Chapter 41

In contrast to the lamp-lit and exuberant atmosphere of the Williams living room, the interior of the Kankers trailer was almost completely silent. Due to the lack of an electrical connection, the small, wood panel lined living room was shrouded in near darkness; a small amount of orange light managed to penetrate the windows through the partially closed shades.

The still silence of the trailers interior was quickly broken by the sound of the front door unlatching. Within seconds, the wooden door slowly opened, it's steel hinges squeaking as Marie proceeded to make her way inside, with her somewhat confused little sister entering behind her.

As Marie closed the door, May decided to begin a conversation.

"I don't see why you had to drag me out here," said May in a somewhat annoyed intonation, "The sleeping bags are light enough for one person, and I'm missing out on all the fun in the yard."

"Calm down knucklehead, this won't take long," said Marie, "And I'm not stupid, I could handle the sleeping stuff with no problem, but I'd figured we'd kill two birds with one stone while we're out here."

"What do you mean?" asked May.

"Think about it," said Marie, "Since we met Aunt Katie, we've never had the opportunity to be in the trailer without her...until tonight."

Marie adopted a sly grin.

"Oh no," said May, "I hate it when you make that face. You're up to something, you're trying to frame Aunt Katie, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't call it framing as much as I would call it exposing the truth," said Marie as she began to make her way towards the stairs, "Come on, let's go upstairs. I saw my mom help her bring in a couple of bags the other night before we went to see the show, and it's time we find out what she's hiding."

"But Marie," said May, "I don't think Aunt Katie would like it very much if we went through her stuff without asking."

"We ain't gonna ask her, stupid," said Marie, "That's the point!"

The black haired girl began making her way up the stairs, signaling her sister to follow her.

"Come on," said Marie, "They're going to think somethings up if it takes too long for us to get sleeping blankets."

May remained still for a few moments, after which she reluctantly followed her sister up the stairs, on their way towards the trailers solitary bedroom.

Upon reaching the door, Marie placed her hand on the cracked door and proceeded to push it to the open position. The black-haired girl proceeded to ignite her flashlight, illuminating the familiar room used by the Kankers as full time sleeping quarters for several years prior to the acquisition of their modest, split-level peach creek home.

The two girls slowly made their way into the small bedroom, May following behind Marie with a nervous expression. After scanning the room with the small flashlight, Marie's eyes eventually honed in on the solitary King sized bed, on top of which sat a decrepit duffle bag, as well as two black trash bags; bags containing what little possessions Katie had acquired during her years as a homeless woman.

"Alright," said Marie as she handed the flashlight to May, "Let's see what this lady is really up to."

At the conclusion of her statement, Marie took hold of one of the trash bags, and proceeded to open it for inspection. As she did so, May shined the flashlight inside, illuminating it's contents, which consisted of several empty cans of beer, microwaveable ravoli's, spaghetti-O's, cat food and other processed foods.

After spending several more seconds shuffling through the remainder of its contents, Marie closed the bag in a frustrated manner, tossing it back into the bed as she did so.

"Find anything?" asked May.

"Nah," said Marie, "Just a bunch of cans she was probably cashing in for money. Let's try this one."

Marie took hold of a second trash bag, opening it as she did the first; however, she quickly closed it and placed it aside as soon as she laid eyes on it's contents.

"This is all of her pills," said Marie, "Around thirty bottles worth. How the hell does this she take these like water? I could barely swallow those huge painkillers after I got my eye operation, and I hated every minute of it."

"I guess the drugs are really that strong," said May, "I don't think she would take the pills if she didn't have to in order not to get sick."

There was a moment of silence, after which Marie took hold of the large, blue duffle bag.

"Welp," said Marie as she took hold of the bags zipper, "Here's the last one. Hopefully this will give us some insight of what's going on."

May bit her lip as Marie slowly unzipped the bag, struggling slightly due to the zipper being old and rusty. Eventually, the zipper had reached the extent of its travel, at which point Marie spread the bag fully open, allowing May to illuminate it's contents.

The two girls eyes widened with surprise as they peered into the bag; in contrast to the junk-like nature of Katie's other possessions, the three items contained within appeared to be in pristine condition, and stacked an orderly manner; a 90's style, children's tape recorder/player, a 6"x 8" picture frame, currently turned upside down, and finally a two foot long, oval shaped case , which appeared to be made of an expensive wood.

"Okay..." said Marie, "This is interesting."

"Yeah," said May as she took hold of the tape recorder, holding it up for examination, "This is just like the ones we used to play with when we were little, like when Lee and Lindsay would sing karaoke together back in the city."

After examining the recorder for a few seconds, May pressed the eject button, prompting the tape holder to pop open, revealing an empty tape bay.

"Aww man," said May, "No tape?"

"Who cares about the tape?" asked Marie as she reached into the bag, "Check this out!"

May observed as Marie slowly lifted the brown case out of the bag, and gently placed it on the surface of the bed.

"Wow, that wood sure is nice," said May in a dopey manner, "What do you think's inside?"

"Only one way to find out," said Marie as she took hold of the two clips securing the case in the closed position.

One by one, Marie popped the small clips upward, freeing the lid from it's locks. Within seconds, the inside of the case came into view. The interior was lined with a beautiful, green satin and was molded to perfectly protect the three peculiar items items contained within; a small vat of rosin, a small shiny wooden horsehair bow, and most importantly, a full size, professional grade Maestro violin.

Upon laying eyes on the beautiful instrument, the two girls shared an expression of surprise.

"Okay...," said Marie, "Now this is getting really weird. What the hell is Aunt Katie doing with a violin?"

"Maybe she's a musician," said May as she reached into the case, taking hold of the violin, "See, I told ya! You misjudged her, just like with Lindsay, and it turns out ya'll have something in common too."

Holding the violin by it's neck, May began to gently pluck the strings, causing a gentle pizzicato sound to permeate the room.

"Cool," said May after which she held the violin out to Marie, "Here, why don't you try? You're the one who's into music."

Marie rolled her eyes as she took hold of the violin.

"I'm a pianist," said Marie, "What makes you think I can play the violin knucklehead?"

"You never know until you try," said May.

"Whatever," said Marie as she lifted the violin to her neck, attempting to emulate the violinists she had observed while accompanying the school orchestra. Due to her inexperience with the instrument, she struggled to adapt the proper, under chin posture, eventually managing to haphazardly gain command of the instrument. Maintaining her position, she reached for the thin bow, taking hold of it in her right hand.

"Well, here goes," said Marie as she placed the bow to the strings of the violin. Unfortunately, her skills on the piano did not translate well to the violin; in lieu of a beautiful, sultry sound typical of a bowed violin, a scratchy sound akin to nails scraping on a chalkboard sounded as Marie drew the bow across the strings, causing May's face to contort in a violent manner.

"Damn," said Marie as she examined the violin, "Too rough."

"I'll say," said May.

"These strings are super thin," said Marie, "The cello was the only string instrument ever tried to play, and these strings definitely can't take as much force as that. Let me try again."

Marie placed the violin to her chin once more, and proceeded to draw the bow across the strings in a much gentler manner. To her surprise, she was able to draw a tone from the violins open e string.

"That's better," said Marie as she proceeded to slowly draw the bow across the strings, attempting to finger notes on the fret board in a cumbersome manner.

May smiled as Marie continued to haphazardly "play" the violin, turning her attention back towards the duffle bag as she did so. The blonde girl proceeded to absentmindedly reach into the back, taking hold of the black picture frame. She then turned it over, exposing the picture contained within; an action that immediately caused the girls smile to disappear.

"Um, Marie..." said May in a nervous manner.

"Yeah?" asked Marie as she turned towards her sister.

"Again," said May as she held the picture out towards Marie, "Time number three."

Marie's eyes widened as she laid eyes on the photograph contained within the frame, lowering the bow away from the violin as she did so. After a few moments of staring, the girls trance was interrupted by the sound of a loud, authoritative, and familiar voice prompting May to place the picture back into the bag and Marie to lower the violin to her side.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

The girls slowly turned towards the door, at which point the spotted the familiar figure of Tabby. The woman had adopted a somewhat angry expression, staring towards her daughters as she cradled a smoldering cigarette in her hand.

"Nothing," said May in a sheepish manner.

Tabby took a draw of her cigarette as she began to walk towards the girls.

"It don't look like nothin'," said Tabby, "Looks like you're going through Aunt Katie's stuff without her permission. I thought I taught you girls better than that?"

The two girls shared nervous expressions as Tabby approached, lowering her voice while continuing to speak in an authoritative manner.

"Put it all back where you found it, and get your asses back in the house," said Tabby.

The two girls nodded as Tabby took another draw from her cigarette, watching to ensure that the girls returned Katie's belongings to their proper position. However, the women's calm demeanor completely disappeared as soon as she spotted the object held in Marie's hand. She adopted an expression of express, dropping her cigarette as she placed her hand across her mouth.

"Oh my God," said Tabby in a slow manner.

"What?" asked Marie, taking notice that Tabby was staring at the violin, "This?"

"LET ME SEE THAT!" yelled Tabby at the top of her lungs, snatching the violin from Marie's hand. She proceeded to hold it up towards the ceiling, examining the back in a meticulous manner. After identifying a previously unknown symbol stamped on he back of the instrument, Tabby began to speak once again.

"Jesus Christ..." said Tabby in a calm manner.

"Mom?" asked May, "Are you alright?"

Tabby paused for a few moments, after which she turned back towards the girls.

"Now listen to me," said Tabby, "If I catch either of youse going through anything of mine, or Aunt Katie's without permission again, you will not leave the house AND be banned from seeing the Eds for the rest of the summer. This violin is worth more than either of you got in your allowance in your entire lives, in more ways than one, and I will not have you ruining anyone's belongs OR disrespecting your aunt...Do you understand?"

The girls remained silent, at which point Tabby decided to reassert her point.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" yelled Tabby.

"Yes," said both girls.

"Good," said Tabby as she removed a few dollars from her pocket book, "Now, why don't you two go down to the corner store and pick up some milkshakes. I'll take care of things here."

The girls delivered a nervous nod, at which point they slowly made their way out the door, down the stairs, and out of the trailer. As they did so, Tabby gently returned the violin to its case, placed it and it's co-belongings back in the duffle bag, and closed its zipper. After a few moments of pondering, the red headed woman emitted a slight growl, at which point she proceeded to make her way downstairs and out of the door in an angry manner.