Part 411: Alpha

August 28th, 2009

“Go long, Walt!” Eddie screamed.

The black boy ran down the side of the beach with his dog Vincent in tow. When he got to a certain distance, Eddie threw the makeshift duct-tape football. It soared through the air and Walt had to jump to get to it. He laughed as he collided with the ground, sending up a small spray of sand. The moment he recovered, Vincent quickly bit into the ball and ran with it. Eddie laughed as his good friend scrambled up to retrieve the ball from his dog. The young boy caught his breath and slowly began to walk through the sand. Tony and Marita were sharing a cup of coffee by the fire. Shanna was laughing at a joke that Seth told. Mia just shook her head, as she continued to write in her pad. The little boy then looked in the distance and saw Jilly kissing somebody. They weren’t just kissing; they were making out.

Eddie looked closer and to his horror, Jilly was making out with Goodwin. She was pulling his hair and slobbering all over his mouth. The little boy walked closer and felt like he was going to vomit. “Jilly?” he whimpered.

Jilly turned and looked at him; smiling with a giggle. Goodwin then stared at Eddie and the little boy gasped when he saw the evil man had no eyes. His chest was riddled with bullet holes and the blood gushed out in spurts. Then both Jilly and Goodwin started laughing maniacally. Eddie then started to back off as quick as he could. Then someone grabbed him with wet arms. The little boy looked up and saw the bloated, gray skinned corpse of his father. “Stay with me, Eddie,” he said, as water came out of his mouth.



Eddie jolted awake from the comfort of his bed. The young man looked around and realized he was no longer on the Island; but back in his room. He leaned up and massaged his eyes. The nightmare was so vivid but he fought to forget it. Eddie was no longer that ten year old boy. By the time his birthday came around in a few weeks, he would be 17. So long ago but the Island events feel like they were yesterday. Part of Eddie was glad to have left the Island. However, he had to admit part of him wished he was back there. The young man leaned back against the headboard of his bed, then looked toward his right. Resting in the pillow was his dream companion Mr. Kangaroo. It wasn’t the original but it was the second one that Tony bought. Even after six years, Eddie felt he couldn’t sleep without it.

He calmly picked up the stuffed animal and stroked the soft fur on his head. The young man often wondered if he would be able to sleep without it or the Ocean sound effects that played on the nearby CD player. He calmly picked up his remote on the nightstand and turned it off. Eddie massaged his forehead, as he felt a slight buzzing in his head. He calmly looked at the darkness of the window in his room. He could feel the weird buzzing echoing in his brain and his heart beat. Eddie stared at the window and took a deep breath. “Five . . .four . . .three . . .two . .one.” he whispered.

A rain speck smacked the window. Then another, then another. Within a few seconds the rain came crashing down. Eddie smirked; the gifts that were given to him by Watchman were still with him. He felt a strange satisfaction from knowing exactly when the rain could hit. The young man wondered if Locke ever felt that way. Eddie then looked over toward the clock. It read 7:10 AM. He took a deep sigh and got out of bed; making his way toward the bathroom and the shower.

Might as well get ready for school.



Eddie spit out his toothpaste after he was finished. He gargled the mouth-wash and then spit it out. Afterwards, he calmly made his way down the stairs and picked up his backpack. He clicked off all the lights in the house and then locked up. He calmly picked up his umbrella and flipped it open. The bus-stop was down the street and it would take him a good ten minutes to reach it.

Eddie walked down the sidewalk. A little dog barked at him from it’s chained station. “Easy, pooch.” The young man laughed.

The rain continued in a steady down pour. Not in full force but enough to get everything wet. The lawns were still green but in a few weeks, they’ll go brown at the beginning of Fall. Several cars rested on the streets, being blanketed by the rain. To his right, Eddie saw the famous Trunker scurry along with his latest prize. The tabby cat had become near famous because he made it a habit to steal gardening gloves from the entire neighborhood. The thought of it made Eddie laugh.

Up ahead at the bus-stop was the usual collection of people. Brian Stage was a local jock in the school; full class quarterback all the way. His best friend Ricky Burnet was his star running back. Rumor was he was gay but that was just a rumor; and Brian would fight any person who said anything. Phillip Miles was a computer nerd and a decent enough guy. He wasn’t called Phillip nor was he called Phil, he was called “Flip”. Jake Monahan was the king of the skateboard junkies. Christy Jones wasn’t a cheerleader but she was rich, and that pretty much made her in control of the “A Squad.” Mira Lynn Boyle was a cheerleader and every cliché that followed cheerleaders; she did them. Eddie noticed a new addition to their group. He admitted he never seen the redhead before.

Christy squeaked when Brian jolted his head, allowing the excess rain water off his head to fly onto her. Flip grunted as he was busy playing his game boy. Eddie stepped in and moved his umbrella to the side; shaking off the excess water. “Why the hell did you bring an umbrella, Eddie?” the quarterback demanded.

“Because it’s raining.” He said, stating the obvious.

“Where I come from we ain’t afraid to get a little wet.”

“Really? Where I come from, we’re smart enough to use an umbrella.”

Flip snickered at his comment. Brian then grabbed the handheld video game from him. “HEY!” he yelled, “Give that back!”

“Or what?” the quarterback said, “Whatcha goin to do, nerd?”

“The bully act was old in tenth grade, Brian,” Eddie said, leaning up against the bus-stop wall, “Give him back his game.”

“Or what?” the quarterback stared at him.

“Or I’ll give it to him.” The young man stared back.

Brian and Eddie locked their glares for a while. Christy didn’t know what was going to happen but Mira was hoping they would fight. Jake didn’t care one way or another. Brian stared at Eddie for a few second more, then tossed the game back to Flip. The quarterback then walked over and stood one foot from Eddie. “One of these days, Trascal.” He sneered, “You’re going to be coughing up blood and I’ll be the reason.”

“OOOOHHH.” Eddie laughed, “Save it for the Freshman, chump. To me, you’re a joke.”

Brian reared back like he was about to punch him. “Whoa, whoa, easy, Brian,” Ricky stopped him, “As much as Trascal deserves it, you don’t want to be expelled.”

“He’s right, Brian.” Christy told him.

The quarterback glared at Eddie. The young man didn’t move but slowly smiled. The one thing that Brian wanted the most; he couldn’t have. He couldn’t make Eddie be afraid of him. No matter what he did, ever since 9th grade; he never made him scared. The redhead looked at Brian, then to Eddie. She could tell the tension had existed between them for some time but Eddie obviously never let it get the better of him. She found such confidence attractive in him.

The bus then pulled up from the side street. The kids got up and got ready to get on board. Eddie tucked his backpack toward him a little closer. He was the first to notice something was strange about the bus. “It’s empty.” He whispered.

“What?” Mira said, overhearing him.

“The bus is usually half full by now. Why is it empty?”

The other kids saw what Eddie was talking about. The bus normally was half full with the other kids it picked up by now. However, all it had was the bus drive and one other person in the front seat. As it slowly came to a halt on the bus stop, the driver opened the door and an adult man stepped out toward the entrance of the bus. Eddie recognized him as Mr. Black; his history teacher. “Morning, kids,” he said, “Sorry to do this so last minute but we didn’t have a choice. School is closed for the day.”

Brian didn’t need to hear any more. He screamed in delight and took off running. Ricky laughed as he ran right behind him. Eddie was the only one who was curious and decided to speak out about it. “What’s going on, sir?” he asked the teacher.

“Nothing severe, at least not for the moment.” He smirked, “ A drunk driver hit a tree near the school yard. That tree fell down and flatted the pole that contains our transformer.”

“So the school has no power?” Flip asked.

“Yep and the teachers agreed, no reason to teach in the dark, with no AC,” Mr. Black stepped back onto the bus, “ So better luck tomorrow.”

The bus then pulled out of the stop and sped up on it’s way to it’s next location. Flip pulled up his hood on his jacket and proceeded to walk home. Jake hopped on his skateboard and began to head toward the mall. Christy immediately got on her cellphone to call her friend Ronda, who had a car. Mira was right behind her. Eddie pulled out his umbrella from the side of his backpack and jolted it back up. He started to walk back toward home. “Hey!” the redhead girl called to him.

Eddie turned around to look at her. She pointed in the direction of his home. “Are you heading that way?” she smiled sheepishly.

“Yeah.” He smirked.

“I live down that way too,” she giggled, “Can I share your umbrella? My mom dropped me off here, so I didn’t think I’d need one.”

“Yeah, understandable,” he motioned, “Come on.”

She ran out toward him and stood close as she touched the handle of the umbrella. The two young adults laughed at walking in the rain. “I’m Bonnie by the way,” she smiled.

“Eddie.” He introduced himself.

“I know,” she smiled.

“Brian Stage is a complete ass. I’m surprised he’s lasted this long. I guess it’s got something to do with all those championships he’s won for the school.”

“I liked the way you handled him.” She grinned.

Eddie smiled back at her. It didn’t take much to understand she was flirting with him. Her reddish hair reminded him of a joy he had a long time ago. The young man felt he should know more about her. “This is the first time I’ve seen you at the bus.” He commented, “Did you move here recently?”

“Yeah, I live on Cadberry street. We moved here about four days ago.” She pointed.

“OH. So those moving trucks were yours.”

“Where do you live, Eddie?” she asked.

“Down there toward Crandkin Way.” He pointed.

“You seem like the type of guy who would drive his car to school.” She snickered.

“Well, I would if my last name didn’t start with a T,” he winked, “Kinda makes it difficult to stand in line for a parking permit.”

Bonnie laughed at his joke. The smile on her face made Eddie grin. His friends were few and far between, as was any serious relationship with a girl. Most of his friends who spent a significant time with him; found him disagreeable. Eddie wondered if Bonnie would be different. “So, what do your parents do?” he said, keeping up the idle conversation.

“Mom is a secretary for a lawyer firm downtown,” she said, holding onto the umbrella, “ My dad is a scientist, well . . . my step dad really. My real dad passed away a long time ago.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s okay. I was 12. All I remember is images . . .feelings.” she shook it off, “ What about your parents, Eddie?”

“My mom is a business executive for King Enterprises.” He said, then sighed, “I . .uh . .lost my dad too.”

“I’m sorry, Eddie.” She said with sympathy.

Eddie leaned up his head, looked at her. “Maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime.” He told her.

Bonnie blushed at the way he looked at her. Then after walking a few more steps, she pointed to a brown and white bricked house. “This is me.” She told him.

The two teenagers stopped at the entrance to her driveway. Eddie looked at her, wondering when she was going to let go of his umbrella. Bonnie was wondering why he wasn’t escorting her up to her door. She felt a little excited when she realized he was being a gentlemen. Eddie had no father so did his mother raise him to be this way? The young man smirked when he saw they the two young adults were doing nothing but staring at each other. Eddie rubbed his forehead and looked at her. “You want to see something cool?” he asked.

“Sure.” She giggled, wondering what he was up to.

Eddie then closed his eyes. The rain continued to pour around them. Bonnie raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was standing in the middle of her driveway, under the umbrella of a cool boy who’s got his eyes closed. Eddie then slowly smiled. “Five . . .four . . .three . . .two . . .one.” he said, opening his eyes.

Then the rain stopped.

Bonnie nearly gasped at what just happened. Eddie lowered his umbrella and smiled, flicking the water off of it. The redhead looked at him with a bright smile; brighter than he had seen yet. “How did you do that?” she laughed.

“Magic,” was all he answered.

Bonnie grinned; accepting his coy answer. She pointed at him with jokingly. “You are the coolest person I’ve met in a while, “she said, walking up the driveway, “I’ll see you again.”

“I love a girl who knows what she wants.” Eddie replied.

Bonnie peered over her shoulder looking back at him. Eddie waited till she was inside and then turned to go back down his street. He smiled, feeling a rush of excitement in his blood he hadn’t felt in a long time. She already vowed that she’d seem him again. Her bright eyes and reddish hair reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t quite place it. He wondered if he had met her in a previous life.

Maybe that’s why they bonded so easily?