Chapter 53

Three hours had passed since the Kanker convoy had departed Rodeeia's house. After a few miles of of stop-and-go traffic due to typical morning rush hour traffic, the truck/trailer combination passed onto a large bridge, exiting Kingsburg and entering the state turnpike.

The vehicle was currently cruising down the turnpike at a comfortable 60 mph, putting the black asphalt of the open road behind it at a rapid pace. On this particular morning, Tabby had finally allowed Lee to share the driving duties, seemingly forgiving her for the incident regarding her own vehicles transmission. Despite minimal experience with driving the much larger truck, and the added complexity of hauling the trailer, Lee was able to handle the vehicle quite well (though she did maintain her hands at ten and two, rather than her usual single hand at twelve o'clock.)

With regards to the remaining seating, May had once again taken her place in the middle front seat, with Tabby riding shotgun. Lindsay seated herself behind Tabby, with Marie taking up a position behind the driver's seat; Katie had taken her place between the two.

As the truck continued down the freeway, Marie decided to initiate a conversation, breaking the silence that had permeated the vehicle for the last ten minutes.

"Well that was a nice little stop," said Marie, "It was so cool to finally meet Mama Dae, especially after all of the stories you told us about her."

"Yeah," said May, "And it was even more fun to hear about all of the wild and crazy stuff you did as a kid!"

Tabby rolled her eyes as Katie giggled.

"Right," said Tabby in a sarcastic manner, "Fun stuff. Like the time Aunt Katie nearly killed us trying to make a "new and improved" mouse repellent for Mommy?"

"Oh calm down," said Katie, "The smell only lingered for two weeks. Not a bad trade off to get rid of the mice!"

"Wait, what?" asked Marie, "Aunt Katie invented a mouse repellant?"

"Oh yes, she invented a mouse repellant," said Tabby, "Dipshit back there did her research and found out rats are afraid of mice, and will not come anywhere near an area where they smell a rats scent. Long story short, she created a wonderful concoction meant to smell like rat piss and spread it around the house while we were away."

"Wow," said May, "Did it work?"

"It depends," said Tabby, "It scared the mice away, but Madam Curie failed to realize that the humans living in the house would be able to smell it too."

"That's what you call a marketing trade off!" said Katie in an enthusiastic voice, "Besides, you Mommy...you and Mommy were the ones constantly complaining about the cute little guys. You should have been like me and just made friends with them, but you wouldn't even want to touch them because you were so afraid."

The three Kanker sisters emitted a simultaneous ooooh.

"Hold it, I ain't ever said I was scared," said Tabby, "I just didn't want them in the house...filthy sewer animals."

Katie giggled.

"Oh she's afraid alright," said Katie, "I tried to show her that they were harmless, cute little fur balls, but little miss scaredy cat would just run upstairs and hide in her room every time I tried to introduce them to her."

The girls giggled once again.

"Wow Mom," said Lee in a playful manner, "I didn't know you were afraid of mice. Now I got myself some leverage on ya."

"Oh yeah?" asked Tabby as she turned towards Lee with a playful smile, "You just better watch yourself, I might be afraid of mice, but I ain't afraid of roaches!"

The remaining girls emitted a giggle at Lee's expense, at which point Tabby decided to continue.

"Alright, enough about that," said Tabby, "Time to get back to business. We still have around a week and a half until we are due back home, so it looks like we still have time for one more big stop. Since this trip is for you girls, how's about I let you choose the next stop. It's not like I have any idea of what there is to do down here in the south anyway."

"Sounds great Mom," said Lee, "But unfortunately, I don't have any ideas."

"Hmm," said Marie, "We could go visit the Alamo when we hit Texas. Double Dee always talks about wanting to see it someday."

At the sound of Double Dee's name, the remaining girls proceeded to sigh all at once, murmuring words such as "we're on summer vacation" and "too educational" as they did so.

"Hey, it was just a suggestion," said Marie as she folded her arms, "It's not like anyone else has any good ideas."

There was a slight pause, at which point May adopted a small smile.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" said May in an exuberant manner, "Let's go visit Granny's house!"

Tabby rolled her eyes.

"Oh God no," said Tabby in a quiet manner.

"Oh yeah, great idea May!" said Marie, "We haven't seen Daddy's family since Christmas, and in all these years since they moved back to Texas we've never been down to visit the new ranch."

"No," said Tabby once again in a deadpan manner

"C'mon Tabitha," said Katie, leaning forward in her seat, "Granny Maelynn makes the best cookies in the country, and how could you deny the girls the opportunity to see their Grandma?"

"The answer is no," said Tabby, "Roddy can bring you and the girls to see her if he wants, but I am not going anywhere near that woman. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about being in the same room as her."

"C'mon mom, we're here anyway!" said Lee, "Besides, you did say we get to pick the next stop, right?"

There was a slight pause, at which point all of the woman in the vehicle began chanting "Granny's House" in a repetitive and playful manner, pounding their fists in the direction of Tabby as they did so. Eventually, the red headed woman decided to cave in.

"Alright, alright geez we'll go see Granny and Grampa," said Tabby, "But you better not cry when you see your mother die from a premature heart attack."

The remaining women emitted a slight cheer, prompting Lee to make her next proposition.

"Punch in the address to the GPS, May," said Lee, "I'm ready to roll!"

"Granny's house, here we come!" said May as she opened the map app on her phone, giggling happily as she did so.

As these events unfolded within the cool air conditioned interior of Rods truck, all was calm back in the business sector of the small town of Kingsburg. Most of the residents of the town had already left for work, leaving the streets and business parking lots relatively devoid of pedestrians and vehicles.

The sun reflected brightly off of the black asphalt covering a four lane street, which acted as the main avenue through the small town. Several fast food restaurants, businesses, and mini-malls lined the street, with each ones lot containing a large pavilion advertising its unique establishments. Within one of these parking lots was a strip mall containing five businesses: a supermarket, a billiard hall, a convenience store, a pizzeria, and a small family owned beauty parlor.

Within the convince store, the mysterious Mingxia had found her way toward the center of the store, where several pots of coffee and hot water had been arranged, surrounded by cups of various sizes. The beautiful woman had just finished pouring a helping of steaming water into a medium sized cup, and was currently pondering the wide selection of teas placed before her on an ornate rack. After a few moments, the black haired woman made her selection, placing the tea bag into her drink, after which she applied three three packs of sugar to her drink, smiling gently as she did so.

However, the woman's placid moment was quickly interrupted as the sound of a man's shouting began to fill the air, a deep voice with strong intonations of a southern accent. She turned her attention towards the sales counter, spotting the source of the noise. Standing in front of the counter was a man of average height and build, wearing a blue t-shirt, jeans and work boots. His face was adorned with a grey "horseshoe" mustache, with a small soul patch gracing the underside of his lip. On his head was a blue baseball cap, displaying the words United State Navy.

Behind the counter stood a young lady, who appeared to be of middle eastern descent. The woman appeared quite confused as she too shouted in an indistinct manner, pointing in the direction of the rear storeroom.

"What the hell is this?" yelled the man, "I come into this store everyday for coffee and usually receive excellent service, but here you are making me wait for lottery tickets? And not only that, but you won't even speak to me. What the fuck is this country getting to, Jesus Christ I just want..."

Mingxia continued to observe from afar as the man continued on his tirade, stirring her tea as she decided to comment to herself in a bubbly manner.

"Oh my," said Mingxia, "Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I suppose I should intervene."

Mingxia proceeded to discard her stirrer, after which she placed the lid on the cup. She then took hold of her beverage, emitting a slight sigh as she did so.

In a matter of seconds, Mingxia found herself behind the angry man, who had not ceased shouting for over a minute. However, he was soon silenced as Mingxia decided to interrupt, speaking in a smooth, gentle voice.

"Excuse me sir," said Mingxia, "Pardon my interruption, but I couldn't help but notice your anger showing from all the way across the store. Is there some some sort of problem that needs to be addressed?"

"Your damn right there's a problem lady!" said the man as he performed a hitchhikers thumb towards the young lady behind the counter, "I gotta get back to work in five minutes, and this new girl they got doesn't even know how to print lottery tickets. This store used to be known for service, especially when Kaysar worked here. That guy knew how to run a business."

"I see," said Mingxia, turning her attention towards a few of the photographs adorning the wall behind the sales counter. The pictures depicted depicted several generations of the proprietors family, smiling happily as they enjoyed each other's company. In addition, one of the frames contained the image of the flag of their country of origin, an image which seemed to spring an idea into Mingxia's head.

"Perhaps I can assist," said Mingxia at which point she turned her attention to the young lady behind the counter. She then began to speak in a highly polite manner, evident despite the fact that the words emitting from the woman's mouth were not that of the English language, but rather those of Arabic.

The man watched with astonishment as Mingxia finished addressing the young woman, who proceeded to respond in a similar fashion, pointing towards the rear of the store as she did so. As she completed her response, she handed Mingxia a set of lottery tickets from under the counter; Mingxia simply thanked her, after which she turned towards the man, handing him the tickets with a smile.

"That will be five seventy five," said Mingxia in a bubbly manner, "In the future, it would be beneficial to you to exercise patience prior to escalating your emotions. This young lady is Kaysar's niece, and she is working here over the summer as an assistant. Kaysar is currently in the back of the store accepting an order, and will be back out in five minutes. She has apologized for her broken English, she was attempting to try to explain these facts to you, but you would not let her get a word in edge wise."

Mingxia paused examining the man for a few moments, at which point she adopted a small smile.

"I am quite surprised," said Mingxia, "You more than anyone should know the power of discipline, integrity, and patience. What is it they say, 'always strong, always courageous'?"

The man rolled his eyes.

"I appreciate the help lady," said the man as he placed his cash into the counter, "But what could you possibly know about any of that?"

Mingxia giggled.

"I suppose appearances can be quite deceiving," said Mingxia at which point she took hold of one side of her coat, proceeding to open it slightly in a manner that exposed the interior lining.

The man's eyes widened with surprised as the interior of Mingxia's coat came into view, seemingly in awe at whatever was displayed within. The stern man remained completely silent, slowly removing his baseball cap and placing it over his heart as he stared up into Mingxia's blue eyes.

"The only easy day was yesterday," said Mingxia as she closed her coat, bowing towards the man as she did so, "You have a blessed day kind sir, and thank you for your service."

At the conclusion of her statement, Mingxia payed the cashier, turned away from the man, and began to make her way out of the store. The now astonished man simply observed her exit, placing his ball cap back onto his head as he paid for his precious lottery tickets.

Around fifteen minutes had passed since Mingxia has secured her tea. The tall beautiful woman had found her way to another business establishment, located two doors down from the convince store; a small beauty parlor.

The interior decor of said beauty parlor was quite typical of an establishment of its type. The front facade, which consisted almost entirely of glass, was decorated with two large photographs of female models, displaying the latest fashionable hairstyles. Inside, the light green walls of the waiting area were decorated with similar posters, accenting the black and white tile floor. A large black shelf separated the waiting area from the stylists chairs, on which sat rows upon rows of shampoos, conditioners, and other products, placed there as temptation for purchase by satisfied customers.

A row of six chairs lined the left wall of the small business, providing a space for those waiting to receive service to relax as they did so. Within one of these chairs Mingxia had taken a seated position. She had crossed her legs in a feminine manner as she cradled an open magazine in her left hand, diligently scanning its words as she enjoyed her tea.

After a few minutes of relaxation, Mingxia's attention was drawn away from the magazine by the loud sound of a pair of high heels, clicking on the tile floor in a drumbeat-like fashion. Her eyes widened as a pair of sky blue, "peep toe pumps" came into view from around the corner, stopping just in front of her position. Her eyes continued to scan upward, taking notice of the wearers beautifully shaped legs, the upper portions of which were hidden by the dangling drapes of a hot pink dress. The dress was quite form-fitting, but did not expose any portions of the wearers bust; it lacked straps but sported flashy sleeves of a similar color, attached to the dress by the armpit area, exposing the wearers upper chest and shoulders (female readers, help this man out with this description!)

Continuing upward, Mingxia eventually spotted the familiar face of her comrade Edyta who had appeared to have received quite the stunning makeover. Her hair, which had previously been tied into a small single ponytail, hung loose in a short, carefully styled 1950s bob. The auburn strands extended to the area of her jaw line, it's normally spiky texture tamed with hairspray and made to stylishly flare outward near the ends. On her ears were a pair of large gold hoop earrings, accenting the flashy necklace and bracelet gracing her neck and wrist.

"How do I look?" asked Edyta as raised her right hand towards her hair, patting the bottom of it as she smiled in a radiant fashion.

Mingxia placed her magazine on the table, rising to her feet as she once again gazed upon Edyta's new figure.

"Ravishing Edyta," said Mingxia, "You look exactly same as you did fourteen years ago!"

"That is plan," said Edyta as she gazed into the mirror, "I figure it is time to get back to roots in celebration of retaking control of life. I used to hate hair, impossible to style with strange texture. I always wish I have pretty curls like Cierzina or Szalony, or even nice blonde waves like Kijjy, but alas I am stuck with unique texture, so I must make best of situation."

"And indeed you have," said Mingxia, "You are indeed a woman of solid sex appeal...despite being a member if the itty bitty titty committee!"

Mingxia giggled to herself as Edyta rolled her eyes.

"Don't act so high and mighty," said Edyta, "You have no tit to speak of either!"

"I suppose you've got me there, Edyta!" said Mingxia as she emitted another small giggle.

"Alright," said Edyta as she began walking towards the door, "Enough jokes, I have most important business to attend to."

Mingxia remained silent for a few moments, adopting a neutral expression as she did so.

"Are you sure, Edyta?" asked Mingxia.

Edyta sighed.

"Very sure," said Edyta, "This is next step towards dealing with past, and destroying those who have destroyed my life. It is time for me to finally take charge."

Edyta turned towards Mingxia.

"I ask that I see her alone," said Edyta, "Please wait in car, but if anything should happen to endanger us..."

"Do not worry," said Mingxia, "I have no doubt that all will proceed as planned."

The two women shared a brief smile, after which they proceeded to exit the store. They disappeared into their vehicle, a white 1998 Nissan Maxima, with Mingxia taking the driver's seat and Edyta riding shotgun. With a turn of the key, the engine roared to life, allowing the vehicle to exit the parking lot, shuttling the two women to their next destination.