Authors Note
A new chapter, really?
Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is indeed a new chapter of Unfinished Business. Finally, after a few weeks of brainstorming, I seem to have nearly nailed the outline for the completion of this story, or should I say at least the near term. I truly hope that I can return to updating at the pace that I had while writing Miracles and Mistletoes.
This is going to be so much fun; the season is changing here in Philly, my Nova just got repainted (factory firethorn metallic (dark red)) and it is a great time to be alive. I look forward to finishing this story, and continuing to bring you content related to this fanon.
Without further ado, let's continue the story. Here's chapter 56!
Chapter 56
Almost a days time had passed since the Kanker family had departed their dear friend Rodeeia's Georgia home. With Lee sharing the driving duty, the family had covered a substantial amount of ground the previous day, stopping only at night to rest in their beloved trailer.
The sun had risen several hours ago, ushering in a brand new day in the American south. After spending the night in a small road side camp ground, and a nice breakfast at the adjacent diner, the Kankers were fully recharged and ready to continue their journey to Texas.
Accordingly, the family had once again piled into Rods truck, and had spent their morning traveling briskly down a wide, semi-rural freeway. After several hours of open road driving, the Kankers had finally found themselves at the border of the lone star state, mere hours away from their final destination.
By this time, old man hunger had once again caught up the six traveling ladies; accordingly, Tabby had decided to exit the freeway to seek out a suitable culinary establishment. Eventually, they had managed to find a small shopping center, containing several small "mom and pop" shops, a fast food restaurant, and a large, well-known chain department store (serving as the anchor tenant). In the interest of convenience, the Kankers and Lindsay had mutually decided to grab a few burgers from the fast food restaurant; after short trip through the drive thru, and taking up post in one of the free parking spaces, they enjoyed their meals in the throws of Rods truck.
The current time, as displayed on the digital clock above the trucks radio, was 11:36. The sun was shining brightly, its golden rays easily basking the entirety of the asphalt parking lot thanks to a nearly cloudless sky. The family had finished up their meals nearly an hour ago; however, the red truck had still not yet vacated its current position.
By this time, the population within the truck had been reduced from six to three. Marie and May had taken their seats on opposite sides of the back bench, both girls dividing their time between texting their boyfriends, and staring out the window. Tabby had taken her place in the drivers seat, resting her left arm on the door rest. She had lowered the window, allowing the fumes of the smoldering cigarette she held between her fingers to exit the vehicle unobstructed. The somewhat heavyset woman sat still, maintaining an irritated expression as she took puffs in roughly thirty second intervals. Interestingly, the remaining three women, Lee, Lindsay, and Katie were nowhere to be found.
Eventually, Tabby took notice of the time on the clock, rolling her eyes as she began speaking with an inflection of irritation.
"An hour..." said Tabby, taking a drag of her cigarette, "Seriously, how long does it take her to pick out a new dress?"
"Well, you did tell Aunt Katie she could pick out anything she wanted with the money you gave her," said May, "Maybe there's a bigger selection than you thought."
"I told her to pick out something presentable so she doesn't embarrass me in front of my in-laws," said Tabby, "The occasional red eyes are bad enough, I don't need her seeing Granny and Grampa for the first time in fifteen years wearing dirty pajamas and a torn t-shirt."
"What you mean is, you don't have the heart to let her keep wearing those dirty clothes," said Marie, adopting a sly grin as she did so.
"I guess that's a nicer way to put it," said Tabby turning her eyes toward the store, "I sent Tiffany in there with her to try to speed things up, seeing as how she has an eye for that sort of thing. Knowing her, she's probably trying a few things on for herself."
"Probably," said Marie.
"Yeah," said May in a somewhat dopey manner, adopting a smile, attempting to initiate a running gag, "So you sent in Lee to make sure neither of them didn't get distracted."
May giggled as Tabby took another drag of her cigarette.
"No," said Tabby, "I sent Annalee in to make sure that $100.00 gets spent on what it is supposed to be spent on."
May and Marie shared a confused glance.
"What do you mean, mom?" asked Marie.
"Aunt Katie is a drug addict," said Tabby, "Even though she has been clean from illegal drugs, she could unfortunately relapse at any time. She could run off with the money and attempt to buy drugs. Lee is street smart enough to recognize if this is happening and stop it."
"Aunt Katie would never steal from us," said May.
"Believe me," said Tabby, "I know she wouldn't ever want to, and if she were completely clean, she would never even think about doing it. But drugs, especially the ones she is addicted to, are a very powerful thing, and the power of addiction can turn a upstanding citizen into criminal at the drop of a hat."
Tabby paused.
"Aunt Katie assures me she has never stolen from anyone to get a fix," said Tabby, "I believe she is telling the truth, but you can never be too trusting. For her sake, and for the sake of my wallet, it is best to monitor her whenever money is involved. A heroin addict will not hesitate to thieve if they become desperate enough, even it means robbing from the ones they love most."
Tabby took another puff.
"Drugs are the worst thing on this planet as far as I'm concerned," said Tabby, "They destroy lives in so many ways. It's not just the health of the user that's affected, but also the mental health of the family forced to watch addiction change their loved ones. They also promote crime, affecting the store owner who's paycheck gets lifted during a robbery, or the old lady who can't buy milk and bread that week because some junkie robbed her for a fix. It's sad really."
At the conclusion of her statement, Tabby flicked the used butt of her cigarette out the window. After running her fingers through her hair, she gazed into the trucks rear view mirror, meeting eyes with her two daughters.
"So," asked Tabby, "While we are waiting for the three amigos, you got any more questions ya wanna ask?"
Throughout the morning drive, the Kanker girls had taken turns asked their elder family members questions about their the lives as children. This had, of course, resulted in the sharing of several humorous stories about Tabby and Katie's childhood in the city, as well as fun facts about their older relatives that were previously unknown.
The girls, quite excited about learning more about their mother and her life, pondered their thought for a few moments. Eventually, May decided to pose a spur-of-the moment question.
"Here's something I've been wondering," said May, "How come Lee has really bad nearsightedness and needs glasses all the time like Poppy did, but you don't?"
"Come on May, that's such a stupid question." said May.
"It's not stupid at all," said Tabby, "It just comes down to genetics; all of the Kankers have eye issues. I have issues reading in low light conditions, and probably should go to the doctor to get reading glasses to help with it. It's not nearly as severe as Annalee's or Poppy's, but it can be annoying."
Tabby paused.
"Aunt Katie is also near sighted enough to need glasses like Annalee," said Tabby, "She just doesn't wear them because, well she doesn't have them. I have no idea how she can even function without them. When she was little, she had custom made prescription sunglasses that she wore instead of normal glasses. Everyone thought she never took them off for just style, but they were in fact corrective lenses. She just had to have that goofy eccentric flare as usual."
There was a small pause, at which point Marie decided to pose a question of her own.
"My turn," said Marie, "Personal question...When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?"
There was a slight pause as Tabby gathered her thoughts.
"Well, as you know when I was really little, I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer," said Tabby, "But I quickly realized that ballet was really more of a hobby, and I would never be able to make a true career out of it."
Tabby took a breath, pondering her next stamens prior to continuing.
"As I got older, like around middle school age, I actually wanted to be a carpenter for a while," said Tabby, " I loved building stuff like forts, and doing wood projects with Poppy in the basement. One of my dreams was to eventually build my own fishing boat."
"Really?," asked Marie, "That's awesome!
"Yep," said Tabby, "I used to watch all of the woodworking shows with Poppy on Sunday mornings, and we'd build replicas of some of the projects on occasion. It was a lot of fun, and very relaxing. But, as much as I loved carpentry, it too was merely a hobby. By the time I reached tenth grade, I had finally decided on an actual career goal."
Tabby hesitated for a few moments, lowering the center console for a brief moment to stow her cigarettes inside. As she lifted the center console back to its raised position, Marie decided to chime in
"Well, don't keep us in suspense," said Marie, "What did you want to be?"
Tabby sighed.
"I wanted to be a nurse," said Tabby.
"A nurse?" asked Marie and May simultaneously.
"Yep," said Tabby, "I've never talked about it before, but I've wanted to be a nurse since I was around twelve years old. Tiffany's mom broke her arm over the summer trying to skateboard, and had to spend a few days in the hospital while she healed. I really enjoyed how nice the nurses were, and I was fascinated by all of the equipment they used to get the job done. That, combined with the fact that I really liked helping my friends when they got hurt sealed the deal."
"Wow Mom, that's amazing," said Marie, "I had no idea."
"How come you never told us?", asked May.
Tabby paused.
"I guessed I was embarrassed that I didn't have the grit to achieve my goals," said Tabby, "I was a decent student, but once tenth grade rolled around I guess I lost sight of everything...for one reason or another. That's why I try so hard to encourage you girls to follow your dreams, and never take no for an answer. Don't let anyone ever stop you from living, no matter what they do, especially if they are trying to make you feel bad about yourself. The people that do things like that simply feel bad about themselves, and wish to make others feel just as miserable as they are. Caving into the pressure is the same thing as allowing them to win."
Tabby emitted a slight sigh.
"Although," said Tabby, "Perhaps dealing with that nonsense and dropping out of school was a blessing in disguise. You girls might have not have been here if things didn't turn out the way they did."
After another small bought of silence, the red headed woman continued on with her story.
"Either way, that dream is long gone," said Tabby, "I thank God to be fortunate enough to have earned the credentials to be a dental hygienist, and have an opportunity work in the medical field in any capacity."
"You could still be a nurse," said May, "All's ya have to do is go back to school, I guess...is that how they train nurses?"
"How else would they train them, nimrod?," said Marie, "I agree, you should totally do it Mom. You do look good in scrubs."
Marie and May shared a giggle, at which Tabby uttered a few words under her breath.
"It would be a dream come true," said Tabby, "But there's more important aspects of my life to fix right now."
At the conclusion of her statement, Tabby's eyes were suddenly drawn towards the store as they detected movement. She soon spotted the familiar frames of her eldest daughter, walking nearly hand-in-hand with her distinctively tall best friend; Lee displaying her typical neutral expression, while Lindsay smiled in a cheerful manner. From behind the girls, Tabby could make out the shape of her younger sister, her red curls disappearing in and out of view as the two girls swung their arms in stride. She was positioned as if she were meant to be hidden from view, as if the girls had planned to stage an official reveal of her new outfit as they came closer to the truck.
Within seconds, the girls had approached the passenger side of the truck, coming to a stop a few feet away from the vehicle. As they did so, Lindsay began speaking, smiling exuberantly as her feminine voice resonated through the air, easily reaching the interior of the truck due to the windows being rolled down.
"Ladies," said Lindsay, "Please allow me to introduce you to the all new, Kathryn Kanker!"
At the conclusion of their statement, the two girls parted as if they were a stage curtain, finally revealing the thin frame of Katie. She attempted to pose as if she were a model, bending her right knee slightly and bringing it in front of her left while placing her hands on her hips. She had in fact donned a brand new outfit, one quite fitting of her eccentric and flamboyant persona; a long, nearly floor length sundress, in a style commonly known as a sarong. It was light blue in color, with a single large strap passing over her left shoulder, leaving her freckled right shoulder and upper chest visible. Several roses, pink in color, lined the top boundary of the dress in a repeating pattern, accompanying several larger versions of pink rose that peppered the remainder of the sarong. The dress had many layers, each fold layered over the last and flowing gently in the summer breeze. In her feet, she had donned a pair of matching green flat shoes. Her hair, while still quite frizzy and unkempt, was now accented with two additional accessories; a flower beret, similar to those worn by women in Hawaii, and a pair of white designer sunglasses, worn not on her eyes, but up on her forehead as a fashion statement. Though the young woman's eyes still appeared quite red and saggy, the wide toothy currently smile adorning her face seemed to signify an undeniable bliss.
Katie remained still for a few moments, at which point Marie decided to comment.
"Whoah," said Marie, "Lookin good Aunt Katie."
"A complete transformation," said May.
"The sunglasses bring the whole look together," said Lindsay, using her long fingers to point to her own pair of forehead mounted sunglasses, "Just ask the expert."
"Thanks girls," said Katie adopting a somewhat saddened expression as she took hold of her sunglasses, gazing upon them as she spoke, "They aren't my glasses, but they sure do look cool."
Katie repositioned the sunglasses back on her forehead, and turned back towards the truck. She proceeded to switch poses, placing her right hand on her head and her left on her hip, turning her head towards Tabby while adopting a sultry expression,
"I'm ready for my close up, Ms. Kanker." said Katie, in a vocal intonation reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe.
The younger girls giggled as Tabby rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, you clean up nice," said Tabby as she leaned across the front bench seat, popping the door open by pulling on the inner handle, "Just get in the truck already Spaz. I told Maelynn we'd be there by this afternoon, and I don't need anything else holding us up."
"Whatever you say, sis!" said Katie, after which she and the remainder of the girls piled into the truck, intent on completing their journey to the Lonergan house.