Close Your Eyes to See

Painting. Paint. Painting. Paint. Painting. Paint. Her mind was concentrating on the black paint being smeared onto the wall by the brush in her hand. Her headphones were securely in her ears, allowing her to block out anything going on in the outside world.

“Eric, what the fuck did you do to her?” Beth smacked her boyfriend upside the head with a rolled up magazine as she entered the kitchen. Edie had been her their apartment three days in a row, painting away. She only left to go to work and to feed Harley.

Edie wasn't talking to Eric. Or John. Or anyone besides Beth. She was angry, furious. She didn't know where she stood with either of the guys and frankly, she just wanted to avoid it all together. She had procrastinated enough with the mural and now she was looking forward to getting the thing done.

“I didn't do anything. Talk to John.” Eric took a bite of his fruity cereal as he continued to wallow over how shitty he felt. He shunned his best friend and his other best friend was giving him to cold shoulder.

John had stopped by and tried to talk to him, but he wasn't ready to listen. John had fucked Edie up and he felt like strangling him. Eric had worked so hard to keep Edie glued together and John came along and ruined every seam of her.

“Oh yeah, she told me about that.” Beth sighed and poured herself a cup of coffee, pissed she was getting a late start on the day.

“What did she say?” Eric dropped the spoon into the bowl and looked at his girlfriend wide eyed. He needed to know what Edie was thinking and how she was feeling. Beth turned and leaned across the kitchen island to kiss her boyfriend,

“Nice try. I am not saying a word.”

“She won't talk to me, Beth.”

“After what happened? I don't blame her. Your nuts would have been severed and hanging from my car's dashboard mirror right now if that was me.” She shuttered at just the thought of being in Edie's position, Beth wasn't cut out for drama.

“I don't know what the fuck to do.” Eric dropped his head onto the counter in frustration as Beth moved to sit next to him, taking his spoon and allowing herself a bite of his cereal.

“She is a girl. She is pissed. And she is sticking up for herself by not talking to you. She needs time because she was been through a lot with you and John these days,” she rested her chin on his shoulder as he lifted his head up to look at her, “I know you think of yourself as her brother, and you basically are, but you can't protect her from everything. Sh-”

“But they are my best friends.” Eric just wanted the three of them to get along and it was supposed to be fun to hang out all the time, but it was a disaster at the moment. Eric had warned John not to get involved with Edie because he was afraid something like this would happen.

“I know, babe, but they are adults and they need to figure their shit out without your big butt butting in all the time. You need to talk to Edie, and apologize, and explain your feelings to John without yelling at him.” He tugged on his hair and nodded his head. His girlfriend sure could get hot headed sometimes, but she was fucking right.

Eric reached for his spoon and took one last bite of his cereal before getting off the kitchen stool and matching into the living room where Edie was. She was in her own little world, her headphones still securely in her ears, letting Band of Horses keep her out of the real world.

She could feel Eric's presence as soon as he stepped in. He leaned against the wall that hadn't been painted and tried to get her attention. Edie was stubborn when she wanted to be. He could see the hurt and frustration in her eyes as she focused on her brush stroking against the textured wall.

“Will you talk to me?” His arms were crossed over his chest as Edie made brief eye contact with him, making it clear she could hear him, but wasn't in the mood to talk. She looked back at the mural on the wall and continued painting one area so it was completely coated.

“I didn't mean to get so angry this weekend, I was just---shocked I guess. I didn't know what to say to you. You and John are my best friends and you were so upset that night and then I confronted John about it and he validated my suspicions.”

Edie was listening to Eric's words as they slightly jumbled with the Band of Horses that was playing in her headphones. With each and every word that left his mouth, more emotions were building to the surface.

“You're my sister. I was just watching out for you.” He watched as she bit her quivering lip and tears were filling her eyes, but she focused on her brush. Painting. Painting. Paint.

“I shouldn't have yelled to you in the car. I shouldn't have yelled at John eith-”

“NO!” Edie shouted at him, dropping her paint brush and ripping out her headphones, she needed to give Eric a piece of her mind.

“How fucking dare you yell at me in the car this weekend and demand that I not speak to someone. What happened between me and John sucked, but it didn't involve you. Sure, I was upset the other night, but not all of it had to do with John. You can dictate my life and say what I should do. I get it, I am fucked up. I am so fucked up and there is nothing that can be done, but you are making it any easier. You are making it harder. John was the first person after you that I have even thought about completely opening up to and that's completely gone now because me and him had a fight and you fucking drove him away!”

By the time Edie finished talking, her face was red and she was out of breath. Her heart was racing in her chest and she found herself breaking down, allowing the tears to completely fall from her eyes.

She resisted at first, but finally gave in and walked into Eric's embrace. She hated him, but needed his comfort because she didn't know what to do anymore. She missed John even though he has done some things to hurt her. She wished he was still there for her.

Eric was in shock almost, he has never heard Edie yell that much in her entire life. She was angry and frustrated and all over the place, emotions that have been absent from her for as long as she can remember.

As Edie cried into his shoulder, Eric began to feel more and more guilty. He was just trying to be there for Edie and he had made things worse. He held her close and wished he could take back the yelling and butting in.

“God, I have been such an idiot. Ever since I met you, I wanted you and John to be friends. Why the fuck am I mad about you two kissing and having a relationship? I should be jumping for fucking joy.” He felt Edie chuckle slightly against his shoulder, but his jokes weren't going to stop the tears. Eric moved her so he could see her face,

“I am going to call John and we are going to figure all of this out okay?”

“No,” she shook her head, “I don't want to do that.”

“Edie, we should get this figured out.” Eric knew that she was avoiding everything about this situation, he was going to do everything in his power to fix it. Edie wiped her damp cheeks and shook her head. She was too big of a mess to talk to John.

“I am not ready to talk to him yet. You are his best friend though, Eric. You guys need to punch each other or something and make up. I won't do anything until you do something.”

Edie turned back to the wall and reached for her brush on the ground, deciding that she was done for a while. She was a detail freak and wanted to make sure every little detail was perfect. All of the lines had to be thick and precise.

“Why the tree?” Eric looked at the beautiful work Edie had done. The silhouette of a perfect, branchy tree was beginning to cover the wall – a design he wasn't expecting from Edie for some reason. She poured the spare paint back into the gallon tank and shut the lid tight and began to pick up the newspapers that covered the ground.

“It has a special meaning to me I guess.”

“And what would that be?”

She wiped the sweat that as forming on her forehead and shrugged her shoulders,

“Well, ya know.”