Disclaimer: Only Arnie and his OC lovers are owned by me. All other characters are owned by Danny Antonucci.
Chapter One
Marie opened her eyes, careful not to move too much and wake May, who snuggled in her arms, slightly on top of her to keep her less dressed sister warm. She had been sleeping badly for a while, and though she was grateful for a good night's sleep for once, she knew she would not be able to drop back off now that she had woken.
She was lying between her part of the bed and the centre, where Lee used to sleep, and she still felt as though she was sleeping in the wrong place, but if she did sleep in her part of the bed, she would feel alone, as the centre would be empty, so she and May had to move closer in to hold each other. How she would cope once she got married or started living with somebody or even just slept with someone she didn't know, because to her a double bed felt so empty with only two people in it. And the covers were so oppressively heavy. And the bed was so cold.
She shivered and snuggled a little closer to May. She looked up, over her sister's head, but the still, glazed stare of David Bowie nonplussed her, so she tried looking the other way, where she found Bob Dylan's eyes just as unnerving. She moved her eyes to the ceiling directly above her head, where all four of the Rolling Stones looked down at her, and she wondered how the hell May could be so damn comfortable with all those eyes around.
She felt May beginning to wake up. She didn't move, but the sisters were so close they could always tell. "Mmm… morning," grunted May.
"Morning," replied Marie.
"Sleep well?" asked May.
"Better than usual," answered Marie. "You?"
"Same," said May. She rolled onto her back and looked up at the Rolling Stones, smiling a little. "Not gonna now though."
"Me neither," agreed Marie.
The sisters got up together, May waited while Marie took a shower, then Marie made some breakfast while May took hers. They ate together, talking about what silly little nothings they could do that day. Both had homework, but it had been pushed aside to be completed at, if not after, the last minute.
"Morning, girls," shouted a loud voice like honey and gravel, as the trailer door swung open. Marie and May said nothing. Lee was wearing men's jeans and a dirty camisole, and her hair had been piled up in a messy and half-hearted attempt at her usual style. She grabbed a rasher of bacon from May's plate and stuffed it in her mouth.
"Hey, Marie didn't make that for you!" screeched May.
"Shame; I was hungry," said Lee, thwapping May on the head and almost knocking her off her chair. "I'm not staying, I just need some extra clothes and some food," she explained, not looking at either of them but rooting through a cupboard. She came up with a few boxes of cereal and some bread, and then went for the stairs.
"Your clothes are down here," Marie said, pointing at the cardboard boxes in the corner, "where we put them."
"Good," said Lee, pulling out various items. "Well, I'll be seeing you later…" She reached out to punch May on the shoulder.
"You touch her again," threatened Marie.
Lee glared at her. Threatening Lee was something the other Kanker sisters had never done before. True, Lee and Marie were not quite evenly matched, and the cards would be stacked in Marie's favour, but Lee was so dominant that no one dared go against her. Was she dominant down in the ditch with the others, the members of the club, Marie wondered. Like her sisters, Lee had never slept in a bed with anyone else. Just that ditch behind the trailer park. They had barely seen her, and not once when she was wanted, since he had come along. He was a shortish young man who had introduced himself simply as Arnie, with long thick blue hair tied in a simple ponytail, and ladies' high-heeled mules to make himself look taller. He had been wearing a tight-fitting silk shirt and ladies' jeans, and the sisters had heard him singing and come out to see who was there. He was charming, and seemed to have taken a shine to both Lee and Marie, but lost all interest in Marie when he found out she was only fifteen. But he had asked Lee out, and she had accepted. Her sisters slept without her that night, and she came back at ten in the morning saying that she had met his friends and they had all gone down into the ditch, and she was going back to join them. She had reappeared a few times over the last few months, never staying, and always leaving them alone in the end.
Lee walked on past May, not touching her, and left them again.