Chapter 19

Around fifteen minutes had passed since the girls had taken their leave from Kate's "house". The trio remained in complete silence, shocked and in awe at the display they had witnessed on the small side street.

As the girls made their way through the streets, Lee decided to finally break the silence.

"Well," said Lee, "Now we know what was bothering mom."

"I guess," said Marie, "It's just so hard to believe that Aunt Katie has been alive all this time and we never knew it. She must have pissed off mom something fierce in order for her to disown her like that."

"Yeah," said May, "I've seen mom get mad at people, but I never heard her talk like that. And when they started fighting, it looked like they were trying to kill each other!"

The girls paused for a few moments.

"Well just to let ya's know," said Lee, "I think what we just witnessed was the tip of the iceberg."

"What do you mean, Lee?" asked Marie.

"Mom is bringing Aunt Katie with us," said Lee.

"Well that's awesome!" said May in an exuberant manner, as she hugged herself, "We can finally get to know Aunt Katie! It will be like a family reunion!"

"You're such an idiot May," said Marie, "You really think Mom wants us hanging around that!?"

Suddenly, Lee whipped around to face Marie.

"Now you listen here Annemarie," said Lee in a stern authoritative tone, as she pointed towards Marie. Her usual city accent inflections had dulled, having been replaced with her serious 'discipline voice', "It's completely obvious to all of us what Aunt Katie has become, but no matter what, she is your Aunt and you show her respect. Mom is battling a serious emotional issue right now, and I don't need the fact that you can't control your tongue adding any fuel to it. That goes for both of you, got it!?"

At the conclusion of her lecture, Marie and May nodded their heads in agreement in a simultaneous manner. A few seconds passed, at which point Lee sighed, and adopted a sardonic expression.

"I hate seeing mom like this," said Lee, "She's been through so much throughout her life, and after seeing her tonight I've finally figured out what her true coping mechanism is."

"Coping mechanism?" asked May, "Like what Daddy used to make his table?"

"No, that's a coping saw you idiot," said Lee, "A coping mechanism is how someone deals with stress, and mom's way of doing it is keeping it to herself."

Lee gazed upward toward, her two little sisters crossing her legs as she did so. She continued to speak in an uncharacteristic, sincere tone, highlighting the importance of her words to her sisters.

"The best thing that ever happened to me was getting sent to that camp," said Lee, "I learned first hand that bottling things up does nothing but create an endless loop of turmoil, and I noticed a lot of my issues disappeared once I let go and talked about what happened."

Lee sighed.

"I've been doing a significant amount of research on psychiatry since I was diagnosed and started seeing Dr. Sheehan," said Lee, "The good thing is Mom shows absolutely no signs of actual disorder, but despite opening up about a lot of things, she is still in a perpetual state of emotional withdrawal. Mom has a heart of gold, and I know she and Aunt Katie didn't mean all those bad things they said about each other. Something mutually horrible happened to them in the past, and they need each other to deal with it."

Lee took a breath, after which she stood up and took hold of the RVs door handle.

"My only question is, why now?" said Lee as the group came upon the parking lot to a small convenience store, "I guess we'll find out soon enough. Until then, I texted Lindsay, she's in here. Let's go meet her inside and get some Slurpees.

Lee led her sisters towards the door to the store, opening the glass structure and allowing her sisters to pass through before her. Inside, Lindsay, dressed in her evening clothes; a knee length purple dress, complemented by a pair of silver high heeled shoes, had taken her place in one of the central aisles. Due to her wearing high heels, the lanky girl's height topped out at 6'8" inches, with top of her boisterous hair approaching the 7 foot mark, allowing the Kanker girls to easily spot her over the store shelving.

As the girls made their way into the store, May began to speak in a demanding voice.

"Outta my way Marie, I gotta go!" yelled May as she pushed her way past her sisters, on her way towards the stores bathroom.

"Don't worry, it's all yours Bucky!" yelled Marie as she made her way towards the rear of the store in a much calmer manner, "I'm gonna go scope out the flavors."

"Whatever," said Lee as she began walking towards Lindsay's position, "I'm gonna see what Lindsay is up to."

Lee made her way around the corner, and proceeded to make her way down the stores aisle. As she did so, she spotted the lanky Lindsay, who was currently scoping out bags of potatoes chips as she awaited the arrival of her friends. After placing a bag back in the shelf, she took notice of Lee, and decided to began a conversation.

"Hey you," said Lindsay, "I was wondering when you'd get here. We gotta get back to the trailer, quick. I just noticed that I did my toes with firethorn silver instead of metallic silver! It's slightly darker than my shoes, and I have to fix it before anyone notices!"

"Liz, I am very sure you will be the only person that notices that kind of detail," said Lee as she giggled, "But if it's a contest for who had the craziest night, I'm pretty sure I'll come out on top?"

"Really?" asked Lindsay, "Care to share?"

"It's nothing really," said Lee, "I just had a conversation with my Aunt, who I had been lead to believe was dead since before I was born."

"Um...okay," said Lindsay in a feminine manner, "That definitely tops my pedicure disaster."

"We went to the address, and found her there," said Lee, "I asked her if she knew my mom and she started talking in circles, like saying how she had no idea who she was, but then saying she didn't want to speak to her and stuff. Anyway, my mom eventually showed up and said "I'd like you to meet your Aunt Katie."...Just a usual day in the Kanker family."

Lee giggled sarcastically.

"Wait, hold the phone," said Lindsay, "Your Aunt Katie? Not only were you always told she was dead, but..."

"What?" asked Lee as she turned towards Lindsay.

"Well, I know we promised never to talk about that day again," said Lindsay, "But do you remember what she said in the parking lot, just before we fought?...she did it?"

Lee sighed.

"I remember," said Lee, "I thought the same thing...but obviously she either got the wrong person or was pulling our leg, because there's no doubt that my Aunt Kate is alive and well...well, alive at least. I've always wondered why my mom, despite claiming to be upset about loosing her, never took us to her grave. Burying your sister alive wouldn't be a very nice thing to do."

Lee turned towards Lindsay.

"Though, given the way they were talking to each other, I wouldn't put it past my mom wanting to do that," said Lee, "I have never seen my mom speak with such passion, or throw punches like she did when they fought."

Lee emitted another sigh.

"At least this show will allow me to clear my mind for a few hours," said Lee as she gazed towards the ceiling, "Although I feel like this is only the beginning of a crazy adventure."