The Lion Tamer (Completed)

Chapter Twelve - Calling Ma

The next few days were unremarkable. Both men revolved about a routine that didn’t differ much from any ordinary person. One day they made a drive to a theater in a town about 40 miles away to see a movie that Eddie wanted to see. They ate out every night, sometimes getting in the car and driving aimlessly until a sign reached out in the dark and grabbed them and beckoned them in. They made a few necessary runs to the local drug store for supplies such as razors and toothpaste, which Leo had never packed into the emergency kit and they made a trip out to buy some clothes for both of them.
“At least enough to get us through the next few days,” Leo said to his brother.
By the third day, Eddie had begun to become increasingly bored. He moved from one seat to the next, getting up to turn the television on and then, not finding anything worthwhile, getting up as quickly and turning it off. He folded his arms tightly and paced the carpeted floor in bare feet and he wrinkled his brow and muttered occasionally. Leo watched him with growing curiosity as he wandered to the window and drew aside the dusty curtain and stared off into the glaring light of day. Then, he would pull it back and block out the light and lie down on the bed. His breathing was noticeably heavier sounding, with a quiver in it that Leo noticed at night when it was quiet. He would lie awake and listen to the sound of his brother’s labored breaths. Sometimes he would hear a word and he swore it was “momma”.
“Leo?”
Leo heard the sweet voice distantly as if it belonged in another time, it sounded muted and watery. He was dreaming of DropDead and his smile. DropDead was looking at him from above a surface of water, his image and deep grin broken into a thousand pieces. Leo was underwater, and DropDead was looking down at him, grinning and calling his name. Leo knew that he couldn’t hold the breath much longer and had made the decision to let go and breath in, breath in the cold water and accept the pain of that because it would only hurt for a little while and then it would be over.
He opened his eyes.
“Leo?” Eddie was looking down at him. His face was sweaty and broken out in flushes of pink on his cheek and forehead. His hair hung limply over his eyes. He looked scared.
“Yeah?” Leo answered. He pulled himself up quickly into a sitting position and remembered the pistol under his pillow. He let his hand drop to the side of the pillow and he probed under with his finger, feeling the solid barrel of the pistol there. He breathed out for a second. He didn’t like the look in his brother’s eyes.
Eddie stood up and paced over to the bathroom and back. He moved his hands up and down. “Leo, why are we here? Why can’t we let momma know where we are? When are we going home? I’m scared that – “
“Whoa, whoa,” Leo said, holding up a hand and talking softly. “We can do all those things, okay? What’s with all the questions, hey? Why’re you acting like this?”
“Because you said we would call mom!” Eddie yelled.
“Okay,” Leo said, “let’s call mom, okay?” He got up from the bed and walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver.
“But,” he said, “No telling her where we are.”
Eddie was about to speak, his lips pursed to protest. Leo put the phone back down.
“I mean it, Ed. We are still in deep shit. Mom can’t know where we are. Not yet.”
“When?”
“I don’t know, a couple of days, maybe. If you want to talk to her, then you can’t say anything about where we are. Those are the rules,” Leo said.
Eddie looked as if he was considering his options, cocking his head to the side and thrumming his fingers on his hips.
“Okay,” he said. He eagerly waited while Leo dialed the number. His stomach growled and he realized how hungry he was.
He heard the phone ring all the way back in Philly. It continued for a few seconds and just as Leo was beginning to worry that she might not answer, the phone was picked up.
“Ma?” Leo asked without waiting.
“Leo, is that you?” he heard the worry in her throat, the unsure, unsteady lilt of doubt.
“Yeah, ma, it’s me. Eddie is here, too.”
“Oh, thank God! I’ve been worried sick about the two of you, you know that?”
“Yeah, I know, ma. I can’t explain now. Here’s Eddie, okay?” He handed the receiver to Eddie and gave him a warning look before letting go.
Eddie gladly took the phone and put it to his ear. “Hi ma – “
Leo walked back to the bed and caught his foot on the rug and stumbled a bit before catching himself. He then went into the bathroom and took a shower.
He felt renewed as if with fresh skin when he climbed out of the stall. He had shaved and cleaned himself up with soap, shampoo and conditioner. He wore the motel towel around his waist and admired his own muscled body in the mirror on the back of the bathroom door. When he had come out, the air cooled him and Eddie had just hung up the phone. He sat looking down at the floor, both arms hanging lifelessly from his shoulders.
“Why the long face? You wanted to talk to ma, and you did. What’s the problem now?” Leo asked while he dried his body. He turned around and opened the drawer and pulled out a pair of underwear.
Eddie looked up and then rested his head in his hands, pouting.
“Ma’s mad at me,” he said.
“Why, because we didn’t tell her where we are?”
“Yeah, and that I don’t have my medicine,” he said.
Leo stopped moving the towel across his chest. He turned around.
“What medicine?”
Eddie looked up again and said, “My pills.”
Leo waited a moment before asking, “When do you take them?”
“Every day,” Eddie answered. “Ma says they help keep me from getting sick, you know?” He stood up and began pacing back and forth, moving back to the window and looking out, his face bathed in the bright glow of the day.
Leo hadn’t realized before that his brother didn’t look very good. His skin looked dry and his hair was disheveled. His eyes were becoming slits and his hands were even shaking a bit, the tips of his fingers were dirty. His cheeks were sagging. Leo knew he had too much on his mind to pay attention to whether or not Eddie was changing, but now, in the warm light that creeped around the curtain and fell on him, he could see that Eddie was different. New clothes and decent food for the past few days wasn’t going to be enough to cover the fact that this medicine, whatever it was, was what really kept Eddie in tune. He thought that he hadn’t seen Eddie smile in the last day or so either and he seemed to be very jumpy.
Looking at Eddie now, he could see that he was unraveling right before his eyes.
“Leo, can we leave here?” Eddie asked, still staring out the window.
“You mean go somewhere?”
“Yeah, somewhere,” he said. His voice sounded hollow. “Home.”
Leo thought it out.
If I can hold him off for another day or so, maybe I can convince John to let up. Maybe he’ll listen to reason if I can just…I don’t know, show him that Eddie is sick and needs help. Everyone knows somebody that needs help, right?
“Why don’t we get something to eat and then we can talk about it, okay?” He began dressing and tried to project his movements as casual, sliding on his pants and finding a shirt to wear. Eddie sat down again with his back to Leo.
“I want to go home.”
“Eddie, it’s not that simple,” Leo said.
Eddie turned around and had an accusatory look on his face. “Why? Why can’t we go home now?”
“Look, Ed, John is really mad at us. Remember that kid?”
“Evan-“
“Right, Evan. Well, John is really mad about what we did. He’s really mad.”
“But it was an accident,” Eddie said, holding his hands out in front of him.
“I know that, but…sometimes that doesn’t matter and I think that right now we need to stay away from John.” Leo tucked his shirt in and fastened his belt.
“Can you ask him?”
“Ask him what?”
“If we can come back now?” The lost and vacant look he had was now gone, replaced by a direction in his eyes. He was focused on the question and waiting for an answer.
Leo sat down on the corner of his bed and began tying his shoes. He knew that it was going to come to this sooner or later.
“I was going to do that anyway, but I was going to wait til-“
“Ma says I need my medicine.”
Three days. Is three days enough time? Will John have calmed down by then?
“I know, Ed, I do. Tell ya what, let’s go get something to eat and we’ll find a place that I can call John. I don’t want to call him here, okay?”
It seemed to satisfy Eddie. A small smile was born on his lips and he began to get dressed. He found his shoes and put them on, bending over and tying the laces thoroughly.
“Ed,” Leo said, and put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder. He waited for his brother to look up from his shoes. “Why didn’t you say anything about the medicine?”
Eddie thought for a moment, sat up and scratched the side of his head.
“I thought you’d be mad at me.”
“Well,” he said, “We’ll get everything fixed soon.” He thought of the call to John he was going to make and dreaded the idea.
Eddie stood up. He looked down at his older brother and managed a smile. He put his hand on his back and said, “You’ll see, everything will be okay.” He walked to the door and opened it. Leo followed him out to the car and they climbed inside.