Chapter 17

A few hours had passed since the RV had left the Peach Creek township limits, and after fighting an hours worth of heavy traffic over both the George Washington Bridge and I-87, the group had finally found themselves in the heart of New York City. After cruising through Manhattan, the vehicle had reached its destination, a small RV park located on the border of Manhattan and the Bronx. The location couldn't have been any more perfect; the hustle and bustle of Times Square was a short subway ride away, and the calm tranquility of the residential area surrounding the park was ideal for relaxation and sleep.

After parking the RV and deploying the exterior picnic table, Zeke and Tabby took a quick trip into the surrounding neighborhood to acquire some lunch for the group; cheesesteak sandwiches and French fries. After returning with their sandwiches, the entire group of sixteen had flocked to the picnic table for consumption, conversing happily as they enjoyed their lunches. While most of the group had finished their meals, the three Eds, their girlfriends, Lindsay, Kevin and Rolf remained at the table.

After taking a large bite of her cheese whiz covered sandwich, (and ensuring she had swallowed her bite), May turned towards Ed with a smile.

"Gee Ed!" said May, "This Cheesesteak sure is good!"

"Yeah," said Ed as he swallowed his mouthful, "Scrumdidylyumptious!"

Across the table, Double Dee took a bite, placed his sandwich onto its neatly folded wrapper, and dabbed the perimeter of his mouth with his napkin.

"I must surely agree," said Double Dee, "These steak and cheese subs are exquisite"

At the conclusion of his statement, Double Dee retrieved his sandwich and lifted it toward his mouth to take another bite. However, as the intelligent boy opened his mouth, the strange sense of being watched suddenly overtook him, stopping him in his tracks. He slowly turned his head to the left, locking eyes with those of his girlfriend who had taken her place next to him.

Unfortunately, in lieu of an expression of joy, Marie's almond shaped eyes displayed an expression of playful irritation. After a few seconds, Double Dee slowly panned his eyes towards the opposite side of table, where he found Lee, Lindsay, and May to be staring at him in an equally irritated manner.

The girls remained silent for a few moments, at which point Lee finally decided to speak up.

"Well he's your man Marie!" said Lee, "Straighten him out!"

"Geez Lee, take a chill pill," said Marie, "He doesn't know any better!"

"Oh dear," said Double Dee in a confused manner, "Have I violated some form of table etiquette?"

"No sweety, of course not," said Marie as she ran her fingers through his black hair, "Being raised in the city, it's a natural reaction for us to get peeved when someone refers to a cheesesteak as a 'steak and cheese sub'. It's kind of our parent city's signature sandwich and a source of pride, you understand right?"

Marie giggled

"I suppose," said Double Dee in a confused manner.

"Yeah, it's bad enough they put this whiz crappola on it," said Lee, "It doesn't need any extra insult ."

Eddy shoved the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth, crumbling up it's wrapper as he did do.

"Well whatever ya want to call it, it was a helluva sandwich," said Eddy. He turned towards Lee as he continued speaking, "So babe, me and the guys were gonna take a little stroll through the neighborhood to kill some time. Wanna come along?"

"Thanks sweetie, but how about you just make it a guys only thing," said Lee, "We girls have some important business to take care of?"

"Important business?" asked Double Dee, "Do I dare inquire on what this ever so important business may be?"

Lindsay chuckled.

"Well it's not everyday that we get to go see a Broadway show," said Lindsay , "And seeing how this date night is special, I decided to prepare accordingly."

At that point, Lindsay reached underneath the table and retrieved a modest sized, pink colored table-top chest. She placed it on the center of the table, and proceeded to open it, revealing piles and piles of makeup, mascara, nail polish, and other beauty accessories.

"Makeovers!" yelled Lindsay in a long drawn out feminine manner, "I even got LeeLee to agree to let me do her makeup."

"Gee, I would have never guessed," said Eddy, "I'll never understand you girls and your obsession with makeup."

"Hey, if you want to learn about it, you're welcome to join us!" said Lindsay.

All four girls shared a quick giggle, as Eddy adopted a deadpan expression.

"Yeah, I'll pass," said Eddy.

Lee and Lindsay shared another brief giggle at Eddy's expense, after which the tall girl closed her makeup chest and proceeded to lift it from the table.

"I'll go get set up!" said Lindsay as she lifted the heavy container, struggling to properly position it in her arms, "I've got this awesome blush that will bring out Annalee's eyes...oh and some nice ruby lipstick to accentuate Annemarie's lips and..."

Lindsay's tirade was suddenly interrupted by the high pitched, foreign accented voice of Rolf, who had stopped her in her tracks by jumping into her path.

"Please Sweet Babushka," said Rolf as he took hold of Lindsay's chest, and promptly removed it from her arms. As he cradled the chest in his left elbow, he decided to continue. "Rolf can tell that the chest of beauties is too heavy for his beautiful Schmetlockin to carry on her own. Rolf will assist in returning your assets to the traveling house."

Lindsay paused for a few seconds, stating downward into Rolf's eyes with a smile.

"Thanks Rolf," said Lindsay, "If you could, take it down to my room and put it next to the bed, I'd appreciate it."

"Anything for you my Sweet Babushka," said Rolf, at which point he leaned upward, delivering Lindsay a small kiss on the cheek. He then proceeded to march towards the RV, carrying Lindsays chest while simultaneously humming an upbeat folk song. Lindsay simply stared forward, rubbing her now bright red cheek dry as Lee giggled at her friends expense from afar.

"It's only a matter of time ," said Lee as she rose to standing position, and made her way around the table towards Eddy. She proceeded to wrap her arms around the small boy from behind, leaning her head over his shoulder as she did so, "Enjoy your walk love, I'll see you tonight."

Lee delivered Eddy a kiss on the cheek, and began making her way towards the RV, signaling Lindsay to follow her inside. As she did so, Marie collected her trash and rose from the table, intent on following her sisters lead.

"Well cutie, that's my cue!" said Marie as she stroked her right ponytail, "I'll see you tonight, don't cause too much trouble, okay?"

"I'm sure all will be fine, Marie," said Double Dee as he rose up to meet Marie, "I am certainly looking forward to my first experience with Broadway. And the fact that I will be spending it with the most beautiful and exquisite woman on this earth makes me especially happy!"

"What in the world would I do without you?" asked Marie, after which she kissed Double Dee on the lips, "See you later cutie, looking forward to it!"

As Marie and Edd completed their farewells, May began the process of saying goodbye to her boyfriend.

"So, Ed?" asked May, "Are you excited to see the show tonight?"

"I guess," said Ed in a dopey manner, "What show are we going to see?"

"I dunno," said May, "Maybe something cool like Space Mutants from Planet Blurga...the musical"

"Or maybe," Ed adopted a playful yet menacing expression as he lifted his arms into the air, wiggling his fingers as he continued, "Attack of Opera Singing Octopi!"

"Or maybe..." said May attempting to continue with another absurd proposition, being cut off mid sentence by the shrill voice of Marie.

"Or maybe it's an actual musical!?" said Marie in a sarcastic manner, "God forbid you actually know about anything else but comic books and horror movies."

"Well since you know so much," said May, "What show are we seeing Ms. Eisenstein?"

"Anything Goes," said Marie as she flicked her hair over her over shoulder.

"Well that ain't no answer," said May, "At least me and Ed came up with guesses instead of just saying Anything Goes."

"It's the name of the musical you lug head," said Marie, "It's a series of intertwining stories taking place onboard a cruise ship, and it's a pretty good one too. It's one of me and Double Dee's favorites."

"Well excuse me for not being a cultured snob," said May.

"Takes one to know one," said Marie.

"Takes one to know one times five," said May as she began walking towards the RV.

"Takes one to know one times ten," said Marie, following her sister as she did so.

The two sisters continued to trade insults as they approached the RV, each being multiplied even further than the last. Eventually, the two girls climbed the stairs leading into the vehicle, disappearing from view and joining their older sister and best friend for their planned "makeover session"

As the girls took their leave, Eddy turned towards his friends with a grin, clasping his hands together as he did so.

"Well boys, the girls are out of our hair!" said Eddy, "Just a few more minutes of waiting for Rolfie Boy and Melonhead, and then we can go see what this neighborhood has to offer."

At the conclusion of his statement, Eddy seemed to adopt an expression of confusion.

"By the way," said Eddy, "Where the hell is Johnny? I haven't seen him all day!"

"The dork and Nazz spent all day working on the stupid superhero comic book they started writing last Christmas," said Kevin, "Fine by me, keeps him and her out of my hair for a few hours, right!?"

Kevin delivered a playful punch to Eddy's arm, giggling playfully as he did so.

"Whatever," said Eddy, taking note of Rolf emerging from the RVs main entrance, "Anyway there's Rolf! C'mon, let's get a move on, we got some time to kill!"

At the conclusion of Eddy's statement, the group of five boys made their way towards the exit of the RV park, and out into the surrounding working class neighborhood; seeking new adventures in the "Boogie Down Bronx".