File 4.2 - Proper Parenting

“Weren’t sure if we’d see ya again, Ed,” barked Sam, discovering their guest in the back of the open cargo hold. The only other crewmember with Sam was Nate, who was too far back to have noticed Ed or even heard Sam. Sam waved to Ed and slapped him with a hardy pat on the back, as he got close. “The way the Cap’n talk’d weren’t sure if those military bastards let ya out!”

Ed stretched up a little and wrapped his arm around Sam’s neck pulling him down a bit. “Ya think I’d leave tah Niph without givin’ a prayer ta ‘er? Yer tah only pilot they’ve got now! I’ve gotta calm ‘er down a wee befer I turn ‘er ove’ ta ya!” He gave him a playful smirk.

Sam pushed Ed off him and roughed him up a little. “I’ve been flyin’ this hunk o’ junk longer than ya been walkin’! She trusts me better than ya!”

“Then why do I’ve more flight hours than ya since I’ve been flyin’?”

“The Cap’n just feelin’ bad for ya since ya ain’t got anythin’ else on this ship!”

“Sure it ain’t ‘cause he trusts me more?”

The old door to the hold creaked open blasting an awful noise. It broke up Sam and Ed’s roughhousing. They quickly noticed the Captain’s figure filling up the frame of the door. Sam immediately straightened up, more than before, but still hardly professional. “Cap’n! Ed’s come back!”

The distance between them made it difficult to read the Captain’s already tough poker face. “I heard from the port controller. Come for yer goodbyes and belongin’s, Ed?”

Nodding, Ed started walking deeper into the hold towards the Captain. He tugged on his fedora, out of habit. “Yeah, I couldn’t leave without seein’ Niph one last time!” Ed worked up a smile for the Captain. The stairs groaned under the weight of his steps until he finally came near the Captain. Ed glanced over at the old man, while pulling on the brim of his hat a little more. “I’ll be in mah quarters befer I see everyone.”

Fin patted him on the back as he walked by. “Everyone’s still on board. So they won’t be hard to find when yer ready.” While Ed continued into the hall, Fin’s eyes narrowed a little reading him. He waited until Ed went out of range. By then, Sam reached the door. “They’ve already changed him in a single day…”

Sam looked a little bewildered by the Captain’s comment. He leaned around the doorway trying to get a look at the hall, though Ed already was long out of sight. “Huh? What ya talkin’ about, Cap’n? He seems the same ta me!”

“That’s ‘cause yer a wee dim,” Fin replied. The atmosphere already shifted and Fin read it clearly on Ed’s face the moment he saw him. Years of dealing with all sorts of scum and citizenry alike made it easy for him to see through people. Fin turned around and started out of the threshold. “Keep cleanin’ up the hold! Don’t know when ‘nother assignment will pop up!”

“Aye, Cap’n…” The mysterious nature of Fin’s response left Sam confused. He wanted to know more, but trusted the Captain to handle things.

Waiting what seemed like an appropriate amount of time, Captain Fin leaned into Edgar’s quarters. Ed was still in the middle of sorting through things and packing what was necessary for him. “What’s eatin’ ya, kid?”

“What ya talkin’ ‘bout?” Ed replied quickly, without missing a beat in his motions. He went over to the shelf pulling down a snow globe holding a snowman inside. Errant thoughts passed through causing him to stop. It made his fingers run over the smooth glass surface.

Fin pushed himself a little further in the room. He crossed his arms watching Ed. “I’ve known ya long enough to know when you ain’t yerself. Something happened back at the base?”

The question froze Ed as though the icy winds of Antarctica gripped him with unyielding strength. Images of Shizuka surfaced in his thoughts. “Ya ev’r do somefin ya regretted later?”

“Too many times to count, kid.” Fin released a stifled chuckle. A whole day could be spent recalling all of them. “Nothin’ wrong with regret, Ed. Makes us human. Let’s us learn from our mistakes.”

“But what if those mistakes ‘fected someone else? They ain’t jus’ yer mistakes anymore.”

“True enough, but ya can’t change what’s been done. Ya can only change what’s to come.”

“Yeah, I know…” Ed turned and shook up the snow globe, needing a distraction. The flakes in the liquid shined and bounced bits of light on his face. He shifted his eyes over to the Captain. His hand showed him the globe careful. “This is tah only gift I’ve from mah ma. I dun ‘ave any memories of ‘er, just fantasies I’ve cooked up from stories dad told mah befer he died. I always ‘magined ‘er bein’ kind with smile tah could make anyfin better. She’d want only tah best fer mah and do anythin’ if som’one tried ta harm mah.”

“She was a good woman, Ed.”

As though judging the weight, Ed lightly tossed the globe into the air. It only went a couple of centimeters from his hand, but shook everything up. He kept tossing it a little higher, bordering on reckless. A strange smile came across his face as he looked over at Fin. “Yer folks are sa’pose ta protect their kids.”

“Ed?” Fin started to take a couple steps into the room. The feeling he got from Ed put knots in his stomach. He didn’t like the look the kid had at all.

Ed caught the globe, no longer tossing it. His fingers wrapped around the sphere tightly. “But that’s just a childish fantasy, ain’t it?” A dark shadow drew over Ed’s face as he spoke. It continued to taint his features. Wrinkles cracked around his eyes from buried emotions. “It’s all just a fantasy!”

Still trying to carefully approach, Fin watched Ed. “We all need a little fantasy to keep reality at bay. Nothin’ wrong with it, Edgar. Reality is too harsh without a little.”

Tired of the coaxing, Ed threw the globe into his bag. “Reality?! Reality ain’t harsh! No, that’s too pretty of a word!” Ed slammed his fist against the metal wall of his quarters. It shook the shelf off one fastener causing it to slide everything down into the corner. Everything dangled precariously on the edge in an uncertain fate. “It was pointless in tah end! I did nofin’! We’re just insignificant piles of dirt tah be stepp’d on.”

The Captain rushed over to Ed hoping to calm him. He dropped a hand on his shoulder to connect with him. “Hey, it’s alright. Fate always holds back her worst hands, but you can’t lose hope! You saw something terrible, but you can’t let it stop you, Ed.”

“Yeah, I’ve gotta soldier on…” The word made Edgar laugh uncontrollably. It didn’t make any sense to him why he laughed, but he couldn’t stop it. His outburst released him from the Captain’s hold allowing him to fall back against the wall. A hand gripped at his face while he laughed. Then the laughing stopped, suddenly. Silence followed.

He slowly lowered his hand away from his face. Edgar looked up at Fin. “Ya know she’s right. We’re just selfish. We didn’t even think about tah consequences. We never do! It’s just ‘bout tah money!”

“Hey, Ed,” snapped Fin. He slapped Ed across the cheek to get his attention. “Listen, yes, we’re in it for the money, but I pick our jobs. I only pick ones that I feel are worth it, even with the consequences.”

“So yer sayin’ ya knew what was goin’ to happen?! Bastard!” Enraged, Ed lunged at the Captain swinging. He missed Fin, but it still left the two struggling.

Fin fought with Ed for a little bit, but found his age catching up to his stamina. Rather than lose, he went for something reckless. He gave Edgar a head butt that knocked him to his knees. “Get a hold of yerself, Edgar!”

“Bastard!” roared Ed, trying to stand up, but too dazed to manage anything. The floor was too comfortable for him in his state.

The Captain grabbed Ed’s shoulder to lock him in place. “Listen, kid! Picking the jobs is my responsibility and the results lie on me as well, not you! Ya can’t always pick the right job, sometimes ya get the wrong one without knowin’! This is how it works in the adult world.” His words seemed to have reached Ed on at least some level, as he relaxed. Fin pulled away, no longer needing to restrain him. “As you’ve learned the adult world is nothin’ like what ya thought. There’s plenty of darkness out there enough to crush even the strongest person, but yer enterin’ it. Ya have to be strong, if not for yerself, but for the girl, right?”

Edgar’s eyes widened a bit, caught off guard by his words. He kept thinking about himself that he forgot about her. It raged about himself without considering her. He needed to talk to her. “I need ta find ‘er!” he shouted, jumping up to his feet only to collapse once more.

“Woah, kid, don’t get up too fast,” joked Fin, “Yer brains were scrambled pretty good there!”

Grinning again, Ed looked up at the Captain. “I wonder whose fault that is?”