E D W A R D J . C O L E M A N, 1 8 ◀ J U S T E D D I E ▶
background
Edward James Coleman (the Second) is an ‘oopsie-daisy’ firstborn of an insurance salesman and a nurse, eldest of four siblings with an alienating ten year gap between him and the next, and a microwave dinner kid since he was old enough to stand on a chair to reach the buttons. His dad came home at weekends and they had their father-son bonding experience over Gibsons and Fenders, and his mom trusted him with the empty house on the weekdays, during which he’d fend for himself and the pack of feral nine-year-olds he called friends.
This worked out just fine for Eddie and his mile-wide independent streak for a long time. Just over half his life so far, to be precise, before his parents decided to expand the family three times in a row now that they ‘had the resources for it’. Well, they may have had money, but they were just as short in time time for Leona, Taylor, and Alexa as they were for Eddie.
It didn’t start all at once. Dad went back to a job that gave next to no paternity leave, and Mom – itching to return to work – stumbled into three MLMs during her year off, and each one had her asking Eddie to please watch the kids for a night while she hosted some sales party or another. By the time Eddie left middle school, it was every night except Saturdays, and morning school runs, too. No surprises as to why his grades slipped stepping into high school.
Stressors outside of class beget problems inside. At times, Eddie was given serious warnings for unexplained absences, when all he was doing in that extra time was taking a little time to himself. Grabbing fast-food, going for joy-rides, sleeping in. Best was when he learned he had the ability to take his sisters out of school and cart them off to the park or the movies, whichever they preferred. Only the threat of being held back as a super senior prevented him from going mad with power, though he always has teetered on the edge of dropping out to get his GED later.
Not long ago, Eddie picked up a part-time job at a local family-owned restaurant to save up for college travel moving out something, banking on puppy-dog eyes to squeeze him in a few unsociable shifts. Not that sociability mattered to him anymore. In between juggling school, babysitting, homework and a little self-care, he dropped the ball on friends years prior. He told himself soon––soon he would leave this town and have plenty of time to find new ones.
Sooner than he thought.
likes & dislikes
❤️ Music
< Before the education system sucked the fun out of it, his primary interest was in music, and his dream was to be a musician. Even now, listening to it live is a luxury he works himself to the bone to keep. >
❤️ Family
< Even if his relationship with them is strained by responsibility, Eddie dearly loves his younger sisters, no matter how testing they can be. >
❤️ Cooking
< Not even the realities of a shitty part-time job in the industry can kill his love of the culinary arts. >
💔 Academics
< Attending school five days a week is so many hours he’ll never get back––not to mention it’s filled with teachers who just don't get that homework’s low on the list of priorities. >
💔 Caregiving
< Filial duty dictates that as the eldest, Eddie should respect his parents. Fine. But five years of unpaid babysitting – being a third parent – with no appreciation from them smarts more than a little. >
💔 Smoking
< Picked up from the guys at work. Eddie can appreciate that the nicotine calms the worst of his nerves, but it’s a filthy habit to keep and he’d stop it if he could. >
dreams
‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada’. Maybe it’s a cliché, maybe it’s a pipe-dream, but when Eddie imagines up-and-disappearing from his current life, he thinks of spending a week/month/year in Sin City. Somewhere he can make it in the entertainment world, or the restaurant industry, or win big in the casino, or get married to a stranger by a chunky Elvis. Or slip between the cracks without anyone noticing he was even there at all.
◀ FC: Chance Perdomo || HEX: dea380 ▶