a tiny glimpse at Eddie.

Eddie never liked to leave home, but this time he had to. He needed the money, and when his cousin Daryl told him about the roofing job in Chattanooga, he quickly accepted. He found that he enjoyed working outdoors. It was early June and the weather was cooler than in the South Carolina piedmont. He could see the Smoky Mountains and the winding tangles of railroads as he shingled rooftops. The air was fresher too, even with the smell of tar. The brightness of the sun and the crispness of working in the morning made Eddie feel like he was alive again.
While in Tennessee, he didn’t need to worry about his wife or his two girls or his mother. Margaret would have everything under control—she was always good at that. And he was glad to get away—needed to get away. Here, now, Eddie could just be Eddie—and that’s all he ever wanted.

He found Wanda at the Lucky Lady on a Friday night after a long week. She had blonde hair, probably dyed, and big pink lips. Her nose was somewhat large for her face and her teeth were too big, but her body made up for what her face lacked. She had on white jean shorts—they drew attention to her firm looking legs. Smooth and tan, like a store mannequin. Her ass was smaller than Margaret’s, and Wanda looked like she was in shape. Her breasts were big, too.
She sidled up to him at the bar, interrupting his conversation with Daryl.
“You’re cute,” she slurred. She bought him a beer. “Wanna dance?”
“No,” Eddie said, though he accepted the beer.
“Ok. Game of pool? I’m a shark, you know.”
Eddie figured she was a bar slut, but he didn’t mind.
She went home with him that night, and all the following weekends afterward. She was a nice addition to the hotel room, even though she didn’t pay him for any of the days she stayed. Wanda, after a few weeks, was just another Margaret, so Eddie dumped her. He didn’t want her showing up at his jobsite for lunch or calling Daryl to invite him to go out with her “hot friend” Cherlene and she and Eddie. He didn’t need a girlfriend too, and he told her so.
“You’re going to regret this,” she hissed before getting out of his truck. She had taken him out to dinner and drinks at Bennigan’s because she had just been paid. She told him after their first round of drinks to get whatever he wanted, so he did. He ate a deluxe hamburger with cheese and bacon fries that night and he even ordered dessert—a fudge brownie sundae—before he dumped her on the way back to the hotel.
“I’m not going to regret nothing,” he said. “Now get your white trash ass out of my truck.”