The Blanket — 6
#7 of The Blanket
The BB gun that Ed had gotten for his birthday was a used thing, something that the giftgiver had pulled from the guts of the basement and produced in social offering. A problem Ed that had had with it is that he didn't kmow where to use it. Living in a suburb is good, if you had angst and a girlfriend but having a bb gun that you want to use makes tings a little more complicated.
Him and Koda had settled on a thirty something minute bike ride, leaving the space of town, leaving the endless ocean of Spanish Style villas, and finding patches of woods in the forms of large, expansive parks that swallowed acres and acres of land. It wasn't that bad of trek. he'd brought with him all the Bbs he had, the little shooter, some water, maybe a sandwich or three.
The Bbs burst from the muzzle, the no-recoil simple weapon sitting easy in Ed's hands, his eyes trained on the cans in front of him, sitting on a log. The woods were thin around them, and if they moved a back a little ways, they could see the highway. Ed focused in on the shots he was taking, allowing the weapon to take from him some pent up emotion. He blushed as each can fell with precision, allowing that emotion to take over him. Each can was down, and he still shot at them, letting them be knocked back, and back and back until he was just shooting at the log. Until he was shooting blanks. Koda's hands sat silently in her pockets. Her back pressed up against the tree trunk behind her.
The noise of the woods engulfed the two children, the drone of a semi on the semi sliding through the leaves, birds chirping and the crunch of the shed skin of the trees beneath their feet. He handed it to Koda, and she filled it up with BBs while Ed set up the cans. Koda and Ed had a conversation on the way here.
Franklin and Annie were going out on a date tonight. Annie had a talk with Ed about it. Franklin had a talk with Koda about it. There had still been no mention of Koda and Ed's relationship. When Ed looked at Koda he could see flecks of his mother in her. Her hair curled the same way, even if it was a different color. She held her pose in a very similar way, even if Annie was a lot curvier and more plump. Ed kissed her, thinking about the similarities between her and his mother.
Koda wasn't as good with the BB gun, and she missed a lot. That or she didn't care. They didn't really speak much as they performed, just shooting and refilling. There was some kind of tension drifting on the open air, mixing in with the noise of the BB gun.
Eventually Ed put up the BBs and they just hung out under a tree, drinking water and cuddling in proximity of each other. Relying on each other for mutual affection. Ed's mind was waiting for him to say something and to say something honestly, one of those things that feels like a secret that you have to muster up courage to say. "I feel frustrated," he said, "about Franklin and my mom."
"Yeah, them dating... It's not really like we could do anything." She said. "I mean unless we wanna be psychos about it and sabatoge it while it's still fresh. What... They've gone on... Two dates, right?" Koda said.
"Or three."
"But hey, Ed." By saying his name she had called him to attention to look at her, look her in the eyes. "My dads a good guy, and he's upper middle class and handsome. Maybe it's good that it's working in this direction."
Ed didn't want to admit that little can't-sleep thoughts about futures where him and Koda were stepsibling shad been entertained with a mixture of want and disdain. "I know, and I should feel good about it but..." Ed said.
"Maybe you're frustrated about your mom dating again. Maybe you-"
"I don't want her to get hurt, Koda." He said, looking away. "Just because your dad is a good guy doesn't mean she can't get hurt. I hate seeing her hurt." He spat those words.
Always the wiser, Koda remarked "It's not your place to make sure she doesn't get hurt."
"But is it weird that I want it to be?" He asked.
"No, I don't think that's weird. But Ed, they're two consenting adults. They can do romantically whatever they want and it's cool. That's how I see it."
"Come on, you've gotta have some weird feelings about it," Ed said. "Anything."
"My dads a widower, dude. This isn't his first time dating a woman."
"What we're the last times like?" He said. "We're they anything like my mother?"
"I never met them. Maybe they were, I haven't asked. Partially out of of respect, partially out of not giving a shit." She said. They were silent for a bit before Ed huffed
His heart was turning into a ball of rubber bands, a mass of confusion and tension and it was all subcutaneous, just under the skin of his chest, out of reach and out of sight but he could still feel it. He huffed, and Koda rubbed her hand against his shoulder, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Hey." She said. "Things will work out, let's just hope that good comes of this. It's all we can do."
He just buried his head deeper into her body and closed his eyes.