Chapter 16

Fifteen minutes had passed since Tabby had exited the interstate, bringing Rods truck to a stop in one of the many parking spaces near the exterior of the rest stop. The small mini mall of sorts contained several fast food stops, organized into a circular food court of sorts, with several tables and booths interspersed in the middle of the large room.

The Kanker convoy had placed and received their orders, and had taken their place at one of the large booths in the center of of the room, consuming their meals as they did so. After a few moments, Tabby decided to break the silence.

"This should us over until we have dinner," said Tabby, "It ain't fine dining, but it's food nonetheless."

May, who was currently stuffing French fries into her face at an alarming rate, so much so that her cheeks puffed out to absurd proportions.

"This is great!" said May in a muffled tone, "These French fries are the best."

"I can't argue with that," said Marie, "But I'm definitely not looking forward to sharing the trailer with you tonight."

"Why's that?" asked Lindsay as she took a small bite of a chicken strip.

After emitting a slight scowl at the sound of Lindsay's voice, Marie decided to reply.

"Let me put it this way," said Marie, "The more grease you pump in to May, the smellier she will be at night."

Marie giggled at her sisters expense as Lindsay adopted an expression of disgust.

"Ew," said Lindsay as May swallowed the large amount of food she had placed in her mouth.

"Hey, that was just that one time!" said May, "And it wasn't that bad, ya'll are exaggerating!"

"Who are you kidding," said Marie, "Last time we had greasy fries, it was like there was a paper mill coming out of your ass."

Marie laughed at May's expense as Lee and Lindsay both rolled their eyes.

"Fine lunch conversation, huh Liz," asked Lee in a sarcastic manner.

"Yeah," said Lindsay as she gazed into her makeup mirror, "How embarrassing. I'm glad I don't do that."

"Yeah, me neither," said Lee.

Tabby emitted a slight giggle while taking a sip of her soda.

"Get the hell outta here," said Tabby, "There ain't a damn person on this earth that doesn't rip one, including dainty ballerinas and girly makeup mistresses such as yourselves. You two seem to forget that I took care of both of yas as babies, and let me tell you, if you think May was bad, you two were the queens of gas! I had to change both of your formulas multiple times before I found something that would get yas to let one loo..."

"MOM!" yelled Lee in a long, drawn out manner as she and Lindsays faces turned red. This of course caused Marie and May to laugh at the duos expense.

"C'mon Annalee, we're just messing with you guys," said Tabby, "You are amongst family, there is no reason to be embarrassed. I can only imagine how you'd react if I brought that up in front of Eddy."

Tabby, Marie and May shared a chuckle.

"Alright, enough of that," said Lee, "I'd much rather talk about this show we're supposed to see tonight. I hope it ain't like that depressing school musical Marie and Double Dee drug me and Eddy in to see last April."

"Fiddler on the Roof?" asked Marie, "A classic with awesome orchestration, and acting!"

"And such depressing content," said Lee, "The songs are drab, and the main character is a guy whose constantly down on his luck. Plus everyone around him kept screwing him over by trying to change his life."

"That's the point!" yelled Marie, "It's the struggle between his desire to maintain tradition, and deal with all of the changes befalling his family and the environment at the same time."

"Alright, enough," yelled Tabby, playfully slamming her hand in the table as if it were a gavel, "I am happy to report that the show we are seeing is not Fiddler on the Roof...thank God."

"Okay," said Marie with a slight sardonic expression, "So what do you have against Fiddler on the Roof?"

"Don't get me wrong," said Tabby, "It's a great story, but not when you are forced to see it again and again. We did it for the winter musical one year back in high school, and let's just say I was caught in between Tzeitel and the Fiddler for two straight months while they prepared for their roles. I've probably heard the music, and watched that stupid movie version, over 300 times."

Tabby snickered ever so slightly.

"I can see how that could be a little too much," said Marie, "But no matter what we see, there's no doubt I'm excited. I'm sure Double Dee will be excited for me too."

"Good to hear," said Tabby as she gathered her and her daughters trash, and proceeded to rise from her seated position, "I'm gonna go grab a quick smoke, and then we'll head out. We should get to New York just as the sun goes down, that'll give us about two hours to get ready for the show."

"Alright," said Lee, "I'll keep an eye on the kiddies while you're gone."

Lee snickered at her own joke as Tabby made her exit, after which she rejoined her companions in amiable conversation.