usual rockstar things, OC is also kinda an asshole,nice jim at the end, hop being a cop (that rhymed lol)

NSFW INCLUDES: anal play, degradation (slut, brat, bitch), spitting, (hard) slapping, hair pulling, breeding kink, breath play, power play, size kink, manhandling, choking, oral (m receiving), praising (if you squint), heavy sir kink, humiliation, public sex (parking lot), p in v sex, overstimulation, cum eating, SORRY IF I MISSED ANYTHING<3

Istg I got horny while writing this so I hope y’all enjoy !!<3

please lmk if you guys are interested in a part 2!!

˚ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ˚

the night was lively and booming in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. It was a big contrast to the usual boring nights that the locals were used to, and it was surely a huge difference for on-duty chief of police, Jim Hopper.

Rowdy teens were one thing, but full grown adults plus teenagers being loud and obnoxious was not how hopper wanted to spend his night. Of course the big commotion would only mean one thing, lots of paperwork and phone calls.

It was a Tuesday night. A school night. A work night, even. What could have possibly caused all this up roar in the town? This much disruption and constant noise complaint phone calls from a small, quiet and local bar were unusual. But, nonetheless, the chief loaded up in his cruiser and made quick work of heading to the busy bar.

Jim could hear the faint blaring music from down the road, much to his dismay. As he pulled in and got out of his car, slamming the door shut, he quickly took notice of the locals stumbling out of the bar drunkenly, hollering only god knows what as he watched one fall into a bush. It was gonna be a long night.

Hopper walked into the noisy bar and was instantly met with the smell of strong alcohol and must coming from the sweaty bodies dancing around in the crowd. Unfortunately, he could also smell the lingering remanence of throw up, cause his face to crinkle up in disgust. Suddenly, the bright stage that was flashing every color under the sun caught his attention.

Of course she would be what was causing all of this nonsense.

Blood red hair sticking up in all kinds of directions bounced up and down while singing wildly. One of her dainty, fishnet covered hands in the air as her other held a microphone. The deep red lipstick she was wearing was slightly smeared, as was her eyeliner and mascara. Her honey brown eyes peering over the crowd with a wicked smile dancing on her lips at the mess she’s stirred. The lead singer of Corroded Coffin, Cherrie.

A Highschool drop-out who was on the upcoming charts with her band, soon to be leaving the small town to start touring across America for a hefty price. A delinquent since she became friends with the Munson boy, who she’d met in the 5th grade after she stabbed him in the thigh with her pink pencil.

Cherrie was a force to be reckoned with, and Hop can’t even count on his fingers anymore how many times she’d spent the night in the county jail either high out of her mind or drunk on gin. She’d spent her whole life in and out of the system, till Eddie Munsons uncle, Wayne, decided he’d take her in. Her love for music started when she’d stumbled across Eddie’s massive music collection. Once Eddie got his guitar and she had a microphone in her hand, the rest was history.

The band started off as something they did for fun with their friends, but then it turned into something they couldn’t even imagine. Once their producer released their first album, it went flying off the shelves after about a lingering week of nothing. Before they knew it, they were ushered to go on tour in 2 weeks times. Cherrie always felt she was destined for more than the small town had to offer, but she could never quite place it till now. She had wanted an escape for as long as she can remember, and now that she finally had one, she wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon.

The small town she lived in seen the worst in her, even the ones who were much worse than her. The difference between them was that she wasn’t afraid to show it. She didn’t need to put up a facade for people, because they’d always just see her as the burnt out Highschool drop out. But when she was on stage, it was like she was on top of the world. For once, the people who’d whisper terrible things about her and spread ugly rumors were looking up at her and cheering their hearts out. It was a nice change. It was a euphoric feeling.

Cherrie was no stranger when it came to the male gaze, as she’d dealt with it since she was only about 14. It’s always made her uncomfortable, for sure, but after a while she’d learned how to use it to her advantage. So it was no surprise when she’d tried attempt to seduce Jim Hopper a few months prior when he’d threaten to lock her up for good. She’d ended up spending the night in a jail cell. Ever since then, Jim’s felt uneasy around the ball of fire. Almost afraid she’d pounce at any moment on him.

But right now, it was almost as if he was in a trance as he watched her body move enchantingly. The lighting made her deep olive skin appear more vibrant, and hopper could see the sweat dripping down her chest and into her open cleavage. She wore a tight strapless corset that was laced and a small mini skirt that was so short, he was sure if she turned around he’d be able to see her ass. The fishnets that adorned her arms and legs had skulls embroidered onto them, but hopper could still see her colorful Paul Stanley star-man tattoo on the side of her thigh.

The choker she wore had protruding spikes on it and the chains she wore along with it complimented her slim neck. Hopper instinctively locked his dry lips as he stared at her for a moment longer before their eyes connected, and he felt the hairs on his arm stand up and his back straighten.

Cherrie watched Hopper walked to the side of the stage with furrowed eyebrows as he unplugged Eddie’s amp and the strobe lights, effectively making everyone let out noises of confusion and annoyance. Cherrie rolled her eyes and groaned as she dropped the mic onto the ground angrily before hopping off of the stage, pushing her way through the crowd to get to Jim. Eddie was hot on her tail, trying to calm down the fire he could’ve swore he saw in her eyes begin to spark, but he was soon lost in the crowd as he called out to her.

“What the fuck are you doing, shithead?!” Cherrie yelled out as she stood in front of Jim. “Doin’ my job, Cherrie. But you always gotta make it harder f’me, huh?” He huffed out with annoyance as he pushed past her towards the crowd of rowdy people.

“Everyone out! Right now, unless you’d like to spend the night with me at the station.” He yelled to the crowd, who quickly dispersed. Many sending Hopper ugly glances, but he was too over everything to care. “No, this is my scene, why’d you have to come fuck it up?!” She said with a groan as she stood chest to chest with him, though she was much smaller than him.

“Noise complaints, from multiple people.” He replied dryly. “Why can’t you just stay out of trouble for 2 fuckin’ minutes, is it that hard?” He added with a scoff. Cherrie didn’t process what happened as she felt her fist connect with his cheek, wincing as she rubbed her knuckles before slowly looking back up at an angry chief.

“Shit—Wait—” she muttered as she tried backing away from him, but Hop wasn’t having it. He harshly gripped her upper arm before slamming her front into the wall. “Cmon, yknow I didn’t mean to.” She said as she tried to wiggle free from his tight hold. “Shut up, brat.” He replied through clenched teeth as he snapped his cuffs onto her wrists.

“Ow!” She shouted as the cuffs tightened around her wrists painfully. Hop ignored her please as he dragged her out of the now almost empty bar. Eddie was by his van as he watched Cherrie get taken out in handcuffs with a shake of his head and a frown. “M’ sorry, Eds!” She shouted to him across the parking lot with a shrug of her shoulders. Eddie sighed as their band loaded up their belongings into his car.

Hopper pushed her forward towards the car. “We ain’t stoppin’ for chit-chat.” He grumbled under his breath. Cherrie merely rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Asshole.” She muttered under her breath. Hopper gripped her wrists in the cuffs tighter and he watched as she winced in pain. “What was that? Hm?” He muttered lowly in her ear.

She could feel his warm breath against the shell of her ear, and that’s all it took for her body to feel like it’s on fire. His grip on her wrists and the way she could feel his crotch area brush against her ass as they walked to the car from how close they are had her body on edge. She bit her lip as he opened the backseat door for her before roughly shoving her in and slamming the door shut.

Hopper got in his seat and fumbled with his keys with a huff before starting his cruiser. “Yknow you’re kinda hot when you’re mad to me, chief.” Cherrie giggled as she batted her lashes. Hopper eyed her through the rearview mirror, his eyes briefly trailing down to her open cleavage that was now free of sweat before rolling his eyes and adjusting the mirror to see better behind him, but really it’s just so his boner wouldn’t further harden from the sight of her in cuffs in his back seat.

Cherrie giggled lightly as she made herself comfortable in the backseat as Jim began driving to the police station. And then an idea hit her. “Yknow, I always thought you were a pretty shitty cop.” She said aloud as she looked out the window with a smirk. “Excuse me?” Hopper said, taken slightly aback.

“You heard me. I don’t even know you you became chief—I mean, aren’t you always drinking on the job? Yet you wanna make me seem like I’m the worst person ever.” She scoffed out with an eye roll. Hopper slammed on the breaks, making Cherrie hurl forward, hitting the head rest with a loud ‘thud’.

“Shit—what the fuck, Hop?!” She yelled out with furrowed brows. Jim’s breathing was erratic and hit fists were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. “Yeah? You think I’m a shitty cop? Alright, y’little bitch.” He muttered with a dark chuckle as he drove into an empty parking lot that was some what hidden behind trees.

“What’re you doin? you aren’t gonna kill me are you?” Cherrie giggled, feigning fear. Hopper didn’t respond as he parked the car and swung his door open, quickly opening Cherries too. “Hey—” she started, but was cut off when hopper gripped her upper arm tightly, yanking her out of her seat and onto the ground. Cherrie sat on her knees in front of the cop, looking up at him through her thick lashes.

“Y’gonna hurt me, Hop?” She challenged with raised brows and a taunting smirk. Hoppers hand harshly made contact with the side of her cheek, roughly slapping her, making her head spin to the side as a stinging pain overtook her cheek. Cherrie whimpered lightly, making Hopper chuckle. “Thought this was what you wanted, brat.” He said tauntingly as he gripped her hair, making her look up at him.

“Now here’s what’s gonna happen—” he started . “Y’gonna suck my cock like a good girl n then I’m gonna fuck that tight little cunt until I’m through with you, n maybe your ass if I feel like it. You’ve been a little bitch all night so don’t expect to fucking cum, y’hear me?” He stated as he peered down at her. Cherrie felt her pussy begin to ache with need, but this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She wasn’t supposed to actually want him the way she does now.

Cherrie nodded and Hopper slapped her once again, but on her other cheek. “Words, slut.” He spit out. Cherrie moaned at the slap, making hopper chuckle. “Yes, sir.” She muttered as she bit down on her lip. Jim groaned at the name. “Good girl.” He praised as he began to unzip his pants, letting them fall to his knees.

Cherrie could see his large bulge and a small wet patch where his tip is that’s seeping through. “M’gonna teach you how to suck cock properly, little girl.” He said as he let his hard cock spring free, long and so thick. A vein ran along the underside of it and Cherries mouth watered at the sight, but she wasn’t gonna let up so easily. “S’ not gonna fit in my mouth. Don’t want it to.” She said.

“I don’t give a fuck, you act like a brat n’ you get treated like one.” He said as he slapped his cock against the side of her cheek with a smirk. He soon forced Cherries mouth open with his thumb and shoved his throbbing member down her throat without warning, making her gag aloud. Cherrie could feel her eyes watering as his cock hit the back of her throat with no mercy. It was getting hard to breathe, and it didn’t help when the mean man above her pinched her nose shut as he held his cock in the back of her throat with a loud groan.

After a few seconds he let her nose go and she released his throbbing dick, gasping for air, hee chest heaving. “Please—” she begged through breaths of air. Jim quickly shoved his cock back down her throat that was now becoming unbearably sore, along with her jaw. She moaned around his cock as she began to grind her sopping cunt against the chiefs freshly polished boots.

Hopper felt his end coming near at the sight it. “Look at you— h-humping my boot l-l-like a bitch in heat.” He moaned at through clenched teeth as he watched her mascara and eyeliner run down her cheeks from her tears that he caused. The way she feverishly humped against his boot harder after his comment made him cum down her throat with a groan and a string of ‘fuckkk, just like that’ and ‘so fuckin good’.

Cherries senses were overwhelmed as she tasted him down her throat and on her tongue. Salty, but not bitter. Hopper slightly pulled out and released the rest of his cum on her tongue that was hanging outside of her mouth with a satisfied moan. Cherrie made quick work of swallowing his generous load. “Whaddya say, baby?” He mocked.

“Thank you for your cum, sir.” Cherrie said as she gripped at his leg, her panty covered pussy still dripping on his boot. “Needy little girl, aren’t you, Cherrie?” He asked as he clicked his tongue. She nodded and muttered a small ‘yes, sir’ as he surprisingly, gently pulled her up from the ground. Hopper gripped Cherries throat and pulled her face close to his, just enough to where their lips were brushing against each other.

“‘M gonna fuck you so good.” He muttered, and Cherrie groaned as he lips finally crashed with his. The kiss was messy and heated, and their teeth clashed together as did their tongues. They fought for dominance, but Jim over powered her as his tongue danced with hers. “Fuckkk, y’taste so good.” He groaned against her as his grip on her slim throat tighten just above her spiked choker that he adored so much on her.

He opened her mouth before spitting into it, his boner growing larger as he watched her swallow it obediently. It was just something about making her go from a bratty, loud, rude and arrogant little girl to a submissive, hot mess with not much to say now that made Jim Hopper go absolutely fucking feral. The need to be inside of her hurled into his senses as he dragged her to the front of his cruiser, bending her over the hood.

Jim got down onto his knees, now eye level with her wet, fishnet covered baby pink panties with lace on the trim of it. “So cute, baby.” He muttered as he kissed the flesh of her ass before gripping both cheeks in his large hands. He pressed his nose into her panties and inhaled her scent deeply, his dick throbbing at the smell of her arousal. Cherrie whimpered as his nose brushed against her aching clit as she tried to wiggle her pussy even closer to his face.

Hopper chuckled at his needy girl and licked a long stripe over her panties. Cherrie let out a pornographic moan as he sucked her panty covered clit into his mouth. “Please, sir, ‘m sorry for bein’ a bad girl, need you so bad. promise I’ll be good.” She whined out as her eyes began to water again.

“Since you asked so nicely f’me, whore.” He said as though he were pondering it. He stood up and easily towered over the small girl bent over the hood of his car as he ripped her fishnets big enough to wear he could push her panties to the side. He groaned as he watched her slick drip out of her pussy and down her thighs. “Hop, my fishnets..” she muttered breathlessly.

“I’ll buy you new fishnets, baby, whatever you want.” He muttered as leaned over and kissed her shoulder. He slapped her ass, once, twice, just to watch it jiggle against the impact before spreading her ass once again to get a better view of her pussy. “So wet..” he murmured to himself as he slapped her gently slapped her cunt, making her let out a soft groan.

Hopper aligned his massive cock to her entrance and pushed in forcefully before pausing for a moment to get the smaller girl used to his size. Her cunt squeezed around him in a vice grip, almost painfully as he hissed. Cherrie moaned as she felt him fill her small cunt to the brim, kissing her cervix. She could feel him throbbing inside of her, begging to move.

“Please, sir—” she started, and Jim wasted no time in pulling out just to slam back into her again, causing Cherrie to let out a gasp. Hopper began pounding into the red haired girl, one of his hands gripping her wrists that were still in handcuffs while the other harshly smacked her ass hard enough to leave a deep red hand print, making Cherries eyes water.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she moaned out loud ‘uhs’ each time he slammed back into her. As his pace began to gradually increase, the sweaty sound of skin slapping together could be heard throughout the parking lot and Jim felt like he was on cloud 9. Her cunt was so warm and tight. Almost as if she were a virgin.

Hop imagined her stomach swollen and her breasts enlarged and swollen with milk. How she’d become domesticated and obedient, much to his pleasure. He imagined her whimpers and moans as he’d fondle her nipples and squeezed the bundle of nerves just to watch the milk come out of them.

His hips slammed into hers harder and faster, taking Cherries breath away as her moans were uncontrollable and throat sore. Her mind was blank and all she could think about was the way he was filling her up. “Like the way I fuck you, hm? Stuffin’ this little pussy just the way you like.” The older man said as he threw his head back with a loud moan.

God, she loved how vocal he was. It made her pussy clench around him as she felt her orgasm approaching. “Sir—‘m gonna cum, gonna cum, oh my god—” she moaned out, her voice a higher pitch as she whined at the stimulation. Hopper sounded almost animalistic as he let out a what sounded close to a growl. “I told you you’re not gonna fuckin’ cum, you hear me?” He said through pants. Cherrie could tell he was being serious, but she just couldn’t hold it.

“please, ‘m sorry, sorry, I c—ca—can’t hold it.” She gasped out as her mouth formed into an ‘O’ shape as her orgasm slammed into her. Cherrie squirted all over Jim’s lower body, making him let out a groan. “Fuckkk..” he groaned out again. Cherrie thought Hopper would let up since she’d already came, but it seemed like the man had other plans.

Her pussy was so sensitive as he continued his brutal thrusts in and out with no remorse to her aching cunt. “please—stop, I can’t—“ she begged loudly as she tried to push her cuffed hands against his lower stomach, weakly trying to push him away from her but failing miserably. “No, you wanted to cum so you’re gonna fuckin cum for me as many times as I tell you to.” He said as he watched her ass jiggle each time his hips hit hers.

Hopper moved his hand that was around her wrist to her ass cheek, spreading it before spitting down into her puckered hole. He used his thumb to smear around his saliva before he slowly pushed it in, making Cherrie hiss out in pain. “This is what little girls who don’t listen get. They get their assholes used and violated.” He said with a chuckle as he began to fuck her tight ass with his thumb.

Broken moans left her throat as she felt herself go cross eyed, body shaking at the stimulation of her clit dragging against the hood of the car with each violent thrust delivered to her over-used cunt, paired with his thumb fucking into her ass made her orgasm quickly approach again.

“Sir, ‘m gonna cum, please let me cum, please, please, please!” She yelled out like it was a chant. Hopper bit down harshly on his lip, drawing blood before speaking. “Hold on, ‘m almost there, slut.” He huffed out as his thrusts became erratic and sloppy. “Y’want me to cum in this pussy? Make you nice n’ full? Make you all nice n swollen with my fuckin’ babies?” He moaned out.

“Yes, yes, yes, oh my god, need your cum, please cum in me. Need it so bad.” She moaned out, drunk on his cock that was drilling into her now more sloppy. “Yeah? Fuck , yes. Cum f’me right now, Cherrie. Cum f’me.” He repeated over and over till she squirted all over his cock for a second time, her body shaking and spasming with each dragging thrust he blew.

His hips stilled as his cock stuffed her full, and she could feel him getting soft inside of her before lazily pulling out. Hopper dropped down to his knees again and began licking up both of their release from her hole, savoring the taste of her juices that were now dripping down the starved man’s chin, making his beard sticky. “Oh my god.” Cherrie moaned as her legs shook violently at the harsh overstimulation of him fucking his cum back into her pussy with three of his large fingers.

Jim let up and slapped her cunt a few times for safe measures before he grabbed the keys to her handcuffs and took them off. Hopper put her panties back in place to make sure none of his valued cum can get out of her used cunt. He let her body fall limp against him as he picked her up bridal style as he opened the passenger door, gently putting her in.

“‘M takin’ you to my house, baby. Gon’ take good care of you, Cherrie.” He murmured gently as he kissed her temple. Cherrie nodded and blushed madly at his gentle, loving tone. A tone no one besides Wayne or Eddie used for her.

Maybe Jim Hopper wasn’t so bad after all.

˚ ꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ˚

[darkwitchoferie]

Rosary

As he watched, he noticed that the chain was moving through his fingers like he was praying the rosary. Maybe he was, prayer certainly wouldn’t hurt in this situation. He considered praying himself, but Steve had given up on God the day an otherworldly creature came through the walls of the Byers house.

----

Eddie’s in the hospital after his heroics in the Upside Down. Steve and Wayne sit together, waiting for him to wake up.

Read on AO3 here.

Steve slouched in the uncomfortable hospital chair, glaring at the back of the nurse’s head who was checking Eddie’s vitals. How could the woman check a patient’s vitals when she was practically vibrating out of her own skin with how scared she was? He knew this nurse wasn’t the only one afraid of Eddie, because of his reputation and the cuffs attaching him to the bed, but she was the only one this obvious about it. Why bother sending her in here at all? Steve knew the kids, Robin, and Nancy were working on some sort of alibi or plan to keep Eddie from going to jail when he woke up, but until then, he was keeping an eye on the other man to make sure no one made off with him in the middle of the night.

Nancy’d asked him once, after he explained why he never left the hospital, who exactly he thought was going to kidnap an unconscious man. He wasn’t totally sure – either the cops, maybe the feds, or someone from the defunct government lab that Eleven had been raised in. Nancy had looked skeptical about the first two, after all there were no feds in town and the town cops couldn’t exactly hide a full grown man, but she admitted that the lab was a possibility. So she started making sure she and Robin came in once a day to relieve him so he could go home, shower, change, and eat some real food.

Steve continued to glare at the nurse as she marked Eddie’s chart, then turned on her heel to leave.

“That the nurse I saw leaving?” Wayne asked, pushing open the door with his hip and handing Steve one of the two coffees he carried.

“Mm-hm. Took his vitals.”

“She the one that shakes the whole time?”

“Mm. Like she’s afraid he’s gonna suddenly pop up and rip her heart out of her chest.”

Wayne snorted a laugh. Steve had been pretty damn proud of himself the first time he’d heard that laugh from Wayne. The older man hadn’t handled it well, seeing his nephew torn up and handcuffed to a bed – who would – but after a few days, he’d relaxed around Steve enough that the two of them started having small conversations about nothing consequential. The first snorted laugh had been over some passing comment about the Cardinals during the preseason baseball game they’d had on in the background. Steve had relaxed enough to smile himself. After that, their conversations became more frequent and with more substance to them.

Now, a month later, Steve felt like he’d known Wayne and Eddie his whole life. He learned a bit about the big things in Eddie’s childhood, the things Wayne was willing to share about Allen and Betty, his brother and deceased sister-in-law. Things like what Al Munson had been arrested for after his wife’s accidental suicide. A little about Betty’s drug addiction and how it terrified Wayne when Eddie started dealing. But he also got to hear stories about Wayne teaching Eddie to play guitar in the week after Betty’s funeral, or what it was like for Wayne and then Eddie growing up in a tiny town in Perry county, Kentucky. Introducing Eddie to first Woodie Guthrie and how that had somehow led the boy to heavy metal. How Wayne had left Kentucky after his own wife was killed in a car accident shortly after Betty’s death and how he felt guilty for abandoning Eddie when he knew what kind of a father Al was. And how relieved he was when Eddie joined him in Hawkins after Al’s arrest when he could have ended up with one of Wayne and Al’s sisters.

He heard about other, less heavy, topics too. Like Eddie falling out of a tree when he was eight and breaking his arm; about Eddie’s love for animals and how that translated to not going hunting which was considered incredibly weird for that part of the country, but also how that meant that the raccoons and stray cats of the trailer park gathered around the old Munson trailer because Eddie fed them all; how Eddie had tried to learn to roller skate one time and ended up with a concussion, giving up on any and all sports after that; and about his creative outlets other than DnD, like the fantasy novel he pretended he wasn’t writing but which Wayne had seen the seven different notebooks full of information about.

He figured he learned just as much about Wayne from those conversations as he did about Eddie, but he liked listening to them anyway. He liked that someone wanted to share their life stories with him, even if he was pretty sure that Wayne only talked to remind himself that Eddie was stronger than people gave him credit for. So he shared some of the high school stories he remembered about Eddie, making himself the target so the other kids in Hellfire wouldn’t get picked on as much, or how Dustin, Lucas, and Mike said he went out of his way to help the three of them when he could. Before Lucas had joined basketball at least.

He now, after getting to know him, understood Eddie’s seemingly off-handed comment about his uncle worrying about him. He’d wondered, at the time, if Wayne really would be worried. After all, in his experience, very few adults really worried about their kids. His parents certainly didn’t. He was pretty positive that the Wheelers would only start worrying if they hadn’t seen one of their kids in more than a week. He figured the Sinclairs and Max’s mom were about the same, seeing as they had never noticed anything that was going on with the kids. Claudia Henderson was better, but even then, he figured it’d be an unplanned day or two of not seeing Dustin before she started to worry. None of that applied to Joyce Byers, obviously. She worried about all of them, not just her own kids.

Wayne took his usual seat beside Eddie’s bed and settled into the quiet. Steve watched him out of the corner of his eye, recognizing that this would be a quiet day for Wayne, one where he didn’t have the energy to talk about his nephew, too consumed with worry that he wouldn’t wake up. He noticed that he’d taken Eddie’s necklace off, the one with the red pick that he’d taken to wearing after he came out of surgery, and was fiddling with it. As he watched, he noticed that the chain was moving through his fingers like he was praying the rosary. Maybe he was, prayer certainly wouldn’t hurt in this situation. He considered praying himself, but Steve had given up on God the day an otherworldly creature came through the walls of the Byers house.

He turned his attention more completely to Days of our Lives to give Wayne the illusion of privacy. He knew the older man wouldn’t be there more than a couple of hours, it was long past the ‘family emergency’ time off that the plant had given him and he’d be headed in for his overnight shift. When a commotion arose outside, Steve barely paid attention, too engrossed in the fictional drama on the screen. But then Eddie’s door swung open. He jumped up, only to back away again when he noticed Hopper in front of everyone else.

“Chief! This is –”

“Shitty police work, is what it is, Powell,” Hopper cut him off loudly, too loudly for a hospital, which probably helped explain the doctor and nurses who were behind Powell and Officer Callahan. Steve and Wayne watched as Hopper pulled his keys off his belt, strode to Eddie’s bed, and uncuffed him. “We don’t arrest people with no evidence, you know better. I taught you better. And reputation,” he steam rolled right over the beginning of Officer Powell’s complaint or excuse, “is not evidence. Now, do you have any actual evidence connecting Mr. Munson here to any of the victims? That doesn’t come from a girl’s distraught, and frankly stupid, boyfriend? No, you don’t. Wayne,” Hopper turned to Wayne, voice coming down to a more reasonable volume. “I’m sorry about the trouble here. I know it’s been rough for you.”

“Thanks, Hop,” Wayne shook his hand, more than a bit confused but willing to go along with whatever Hopper said as long as it meant his boy wouldn’t wake up with cuffs on his wrist. Steve wasn’t sure how Wayne and Hopper knew each other, just that the pair of them had apparently become good friends some years ago.

With a glare from Hopper, most of the room cleared out. Powell, who had been Chief last Steve knew, was the last to leave. “You got re-instated?” He asked, as soon as the door closed.

“About an hour ago. Took the time to look over Eddie’s file and the only thing they had on him was that someone said they saw Chrissy leave with him after the basketball game. Obviously they found nothing in the trailer, before it was destroyed, and there’s nothing tying him to Fred or Patrick’s deaths other than Carver’s ‘delusions’,” he explained, putting air quotes around delusions. They all knew Carver had really seen how Patrick died, but the only way the shadowy government types could keep things hidden about the Upside Down was to pretend he’d had some kind of psychotic break. “Probably people will still be suspicious of him, but he’s not going to be arrested. There’s nothing to arrest him for. Except the drugs, so make sure he keeps his nose clean with that. For a while, at least.” The last part was addressed to Wayne only, who grunted his agreement.

“Well, I’m real glad you’re back, Hop.”

“Me too. These idiots forgot how to do their jobs. Not surprised there was a witch hunt for your nephew with these morons manning the station. Anyway, Joyce said she’ll bring you two dinner. She’s making lasagna. El said she’s recovered and is willing to take a look in Eddie’s mind, make sure it is just healing that’s keeping him in a coma for so long, not that something else was done. If you’re okay with that, Wayne.”

Wayne glanced over at Steve, raising an eyebrow as if questioning him on whether he thought it was a good idea or not.

“If Supergirl says she’s up to it, I say go for it.” El had been drained after fighting her brother in Max’s mind. It had taken her almost a week to get any semblance of her powers back and she’d been working since then to get them back to where they should be.

“Alright, Hop. Whenever you’re able to bring her up.” A few hours later, before Wayne went off to work, Joyce brought El when she brought them lasagna. They cleared out of her way, only going into the hallway to let her do her thing. After a fairly short time, she came back out and announced that he was fine, there was no sign of anything from One, so it really was just healing from his injuries that was keeping him unconscious.

Over the next several days, their routine continued. Wayne came straight from work for an hour or two before going back to his buddy’s place, who’d been letting him stay since the destruction of his trailer. Steve still stayed in the room, except when Nancy and Robin came by to more or less force him to head home for a bit. He made polite, but not very interesting, conversation with Eddie’s friends when they came by. They were still, reasonably, wary of ‘King Steve’, so he understood why they didn’t talk to him much. The kids came by after school to share any gossip they’d heard about Eddie, which was much more interesting. Robin brought updates on the repair work that was being done to Family Video and the rest of the town. One/Vecna hadn’t succeeded in fully opening his portals, but it was apparently a near miss, with a lot of places taking a lot of damage. Particularly places in the center of town. They were blaming the damage, and any ‘delusions’ like Jason’s, on a gas main leak and explosion.

Wayne came back a couple hours before work and shared a couple more stories about younger-Eddie. Steve had started to share some stories about himself, but he didn’t really have any interesting things happen in his life before the Upside Down and it’s not like those were fun stories to revisit. Still, Steve told him some of it, just so he had a clearer idea of exactly what kind of mess Eddie’d stumbled into. And maybe because Wayne had shared the painful things about his and Eddie’s pasts.

Doctors and nurses came and went, checking on him to make sure he was healing like he should be. Dr. Roberts assured them that he was healing normally and that the coma was actually helping him to heal faster since his body didn’t need to do much else. They also started him on a form a physical therapy. Obviously he wasn’t moving on his own so it wasn’t normal physical therapy, but since the wounds were more or less healed, a physical therapist came in to do some limb stretches and things with him.

Then, in the middle of the night a little over a week after Hopper’s reinstatement, Eddie started thrashing around on the bed. Steve jumped out of his chair and hurried to the bed, reaching him just as his movements slowed.

“What fresh hell is this?” he croaked, voice scratchy from disuse, eyes narrowed against the light from his bedside table that Steve had been using to read by.

“It’s called a hospital, usually. Suppose it could be hell too.” Steve looked down at him with a smile, relieved to see clear brown eyes looking back up at him.

“Harrington?”

“Morning, Munson. Well, very very early morning.”

“What is happening?”

“You’re in Hawkins Hospital. They had to stitch you up. You lost a lot of blood too, man. Like, they weren’t sure you were gonna make it when we brought you in. Lemme get the nurse or doctor for you, okay?”

“Wait. Dustin?”

“He’s good. Sleeping at home right now. I’ll tell you all about in a few minutes.” Steve ducked out of the room and rushed to the nurse’s station. He probably could’ve used the call button, but figured this was better so they’d know what to expect. “He’s awake,” he told the night charge nurse, Janet.

“Awake?” She jumped up.

“And completely aware.” Janet shouted a few things Steve didn’t understand, something about codes, and she, another nurse, and one of the emergency room doctor’s rushed into Eddie’s room. Steve took that time to reach over Janet’s desk and make a phone call. “Hello sir, this is Steve Harrington. Could I speak with Wayne Munson? Yes, I understand he’s manning a machine right now. No sir, I…. I know bu…. Could you just tell him his nephew’s awake? Yes that’s right. Thank you.” Steve waited for just a minute until Wayne was on the line and he repeated himself. “Eddie’s up. The medical people are in with him now. Okay, I’ll let him know.”

Steve slipped back into Eddie’s room, watching the medical staff fuss over him. Janet turned to him as the others filtered out, gesturing him to come closer. “We’ll have Dr. Roberts check him over in the morning of course, but he’s aware, like you said. Mr. Munson, your cognitive function seems to all be normal, your vitals are as good as always, there’s the stiffness we expected in your reflexes. That’ll just take some time and physical therapy to get back to normal. If you could step back out for a moment, Steve, I’m going to remove his tubes.”

Steve winced in sympathy, knowing exactly what tubes Eddie had in his body. A very short time later, she came back out. “I’ll call his uncle’s work now, let him know.”

“I already did. He should be here soon.”

“Good. I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

Steve turned back into Eddie’s room, to see him sitting propped up on the raised bed and shifting uncomfortably. Rather than address it, since he figured he’d be embarrassed to talk about catheter removal, Steve made his way to the end of the bed and said, “Like I said, Dustin’s doing fine. He’ll be thrilled you’re awake. They all will. Max is also good, broken arm, but it’s healing good. Lucas had some bruises and a broken hand from Carver, who found them and broke into the Creel house. He’s fine, so is Erica. Well, she’s still pissed she can’t, and I quote “give that fucker what he deserves”. One of Carver’s friends tied her to the playground jungle gym while Carver went after her brother. He’s been arrested for assaulting Lucas and Max. Let’s see, Nance and Robin are totally fine. They had some bruising and shit from the vines, but it’s healed up. The Byers and Mike all made it back to town. They apparently had their own things going on and if you want to hear about that, Mike’ll talk your ear off about it, I’m sure. El’s got her powers back, so that’s been interesting. Hopper’s not dead and is police chief again. He’s also the reason you’re not cuffed to the bed any more. Told Powell off for being a bad cop, arresting you with no evidence.

Your stitches were taken out a few weeks ago, same as mine, but they said you had more internal damage than I did, so it’s not surprising you were out. And, uh, I think that’s it. Oh! The town took some pretty heavy damage, they’re still doing a lot of repairs. But, we won. Vecna’s ash, saw it myself. And your uncle knows everything. The kids told him while you were in surgery and I was being stitched up.”

“For how long?”

“Five weeks. Roughly.”

“Five weeks?”

“Mm-hm. We let El double check that you weren’t like, being held hostage in your own head or something.”

Behind Steve, the door was flung open. “Christ Jesus, Eddie! You damn near scared the life outta me.”

“Hey Wayne,” Eddie offered a watery smile, holding his hand out to his uncle. Steve silently excused himself to give the pair of them room when he noticed the tears in Eddie’s eyes.

Silently, Wayne held Eddie as close as he could, both of the silently crying into each others’ shoulders. After a while, when the pain in Wayne’s lower back got to be too much, he leaned back, slowly releasing his nephew. He sat down in his usual spot and just stared at him for a minute, basking in the knowledge that he was awake.

“What’ve I missed?”

“Your aunts have called a couple times.”

“You mean you called them.”

“Well, I had to tell everyone you were in the hospital. ‘Course, I didn’t tell ‘em the details. Your Mamaw’s doin’ what she does. She’ll be thrilled to hear it helped.” Eddie chuckled a little, before coughing. Wayne’s mom, his Mamaw, was a superstitious old woman at the best of times and would probably lose her mind if she knew exactly what had happened to Eddie. She was also known to be a folk healer by their neighbors and had definitely done some sort of healing-from-a-distance for Eddie. He’d decided when he was a kid to never ask her the details about what she did, always a little afraid to find out that she was making him drink something nasty when he was sick. “Steve tell you all the kids, and your friends, have been to visit you pretty much whenever they can?”

“He didn’t get to that part, just updated me on injuries and stuff before you came in.”

“Mm.” Wayne was quiet again, staring at his nephew. “You know you can tell me anything, Ed.”

“I know. Why?” Eddie narrowed his eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me about your boy? Or, I guess, why didn’t you tell me you’d finally made a move on the boy you been pinin’ after for years?”

“What?! What have you said to him?!” Eddie sat bolt upright and gripped his uncle’s wrist, panic all over his face.

“Calm down,” Wayne reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth to try to calm him down. “We’ve been gettin’ to know each other, is all.”

“Wayne, listen to me. We are not together. I have not made any moves. Steve is very, incredibly, straight. Still in love with his ex, even. He’s barely even my friend. And that’s only because of life-endangering circumstances. Oh, I need to lie back down.” Eddie slumped back against his pillows, releasing his hold on Wayne. “That was too much effort. That’s so dumb, all I did was sit up.”

“You’ve been out for over a month, kid. So, you’re not together?”

“Decidedly not.”

“Hm. I figured that’s why he spent every day all day in here with you. ‘Cept when the girls come in for a couple hours so he can go home and eat and stuff.”

“All day?” Eddie asked in disbelief.

“Mm. All day, every single day. He was here before me the first day they let you have visitors. Sits in that chair there and watches soaps all afternoon. Bet he could tell you all about ‘em.”

“God, of course he likes soap operas. Argh!” Eddie pressed his hands over his face, screaming into his palms.

“Well, that was weird. I feel like I’ve missed something,” Steve said, strolling back in with three cups. He passed Wayne’s coffee off to him and held out the third cup to Eddie, keeping ahold of his own. “Doc said you’re not allowed to have caffeine yet, so it’s apple juice. They tried to give you orange, but Wayne said you don’t like that. And they’re gonna bring up some food from the cafeteria soon, see how you tolerate solid food.”

“You talked about me?” Eddie turned an accusing stare on his uncle, not that Steve took much notice of it.

“Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’ sound. “What were you screaming about when I walked in?”

“Nothing. What do you mean ‘yep’? As if it’s a totally normal thing?” He took a long drink of the apple juice. “God, that’s delicious.”

“Eddie, you were laying here unconscious, after doing something I distinctly remember telling you not to do,” he glared down at him for a second. “Who else were we gonna talk about?”

Eddie didn’t say anything for a minute. “Okay, so, how did I get here? Like, last I remember, I was looking up at Dustin and very much not gon – topside.” he cut himself off, changing what he was going to say when he saw the same upset look on Wayne and Steve’s faces.

“When Nance, Rob, and I got back to the trailer park, you were already unconscious and Dustin was….” Steve trailed off, eyes looking into some middle distance as if remembering exactly what Dustin looked like. “Anyway,” he shook himself out of it. “Nancy tore up some of our clothes and we got those around you as bandages, then I lifted you over my shoulder and hauled you into the trailer. Shit was starting to come apart then, but I was able to push you through the gate to the girls. Then we… borrowed Max’s mom’s car and got you here.”

“You carried me out?” Eddie would deny the blush and the spike in his heart monitor if anyone said anything, but neither of them mentioned it.

“Of course I did. You still had a pulse, Eddie. We were never gonna just leave you there. Even if…. Not gonna happen, we don’t leave people behind.”

“Well, heard the freak’s awake and I guess it’s true.” One of the night orderly’s pushed through the hospital door, pushing a cart with covered food on it in front of him.

“Out!” Steve demanded, jerking the cart away from him then crowding into the man’s space, forcing him back out the door.

This time when Eddie’s heart monitor showed the spike in his heart rate, Wayne turned to him with a knowing grin. Eddie glared and tried to make his heart beat slower.

“You okay, Ed?” Steve turned back toward him, pushing the cart himself. “I know you’re…. Your friends said you’re used to shit like that, but I mean, that doesn’t make it okay. Plus you just woke up.”

“Yeah, I’m good. Just… surprised me, I guess.” Wayne quickly turned his laugh into a fake cough. Steve turned a quizzical look to him, but otherwise said nothing.

“Well, at least we know he didn’t tamper with any of it, it’s all wrapped up.”

“Hospital food, yay.”

“Keep it down and I’ll see if Joyce can bring you some real food in the morning.”

“Joyce?”

“Byers. Will and Jon’s mom.”

“Huh. Dunno why I can never remember that’s her name. She’ll bring me food? Real food?”

“I’ll talk to her in the morning. Like the actual, post-dawn morning.”

“Fair.” With some trepidation, Eddie dug into the hospital-provided lunch meat sandwich, chips, and Jello. Then, a while later, he drifted off to sleep, complaining the whole time that he wasn’t tired and he’d been asleep for long enough.

A few minutes after he was out, Wayne said, “Thanks, Steve. I know I don’t say it ever, but thanks for being around and for looking after my nephew.”

“You never have to thank me for that, Wayne. I…,” he sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I like being useful and taking care of people.”

Steve went back to his borrowed copy of The Return of the King, while Wayne just sort of sat there, watching Eddie sleep and knowing that he was actually just asleep, not in a coma. The two of them eventually drifted off to sleep in their own, less than comfortable hospital chairs for a few hours after that. They were woken up when Dr. Roberts got in for his morning shift and came to see them first thing. Leaving Wayne with the doctor, Steve made his way back to the nurse’s station and asked to borrow the phone from the morning charge nurse, Sarah. He dialed the Byers/Hopper house first, even though it’d probably piss off Dustin if he knew.

“Hello?”

“Hey Jon. Is your mom awake?”

“She is. She’s making waffles. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all. Can you ask her if she can bring some of those waffles for Eddie?”

“He’s awake?!”

“He is,” Steve smiled, hearing the cacophony in the background that greeted Jonathon’s question.

“Shut up a minute!” He shouted to the people around him. “Sorry, we had all the boys over last night. I’ll call Nance and Robin, see if we can get in touch with his other friends. We’ll see you soon.”

“Thanks Jon, I appreciate it.”

With a smile on his face and feeling lighter than he had in the past month and a half, Steve strolled back into Eddie’s hospital room in time to hear Roberts say that the physical therapist would be down later in the morning to start Eddie’s full rehab.

“You’re in a good mood,” Eddie commented as Roberts left.

“Joyce is bringing waffles. And children.”

“Excellent,” he grinned.

“They’re also gonna tell your friends.”

Soon, the room was flooded with boisterous teenagers, all trying to catch Eddie up on the minute details and gossip of Hawkins that he’d missed. Steve was pretty sure he didn’t care much about the gossip, but was just glad to have everyone around. Though he could have, Steve didn’t leave the room, choosing instead to find a spot where he was out of the way and could just observe and relax. He ended up leaning against the wall, near the tv.

“Feeling better now that your crush is awake?”

“Sshh!!” Steve shushed Robin who had come over to lean on the wall beside him.

“Of course he is,” Nancy commented quietly from Robin’s other side.

“Will you two shut up?” he whisper-yelled at them. Nancy rolled her eyes, knowing no one could hear them over the children. “I shouldn’t have ever told you guys,” he groaned, dropping his head back against the tile.

“Told us?,” Robin chuckled. “Steve, you didn’t tell us anything. You had a full blown, hysteric crisis. The kind they lock women up in asylums for.”

“They don’t lock women up for hysteria anymore. Besides, you two would’ve been put away long before me.” Since the trip to Pennhurst, Robin had gotten very interested in psychology. She’d devoured the few books available at Hawkins’ library and was trying to learn more. Steve was fairly certain she knew now what she would go to college to study, even though she hadn’t said anything to him yet.

“The point still stands, you can’t be upset that you told us when you really came to us in a hysteric crisis.” Nancy said.

“Yes I can,” Steve insisted, crossing his arms over his chest. Robin laughed again, bumping her shoulder into his. “Besides, it’s not like it matters. You know –”

“Yeah, yeah, we know. Might not be into guys, especially jock guys.”

“On the other hand, he might be into guys who carried him out of hell,” Robin added.

“Fuck off, Rob.” Both girls laughed at him.

A few days later, with physical therapy progressing well and his wounds healed, Dr. Roberts released Eddie. They hadn’t gotten around to repairing the damage to the trailer park yet, and Wayne was still staying on his friend’s couch, who didn’t have room for Eddie too, so Steve did the logical thing and invited him to stay at his otherwise empty house. And if he mentally kicked himself for it, because now he was sure he’d make a fool of himself somehow, well, only he needed to know that.

Which is how he found himself strolling into his own home and hearing Eddie’s voice, with a thicker accent than usual, on what seemed to be the tail end of a phone call. “Yes, Mamaw, I’m healin’ good, thanks to you. Promise I’ll come home to see you, soon as I can. Love you too, Mamaw.”

Steve stepped in the hallway to see Eddie grinning at the phone as he hung up. “Does your accent always get thicker when you talk to your Mamaw?”

“Steve!” Eddie jumped a little. “Hi, didn’t hear you come in. What?”

Steve chuckled. “Your accent was thicker just then, when you were on the phone. Is that a Mamaw specific thing, or does it happen with your aunts and cousins too?”

“How do you…? Wayne.” Eddie’s accent had all but disappeared now.

“Yeah, Wayne. He told me about your family in Kentucky.”

“I’m afraid to ask what else he told you. But, no, it’s not a Mamaw specific thing. It happens with any of my family, even Wayne sometimes. It’s easier to hide with Wayne though, since there are other people with normal accents around.”

“Hide? You mean you do that on purpose, not just that you, I dunno, accidently started to sound like the people around you?”

Eddie snorted. “It’s definitely on purpose. I can handle the barbs about my music, DnD, even my hair. But I hate the looks of ‘oh he’s stupid’ or pity or whatever from the way I sound. It’s the way my Mamaw and my aunties sound. They ain’t stupid, Steve. They’re some of the smartest people I know. So’s Wayne, no matter what anyone says.” Steve listened, a small, fascinated smile on his face as Eddie’s accent got thicker again, the longer he ranted. “What is that look for?”

“Nothing, just, your accent’s back. Got thicker while you ranted. I’m kinda fascinated because that never happened with your table rants at school. I like it,” he shrugged, using the casual gesture to hide that he’d almost slipped and said ‘you’ instead of ‘it’.

“You… like it? Like, my accent?”

“Yeah. I mean, I like listening to you talk in general, but I definitely enjoy the accent. Anyway,” Steve continued on before he could respond to that. “Rob and Nance will be here soon. The brats want to have a movie night, so one of them is gonna stay to help set up, and me and the other one, probably Rob, are gonna head to the grocery store for supplies.”

“Wheeler, do something!” Eddie demanded a short while later, as soon as Steve’s car was down the drive and it was just the two of them.

“About what?”

“About Steve. Either take him back or let him down so he’s distracted.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Listen, I know he’s still got a thing for you. I saw the way he looked at you down there,” he tapped his toes once on the ground. “But I dunno if it’s just because he’s focused on me since I’m living with him for now, or what, but he’s getting weird, Wheeler.”

“Weird how? And stop calling me Wheeler, my name’s Nancy.”

“I was on the phone earlier with family back in Kentucky and Steve said he likes my voice. Likes listening to me and ‘enjoys my accent’.”

“You have an accent? Like your uncle’s?”

“Yes, but that’s not the point.”

“He’s not being weird. And he doesn’t still have a thing for me. We talked about that weeks ago, after Jon got back.”

“Ugh!” Eddie flopped down on the couch she was sitting on, head landing very near her lap. “So, what then?”

“Better question, why’re you making a big deal out of it? Why does it matter to you that he likes the sound of your voice?” Nancy reached out and gently ran her fingers through his curls.

“No reason, just seemed weird is all.”

“Uh huh. Try again.”

Eddie was silent for nearly five minutes. Nancy sat patiently waiting. “Okay, swear you won’t say anything to anyone? Except, you can talk to Wayne because he already knows.”

“I swear.”

“I may, possibly, have had a thing for Steve for… a while.”

“I feel like you could have been more vague with that answer if you tried,” she rolled her eyes, doing her best to hide her joy.

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s not awkward at all to talk about my crush on a guy to that guy’s ex-girlfriend,” Eddie rolled his eyes.

“So it’s a crush, huh?”

“Ugh!” He flopped over onto his stomach, burying his face in the couch.

Nancy chuckled at him, but otherwise said nothing, quietly planning in her head.

­­­---

“Now what’s all this about girls?” Wayne asked, a couple days later when Nancy and Robin met him outside of work when he got off at 5:00 am.

“We need your help with Eddie and Steve,” Robin said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“That right?” Nancy was pleased to note the little bit of mischief in his eyes when he asked.

“Mm-hm, and I think you know why.” The three of them sat in the bed of his pickup and made their plans.

---

“Please tell me I’m not the only one who finds this suspicious,” Eddie commented from the passenger seat.

“Why, our friends insisting on meeting us in the middle of nowhere with no explanation? No, not suspicious at all. Although, if they’d gotten Dustin in on it, I’d be more suspicious.”

“That’s fair. He’s obnoxious when he tries to be sneaky.” They both laughed. “Where are we going anyway?”

“The hill just outside town. The kids call it Weathertop, after the place in Lord of the Rings.” Eddie was silent long enough that Steve risked a quick glance over to see him staring in open-mouthed shock. “What?” he laughed.

“You know Lord of the Rings? Since when? I know you didn’t get my Mordor reference before.”

“I had a lot of time while you were in a coma,” Steve shrugged a shoulder. “Dustin let me borrow his copies, even The Hobbit,” he said proudly.

“You read The Hobbit and the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy while I was in a coma?”

“I mean, I only just finished Return of the King like two days ago. But yeah. I dunno, Wayne said it was one of your favorites. And plus, I know the kids like it. So, yeah.”

“No no, don’t add the brats to this. You read it because Wayne said it was one of my favorites?”

Steve sighed, gripping the steering wheel tighter, then relaxed again before answering. “Robin told me that a good way to get to know someone is by learning about their favorite things. Your music is apparently too much for my concussed head, it triggers a migraine. So, I went with books.”

“But you tried it? Listening to my music, I mean.”

“Yeah. I tried… oh hell, who was it? They’re on the front of your vest. Megadeth! Anyway, I was down for like a whole day with a migraine. But Wayne brought in a Woodie Guthrie cassette and that was way easier for me to listen to. I like him.”

“I need…. I need to take a minute and process that you tried to listen to my music, and read one of my favorite book series to try to get to know me while I was unconscious. This is blowing my mind. Seriously though, why would you… I mean, we didn’t even know each other before this whole thing started. Well, started for me anyway. I know you were involved way longer than I was. And I know Wayne was talkin’ to ya about me, so why the extra stuff, I guess is what I’m really wonderin’.” Steve listened with a small smile. Since he’d said something about like Eddie’s accent, he’d started to hear it more frequently. Yeah, Eddie still made an effort to sound ‘normal’, especially when other people were around. But when it was just them, or when he started off on a ramble like that, it got thicker again. “What are you so damn happy about?”

“It’s nothing,” Steve shook his head. “Are you still processing or did you actually want an answer?”

“I dunno. I kinda wanna make up my own thing. But anyway, do you know why they’re bringing us all the way out here?”

“No idea. I know Dustin had his Cerebro set up out here for a while.”

“Cerebro? You’re secretly a huge nerd, aren’t you Harrington?” Eddie chuckled.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he grinned. “But I know some stuff. Hard to be friends with the kids and not know some of it.” He parked the car at the base of the hill as he spoke. “Alright, let’s see what these weirdos are up to now.”

As he got out of the car, Eddie looked around. “Do you find it as suspicious as I do that there’s no other cars – like Nancy’s or the Byers’ – and there’s no bikes?”

“I didn’t, until you just said something. I kind of assumed we were just here first.”

“Hm, yeah, I guess that’s possible.”

“Should I bring the bat?”

“The bat?” Eddie turned with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Steve walked around to the back of his car, popped the trunk, and pulled out what at first made Eddie think of a medieval Morningstar, but turned out to be a regular wooden bat with nails hammered through it. “The bat,” Steve repeated, swinging the bat in his hand then bringing it to rest on his shoulder.

“Where… why…? Explain.” Steve laughed a little, but explained the history of the weapon, how Jon had created it way back when all the Upside Down stuff first starting happening to them, but how it had become Steve’s weapon after that first encounter. “I… I kinda wanna see you use that, actually. But yeah, sure, bring it just in case.”

Steve raised an eyebrow at Eddie saying he wanted to see him using it, but otherwise didn’t comment. Together, the pair of them made their way up to the top of the hill, then stopped dead at what greeted them. Steve was the first to understand what exactly was happening, and dropped the bat off his shoulder.

“It’s a date,” he said softly. “They set us up on a date.”

“They did not!”

“They very much did. Well, Nance, Rob, and Wayne did.”

“How… what makes you say that?”

“The blanket is from my downstairs closet, one of the ones that is meant to be used outside, and is the one Robin thinks has the most cushion. So she says. The whole layout, setup, whatever, looks like every time I ever set up a dinner or picnic for Nancy. And I’d bet money Wayne made the food – unless I’m very wrong, that’s a ham and turkey sandwich with mustard and pickles. Which I still maintain is gross, but he says is one of your favorites.” Steve turned to Eddie with a wide grin and held out his hand. “C’mon.”

“But…. But you’re straight.”

“I’m really not though.”

Hidden in the trees not too far away, Robin and Nancy watched as Steve tugged Eddie over to the picnic they’d just finished setting up. Sharing a high five, the two girls turned and headed to Nancy’s car which was parked a short distance away, and drove out to let Wayne know their plan worked.

[novacorpsrecruit]

The Missing Poster

This image is making rounds on Twitter and having people arguing Eddie’s age again so I want to throw my head canon out

This is ignoring flight of Icarus because I haven’t read it.

T | wc 1,903 | tw: death/murder, abuse

Wayne had prayed he’d never have to make another missing poster again.

In 1984, Eddie went off on a bender. It was a series of unfortunate phone calls that fell like dominoes.

First, the school.

His grades were low. He’s failed too many classes. He wasn’t going to graduate.

Then, Eddie’s dad, Ricky.

He was in the Marion County jail. Waiting to be processed. He had two charges: manslaughter and second-degree murder. He had no bond. He was to be kept at Marion County until his court proceedings take place.

Then, the coroner’s office.

Ricky failed to mention to Wayne who was dead. Who he killed. If Wayne knew Ricky had strangled Elizabeth, he would’ve told Eddie not to answer anymore phone calls.

But the third call came, Eddie already on his breaking point. He picked it up, and was met with the terrible news, given to him by someone so mechanical with their words. As if they were telling him that there was a coupon for milk in the grocery’s ads.

His mom was dead.

The coroner’s office needed to know which funeral home to send the body to. Not her body. The body.

Eddie dropped the phone, taking off outside. Wayne was quick on his heels for someone who complained about how his knee ached.

“Eddie! Eddie!” Wayne called, following after him. “Eddie, boy! C’mon home.” Wayne reached out, gently touching Eddie’s arm to lead him back to the house. Eddie snatched his arm away, as if Wayne’s touch was hot like fire, turning around tears streaming down his face.

“She was supposed to be okay!” Eddie shouted. “She wasn’t supposed to be around him! She was supposed to get clean! She promised! She promised!”

“Eds —“ Wayne started, a soft sigh and he reached back out. Eddie took a step back, shaking his head.

“No — no, I —“ he shook his head again, running his fingers through his hair. “Fuck this. I gotta — I gotta go.”

“Go where?” Wayne asked, taking a step towards Eddie like a baby deer. Eddie shook his head, taking two steps back.

“I gotta get out of here —“

Gravel crunching under tires pulled both their attentions back to the trailer house. Wayne recognized the Chevy Blazer immediately. Chief Hopper has made stops to the Munson home a few times since Eddie moved in with Wayne in ‘79. Eddie always seemed to find trouble. Or trouble always seems to find the Munson’s.

“Eds, we should —“ Wayne turned to look back at Eddie, already taken off into the woods. Wayne sighed and approached Chief Hopper.

“Wayne,” Hopper said, taking off his hat and holding it to his chest. He nodded at where Eddie once stood. “I’m guessing Marion County called.”

“My boy answered the phone,” Wayne supplied. “So I’m not sure what was said, but the way he was talking ‘bout his momma, I can assume the earlier call from his daddy was related.”

Hopper nodded, glancing towards the forest where Eddie disappeared. “You know where he took off to?”

“Nope,” Wayne said. “He’s got friends in town, and a few spots near the lake ‘nd the quarry.”

“He take off like this before?”

Wayne let out a half laugh. “A few times. Usually back in the middle of the night or by mornin’. Never gone for a full day.”

Hopper let out a hum. “He ain’t back by sunset tomorrow, give me a call.”

Wayne gave a nod, looking out towards the forest. “He’ll be back by mornin’.”

Hopper nodded. “Sorry about Elizabeth. She was a kind soul.”

“Just kept findin’ that trouble named Ricky,” Wayne sighed. “Thanks, Jim.”

Hopper started back towards his car, stopping in his place. “Hey, uh, I wouldn’t … be surprised if they called your boy to testify.”

Wayne wrinkled his brow. “What do you mean? He was here.”

“Character witness,” Hopper supplied. “He — I remember those bruises and cuts he had when we dropped him off on your porch a few years back. The prosecutor might call ‘im up to recount Ricky’s abuse.”

Wayne let out a deep sigh. He remembered that night all too well. Eddie had always been tall for his age, even at 13. But scrawny teen looked small with his arms crossed over his chest, more purple bruising on his body than his pale skin, standing behind Jim Hopper. It didn’t take much for Wayne to connect the dots, and it didn’t take much convincing when he called Ricky a week later to let Eddie stay with him in Hawkins permanently. He watched that buzz cut kid grow into his larger than life personality, leaving his hard edges back in Indianapolis with his father. But now, Ricky came crashing back into Eddie’s life, knocking the walls of security down.

“Thanks Jim,” Wayne said. “We’ll keep that in mind.”

Hopper gave one more nod before climbing into the Blazer and driving off. Wayne sighed, walking back to the house and sitting on the couch outside. He pulled out his cigarette pack from his shirt pocket and lit a cigarette between his lips.

Wayne wasn’t sure how long he waited outside for Eddie. Longer than he should’ve. He finally moved inside when the sun started to blush the sky. He crashed on the couch, hardly sleeping as he waited for the sound of the trailer creaking with Eddie’s heavy footsteps.

But it never came.

The day came and went, and Eddie was no where to be found.

Wayne tried his friends, calling down the list of the guys who played Eddie’s dragons game with him. No one had seen him since yesterday. He tried the Library and the Hideout. No luck. Wayne went through Eddie’s little black book of phone numbers. Hell, he even tried a few places in Indy. The more numbers he called, the more he grew wary.

What felt like hours later, he called Hopper.

He told him to come down to the station, bring a recent photo. So Wayne grabbed the one off the fridge — the one he took at the beginning of the school year. It was way too hot for Eddie to be wearing his long sleeve under the t-shirt, but arguing with Eddie on what to wear was like arguing with a wall. The sun was in Eddie’s eyes. Eddie barely wanted to take the photo in the first place. Wayne made him. Said they would send the photo to his momma. To remember senior year.

Fucking hell.

When he got to the station, he was directed to one of the administrative ladies. She took the photo and took information about Eddie. His height. His weight. His age.

Shit.

He was turning 18 next week.

The woman finished making the flyer, using the Xerox in the back to add Eddie’s photo to it. She handed him a stack of copies and the photo back.

“What now?” Wayne asked.

“We wait,” she said. “He’s officially a missing person. Officers know to keep a look out. We’ll let other stations know as well.”

Wayne nodded, taking a step back. Her words echoed in his head. We wait.

He took the flyers and hung them around town. Taking them to every business, every office, posting them on telephone poles. A few passbyers took it out of politeness, barely looking at Eddie’s photo as they walked by. At least, the woman at Melvard’s was kind, looking at him with sympathy and promising him he would turn up. Her own boy turned up last year, even after he was pronounced dead. Maybe she had enough hope to bring Eddie back safe as well.

But days past and nobody heard from Eddie. Wayne grew more and more worried, feeling like his all efforts of searching were going to waste. Wayne found it harder and harder to sleep at night, worried about his boy.

It wasn’t until he got that faithful call from Hopper.

“They found him.”

Wayne can’t recall the details or where they found him or what drugs was in his system. All Wayne could remember was Eddie lying in that hospital bed, paler than the sheets looking at Wayne like Wayne was Ricky.

Wayne sat in the chair next to Eddie, slowly and gently placing his hand on top of Eddie’s, running his thumb against his skin. “What a way to spend your birthday, huh?”

Eddie let out a wet laugh, relaxing against Wayne’s touch. “Sorry, Wayne, didn’t mean t’scare ya.”

“Don’t do it again,” Wayne said, leaning up to press a kiss against Eddie’s hair. “Please.”

Wayne doesn’t blame Eddie for this time.

It’s that Munson trouble that found him. He knew Eddie didn’t kill that girl. It wasn’t his nature. He’s not like Ricky.

Eddie isn’t like his father.

It’s been almost a week since he heard from Eddie. A few days since the teens were around the trailer park asking about him. Nobody has heard from Eddie. He knows the police are looking for him, placing him at that girl’s murder.

But it wasn’t Eddie.

Wayne had just hung up that missing poster this morning at the gym, where the City had called for a shelter. He went to the library and Xeroxed a couple of copies of the missing poster he kept folded up in his wallet. There wasn’t enough resources or time to make another. A quick change to the missing date, thanks to the type writer at the front desk. Wayne folded up the original, placing it back in his wallet. It served as a reminder of to keep his boy close. To make sure he felt loved.

And someone took a damn marker to it, vandalizing his boy to hell. Wayne pulled down the destroyed flyer, trashing it. He replaced it with the new one, feeling his heart ache as he looked at young Eddie, beginning of his first senior year.

Now, he didn’t know where he was.

“Mr. Munson?”

Wayne turned around to see a boy with curly hair, the same boy who stopped by the trailer park with the other teens, now sporting crutches. Another boy, about Eddie’s age stood behind him, with a red ring around his neck. He stood strong, almost like a soldier, holding something gently in his hand, as if he was afraid he would crush it.

The younger boy leaned forward, the older boy nearly shot out his free hand, grabbing the other to stabilize him. The younger boy lowered his voice. “We know where Eddie is.”

The older boy extended his bandaged hand, opening it to reveal Eddie’s guitar pick necklace.

And that’s all it took for Wayne to follow them to the old Hawkins lab. Wayne nearly jumped out of his truck as he followed the boys into the lab, down the hall and into a makeshift hospital room.

There laid Eddie, like he did not even two years before. His hair matted and dirty, his face and arms bandaged like he went through hell and back. He looked up at Wayne, his eyes watered. “Wayne —“

Wayne leaned down and buried a kiss into Eddie’s hair. “You’re safe, son,” Wayne whispered. “You’re safe.”

“I didn’t — I didn’t mean t’scare ya,” Eddie said with a lopsided smile. Wayne let out a soft laugh, relieved his boy was alive.

“Don’t do it again,” Wayne whispered into his hair. “I mean it this time.”

[liam-neesons-best-girl]

ღ Love Languages

Summary: The love language of Liam Neeson characters ღ

ICYMI: A love language is the way a person prefers to express their love and or receive it from a partner. There is no one right way to love!

Warnings: f!reader, mdni, 18+

Acts of Service - (Rob Roy)

He loves being the head of the house and the provider for you and your family

He never stifles the chance to do some heavy lifting if it means a happier wife is waiting for him

Pride swells in his chest when he watches the burning logs he chopped hours earlier warm you in the dead of night

Seeing him tend to cattle and use his whip to tame horses stirs something within you

He recognizes the labor you perform in the home and feels like it is only right to take some of that burden off of you

One day he sees you washing pottery and comes up behind you at the water basin to "help" but starts kissing up your hairline

"I'm trying to work here" you giggle out as he wrap his has from around your frame to take the pottery out of your hands to place on the ground

He turns you around to face him, your hands covered in suds, and he looks to you with pure adoration

He thought of the best service he could give you: another child

He wouldn't rest until you were waddling around the house with the swell of your belly serving as a reminder of his love for you - being able to wait on you hand and foot as you make him a father

Quality Time - (Carl Wayne Anderson: Suspect)

You met Carl in the county jail when you were assigned to his case as a public defender

from then on he liked being around you, be it in one on one meetings or by your side during trial

A shy smile is buried under his thick beard when you stay an extra two hours with him to prepare for a hearing the next day

He's learning to write more legibly for trial, for you

You have so much patience, he thinks, never giving up on him when he flips a 'b' to a 'd' or gets made at himself for mistakes and lashes out (never on you)

He feels a warmth that radiates off of you, drawing him closer, feeling less on edge regarding his surroundings and judgmental jurors

You are also one of the only people who keep eye contact with him when speaking. So many people are intimidated by him but you meet his gaze with compassion

When he gets an unexpected visitors notice over the weekend he isn't surprised to see you there with a thick binder of exhibits to go over, takeout food, and a new packet of chalk

Time is always fleeting and delicate, but that pressure was amplified knowing Carl was on trial and risking time in prison

You two never had any short encounters either, always an hour or longer, though he wished you could stay forever

Receiving Gifts - (Capt. Mikhail Polenin: K-19 The Widowmaker)

His long deployments at sea made him yearn for you, day in day out

To serve as a reminder of his faith and his love, he showers you with gifts of all kinds

a necklace with his initial, fragrant perfumes, silky soft nighties, and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers when he meets you at the pier

Nothing is too extravagant for a man who didn't know if he would ever see you again

You tell him he is in your thoughts every day and that you have no eyes for anyone else but he wants the world to know he is your shadow, he is your man by your side or 3,000 miles away

He also sends you love letters as often as he can

They are full of poetry and prayers to see you again

You saved each and everyone of them, keeping them safe in your jewelry box until you can hear him say them to you in person

His favorite gift you have given him was a collection of photographs of yourself. Some are headshots, or from home-movies, not to mention the nude photograph of you wearing his dog tags

You are his gift from God. You are his motivation to complete his mission. You are his motivation to live

Physical Touch - (Hannibal: The A-Team)

The man is handsy and his pent up emotions from training and deployment has him eager to touch you any way he can

He has some restraint when he is around new recruits, trying to show composure as an upper level officer with just his hand resting on the small of your back

He is a bit more loose around his team members, knowing he has earned their respect and won't lose it if they see him slightly simping over you

He'll pull you into his lap instead of a folding chair, insisting that you'd be more comfortable on his lap this way instead of the flimsy plastic

He will twirl your hair or tap a beat to your thigh absent mindedly while listening to a mate of his talk, relaxed in knowing you are there, you are actually there with him

When you are finally alone he will worship you for hours until you are overstimulated and a whimpering mess under him

He doesn't half ass any mission either, so once he has made you cum all night, he will give you the best after care, cuddling you and massaging your sore legs

He loves it when you make the first move and interlock you fingers with his on the walk from base to a pub

Feeling 10 feet tall he strides around base knowing only he can touch you, only he can get close enough to smell your hair, caress your skin, taste your desperation and love

Leaving you is like tearing off a limb for him, but he'll squeeze you tight to embed in his memory your edges, your fit in his arms

Words of Affirmation - (Qui-Gon Jinn: Star Wars)

He lives by his comm link so you never are too far away

You are concerned that your calls are annoying but he assures you are music to his ears to hear about your day, a funny story, or to lull him to sleep with a song

He reads constantly to find new words to express his love for you. Deeper, sensual praise that you could never forget about and have only heard Qui-Gon use

There is never a day when he doesn't say good morning and good night, letting you know you are the first and last thing he thinks of each day

Pet names are reserved for you, rarely does he give that affection to outsiders (he still has love for Obi and Ani)

Praise kink!!

His cadence in bed, the tempo his words follow to punctuate his movements are delicious

When he hears you whimper and thank him for being so caring he thinks he could cum in his pants right then and there

You are in ecstasy when he talks you through your high and climax together

He says "I love you" more often then he breathes, since you are his life line

[avi17]

Wayne is the one who taught Eddie to play the guitar when he was little. He's got a beat up old acoustic in the back of his closet left over from a younger, freer time- he's not great, nothing complicated, but he can manage American folk tunes and bluegrass and stuff he and the boys used to sing in the army (at least the ones that were halfway kid-friendly).  Eddie stayed with him a lot growing up, with his mom sick and his dad in and out of the Roane County jail, and one of the easiest ways to cheer him up was always music, so Wayne would hoist the guitar and Eddie into his lap and play for him, sing in that hoarse smoker's voice and watch Eddie's little hands grab at the strings in fascination. 

(He learns some more kid friendly songs once this becomes a regular thing, and Eddie begs to hear Puff The Magic Dragon approximately 200 times. If only he'd known where that fascination would lead him down the road 😆)

When Eddie gets old enough to start learning to play himself, it doesn't take Wayne long to realize that the kid's got natural talent, a hell of a lot more than he ever did. So when Eddie finally comes to him for good- eleven years old, scared and angry and resentful of the parents who couldn't take care of him anymore, Wayne gives him the old acoustic and a book of tabs he got at the Salvation Army thrift store, knowing that Eddie will get a lot more use out of it than it sitting in his closet.  And boy does he- yeah, Wayne has to sleep in earplugs for the first time in years, but Eddie's eyes are so bright when he shows off a new song he's learned. He's happy, and that's all Wayne cares about right now. 

(Wayne's a little horrified when Eddie takes a paintbrush to the poor old thing, but he's mollified by the Woody Guthrie reference since he used to play his songs for Eddie all the time. After Wayne tucks money away for years to buy him an electric, he mostly switches over as his tastes get louder and harsher, but he still breaks out the acoustic sometimes when they have an evening together. Wayne loves those evenings.)

---

Steve took piano lessons as a kid. It was kind of the done thing when you were a rich kid and your parents wanted you to be cultured, but the thing was that Steve was actually decent at it and didn't hate it. He's not great at reading music- it tends to jumble itself up on the page the way that words sometimes do too- but he can pick out stuff he hears on the radio and it's nice sometimes to get lost in a song and play it over and over until he gets it right. It makes him proud of himself, in a way that not a lot of things do.

But it was never a talent his parents had any interest in actually nurturing, just another box to be ticked in what their son ought to be, and when high school and sports come around, they aren't especially subtle in letting him know that it's time his focus shifted elsewhere.

For a while he still plays when they're gone, but they've got the kind of upright piano with a cover that locks, and before a particularly long trip when he's sixteen (the longest yet, and he's trying not to feel weird and empty about that), they lock it to keep the dust out.  They don't unlock it when they get home, and when Steve finally asks about it, carefully casual, his mother shrugs and says she can't even remember what she did with the key- "and really Steven, you should be concentrating on your college applications anyway"- before heading out to her morning exercise class. 

It stays locked after that, just another thing in the house to look pretty and not be touched.  He tries not to think about it. The repeated monster invasions help, but it's still just sitting there, reminding him that he doesn't get to have the things he really wants. 

---

Some time after Eddie gets out of the hospital, Steve drives him to Bloomington to go to a music store- it's a miracle they managed to rescue his guitar from the ruins of the old trailer, but everything else is gone. He can't afford to replace his amps and other gear yet, but he at least needs picks and they're cheap.  While he chats with the guy at the counter, Steve wanders over to the new digital keyboards they have on display and runs his fingers over the keys, wondering if he even remembers how- sixteen feels like a lifetime ago with everything that's happened. There's no one else in the store, so fuck it, he turns one on, figures out the electric piano setting and turns the volume down pretty low and just plays around. He's really rusty (god knows the mild brain damage hasn't helped) but there's still muscle memory under that, and he manages to plunk his way through a couple songs. He's really concentrating, and doesn't realize Eddie's checked out and done until he looks up to find him standing a few feet away, eyes the size of dinner plates. Positively gleeful.

"Stevie, why have you never told me you played?!"

He tries to stammer out something about how his parents made him learn, he's not a real musician like Eddie and he doesn't even have access to a piano now anyways so what does it matter- but it's too late, Eddie knows now.  And more than that, he'd seen the little smile on Steve's face while he'd played and realized this is something Steve misses.

---

It takes another couple years, until they've got their first crappy little apartment of their own- Steve studying to get into community college, Eddie working in a garage and getting more involved in the music scene- that a buddy mentions wanting to sell his old keyboard so he can upgrade. Eddie asks if he can hold onto it for a couple months and he saves, just like Wayne once did, to buy it for Steve. It's worth the extra antsiness from cutting back on weed and cigarettes to see the way Steve's face lights up when Eddie dramatically unveils his big surprise, the feather-light way Steve touches it at first, like he's not sure he's allowed. The slightly bone-crushing hug he gives Eddie afterwards that may or may not involve a few tears.

It becomes sort of a thing for them after that, one night a week if they can- grabbing a couple beers and maybe splitting a joint if they're not too tired, Steve on the keyboard, Eddie on his acoustic, just playing whatever they've been working on that week, humming or singing if they feel like it.  Steve picks out all the pop songs from the radio that he knows Eddie will theatrically pretend to hate, but they don't sound so bad when Steve plays them and really it doesn't matter what he plays because what Eddie loves is that his boyfriend is being creative, and doing something for himself just because he wants to. And Eddie sits with his feet in Steve's lap and plays all the stuff that Wayne used to play for him, stuff he'd never play with his band but that still feels like home to him.

(When Wayne finally makes it out to see their new place, they pull out three beers from the fridge instead of two and he joins them. Sings along with Eddie on the guitar, then motions for Eddie to hand it over to "see if his old fingers even still work". (They do.)  Listens quietly to what Steve's been working on, partly watching him but mostly watching the way that Eddie looks at him. Steve's shoulders are tense at the end in a way that he never is with just Eddie, but Wayne gives him a little smile and a gruff "that wasn't half bad at all, son"- which Eddie will tell him later is effusive praise coming from him- and he relaxes, laughs. Thinks that maybe this is how a family is supposed to be.)

[imlivinginyourtrashcan]

So.. yesterday I held my own version of Anime Campaign with a few of my friends (two of which who barely knew what Epithet was) and I made a trailer thing for it!

There was a huge amount of character variety; we have

@ejsuperstar as G. Spec, tired business man who doesnt want to be here

@sadsoftserve as Sabrina Ashling, tired insomniac who just wants to go to sleep.

@detective-ws as Scampy Tin Craig, the party Capitalist and somehow the only mundie

@k1n9s1l4s as Wayne Aursumfing, county sheriff who ran away from any responsibility he was supposed to have

@legocrusher as Ren Tobin, completely normal guy with a cat (the cats name is Cookie)

And finally, Blue as Sam Rodgers, another completely normal guy

G. Spec is here on account of his father, the CEO of Color By Number Co. He meets up with all the others one by one, first Sabrina, Ren and Sam. Afterwards they free a guy from jail (Scampy) and try to talk with the Sheriff (Wayne). Instead of resolving the Banzai and Bliss Ocean issue, they have to do Wayne's job for him, kicking butt and kicking balls in the process.

[beardedmrbean]

A “Mr. Tough Guy” Florida thief got “his butt whipped” by a 66-year-old man whose truck he tried to break into, authorities said.

The truck owner called 911 early Thursday morning after he heard 29-year-old Blake Robinson attempting to break into his truck outside his Brevard County home, authorities said.

The older man went outside to confront Robinson, who punched him in the head before throwing him to the ground and kicking him in the head, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said on social media.

But the victim quickly sprang to action, hitting Robinson and forcing him to the ground — where cops ultimately found him.

“Deputies arrived on scene and were able to quickly detain Robinson, who was seemingly having a tough time getting up off of the ground, after getting his butt whipped by a 66-year-old man!!” Sheriff Wayne Ivey wrote on Facebook.

Robinson was taken to the hospital for treatment before being released to the police. The victim only required brief medical treatment and was not seriously injured.

Robinson was charged with felony battery of a person over the age of 65 and attempted burglary of a conveyance. He was booked at the Brevard County Jail on a $30,000 bond.

“As for Robinson, he was fortunate enough to be in Brevard County where he won a few prizes for being stupid including a chauffeured ride to a local medical facility to check his injuries before arriving at his less than luxurious accommodations at ‘Ivey’s Iron Bar Lodge!!'” Ivey wrote in the post.

“At the lodge he was given a freshly washed 2 piece ensemble to get comfortable in, before being shown to his sleeping area in our open floor plan.”

Robinson “got an enhanced charge for hitting someone over the age of 65 who ended up whooping his punk butt!!” the sheriff added.

“We hope you enjoy your stay at our lodge and as we like to say here in Brevard County, ‘Mess Around and Find Out!!'”

[offender42085]

Post 975

Todd Wayne Boyes, West Virginia inmate 3613202, born 1973, incarceration intake 2017 at age 44, scheduled for parole consideration 07/12/2023, with projected full release 04/11/2030

Fleeing LEO, Fleeing from LEO causing injury, Receiving or Transferring Stolen Vehicle, Escape from Custody

In December 2017, Todd Boyes, who escaped from South Central Regional Jail and was then captured in Texas, received the maximum sentence on previous charges he was set to be sentenced on prior to his escape.

Todd Wayne Boyes, 44, was able to get his hands on khaki pants and a dark green or gray zip-up jacket, and walked out of the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, West Virginia, just before 6 a.m. Wednesday, October 25, 2017 , the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said in a statement.

But it wasn't until 7 p.m. the next day, Thursday, that jail staff realized Boyes was missing. In that time, according to the statement, there had been three formal inmate head counts, and two informal counts overnight.

A statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Boyes was apprehended in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and turned over by Mexican immigration officers to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at a bridge leading into Laredo, Texas.

Boyes was given a medical evaluation, then taken to the Webb County Jail in Texas.

Boyes was returned in early December 2017 to West Virginia from Texas and at first was lodged in the South Central Regional, the jail where he escaped at about 5 a.m. Oct. 25, 2017. The escape went unreported at the jail for about 36 hours. He was later transported to the Southwestern Regional Jail. 

In total the transport of Boyes from Texas to West Virginia cost Kanawha County taxpayers $5,786.

Prior to his return to West Virginia, Boyes has been in the Webb County Jail in Texas after he was captured by border patrol agents on Oct. 29, 2017 allegedly trying to swim the Rio Grande into Mexico. His mother, Robin Helton, is accused of helping him after the escape, including driving him to Texas and giving him $2,000. She was charged for her alleged role in the crime.

In Kanawha County Circuit Court, Boyes was sentenced to one to five years for fleeing, one to five years for possession of a stolen car, three to 10 years for fleeing police causing injury. The sentences will run consecutively. His was later sentenced on the escape charge, where faced up to five years in prison.

The original charges Boyes was sentenced stemmed from a February police pursuit in Kanawha County in the Clendenin area in which a police officer was injured and Boyes was shot.

"He had a fairly extensive criminal history. The crimes he committed were serious. The escape didn't help any but I wouldn't say that it was the sole factor that determined the consecutive nature of his sentence," explained Kanawha County Prosecutor Chuck Miller.

Five South Central correctional officers were suspended without pay following the escape. Three were later charged with misdemeanor permitting escape.

3u

[eds6ngel]

I Will Always Love You

summary: this is the story of eddie munson. from the meeting of his parents, to the bonding with his mother, and much more. it's time to reveal what his life was like before hawkins, and why the term 'freak' has a deeper connotation than to just describe his appearance.

word count: 14.5k

warnings: fluff, flirting, pet names, make out session, allusions and mentions of sex (but no actual smut), unplanned pregnancy, mentions of birth control, mentions of religion (specifically christianity), virginity loss mention, self-doubt, arguing, mentions of contractions + giving birth, hospitals, emotional manipulation, swearing, criminal activities (stealing - hot-wiring cars), school struggles, physical abuse (to eddie and his mom), gaslighting, yelling, domestic violence, homophobic slurs, mentions of feminism, sexism and racism, mentions of leukaemia + symptoms, blood (cut on forehead), calling an ambulance/911, fainting, paramedics, mentions of IV + looking sick, death, grieving, panic attacks, allusions to autistic traits, bullying, trauma from experiencing death, mentions of drinking, police, social workers, arrest, jail, moving + travelling, 

authors note: hi everyone! this is my first ever fanfiction and i've decided to explore the backstory of eddie who's life got cut very short in season 4. there were multiple hints in the show such as having a bad relationship with his dad, living with his uncle, knowing how to hotwire, and having a lot of respect towards women that i decided to say 'you know what? this is never going to get explored canonically, so i'm going to develop this for the duffers!' there's a lot of heavy hitting themes in this which i've included in the warnings (i think i got them all but if i missed any, please do let me know!), so just keep that in mind whilst reading. i really hope you enjoy this, i tried my hardest to include a mix of both canon and non-canon (my own and others) ideas, so i hope it turned out okay! right, that's enough from me and onto the fic!

Evelyn Boyd: a woman in which was described as care-free, honest and kind-spirited by her friends. A country-loving girl one may say, her heart belong to the city of Nashville, Tennessee. Graduating with a 3.9 GPA, she continued her love for nature — working on a local farm just outside of the city, and doing her best to help anyone that needed it.

James Munson: your typical country boy from Mobile, Alabama. Growing up with his mom, dad and little brother (Wayne) in the heart of the county, he had a successful school life; his family was loving, creating a peaceful atmosphere when at home. In the summer of ‘65, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue the life of farming.

MAY 24TH 1965

It was a typical Nashville summer day; the birds were chirping, the sun shining and the crops growing beautifully. Most days on the farm were quiet for Evelyn, customers would come and go once in a while, but that was a rarity, once a week at most. But today was different. 9am on the dot, the bell rings, signalling the entrance of a customer, or so she thought.

“Hi, welcome to Greenfields Farm, how can I help you today?”

James stared at the woman with wide eyes, he had never seen such beauty in his life. Coming back to reality, he coughs and says “Uh, hi ma’am, I must’ve spoken to your colleague last week about working here, today is supposed to be my first day”.

She admires the way he talks, a thick country twang supporting his polite manner.

“Yes, John did mention you to me last week, I must’ve forgotten the day, excuse me! Come back here, I’ll show you around”. A wide smile graced her face as she led him to the back of the small barn, naturally making the young boy weak at the knees.

She has a spring to her step, her body language matching her bright personality: a ray of sunshine.

“Welcome to the farm!” she says as she outstretches her arms and displays the biggest smile, presenting her sparkling teeth. And at this moment, James thinks he’s died and gone to heaven as she lets out the most beautiful laugh he’s ever heard.

He chuckles, “It’s beautiful, everything is demonstrated so perfectly! I definitely chose the right place to work!”

She smiles once again, “Thank you, I try my hardest, but John makes everything look as neat as it does”.

He feels saddened by the girl’s lack of self-confidence, “Oh I’m sure that’s not true! A young lady like you should start giving yourself some more credit considering how hard it is to manage a place like this”.

She feels flattered. John would constantly belittle her with phrases such as “Pick up the pace lady!” and “Why do things always go wrong when you’re on the job?”, but with James, he made her feel welcome and appreciated on the farm.

A blush crept upon her cheeks, “As I said, I do try. Anyway, enough about me, how much about farming do you know?”.

The next few weeks at Greenfields Farm went amazingly. Word of mouth spread fast amongst the small town and they were getting more customers than ever asking about their fresh produce. Customers were not the only thing growing on the farm, James and Evelyn had hit it off almost immediately, the two sharing intimate memories from their childhood one moment before creating silly inside jokes only they would understand. But their mutual love for each other still remains a secret… until today.

The date is July 8th 1965, both Evelyn and James arrived at the farm bright and early to restock the barn. Today would be the day James asks Evelyn out on their first date.

“And over there you put the gree- yes, you’ve got it!” she beams, “You know, you’ve picked up things very quickly for someone who had little experience in this field — excuse the pun there”.

God, does she know how to make his heart flutter, “No need, and thank you, I learnt from the best!”

She lets out that gorgeous laughter than he’ll never get tired of hearing, “Oh stop it, you’re very easy to teach, great listener and communicator, say your girlfriend must love you!”

He froze. This was his shot, now or never. “Um.. I actually don’t have a girlfriend, well at least not yet. That’s what I was going to ask you actually”.

She looks up at him with the softest eyes, thinking: “No way is this about to happen”.

“Gosh, I didn’t think this was going to be so difficult”, he nervously chuckles, “Would you like to go out with me sometime? Like on a date?”. This is it, time for the stab of rejection from the prettiest girl in Nashville.

But the complete opposite happens, she beams, “I would love to! There’s this cool diner down in the centre of town if you’re interested in that sort of thing?”.

“She accepted?” he thought and shortly replied, “Sounds perfect! How does Saturday at 7pm sound? I’ll pick you up at your place”, he nervously awaits an answer.

“Sounds good to me! I’m not on shift tomorrow so after today, I’ll see you for our first official date?”

“I guess you will!”. Man, what was his life right now?

Saturday came and went, and so did the date, which was beautiful. 7pm on the dot, James picked Evelyn up and drove them to Danny’s Diner. Everything from the decor, to the food, to how they viewed each other was beyond perfect. Conversation came naturally to them thanks to their blossoming friendship and the date allowed for both to understand each other more intimately.

It became a routine for them; 7pm every Saturday, a dinner date, followed by some romantic gesture, and back home. Their first kiss came on the 3rd date. James took Evelyn to a local park in the centre of Nashville, secluded and quiet, it felt like it was them against the world. The birds chirping, the (frankly uncomfortable) picnic blanket scratching against their bare legs, and the taste of gorgeous fruits, picked freshly from their own farm. Their shared love language of physical touch was slowly becoming comfortable for the two of them; both laying their heads upon one another, the sounds of their breaths prominent in the air. Evelyn looks up at him, eyes pouring with love and admiration, thinking “How did I get so lucky?”.

James notices her staring and speaks up, “What are you looking at?”, a slight chuckle joining his question.

“Nothing, just admiring your beauty”, she says, a soft smile attaching itself to her face.

God, did she have a way with words. James stared back at her with an equal amount of adoration, but this time felt different than the others. Usually, there would be subtle flirting between them, typical compliments such as “You look beautiful” and “Looking handsome today”, but the physical closeness changed the atmosphere. His eyes divert to her lips, hoping this is the moment, something he’s been wanting to do since he first laid eyes on her two months ago.

“Can I kiss you?”, he asks, a wavering nervousness present in his voice.

She nods back, a one word answer that would change everything: “Yes”.

He leans in, one hand on her cheek, the other supporting her neck as he leans in. She copies his mannerisms as their lips connect. She thought that when people described kissing as “sparks” and “fireworks”, they were over-exaggerating, but oh how she was wrong. The feeling was indescribable, it felt like the world around her went silent, it was just her and him, the tall country boy who swept her off her feet just by existing. They bump noses as they part, a small giggle erupting from both of their mouths.

“Wow”, James lets out, a sigh escaping in relief of what just happened.

“Wow indeed”, she replies back, a gracious smile appearing once again, something he will never get tired of.

Both of them so caught up in the moment, they fail to notice the small droplets of rain landing on their respective cheeks. They look up to see the sky dawning a grey colour and a downpour beginning to start.

“I think that’s our sign to get going!” he shouts, as if the rain was a major blockage in their communication.

“I agree!”, she yells back, giggling at his loud demeanour.

OCTOBER 23RD 1965

Sex wasn’t something Evelyn had full expertise in, or any for that matter. Growing up in Nashville, Christianity was a religion that 80% of the community held, and very strictly. Her parents followed the faith too, which meant “No sex before marriage” was a value instilled in her throughout childhood and more prominently, her teenage years. Abstinence was taught alongside reproduction and conception, she still wears the purity ring her parents got her at 12 years old.

Evelyn wasn’t too sure where she lied on the religious spectrum. Sure, she believed in God and that sinning was wrong, but was everything that was written in scripture correct? If the core values of Christianity are love, compassion and respect, why were so many of the Bible verses judgemental of others behaviours?

“No sex before marriage” was one of the values she constantly contemplated. If she loved someone that much, why did a legal bonding and ceremony have to dictate when she decided to participate in sex? Was the mutual love and respect for each other before marriage not valid enough?

James on the other hand, was far from a virgin. He lost his virginity to Mary Rosenberg at his senior year graduation party. His parents still believe he was waiting until marriage, but James knew he was never going to live up to that belief.

Today was the first time James was coming over to Evelyn’s to stay the night. They’ve spent hours staying up late, talking about everything under the sun in the past, but James would always drive Evelyn back home before the clock struck midnight. But today… today was different, something new for their relationship, something Evelyn could’ve never imagined.

She ran to the door excitedly the second she heard the bell ring. Opening the door with great force, she leaps at him, pulling him in for a tight hug. Voice mushed by her face buried in his shoulder, she says:

“Hi darlin’, missed you”.

He wraps his arms around her waist, “Missed you too doll face”.

The night went like any other: Evelyn cooked a delicious spaghetti meal, sprinkled with cheese and fresh herbs from the farm. To follow, they sat on her green couch and watched “The Lawrence Welk Show”, but neither of them were paying attention, catching up on the week’s shenanigans.

“You know, I got to say you were my girlfriend publicly this week”, a proud smile plastering his face.

“Wait, why?”, she asks, confused on what situation that could’ve been brought up.

“Well, I was hanging out at the bar after work on Tuesday and some woman was trying to flirt with me, had to tell her I was taken by the wonderful girl sitting in front of me right now”, he replies, smirking.

She blushes in return, “Well, I’m glad you pushed her away, I know some of the women around here can be kind of… persuasive”.

“I would never have let her do anything, I love you too much for that-”. He freezes, not meaning for those three words to come out so casually.

“Wait, you love me?”, she says, a blush creeping onto her face.

“I, uhm, well of course I do, I just didn’t know when to say it. Like is now to early on or should I have said it earlier to reassure you-”

He never got to finish his sentence as her soft lips met his in a loving kiss. He falls into her motion as he grabs both sides of her face with his hands. They separate, both breathing heavily.

“I love you too darlin’” she says as she pulls him back in for another tender kiss. He places one hand behind her head, the other behind her back; her hands are placed delicately on his cheeks. The kiss begins to become more heated as James’ hand slides up the inside of her shirt whilst hers settle behind his neck, slightly pulling on his hair. He lays her down on the couch tenderly as he hovers over her small frame.

They both part for air, James breaking the heated silence by saying: “Sweetheart, if this is where I think it’s going, I don’t have any condoms on me”, looking at her lovingly.

She smiles back and reassures him, “Don’t worry my love, I’m on birth control, I trust you”.

Those last three words were all he needed to hear as he swept her up into his arms and took her to the bedroom.

NOVEMBER 13TH 1965

A week late.

Her period was never late.

Evelyn’s cycle was very regular thanks to her birth control. She’s never missed a day of taking her pill and was very aware of her menstrual cycle.

Which led to her one worry: pregnancy.

Although birth control has been widely accessible across the United States for nearly 15 years, it was still not fully reliable in preventing pregnancy.

A thousand questions began racing through her mind: “What if James doesn’t want a baby?”, “What if there are any complications?”, “How am I meant to financially support a child?”

James and Evelyn had not had sex since that night. It’s not that they didn’t want to, they were just more of a romantic gesture couple rather than a sex driven one. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have gotten pregnant from her first time.

She had no choice but to make a doctor’s appointment. Since James was staying around hers for the day, she left him a quick note telling him she was going into town, grabbed her keys and headed out the door.

They thankfully had an appointment free that afternoon. The doctor was very kind and instructed her through what to do and that she would hear back from them in two weeks with the results. Although thankful for the advances in medicine, two weeks was still a long time; much more time to overthink, and especially to blame herself for the situation.

NOVEMBER 27TH 1965

Ring, ring.

James picks up the phone whilst Evelyn is practicing guitar in her bedroom.

“Hello?”

“Hi sir, is Miss Boyd there to speak?”.

“She is, yes, I’m sorry, may I ask who this is?”.

“This is the doctors calling regarding her results from the pregnancy test she submitted two weeks ago”.

Pregnancy test. A fucking pregnancy test. A surge of anger rises in his body which he supresses as he calls to his girlfriend.

“Honey! There’s someone on the phone for you… says it’s the doctors!” he yells into the other room, teeth gritted with frustration.

Shit. She throws her guitar onto her bed and rushes into the living room, quickly grabbing the phone from his hand.

“Hi, yes, this is Evelyn!”, she speaks into the receiver, a slight tremble in her voice.

“Hello Miss Boyd, you’re expecting a call informing you about the results of the pregnancy test you conducted with us, yes?”.

“Uh, yes.. yes I am”. She avoids all eye contact with her boyfriend, who’s sitting on the couch, arms folded across his chest.

“Well I am delighted to inform you that the results came back positive, you are pregnant miss!”.

Pregnant. The word ringing around in her head like a deadly whisper.

“Um.. wow, well, thank you so much”.

“You are very welcome ma’am, I wish you a smooth pregnancy and pray that everything goes well for you!”

“Thank you once again, bye bye now”. She puts the phone down. A silence fills the air.

James breaks the uncomfortable nature with words she wished not to hear: “So, is it positive?”, showing an annoyed expression.

She take a large gulp before admitting the truth: “Yes”.

James stands up from his spot on the couch and makes his way over to Evelyn.

“’I trust you.’ That’s what you said to me! You promised you were on birth control and that everything would be completely fine, well look at you now, pregnant with a child neither of us want!”

Evelyn avoids his eyes as she spills out the sentence that she knew James would never want to hear: “What if I do want to raise them?”

He lets out a laugh, but not the one she came to love on their first day of meeting, no, this laugh had a much more sarcastic tone.

“You? Raising a child? At 19 years old? You’ve got to be joking! Evelyn, listen to me, you cannot raise a child. You do not have the strength in you to do that! You can barely lift 2 crates at the farm without asking for my help, let alone give birth and mother another human being!”.

Tears began to form in her eyes. This was not the James she grew to care and love. The James she knew would constantly congratulate and lift up her efforts at the farm, saying “You’re so strong!” and “You’ve got this!”. This James was an entirely different person. Someone she would not have associated herself with if he was like this the whole time.

“What did I do for you to suddenly belittle me like that? You’ve always told me how strong I was and how I was capable of anything I put my mind to. Why are you suddenly doubting my efforts as a mother?”, she says, tears starting to stream down her face.

“Well look at you right now! Crying your eyes out just because I admitted the truth! Do you think a good mother would do something like that? Did you ever think I was just being kind because there were customers around?”, he yells, towering over her small frame.

“So what you said was never true? It was all just an act to seem polite at work?”, she questions, the tears leaving stains.

“Now you’re just putting words into my mouth!”, he sighs, “I’m going home, we can talk about this another time, when you’ve thought this through”. He grabs his coat before slamming the door behind him.

This was the reaction she hoped to have never happened; the self-doubt that kept re-playing over and over in her head, it was becoming a reality.

It took an entire week for James to even speak to Evelyn. Whilst working, the two ignored each other completely. Evelyn proved to him that she was capable; she didn’t ask for help when carrying crates or re-stocking the barn, she completed all of her tasks by herself.

Early one Saturday morning, Evelyn heard a knock at her door. As she cautiously opened it, outside stood James.

“Now before you say anything, I am so incredibly sorry. What I did was completely wrong, and there’s no excuse to justify my actions. You are strong, capable and beautiful, you always have been, ever since I met you 6 months ago. I shouldn’t have spoken to you in such a demeaning manner and I think I was just scared, scared of becoming a father. But I really do want this, I want to be in this baby’s life, I want to support them in any way I can and live up to the role model that my father was for me. I really hope you can forgive me Evelyn”.

She stood there in shock. After not even looking at her for a whole week, he visits her apartment to apologise. Self-doubt starts to run through her head again: “If you do turn him away, are you capable of raising a child all by yourself?”, “If he’s in the baby’s life, he could be an amazing father, just look at the way he’s treated you up until last week!”, “He said he was just scared, you’re scared too! His reaction to the news was just different to yours!”.

She takes a deep breath before breaking the silent atmosphere: “I forgive you James. I understand you were scared, hell, I’m terrified. But we need to get through this together, and if you’re in for this, you need to be in 100% of the time. I can’t have you walking out on me like you did last week”.

He nods, “I understand doll, I’m 100% in for this. I promise to not walk out on you again”.

She smiles in relief, “Okay, where do we go from here?”.

James followed through on his promise. Throughout her pregnancy, both of them continued working on the farm, and towards the end, James took on more of Evelyn’s shifts so she could rest in time for the delivery. At 6 months, James and Evelyn decided to move into a new place together: a 2 bedroom apartment, enough room for both them and the baby. James was a constant support; he took various trips into town to buy any food for her pregnancy cravings as well as buying all of the baby’s toys and furniture out of his own pocket.

On July 26th 1966 around 8pm, Evelyn started to feel contractions. These lasted mildly for 4 hours before James had to take her to the hospital in the centre of Nashville. Another 8 hours later and Evelyn was ready to push. After 10 minutes of pushing, a beautiful baby boy was welcomed into the world at 8:26am. He had a gorgeous set of curly brown hair, exactly like his mothers. He resembled her a lot, from his eyes to his rounded chin, the only striking resemblance from his father being his nose. They decided on the name Edward, Eddie for short, after Evelyn’s baby cousin who she admired dearly.

After two long days of recovery for his mother, Edward James Munson was brought back to the small plant-filled apartment on the outskirts of the city. His room was decorated with blue wallpaper, scattered with rocket ships and astronauts, with a wooden crib situated in the centre of the small room. A tiny bookshelf, a box full of toys and a playmat were also featured on display. It’s safe to say that Eddie would have a wonderful new life filled with love and care from his parents.

FEBRUARY 18TH 1967

Eddie was nicknamed by his mother “little rascal”, and quite suitably too. Ever since he learnt how to crawl 2 months ago, Eddie’s favourite pastime was to explore their single floored apartment, ignoring every toy that was in sight. Today, Eddie has decided to make his way into his parent’s room.

“Come back here you little rascal!”, she calming shouts as she runs after her small boy. She turns the corner and finds him mesmerised by her acoustic guitar perched in the corner of her and her boyfriend’s room.

“Have you found my guitar mister?”, she says softly. Eddie’s eyes are still fixated on the mysterious object as his hand begins to reach out towards the strings. “Oh, watch your fingers little guy, don’t want you hurting yourself. You wanna watch mommy play?”, she asks, a smile gracing her face in awe of the young boy. The way his eyes turn to her and glisten with excitement behind the chocolate orbs she gifted him give her confirmation on the answer. “Alright, let me play you a tune”.

She grabs the 7 month old and places him on the fluffy cream rug on the floor, thankful that her son can now sit up without her aid. She sits directly in front of him, guitar in lap. “My dear Eddie boy, today I’ll be performing a little song for you by the incredible Connie Smith called ‘Then and Only Then’”, she announces in a presenter-like voice.

She begins to strum the chords to the song and an angelic voice escapes from her mouth as she sings along to the guitar.

“All that's left inside my heart is just your echo”

“And the tiny thread of hope to which I cling”

“But if I keep holding on maybe some day”

“You'll remember where you left me and come back for me again”

Eddie looks up at her in utter astonishment, he is so intrigued by the instrument and the sound of his mother’s voice. “Come closer my love, help me with the last verse”, she says, guiding the boy closer to her. She grabs his small hand in hers and guides it towards the strings. Holding the chord in place with her left, she pulls Eddie’s hand down the strings, making a beautiful sound. A small gasp comes out of his mouth, surprised at the beauty of the guitar.

“For then and only then will I stop crying”

“And this aching breaking heart of mind will mend”

“Not until I feel your arms around me”

“Will I be happy and I live for then and only then”

“And I live for then and only then”

As she finishes up the song, Eddie lets out a giggle, causing Evelyn to laugh along also. During this memorable activity, James had returned home from work and followed the sounds of the music. He was shocked to see his girlfriend and son playing the guitar together. But this was not a shock of happiness, more like a shock of irritation. He thought, “How dare she be teaching him guitar when there are toys such as trucks and cars which would much more beneficial to him”. He left the two of them be, deciding it would be easier to deal with the situation later on in private, away from the young boy.

It was 9pm that evening. Eddie had been well fed and gone to sleep for the night. James had to be up bright and early to work on the farm tomorrow, but he wasn’t letting an important conversation being left another day.

Evelyn was changing into her pyjamas when James began to question her.

“So, guitar huh?”.

She turned around and looked at him confused, “Yeah? You know I play guitar darlin’”.

He looks her dead in the eyes, “No, not you, OUR son”.

A confused expression remains on her face, “Yeah, he crawled up to it, so I thought I’d play him a song”.

He mumbles: “Looks like he was doing more of the playing than you”.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”.

He speaks more clearly, “I said: Looks like he was doing more of the playing than you”.

Evelyn begins to stand her ground, “And? Is that such a bad thing?”.

James can’t believe what he is hearing right now, “Such a bad thi- how is it not a bad thing? We bought him plenty of trucks, cars, boy’s toys to play with and not only does he completely ignore them all, but you enable that?”.

She begins to become agitated, “Because he doesn’t want to play with them James! I’ve tried over and over again, he just doesn’t look happy playing with them! Today was the first time in weeks I’ve seen him so excited to play with a “toy”. Could you not see how happy he was?”.

“You’re overreacting! He was mildly comfortable at best. I played with those cars with him last week and he was incredibly happy! You’re obviously not trying hard enough”, the words slipping out of his mouth easily.

Evelyn tried to keep her emotions in, but his personal insults hit her right in the gut. “I look after Eds five days a week. Every single day I try with those toys, every goddamn day, and not once has he looked happy. Today has been the first time in a long time that he has remained focused on something for more than 2 minutes. I can’t believe you’re doubting my efforts baby!”.

He scoffs as he sees tears begin to fall down her face, “And there’s the emotional woman again! You question why I doubt your efforts when any time I criticise anything slightly wrong with OUR parenting, because remember, it’s a joint effort, 100% you said, you start crying like a little girl. If we’re in this together like you stated almost 2 years ago, then I am allowed to make our son into a proper man, and damn well make sure you help with that too”.

The tears were flooding down her face now as she demanded: “Get out. I won’t have you insulting me, not again”.

He chuckles, “Fine, I’m off to the bar. Hopefully you’ll get yourself in check and be ready to properly raise our son tomorrow morning”.

He walks out of their room and slams the front door. She hears faint cries from the room next to her: Eddie. She clears her throat and wipes underneath her eyes before going to attend to her son.

SEPTEMBER 20TH 1967

Eddie had recently turned two, so James and Evelyn agreed it was a smart idea to upgrade to a bigger truck for their family of 3. This past week, Evelyn went and got a new key cut as an emergency spare in case one of them lost the original. She decided the best option was to store it in their safe. The two didn’t keep much in their safe, just some important documents such as prescriptions, Eddie’s birth certificate, and family heirlooms passed down through generations.

Eddie was pre-occupied in his playpen so Evelyn took the opportunity to leave her son for a few seconds to put this simple task out of the way. She typed in the code before opening up the silver door. However, something stored inside was very out of the ordinary.

Evelyn and James earned a decent wage between them. Enough to pay the bills each month and keep them alive and healthy. But not even a pay rise would equate to the thousands of dollars stored in their safe.

She began to take it out and count through the piles of cash: $5500. Her mouth spoke her mind, “What the fuck…”.

“Mama!”, she heard Eddie cry from his playpen, her two year old obviously unsatisfied from the lack of attention.

“Comin’ sweetheart!”, she yelled back shakily, piling the cash up as neatly as it was before and chucking in the key, before locking it back up and putting it back in its safe spot.

AUGUST 9TH 1970

As Eddie grew older, Evelyn knew that she was right to assume he was never going to be interested in trucks and cars like his father continued to persist.

Recently, Evelyn had started to notice James had been becoming more persistent in his parenting techniques, ignoring hers completely. He was so persistent that she agreed to take on some of his shifts at work, now spending 3 days at the farm instead of a mere 1.

Evelyn didn’t fully trust James’ suggestion to work more so he could “spend more time being present as a father”, but there had been no complaints from Eddie so far, who was naturally very open with his problems to her.

Today was Evelyn’s day to take care of Eddie. This upcoming year would be the final one before Eddie would be starting elementary school, something her mind could still not fathom.

Throughout the years, Eddie remained a curious and excitable kid, always “bouncing off the walls” she’d like to say. His father not so keen on this behaviour, the words “calm down!” being shouted a lot from him. Evelyn was much more open to his energetic manner, letting that side of his personality run free. Today was no different as she heard his tiny footsteps come running into her room.

“Mama! Mama!”, he yelled to her.

“Yes, my love”, she said, putting her book on her nightstand.

Suddenly, his demeanour became a lot more shy as he asked: “Can you teach me how to play guitar?”.

She beams with happiness, “Of course honey, I would love to! Why were you so nervous to ask sweetheart?”

He looks down to the floor, “Because daddy says it playing guitar is wrong”, a sad expression on his face.

She crouches down to his level and lifts his chin up so his eyes meet hers, “Hey, daddy doesn’t know what he’s talkin’ about, this can be our little secret, okay? Daddy doesn’t need to know”.

He slowly nods, “Okay, mama”.

“That’s my boy! Okay, come sit on mama’s lap!”, she says as she pats her legs.

He jumps up onto her bed as she reaches over to grab the guitar off of its stand. He perches himself on her legs as she rests the guitar in front of the two of them.

“Okay baby, this guitar is slightly big for you now, but I’ll teach you the basics of what are called chords. I’ll teach you the chords to a song fresh in my mind called “Let It Be” by the Beatles, do you know them?”

He shakes his head, “No mama”.

She smiles, “That’s okay honey, the Beatles are an amazing rock band who use a lot of acoustic guitar in their songs, perfect for you!”.

Throughout the day, Evelyn teaches Eddie the basic chords to the song, checking on the time to make sure she can put everything back and pre-occupy her son with another “suitable” activity before James arrives home.

At 3:45pm, Evelyn and Eddie finish up for the day. Her boy is a fast learner, already managing to play some clean chords without duding a single string. Now her next job was to make sure Eddie didn’t spill their “little secret”, else she would be terrified of the outcome.

AUGUST 2ND 1971

“Alrighty son, put your shoes on, we’re going out!”, James exclaims as he ties up his own shoelaces.

“But why daddy?”, Eddie says looking disappointed as he stops playing with his toy truck.

“I have a very important lesson to teach you today Eddie boy which involves us heading into town. Although we do have to walk, so I hope those little feet of yours are ready for a trek!”

Eddie stands there, a forced smile appearing on his face, although his tone of voice still presenting as sad, “Okay, daddy”. He paddles into the porch as he puts on his sneakers before taking his dad’s hand and walking into town.

Evelyn was at work today, doing shifts on Monday through to Wednesday, leaving James to take care of Eddie at the beginning of each week, something he was very excited about.

However, in a few weeks time, Eddie would be starting elementary school, something the both of them couldn’t believe, but for very different reasons. For Evelyn, she couldn’t believe her baby boy had grown up so fast, but for James, he couldn’t believe that so much time had been wasted in his early years.

James took Eddie to the nearest grocery store, but stopped near one of the cars at the back of the parking lot. It was a bright, hot summers day, so many cars left their windows open to let in the cooler breeze.

“Alright son, I’m going to get in through the window and I’ll help you in afterwards okay?”.

Eddie felt this was wrong, this did not look like their big truck back home, and no car he’d ever seen in his life.

“But why are we getting in daddy? This isn’t our car”, he said, a worried expression gracing his face.

His son was smart, something he got off of his mother, he would have to lie through his teeth to get his 5 year old to believe him. “Don’t worry Eddie, this is cousin Carol’s car, she said to bring it to her as she left it at the store last night, now c’mon, jump in!”

Eddie reluctantly lifts his arms up so his dad can lift him in through the window. Now sat in front of his dad in the driver’s seat, his dad opens up the glove box and grabs a screwdriver situated there.

“Okay Eddie, grab onto my hand, and twist the screwdriver left”, he states to the younger boy.

He does as his father asks of him, but questions, “Can I tell mama we helped out cousin Carol with her car today?”.

James almost freezes as the plastic cover comes off, he takes a quick peak around the parking lot of the store, making sure the coast is clear before replying, “Oh no son, this will be our little secret”.

Eddie stopped as he had a flash of deja vu, his dad repeating the same phrase his mom once told him when he started to learn guitar:

“Our little secret”.

His father pulls him from his worries, “You with me boy? We don’t have all day!”, a slight agitation to his tone.

“Yes daddy, sorry”, he replies, snapping back to reality.

James ruffles his hair, “Good boy, now you want these two red wires here and what I’m going to do is strip some of what we call the insulation from these two wires okay? Just watch and learn for this part”.

Eddie watches his dad, still having a feeling of uneasiness in his stomach. “Okay, now twist these two orange end bits together very tight”. Eddie repeats his father’s commands, successfully tying the wires together.

“Good job son, now I’m going to strip this wire as well, this is called the starter wire”. Once again, Eddie watches his father strip the end of the wire, before he says “Okay now take the red wires in your right hand and the starter wire in your left, okay?”

“Okay daddy”, he says as he takes them in each of his hands.

“Now, lightly tap these two wires together, but be careful now, once you hear the engine start, immediately stop, okay?”

“Alright daddy”. Eddie pokes his tongue out as he lightly taps the wires together, however, he does not hear the engine start as he does this.

Five minutes later and Eddie has still not successfully started the engine. James is beginning to get worried, the longest he’s ever taken to do this, even as child, was a maximum of two minutes, not long enough to get him caught. “Hurry the hell up son, we don’t have all day!”, he says, beginning to raise his voice.

“I’m trying daddy, it’s difficult”, he says, a slight panic wavering in his voice, afraid of his father speaking louder than usual.

Another five minutes pass, still no sign of the car starting. In the distance, James sees a woman begin to walk in their direction, towards the very car they are perched in.

“Eddie, get out of the car”, he says, trying to keep his cool.

“But you said we needed to help-”, he asks worriedly.

“Get out the goddamn car!”, he yells into Eddie’s ear.

Scared for his life, Eddie drops the two wires and scrambles up to stand on the seat. James lifts him back onto the concrete floor before sliding back out the car window. He picks up his son and runs back home, hearing a voice in the distance yelling, “Hey! What the hell did you do to my car?”.

James unlocks the front door to their house. He steps into the front porch and puts Eddie on the ground. Before Eddie can run more than five feet in front of him, his father yells, “Get the hell back here!”. Eddie slowly turns around and walks back over to his dad, his eyes looking directly at the wooden floor.

James lifts Eddie’s head up, but it doesn’t feel like the same soft hand his mother uses, no, this felt rough. Before Eddie could even apologise, James lifts his hand up in the air before..

Slap.

Eddie felt a sharp sting on the side of his cheek. Before he could even process the pain, his father grabbed the collar of his jacket and brought him to his eye-line.

“What the fuck do you think you were doing back there?”, he screamed in his face.

Before he could even think, the words he would soon regret spill from his mouth, “I thought you said we were helping cousin Carol with her car!”. A few tears started to spill down his face, a mixture of sadness and pain.

“Oh man up boy, you really believed that? I’m teaching you how to be a real man, not some fairy like your mother is teaching you to be. Now next time, you’ll learn how to be faster, and not be some screw up like your mother’s side of the family”. He throws his son to the ground before storming past him into his bedroom.

Eddie sits there in shock. He slowly gets up, a pain shooting through the side of his body and his cheek. He walks towards his own room and closes the door softly behind him. Throwing his shoes onto the floor, he climbs into his bed and crawls under the covers. He lets out the loudest scream he could and balls his eyes out. How could his dad ever treat him like that for such a simple mistake?

APRIL 6TH 1972

It took Eddie a whole 7 months before he finally revealed the truth to his mom. He was off school for Spring Break, his dad taking him out to hot-wire another car the past weekend. His brain had sadly memorised the steps and he has successfully managed to hot-wire 3 cars in the past month. He knew at this point it was wrong, James took Eddie with him to trade in the stolen cars for thousands of dollars. He learnt how wrong it was when the teacher in school taught him the word “stealing”. Miss Dolly said stealing meant: “Taking something that wasn’t yours and not giving it back”. His dad did exactly this.

It was a lovely Thursday in spring when Eddie decided to tell his mother what had been going on, feeling it was a safe time since his father was at work.

“Mama, can I tell you someting?”, he asks shyly.

“Of course baby, you can always tell me anything”, she replies, a sweet smile gracing her face.

“Um.. when you’re working, daddy takes me to the stwore and he gets me to start cars”.

A confused look on her face, she says: “Start cars? What do you mean honey?”.

“I think it’s called steawing, taking someting that isn’t yours and not giving it back”.

James was taking him to steal cars? Before she can respond, Eddie continues, “And sometimes he takes tese cars to a guy and he gets lots of money for it”.

Her blood is now boiling. Her own boyfriend is not only stealing cars, but teaching their son how to steal them too? She keeps up a soft attitude for her son, not letting her anger towards James be brought onto Eddie, she knows this isn’t his fault.

“And how do you feel about all of this baby?”, she needed to ask him this, she needed to know whether Eddie thought it was right, whether he was told it was right.

“I don’t wike it, it feels wrong. I don’t wike steawing cars, but daddy tells me off if I don’t do it. I don’t wanna do it mama”.

Her anger for her boyfriend takes a backseat for a moment as a wave of sadness strikes her in regards to the 5 year old boy standing in front of her. He looks guilty, like he shouldn’t be telling her this. “Okay baby, I’ll talk to daddy later on okay? I’ll tell him you don’t like it and to do something else with you when I’m at work okay?”. She crouches down and takes his small frame into his arms, wrapping her arms around him. Evelyn hears quiet sniffles coming from her son, “Hey, hey, why are you crying my love?”, she asks as she strokes the boy’s hair and wipes the tears falling down his face.

“I-I’m scared mama, I-I don’t want daddy to hurt me again. He said it’s our secwet and n-not to tell you”.

“I won’t let him hurt you okay baby? Mama’s got you, I promise. You’re such a brave boy for me, so incredibly brave, like this brave”, she stretches her arms out as wide as they can go, making Eddie laugh.

“Now, wanna play some guitar before daddy gets home? You’ve almost mastered “Let It Be” baby!”, she suggests, trying to distract her son, and herself, before she lashed out her anger towards James later.

Later that night, Evelyn was storing her clothes fresh from the dryer as James walked out of the shower. She was going to wait for him to change before admitting to him what her son had told her a mere 6 hours ago. Eddie was pre-occupied in room with his toys, dragons becoming something that Evelyn found kept him entertained, a surprising approval from James.

“Honey, we need to talk about something”, she kept her nervousness to a minimum, avoiding to let herself becoming too emotional, she’s going to stand her ground this time, she’s going to do it for Eddie.

“Sure, what is it doll?”. Her favourite pet name, something she loved, but she was not going to let that get in the way of her goal: to get James to own up to his mistakes.

“Eddie told me earlier what you two have been up to whilst I’ve been working: stealing cars. He said he really doesn’t like it James. I know I can’t control what you do with your life, but I’d appreciate if you leave our son out of your hobby”.

He scoffs, “Oh so what? You can teach him how to braid girl’s hair and let him play with dolls? Let him act like a girl, become all soft, not learn any values of what it takes to become a man? Yeah, sounds exactly like your parenting”.

She keeps the tears in, she’s not letting him get to her this time. “I’m not letting you insult my parenting James, not again. This is what Eddie personally told me earlier today, this is not a result of me, he came to me. He told me he didn’t like it and wants you to stop taking him”.

“And why do you think he thinks that way? My father taught me as a kid how to hotwire cars and I never once complained. I realised what it took to be a man through that experience. You should be thankful it’s not something worse”.

Thankful? She couldn’t control her anger any longer, she was fed up of being the quiet housewife. “Is that why you’ve been hiding all that cash from me?”.

He looked her dead in the eyes, “What did you just say to me?”, he says with a stern expression on his face.

“I kept quiet for months, but I can’t hold it in any longer. I saw the stacks of cash in our safe. I wondered where you got all that money from in such a little amount of time, but I think you just gave me the answer”. She may regret saying this, but she had to tell the truth, her truth.

He towers over her, but she stands her ground, an angry look gracing her face. “You ungrateful little bitch! I’ve been earning that money through hard work so we could live in the city, away from this shithole and the first thing you do is complain about it?”. Evelyn remained as calm as possible, but the emotions could not stay in after what James did next.

Slap.

From the next room, Eddie sat up in his bed. He recognised that sound. The sound he had been hearing nearly every week for the past 7 months. His dad was hitting his mom. He jumped out of his bed and rushed into his parents room.

He could not believe the sight in front of him. James had one hand tightly gripping Evelyn’s chin and the other holding her hair with a strong grip. Tears began to roll down Eddie’s face.

“You think you own this house but you don’t! Everything I do with my son you complain about, but everything you do is apparently right! Now you have the fucking audacity to get angry at me for earning money that could get the three of us a better life!”

Slap.

“You speak about me like I treat my son like shit, but I don’t. I teach the ways of hard work and discipline, something that will get him much further in life than what you’re teaching him! You never take the fucking blame for anything and always pin it on me! Now you stop being an ungrateful brat and shut the hell up, or I’ll hurt you much worse than what I’m doing now!”.

James tugs harshly at Evelyn’s hair, a cry of pain escapes from her mouth. Eddie couldn’t stop the words that came out from seeing his mother in pain:

“STOP IT!”.

It’s as if you could see the fire burning in James’ eyes. He throws Evelyn out of his reach, her using her hands to stop her tumbling into the closet behind her, as he storms over to his son. Like before, he grabs him by his shirt collar, before raising his hand to deliver the hardest hit he’s ever thrown at Eddie.

“James stop, don’t hurt him-”, Evelyn cries out, the tears now streaming down her face.

But it was too late.

Slap.

“I told you this was our little secret, and you go spilling it to your mother! You should be ashamed of yourself boy! If I ever see you do one more thing out of line from what I’ve told you, I’ll hit you a lot harder, you understand me?”. Eddie is frozen in fear, he slowly nods, not wanting to upset his dad more.

James threw his son off of him and onto the ground, thankfully the landing being softened by the green rug on their floor. James walks out of their room and into the hallway, grabbing his jacket before spitting at them: “You’re both fucking disgraces”. A loud slam of the front door echoes through their small apartment.

Eddie and Evelyn make eye contact with each other before she rushes to her son’s side. He falls into her arms as she shushes him and kisses his brown curls.

“It’s okay baby, shh, it’s okay, mama’s here, mama’s here”, the tears still falling down her face despite putting on a brave and supportive attitude for her son who was screaming out in agony, a mixture of sadness and pain.

They both stayed in the middle of her bedroom hugging each other to death for what seemed like hours, recovering from the event that had just happened.

JUNE 14TH 1974

Evelyn really wanted to leave. If she could, she would. But with her only working 3 days a week, she didn’t have the money to just up and leave. As bad as it sounded, she relied too much on James.

It was currently summer break, Eddie finishing 2nd grade in May. He was having trouble fitting in with the boys, however, he had a few friends which were girls. Although, not many of the other moms were fond of this, trying to keep their daughters away from the curly haired boy. Eddie had talked to Evelyn about this, how he didn’t fit into school, only enjoying activities such as English and Art, struggling with Math and History. She had no idea whether James knew about this, but she highly doubted it, Eddie was fearful of his father, and rightfully so.

Now that it was summer, Eddie could spend a lot of time with his mom, something he enjoyed a lot, he was very attached to her.

“Eddie my love, I have a new song for you to learn!”, she shouts calmly from her bedroom.

“Coming mama!”. The boy was now a lot taller, reaching the height of her waist, and his curly brown hair reaching his shoulder.

“Hey baby, this new song came out recently called “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton, do you remember me showing you her other song “Jolene” not too long ago?”, she asks politely.

“Yes mama, the one that goes ‘Jolene, I’m beggin’ of ya please don’t take my man’?”

“That’s the one honey! C’mon, I recently bought the vinyl of the album, take a listen to the song!”.

Evelyn recently discovered that not only did Eddie have a gift for playing the guitar, but also singing, two talents that fit together very nicely. Eddie was also learning how to play songs from listening to the song, rather than Evelyn telling him.

“I’m going to give you a helping hand to start, the capo goes on the 2nd fret”.

The boy smiles as she places the capo on the guitar, “Okay, thank you mama!”.

“You’re welcome honey”. Eddie was also a particularly fast learner, especially with songs like this that had a repetitive chord pattern throughout.

It took Eddie a mere hour to figure out the songs had a mere 4 chords, and only switched pattern during the chorus. He mastered the song pretty much instantly, and was learning the words also.

“I’m assuming you like the song baby?”.

“I love it mama! Can I listen to the whole album soon?”, he asks.

“Of course my love, we can listen to it tomorrow if you would like?”.

“Yes please mama!”, he exclaims, excitedly moving his body slightly up and down.

She giggles, “Okay, okay, we’ll do that. For now though, how about you play the chords and I sing, yeah?”.

“Okay mama!”, he gets comfortable and begins to play the intro of the song.

“If I should stay”

“Well I would only be in your way”

“And so I'll go, and yet I know”

“I'll think of you each step of the way”

Evelyn puts on the thickest country accent she can as the final verse hits.

“And I hope life, will treat you kind”

“And I hope that you have all

That you ever dreamed of”

“Oh I do wish you joy”

“And I wish you happiness”

“But above all this

I wish you love”

She addressed that entire verse to Eddie. Despite this being a love song, she felt it as familial love towards her son, her one and only.

“I will always love you”

Eddie strums the final chord as Evelyn begins clapping, cheering on her son for his achievement. This will always be her favourite bonding activity with her son, no matter what age he is. Whether it was when he was 7 months old, sitting on her lap listening to her play Connie Smith or when he’s 20, playing a future country superstar’s song on his own guitar she will eventually buy him.

MARCH 6TH 1975

Eddie had no choice but to tell his dad his school issues. His mom now working Saturday through to Wednesday, the only time he was alone with her was a mere 2 hours after school on Thursdays and Fridays. James did not take lightly to Eddie letting him know he was having trouble making friends, addressing the problem with a hit to the face and a classic “man up”.

Which led to James blaming this problem on Evelyn.

“So, wanna address why our son told me earlier today he has made a grand total of zero friends at school?”, he says with a monotone voice.

“Oh, I wasn’t aware that he hasn’t my love I’ll-”, she was cut off by him.

“I mean I wouldn’t want to be either if I saw what his mom looked like. I mean you’re not setting the greatest example for the kid are you? Between the way you present yourself and the way you’ve raised him no wonder he’s all alone”.

“Why is it always my fault?” she wondered before replying, “You do the school run most of the time James, so how is this my fault?”.

He huffs, “Disgusting looking people are more memorable than the neat ones, easier to remember your face than mine”.

Disgusting.

“You think I’m disgusting?”, she says softly. She’s been practicing to keep her emotions in check around James. She knows she shouldn’t have to, but the fear of what the outcome could be was worth it.

He chuckles, “Oh come on, you know I don’t mean it like that. I’m just sayin’ you arriving at the school covered in dirt and sweat, your hair sticking to your face, compared to me who goes home and showers before thinking of picking up the kid, it makes an everlasting impression of the young boy”.

That look was the one he fell in love with almost 10 years ago. Young farm girl Evelyn with a messy bun and overalls covered in soil. Now it was the main problem for her son’s happiness. Whatever she did, it was wrong in his books. It may have been correct at one point in time, but it would never be now.

“Just a thought sweetheart. How about you try it out and see if it makes the difference hmm?”. He may have posed it as a question, but it was a demand. She wasn’t going to do it. Not at all. She’d shower after she brought Eddie back home to present to James she was a fresh face picking him up. She’d give Eddie some advice herself. Some good advice.

NOVEMBER 9TH 1975

Being a mother and working 5 days a week was taking a great toll on Evelyn. Sure this was what most mothers did now, after the fight for feminism gave women more freedom to go out and work, but something felt off for her.

A couple hours of working a day and Evelyn would get the biggest headaches. She’d get really hot, even though the temperatures were currently dropping leading into the winter months. By the end of each day, she’d be exhausted, and yet she still took care of Eddie after school, made sure he was fed, put to sleep, his typical routine, before repeating the same actions for herself.

Speaking to James about her problems was a nightmare. All he told her was she was “being lazy” and to “work harder”. With both of them working together on the farm some days, she had no choice but to act healthier than she was, following the “advice” she just so wishes she could ignore. And even on the days he wasn’t with her, she had to make sure all the work was complete, else all she would get is complaints and harm from her boyfriend.

She went to the doctor one Thursday, telling him about her symptoms. The advice she was given was extremely counter-productive, the man just complaining that it was due to exhaustion, even throwing in a few of his viewpoints about women belonging in the home.

She realised she had no one to turn to. Her own boyfriend dismissing her issues, her doctor overlooking her worries in favour of his opinions on women’s role in society, and her main source of comfort being way too young to understand.

She was alone. Her only option was to pray to God it was nothing too serious, and that it would soon fade away.

FEBRUARY 26TH 1976

Everything seemed to get worse as the months went on. Even on the days she was able to rest, she felt exhausted. Like today.

Despite her restlessness, she kept up the energy to pick up her 9 year old son from school. Everything felt safer when he was around. Even if she wanted to just fall asleep, she wouldn’t dare miss the sound of her son’s excitement and laughter as he told her about what happened at school that day. Luckily, Eddie had managed to make some friends over the last year. Mostly girls, something James was not fond of, but as long as he was happy, Evelyn didn’t mind if they were girls or boys.

She was chopping up fresh vegetables from the farm for their soup as her son rambled about his day. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her head, one stronger than she’s ever felt before.

“Sorry to interrupt you baby, but can you take over for a second?”, she asks politely, trying to mask the immense amount of pain she was in.

“Sure mom, are you okay?”, he asks, a concerned expression on his face as he takes the sharp knife from her hand.

Her vision is starting to become blurry as she makes her way over to the table, “I’ll be fine baby, just give me a minute”.

Not even able to chop one tomato, he hears a loud thump on the floor. He quickly turns around to see his mom lying on the floor, eyes closed.

“MOM!”, he shouts as he rushes over to her side. He breaths heavily as she lays there lifeless. He puts his knowledge from health class to the test and finds her pulse.

It’s beating.

He thanks the Lord. However, a cut on her forehead begins to bleed. A lot. He knew his dad would most likely not come home for this, so his only other option was to call 911.

Reluctant to leave her side, he rushes to the other side of the kitchen and picks the phone up off its stand. He quickly dials the number and a voice immediately speaks through the other end.

“911, what’s your emergency?”.

Breathe, Eddie, breathe. “Hi, um, my mom just fell on the floor. She’s alive, I could feel her pulse, but she’s not waking up. Also there’s a cut on her head and it’s bleeding, like a lot. I’m sorry, I don’t know what to do”.

The man on the other end reassures him, “Don’t apologise son, you did the right thing. Now can you tell me your address? We’ll send an ambulance once you tell us, but we want you to stay on the phone okay? Tell me when you hear a knock on the door and that’ll be them. I’ll then let you go and the paramedics can take over okay? So again, what’s your address?”

Address, stay on the phone, knock on door, put phone down. “Uh yeah, it’s um, 24 **Ashland Lane, it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere, I know that’s probably not an issue, but uh, I’m just really scared”. His voice begins to quiver. “She’s been feeling more tired recently, been getting random nosebleeds and headaches. She went to the doctors but they just said it was exhaustion due to her working so much and being a mom, but it has to be more than that. Sorry, I’m rambling, it’s just I know something isn’t right, it hasn’t been right for months”. Tears are streaming down his face at this point.

“You’re okay son, take a deep breath for me. The ambulance is on its way, just keep talking to me okay? Now about the cut on her forehead, have you put anything on it to stop the bleeding?”.

He didn’t even think about that, he just left his mom to bleed out. His level of panic increases. “Uh, no, I forgot, I’m sorry! The phone is all the way over the other side of the kitchen from her so I can’t get to her without leaving you which I know you don’t want me to do!”.

“It’s alright son. What I want you to do is just put the phone to the side for me, don’t put it down, grab a cold washcloth and put it on her head okay? Come back to me once you’ve done that”.

Cold washcloth. “Yes, okay, I got it”, he says before gently putting the phone on the table and running over to the sink to get the washcloth. Once wet, he places it on her forehead. He applies a little bit of pressure, before attending back to the phone.

“Okay, I’ve put the cold cloth on her head”.

Another 10 minutes went by before he heard a knock on the door. Once the dispatcher let him go, he rushed over to the door and directed the paramedics to his mom, still laying still on their kitchen floor. They lifted her onto the stretcher and put her in the ambulance, Eddie joining her in the back.

He hopes everything is okay and that it is just exhaustion, but his mind is telling him it’s something much worse.

MARCH 11TH 1976

Leukaemia.

He shouldn’t be beating himself up over not recognising the symptoms, he was 9 for God’s sake, but it was eating him alive knowing something was wrong, and yet he did nothing.

Ring ring.

“Hello?”, James picked up the phone before Eddie could.

“Hi, Mr. Munson, it’s the hospital here. I’m afraid Evelyn’s health has rapidly declined over the last 24 hours and we are sad to say that we don’t think she’s going to make it another day. I would suggest you and whoever wishes to say their farewells do so in the next few hours”.

He looks over to his son who is reading a book, Lord of the Rings to be exact. If he wants his kid to somewhat behave, he couldn’t deny him seeing his own mother for the last time, no matter how much he wanted not to.

He sighs before replying, “Okay, thank you, our son and I will be right over”. He puts the phone down before making his way over to his son. This was going to be hard to break, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to do it, that’s the nurse’s job.

“Eddie my boy, we’re going to the hospital”, he said bluntly.

He looks up from the book he is engrossed in, putting the bookmark in its place, “What? Is everything okay with mom?”, he asks worriedly.

He has to get Eddie there before it’s too late, else everything will be a lot worse for him to handle.

“No time for questions son, get your shoes on”.

The drive to the hospital was silent, Eddie afraid if he asked anything about his mom, he could suffer the consequences.

They pulled up in the parking lot in their truck, Eddie hopping out before almost running to the front doors.

Once they enter the building, James states their names and relations to Evelyn.

“Room 205 sir, down the end of the hall”, the front desk assistant replies.

“Thank you ma’am”.

Eddie opens the front door into the room. His mom laying on a bed, multiple wires hooked into her arm, connected to different liquids flowing through her veins. Her skin was pale, like a ghost, much worse than when Eddie last visited her, a mere two days ago. He wishes he could’ve visited everyday, maybe he would’ve noticed her quick downfall if he saw how she was yesterday, but with James preventing that, he knew there was nothing he could do.

His voice immediately quivers. He expects a stern talking to later from his dad, probably a few hits to the face, but he couldn’t care less right now, all his attention was on his mom.

He crouches down beside her bed, grabbing onto her hand. It was no longer the soft hand that used to stroke his hair for the past 9 years of his life, now it was all dry and cracked. Her eyes were barely open, a huge scab across her forehead from where she fell over 2 weeks ago.

She croaks out, “Hey baby boy”.

Her voice is extremely weak. He notices the multiple empty water bottles on the side of the table, no amount of hydration was going to resolve any issues. This was it.

He chokes on his own tears, “Hi mom”, he lets out a weak smile.

“How was school today?”. The same four words she repeated almost every day she picked him up.

“It was good”, he replied. He kept it brief, not wanting to just speak about himself for her last moments.

She lifts her hand to cup his cheek, “No baby, tell me all about it”.

He swallowed and debated whether he should be completely honest, knowing he can ramble on for hours. “I-I played with Jennifer today at r-recess, w-we played tag, a-and then we did some art, I m-made a beautiful drawing mom, I’ll g-give it to you when I next visit okay?”. He knew there would be no other visit.

And so did she, but she replied sincerely, “I can’t wait to see it baby, I’m sure it’s amazing as always”.

He giggled and she hummed, the closest sound she could make to a genuine laugh.

“And now, on its 2 year anniversary, here’s Dolly Parton with ‘I Will Always Love You’”, the faint sound of the radio could be heard by the both of them. They locked eyes, Eddie taking the hint and moving the dial to raise the volume.

“Sing for me baby”. He could never deny his mom’s request.

“And I will always love you”

“I will always love you”

He sang softly, his mom weakly joining in.

“Bitter-sweet memories”

“That's all I'm taking with me”

“Good-bye, please don't cry”

Those lyrics hit differently for the both of them now, and they knew it. What was once a sweet country song now had the biggest metaphor for her life.

“And I hope life, will treat you kind”

“And I hope that you have all

That you ever dreamed of”

“Oh I do wish you joy”

“And I wish you happiness”

“But above all this

I wish you love”

His mind is transported back to 2 years ago, his mom repeating the same words, clear as day. He would’ve never thought his mom would have to wish him that as she lay there in hospital taking her last breaths.

“I will always love you”

She barely breathes out the final line of the song, the final chord of the song being strummed, as she announces:

“Goodbye baby boy”, a weak smile gracing her lips before she closes her eyes.

A long and loud beep could be heard throughout the entire room.

Everything flashed before his eyes: nurses rushing in checking her heartbeat and pulse, the screams ripping from his own mouth, his dad holding him back away from the bed, practically wrestling him. He continued fighting, ears feeling clogged up before he clearly heard the words:

“Evelyn Jane Boyd. Time of death: 18:24”.

“No!”, he screams, “Do something! Please!”, he knew it was no use, but he couldn’t stop the words pouring out.

“I’m so sorry for your loss sir”, the nurse turned and directed towards James.

He completely ignored her, wrestling the boy in his arms and dragging him out from behind the curtain.

“Let’s go son!”, he shouted right into Eddie’s ear.

Eddie continued to fight against his dad, and knowingly failed. His breathing was uneven, tears staining his round cheeks, arms punching his dad’s.

It felt like a blur, a bad nightmare, and all he needed was someone to wake him up.

He knew it would happen as soon as he got in the front door. Five hits to the face.

“Your mother is dead boy, DEAD, all because you have behaved like a little brat since the day you were born. Learning a useless fucking instrument instead of learning how to defend yourself, making friends with girls, probably playing dolls and dress up with them in class, ignoring every single fucking toy we bought you, making your mother waste her time and energy to buy you new ones. All of this, the tiredness, the headaches, the weakness, is because of you, and you should feel extremely ashamed to bring death on your own mother”.

He knew it wasn’t his fault. She raised him amazingly, made him feel safe, warm, loved, the complete opposite of what his father provided him. He should keep his mouth shut, but he wasn’t going to let his father blame his mother’s passing on him, no way in hell.

“This is not my fault! Mom was exhausted from caring for me and working, working way too much. I’m not going to let you blame this on me. Mom died less than an hour ago and you haven’t even let me mourn her before yelling and hitting me, trying to make me feel as if I’m the reason for this. I’m not, and I never will be”.

James was shocked at his son’s reply, stunned even. Never in his life had Eddie talked back to him with such force, he was at a loss for words.

“You continue thinking that son. I can’t be dealing with your disgusting behaviour and tone right now, not after what just happened. Just fuck off and go to your room”.

He should’ve fought back, he should gave him the biggest smack of his life for the attitude his son just gave to him, but he couldn’t. He was turning weak, letting his son tread all over him like a piece of meat. He’d have to bring it harsher punishments, restrictions. He won’t let his son speak to him that way again.

Eddie practically fell face first into his mattress, sobbing into the sheets. He threw his denim jacket over to the other side of his room, not caring that it knocked over his stack of books. He hit anything he could, his bed, his arms, his head, anything in reach. He had never felt so much pain in his life.

He cried himself to sleep that night. He couldn’t care about his routine, it brought back to many memories of his mom helping him. He did the only activity she was never there for: sleeping.

MARCH 18TH 1976

Freak.

It took one week before three boys in Eddie’s class started using that word on him. Word spreads fast around a small town, and between the lack of Eddie’s mother picking him up from school and various customers of the farm asking where Evelyn was, it was bound to be found out by everyone quickly, including kids.

He was just minding his own business during recess, his friend Jennifer hanging out with her girl friends today (not knowing that she was in fact ignoring him after she found out about his mom), so he was all alone. Perched on a bench at the side of the playground finishing up his copy of “Lord of the Rings”, feeling content, something he had not felt much of this past week, until those boys snatched the copy from his hand.

“Whatcha got there, freak?”, one of them aimed their comment at him.

“Look at how many words are in this thing! What a freakin’ nerd”, another remarked, the three of them laughing together.

A sad frown appeared on his face as he reached out to grab his book back, “Can you just give it back please?”, tears threatening to spill down his face. It didn’t take much to set him off these days.

“Aww, gonna go cry to your mommy? Oh wait, you don’t have one no more”, they hollered and sniggered at him. He was in so much shock. Sure, he never had many friends, but nobody treated him like this, let alone targeted him due to his mom’s passing.

They threw his book down onto the muddy floor and ran off laughing. Eddie picked it up, tears streaming down his face. The pages were redeemable, but not for a few hours, he have to let it dry first, unable to read the words at this moment. He left the page open next to him, brought his knees up to his chest, and sobbed violently.

JUNE 7TH 1978

Eddie hadn’t opened his report card yet, but he knew it would be bad. Middle school was not treating him lightly, and with grief still hitting him like a truck, his grades slipped, a lot. He was never the brighest student, struggling with Math and History; his mom used to help him with those two subjects, keeping his grades steady at a C+. But now even subjects he used to enjoy, such as English and Art, were slipping.

He couldn’t focus on anything, the trauma from his mom’s death still haunting him two years later. All of his teachers at the last parent-teacher conference repeated the same eight words to his dad: “Eddie just needs to try a little harder”. And boy did he try. He really did. But nothing in the world could make him focus on the boring words of his math teacher drowning on about algebra.

He knew he most likely flunked every class, the highest he probably got was a D in Art, and that was mainly due to the fact that he could draw, he just didn’t draw what the teacher wanted. Why would he wanna practice watercolour when he could do some detailed drawings of wizards and dragons?

He heard the front door slam, signalling his dad’s arrival home. The past two years had not been easy on Eddie, his dad still holding a grudge against him for apparently causing his mom’s death. He knew he was gonna get beat again in the next 10 minutes, but he had gotten used to the pain now. It wasn’t nice, he knew it was wrong, but no amount of fighting back would solve the issue, in fact, it would just make it ten times worse. So he let it happen.

“Um, dad? I received my report card today”, he looked up at him ready for his constant angry reaction. Eddie could not wash a plate properly at this point and a red mark would be on his face.

“Well, let’s see if it’s any better than when I last spoke to your teachers.. I highly doubt it”, he spat at him, another insult.

Not even two seconds later and his dad’s hands were holding him by the collar of his plaid shirt.

“What the fuck do you think this is?”, he yelled at him.

Eddie scanned the paper: an F in every subject.

“I-I’m sorry sir, I promise I tried my hardest!”, and that was a truthful answer. He did try his hardest, but he could not keep himself focused on anything, apart from his love of fantasy books and drawing mythical creatures.

Slap, slap, slap, slap, slap.

“That’s one hit for every subject you failed. Maybe it’ll knock some sense into that dumb brain of yours. I expect more from you son, your mother would too”. He was known to bring his mom up everytime he did something wrong, from spending too long reading to having a panic attack, always saying she would be disappointed in him. He knew she wouldn’t, but it still affected him.

He slowly walked to his room in silence. He felt like the whole world was against him. Maybe he deserved to live a shitty life, maybe that was his destiny. He was unplanned after all, it’s not like he was meant to be here in the first place.

DECEMBER 24TH 1978

Christmas Eve. Before his mom died, they used to have a tree that the two of them would decorate at the start of December. Now for a third year running, the house remains bare. Where every other house on the street had Christmas lights that lit up the outside, there’s remained in total darkness.

Eddie was making up the soup his mom taught him how to make. His dad never cooked for him, the only food he ever offered him was a box of fries from the McDonalds drive thru. His dad sat on the couch, bottle of tequila in hand, legs resting on the coffee table in front of him as he watched some boring evening comedy show consisting of the same racist and sexist jokes it had every week.

A knock on the door startled Eddie as he left the chopped vegetables and attended to the door. The people who stood outside were the furthest from what he had expected: 2 police offers and an older woman dressed in a black skirt and white button up.

One of the police officers spoke up first, “Hey kid, is your dad there?”

Before Eddie could answer, James was up off the couch and walking towards the door, “What the hell are you doing here?”.

“Perfect, Mr. Munson, you are under arrest for the theft of four vehicles, anything you say can and will be used against you in the Court of Law. Now turn around for us please”, the other officer announced.

The officers basically turned James around for him as they pinned his arms behind his back and handcuffed him. Eddie could hear the yelling of his dad as the officers took him to the police car. His eyes diverted to the woman standing in front of him as she spoke to him, “Hey Eddie, my name is Betty, your dad is gonna be locked away for a long time okay? He did some awful things that could not go unpunished”.

“Grand theft auto right?”, she sadly nodded at him. “Makes sense, taught me how to hotwire as a kid. I knew it was wrong, but he basically manipulated me into doing it, said it was part of “becoming a man” or something”.

She looks back at him with the same sad expression in her eyes, “I’m so sorry to hear that darlin’, but he’s gonna be locked away now, 10 years at least, probably more. Now, we contacted immediate family and your Uncle Wayne has agreed to take you in up in Indiana. I know this is all quite sudden and a shock to you, but I want you to go and grab as many things you feel suitable for the move, and then we’ll drive up to Hawkins okay? It’ll probably take around 5 hours so we should get there by 7 tonight. Sound good to you?”.

He stood there in shock before slowly nodding and saying, “Yeah, um, alright, I’ll go grab my things”.

He makes his way into his room and grabs as many things as he can: clothes, books, toys, sketchpads, posters from his wall. He begins to bring it out to the woman and apologises, “Sorry, I don’t have anything to store it in”.

She smiles, “That’s okay honey, we can just store it all in the trunk of the car and then when we get there, pile it all into your Uncle’s house”.

He nods again before making his way back to grab the final pieces from his room. He is about to make his way across the living room, but stops and takes a de-tour towards his parent’s room. His mom’s guitar is still perched in the corner of the room, exactly where he found it when he first located it at 7 months old. He picks it up and brings it out with him.

Once everything is stored in the trunk, him and Betty get in the front seats and she starts up the engine.

“Ready to go honey?”, she asks him politely.

“Yeah, I guess I am”, a wave of uncertainty joining his tone.

Most people would be saddened that they’re having to move across the country at 12, their dad is being locked up and their mom died when they were 9, but it felt weirdly freeing for Eddie. Despite moving to a whole new town in a whole new state with a family member he’s never even met, it’s the happiest moment he’s experienced in the last 3 years of his life.

Betty drove into a local trailer park and up to one of the small homes. An older man stood outside, who he assumed was his uncle. He could see the resemblance between his dad and him, similar facial features, with Wayne wearing a red plaid shirt and grey jeans, paired with some brown boots.

The two of them got out of the car, Betty walking up to Wayne and greeting him, before Wayne made his way over to him.

“Hey kid, sorry this is what my place looks like. Haven’t really got the money to be livin’ some place more fancy I ‘spose”, his voice was deeper than his father’s, but had the same strong Southern accent.

“It’s okay, would much rather live here with you than a big house with an asshole as a father”, he chuckled nervously.

Betty interrupted the awkwardness by saying, “Right, shall we move all your stuff inside Eddie?”. He nodded as the three of them unloaded the car.

As they brought Eddie’s belongings into the living room, Wayne apologised again and said, “This place is only a one bedroom, so I moved all my stuff from in there so you could have it. Can’t let a 12 year old boy be sleepin’ on the couch”.

Eddie wanted to offer to take the couch himself, but knew Wayne would deny it, he seemed like too good of a guy to take up Eddie’s suggestion.

Once all the stuff was brought in, Betty said her goodbyes to the two of them and wished him all the best, leaving Wayne and Eddie to themselves.

“Okay kid, I’m gonna leave you to decorate your room how you want. If you need any help, just give me a shout okay?”.

Help. He was offering help.

Eddie tried not to let the emotions get to him as he replied, “Thank you Wayne, but I think I’ll be fine”, he was not used to someone helping him.

“Okay, but if you do, I’m only a call away”, he says as he walks back towards the couch.

Eddie looks around the room. It’s small, but feels weirdly homely. He puts his books and sketchpads on the dresser and piles his clothes into the built-in wardrobe. A massive record player was left at the back, he’d have to build up his collection in the future. Finally, he balanced the acoustic guitar against the end of the bed.

Eddie then flopped onto the sheets. The tears once again began to form, but this time not from sadness, but instead happiness.

He felt happy. Happy he was away from his shitty dad who abused him every day, away from the kids who judged him for his mom passing away, away from the school teachers who picked on him for his lack of concentration. He never had to go back there. He was finally free, he finally felt he belonged here.

He was home.

authors note: thank you so much for reading! as i said before, this is my first ever fanfic i’ve written, i kinda got carried away :’) i just wanted this to be as fleshed out as possible as i had so many ideas!

[ovaruling]

per Direct Action Everywhere’s social media—

“BREAKING: DxE is releasing an investigation manual to inform people about how to expose animal abuse and help animals in need. This manual is the first of its kind and is being published just days after Wayne Hsiung was sent to jail for his roles in exposing the criminal animal cruelty at two factory farms in Sonoma County. The industry is expecting us to be afraid and stand down, but the reality is that ordinary people everywhere are becoming grassroots investigators and the open rescue movement is growing. They can't imprison a movement. Light is shining into the dark where animals are being abused and the public is learning the truth. Now, you can learn in detail about how this tactic works by reading the investigation manual at dxe.io/manual #RightToRescue”

Do you want to learn about how grassroots investigators are exposing factory farms, slaughterhouses, and other places that abuse animals?

DxE has just published an in-depth Investigation Manual that breaks down the best practices for executing investigations and exposing animal cruelty. It was written and reviewed by experienced investigators who have hundreds of hours of experience in the field. The 150-page manual covers topics including:

Vetting your team

Security culture

Cybersecurity

Identifying different kinds of facilities from satellite imagery

Biosecurity protocols

Equipment checklists

Detailed instructions for various roles in the field

Press pitching

And much more

Direct link to the Investigation Manual here

[if-not-now-tell-me-when]

tell me about appalachian eddie munson

Hello, yes!! In my brainscape, Eddie was born in West Virginia. Deep in coal country, to a family of miners going back generations.

Things were okay when he a toddler. American coal production was booming, and while the Munsons were never going to be rich, there was always bread on the table and hot water in the taps and fresh oranges for Christmas. They didn’t have much in the way of material possessions, but they had each other, and their pride, and their music, and their community, and their long-standing tradition of taking care of their own.

Then the locally owned mines were gobbled up by ravenous corporations, and the jobs dried up, and the Munsons had nowhere else to turn.

Mama began drinking, and Dad turned to pills and hot wiring stolen cars. Eddie went to bed hungry more often than not, and bounced in and out of juvie for trying to steal ramen noodles and Hostess cupcakes to feed himself.

Dad bounced in and out of county jail too many times to count, and finally landed in state prison when Eddie was 10. Mama drank herself to death a couple of years later. Eddie thought he’d end up in a group home, until he was talking to Uncle Wayne, his dad’s long estranged brother, on the phone. A few days later he was on a train to Indiana, and he cried bitter tears as he left the sweeping Appalachian mountains behind.

[noonesgaylikegatson]

July 12, 2023

Trans people have long maintained that transphobia does not just affect us. That’s been proven true in the worst way, with reports of two cis people being murdered for allegedly misdirected anti-trans hostility.

In a Sunday blog post, PGH Lesbian Correspondents collected the stories of Michelle Dionne Peacock and Collin Smith. Peacock was a 59-year-old Black cis woman who was reportedly murdered by 67-year-old Tommy Wayne Earl in Richmond, Indiana in June. Officers were dispatched to the Merle Henderson Apartment complex in Richmond on June 30, according to local outlet FOX 59. Peacock’s body was found with a laceration to the throat, and she was pronounced dead on the scene.

Officers found Earl armed with a straight razor and with blood on his hands and clothing. Earl resisted arrest, and according to FOX 59, went so far as to tell one of the officers that he would kill him too.

During interviews with investigators, Earl allegedly referred to Peacock as “a male acting like a woman” several times, per FOX 59, and that he would “do it again.” Earl claimed he had been having a “dispute” with Peacock for months and made reference to the possibility of having had a psychotic break, telling investigators he had recently adjusted how he administered drugs prescribed to him by the V.A. He also reportedly told investigators that he needed to be kept away from Black inmates, saying that he “does not get along with them.”

Earl is being held at the Wayne County Jail and has been charged with a level 1 felony of murder, a level 6 felony of intimidation, and a class A misdemeanor of resisting law enforcement, according to FOX 59.

On her Facebook page, Peacock wrote that some of her many hobbies include shopping, mahjong, cooking, and trivia games. In between Facebook game updates, Peacock had even updated her profile picture to a photo of herself wearing a shirt that said “Legalize Being Black” on March 2. Her daughter, Rochelle Peacock, made a GoFundMe last week to raise money for her funeral. In the description, Rochelle shared that Peacock had lived in Richmond for three years and had been battling “a long life of cancer.” She also stated that Earl had been “bully[ing] her,” and although Peacock made numerous complaints, “nothing was done.”

It’s worth noting that cis Black women are often targeted by transphobia, especially as it intertwines with white supremacy. As Derrick Clifton wrote for Them in 2021, there’s a long history of Black women athletes’ bodies being policed in sports, with people “mak[ing] cruel remarks about their perceived femininity and creat[ing] racist depictions of their physicality.”

In a separate incident, 32-year-old Colin Smith was stabbed to death in Portland, Oregon on July 2. He had been out with coworkers at the High Dive Bar when 24-year-old Rahnique Jackson started harassing one of his coworkers, who is trans. When Smith tried to intervene, Jackson allegedly stabbed him to death, according to local outlet KOIN. He was arrested by U.S. Marshals last Friday and was arrested on charges of second degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon, according to a press release from the Portland Police Bureau.

Smith was remembered as someone who “loved those around him unconditionally,” as his former partner, Paulina Solis, told KOIN. “He always looked out for the people that got overlooked, and a protector which is, you know, how he went — protecting those he cared about,” Solis said. Eater Portland additionally described Smith as having “an unrelenting dedication to service, both in his work and in his relationships.” He also loved animals, cooking, and the outdoors. A GoFundMe for Smith’s family called him a “truly special person.”

Although these incidents may seem disparate, they’re a harsh reminder that transphobia is deadly, and trans people are far from the only people affected by it.

[ausetkmt]

Oakland County inspector found guilty of ‘pleasuring himself’ with Elmo doll in family’s nursery

OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – An Oakland County home inspector has been found guilty of “pleasuring himself” with an Elmo doll in an Oxford Township family’s nursery.

The incident happened March 12, 2021. Jaida Dodson and she and her husband were having the home inspected before putting it up for sale.

Kevin Wayne VanLuven, 60, of Clarkston , arrived to perform the inspection, and the Dodsons left the home.

A camera alerted Dodson that there was motion in her 2-year-old son’s nursery, and when she checked her phone, she saw VanLuven touching himself in the room. He picked up an Elmo doll from the floor and appeared to be “pleasuring himself” with it, according to authorities.

“I just went blank,” Dodson said . “My husband was staring at me from across the room and was, like, ‘What’s wrong?’ He asked me repeatedly and I couldn’t even articulate what I was seeing.”

When Oakland County deputies arrived at the home, VanLuven claimed he had moved the doll to inspect an electrical outlet. After learning that there was a camera in the nursery, he confessed, police said.

“You don’t think anything can surprise you, and yet, the disgusting ability of some people still manages to surprise me on this,” Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said.

VanLuven was charged April 7, 2021, with aggravated indecent exposure and malicious destruction of property under $200. Aggravated indecent exposure carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, and the malicious destruction of property charge carries a maximum sentence of 93 days in jail.

He was found guilty of the charges during a court appearance on Wednesday (Oct. 12).

[reasoningdaily]

KKTV: Arrest papers for Colorado ranchers who believe they are victims of racism made public

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - For several weeks, KKTV 11 News viewers have been sharing videos from social media showcasing a man in El Paso County claiming he is being terrorized.

Viewers have also been sharing an article from the “Ark Republic” titled “Get out. ‘I stood naked with my shotgun.’ Black ranchers say white residents terrorize their Colorado farm to push them off of their land.” The online article details allegations tied to Courtney and Nicole Mallery. The Mallerys reportedly run a 1,000-acre ranch in El Paso County, according to the online publication. KKTV 11 News has reached out to the author of the article and the organization; you can read their response to the national attention in our previous coverage by clicking here. KKTV obtained arrest papers that are likely connected to the incident involving the shotgun, they can be read at the bottom of this article. The response from the sheriff’s office to the online articles is also at the bottom of this article or is available by clicking here.

According to jail records, Courtney Wayne Mallery was booked into the El Paso County Jail Monday afternoon. A video posted to Instagram on Monday by “blackfarmlandownersmatter” shows Mallery being taken into custody. According to online court records, Mallery is suspected of stalking, causing emotional distress. You can read arrest papers obtained by KKTV 11 News tied to this incident at the bottom of this article.

A temporary protection order was granted by a judge against Mallery for one of his neighbors Tuesday morning. KKTV 11 News was at the jail when Mallery was in the process of being released on bond Tuesday night just after 7:45. The Mallerys spoke to KKTV 11 News briefly about their situation and we will be sharing what they had to say in future coverage, likely Friday night.

In the arrest papers below, Courtney Mallery is accused of stalking, causing emotional distress. The charge is a felony. 11 News spoke with the victim in that case and we plan on sharing her side of the story in future coverage, likely Friday night. The Mallerys believe they are the target of racism in El Paso County.

There is a record of Nicole Mallery’s past incidents. In one El Paso County case involving Nicole Mallery, she was accused of assaulting a police officer. According to online court records, Nicole pleaded guilty on July 15, 2022 to assaulting a peace officer.

In a separate case, Nicole was accused of menacing, a weapons charge and false reporting. According to online records, the menacing and weapons charge were dismissed while Nicole pleaded guilty to false reporting, providing false identification. She had been arrested on April 21, 2021 and pleaded guilty on June 15 of 2022. The case was reopened Dec. 20, 2022.

This is a very complex story and KKTV 11 News is choosing not to report all of the information we have gathered at once. Expect updates on KKTV.COM as well as during our newscasts. The coverage gained national attention following the articles by The Ark Republic. For more on what the Mallerys had to say:

Click here for part one “Get out. Black Colorado ranchers face domestic terrorism by local whites who they say are trying to steal their land”

Click here for part two “Get out. ‘I stood naked with my shotgun.’ Black ranchers say white residents terrorize their Colorado farm to push them off of their land”

For more from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office denying the allegations:

Click here for the response from the sheriff’s office on the coverage by the Ark Republic.

ALL OF THE DOCUMENTS BELOW ARE PUBLIC RECORDS AND CAN BE OBTAINED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.

AFFIDAVIT FOR COURTNEY MALLERY, STALKING CASE:

AFFIDAVIT FOR INCIDENT INVOLVING NICOLE MALLERY AND A SHOTGUN:

AFFIDAVIT FOR NICOLE MALLERY INVOLVING ASSAULT OF A PEACE OFFICER:

Arrest papers for Colorado ranchers who believe they are victims of racism made public