Authors Note:
Well, we're back with another small anecdote based on the original origins projects. This time, its the Kankers evening routine.
Thank you all that do read, I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
Good Night Baby Sisters
It was late afternoon, the time for the sun to begin to make it's exit over the the distant mountains. A modest sized red pickup truck had just pulled up to the front of the apartment building served as the Kanker's main home, it's rims shining under the pink houses of the sun. One by one, the girls exited the vehicle and began making their way towards the ground level door leading to the stairs to their upstairs apartment. Their father Rod, a blonde mustached man of relatively average proportions, followed suit, as he had decided to escort them upstairs. The group reached the top landing, at which point Rod gave a courtesy knock on the wooden door. He opened the door shortly after, and he and the three girls made their way inside.
"Mommy, we're home!" yelled Annalee.
The girl's mother, Tabitha, who was typically referred to by the shortened version of her name "Tabby", peered her head around the refrigerator at the sound of her daughters voice with a smile.
"There are my girls." said Tabby, "How was school?"
"Good" said all three girls simultaneously.
"Great" said Tabby, "I'm finishing up the hot dogs, they should be ready in a few."
Rod peered down at his daughters with a smile.
"Didn't you girls have something you wanted to show to Mommy?" asked Rod.
The girls had nearly forgot about the card they had made for their mothers birthday, as it took a few moments for them to register exactly what Rod was talking about. It was Annemarie who finally took the initiative.
"Oh yeah," said Annemarie as she dropped her back pack on the floor, she quickly unzipped the front pouch and removed a yellow card from the pocket. She ran over to her mother and placed it in her hand.
"Here you go Mommy," said Annemarie.
Tabby examined the front of the card. On the front was a picture of a ballerina in a pink dress, drawn by Annemarie and colored by Annamae. She opened the card to reveal some words written by Annalee:
Happy Birthday Mommy,
Love,
Annalee, Annemarie and Annamae.
Tabby closed the card with a smile.
"Thank you girls," said Tabby, "That was very sweet."
The group stood in silence for a couple of seconds, after which Rod decided to speak.
"Girls," said Rod, "Why don't you go in the living room and put on the dvd of "The Ice Princess" while you are waiting for dinner."
Tabby glanced towards Rod with a look of concern; it was obvious that his suggestion was a means for him to get the girls out of the room so that he could talk to Tabby in private. Almost instantaneously, a smile filled the girls faces as they obliged and made their way to the console television set. Annemarie and Annamae took a seat on the floor in front of the tv, as Annalee retrieved the DVD from the shelf, and placed it into the player to start the movie.
When Rod was sure the girls were out of listening range, he turned towards Tabby. Tabby had retrieved a cigarette from the pack she had kept sitting on the kitchen table, and placed it in her mouth. She cupped her hand over the end as she flicked the flint on her lighter while puffing, eventually igniting the cigarette. She took a draw, after which she removed the cigarette from her mouth, placing it between the index and middle finger of her right hand. She blew the exhaust from her mouth as she glanced towards her daughters sitting in the living room.
"Tab" said Rod, "While the girls were coloring on the porch, Ms. McKinstry discovered a huge bruise on Annemarie's face near her right eye and some serious cuts on Annalee's ears."
Tabby continued staring towards the living room with a somber expression.
"I think it's happening to them." said Rod, "The stories you told me about your childhood when you were in school. I think they are being bullied Tab, someone is intentionally hurting them."
Tabby took a puff of her cigarette, after which she sighed.
"I know." she said.
"You know?" asked Rod, "So you talked to someone at the school already?"
"No", said Tabby, "It will only make things worse."
"What do you mean it will only make things worse?" said Rod, his voice with a tinge of anger, but soft spoken as to not alert the girls, "What could be worse than them being assaulted?"
Tabby glanced towards Rod, her face remaining neutral.
"If we talk to the school, they will talk to the parents." said Tabby, "The kids will then call them tattle tales and the bullying will only get worse."
"So we are just going to do nothing while someone is hurting our girls?" yelled Rod.
"I'm doing the best I can." said Tabby, "What else am I supposed to do, if they lived with you and went to the school in your neighborhood it would be the same. We can't help them."
"What do you mean we can't help them!" yelled Rod, "We're their parents god damn it!"
"What are we supposed to do Rod!" yelled Tabby, "I lived through this, I know what it's like, do you think I want this happening to them!?"
"All's I know is my daughter came home from school with her ears bleeding because somebody twisted them!" said Rod with a stern look on his face. "And whether you like it or not, I am going to do something about it!"
"What by making them a bigger target!?" yelled Tabby, "You know the way of the street, and the whole "snitches get stitches" rule, you're just as much of a stubborn asshole as you've always been!"
"I'm a stubborn asshole!?" yelled Rod, "If you and your mother would have just let me handle it, we would have had the girls out of this mess and still been..."
Rod stopped mid sentence; in the midst of their conversation he had not realized that his voice had escalated to the point of yelling. Sensing their presence, he turned towards the entrance to the living room to find all three of his daughters standing in the doorway with somber looks on their faces. He turned towards Tabby, who had a neutral yet somewhat irritated look on her face, after which he turned his attention back towards the girls. He walked towards them and kneeled down in front of them.
"I've have to go now." said Rod, "I had a lot of fun coloring with you today, so much that how's about you girls come over again on Friday. I'll pick you up from school, and you can sleep over my house. We'll have a big giant breakfast with pancakes in the morning. What do you think?"
The three girls disheartened expressions changed into smiles as all three nodded their heads up and down. Rod smiled.
"Sounds like a plan." said Rod, he leaned towards Annalee and kissed her on the forehead.
"One for Reds." he said, as Annalee smiled. He turned towards Annemarie and delivered a kiss to her forehead.
"One for Smelly!". Annemarie giggled at the nickname he had bestowed upon her out of playfulness.
Finally, he delivered a kiss to his youngest daughter.
"And one for my Baby Doll" said Rod.
Rod hugged all three girls, after which he stood up and walked towards Tabby. He leaned into her face with a somewhat angry expression and whispered into her ear.
"I'm not going to call the school." said Rod, "I agree that it may make things worse. But I'll be damned if I let my daughters keep having to put up with being assaulted on a daily basis."
Rod paused for a few seconds before continuing.
"I'm taking the girls every other day after school for the next few weeks. If the diplomatic approach isn't going to work, it's time I taught them some lessons I learned during my time in the service so they can handle their problems themselves."
Rod turned towards the door, and placed his hand on the golden handle. He turned towards Tabby to deliver a few final words.
"At least I am willing to help find a solution."
Tabby ground her teeth, her feelings hurt by Rods words. She was planning to retort with some hurtful words of her own, but retrained herself due to the presence of her daughters.
Rod turned towards his daughters with a smile on his face.
"See you later girls!" said Rod, "I can't wait to see you again on Friday!"
"Bye Daddy!" yelled all three girls simultaneously.
Rod opened the door, stepped out onto the landing, and closed it behind him. Tabby remained staring at the door in what seemed like deep thought for a few seconds, after which she turned towards the three little girls standing in the doorway. Tabby, holding back tears, decided to speak.
"Okay girls," said Tabby, "Go watch the Ice Princess while I finish the hotdogs. I'll be in in a minute to watch it with you while we eat."
The girls turned around, not saying a word, and made their way back into their original positions at the start of the movie. Tabby returned to kitchen to tend to the hotdogs, finally allowing the tears she was holding in to stream down her face once she was out of the girls line of sight.
Twenty minutes since Rod had made his exit. Ms. Kanker had finished preparing the hot dogs, and was currently sitting on the pink sofa, which was furnished with cloth covered in a repeated pattern of flowers. Her three daughters sat in front of her enjoying their meal. The family had hotdogs often for dinner, and while Annalee and Annemarie were somewhat sick of them, Annamae could not get enough of them. Accordingly, she had already finished the two she had on her plate, well before both of her sisters who were halfway through the first.
Tabby was currently enjoying a magazine as all three of her daughters sat glued to their movie, The Ice Princess, an animated movie made by a world famous company specializing in classic children's musicals. On screen, the title character was currently singing her signature song "Let it Flow." Annalee was sitting on the floor "Indian style", her chin resting on her hands with a smile on her face, while Annemarie laid on her stomach next to her, doodling on a piece of paper as they watched the movie. Annamae was standing on her feet, pirouetting as she imitated the ice princesses hand motions on screen while singing the song.
After the song was over, Annamae sat down next to her sisters, smiling and slightly out of breath. She turned to face her siblings and begin speaking.
"When I get big, I want to be just like the ice pwincess." said Annamae.
Annemarie continued drawing, as Annalee turned towards her little sister.
"What do you mean Annamae?" asked Annalee.
"I want to be pw...pretty just like her" said Annamae, "I'm going to have a beautiful dress, and a big castle that we all can live in!"
Annalee giggled inside at her little sisters optimism and idealistic nature.
"You are already pretty Annamae," said Annalee, "And you are nice, and show love to Annemarie and me, just like the Ice princess loves her sister."
Annamae's smile turned into a frown.
"I'm not pwetty," said Annamae, "You heard what they said in school, my teeth are ugly."
"Hey," said Annalee, "Remember what I said, nothing that they say is true, and we should not even think about her, specially when we are not in school."
"I wish I was like the ice princess," said Annemarie, "But only for her ice powers so I can freeze Brittany. She won't make fun of my eye anymore and be sorry then!"
Annemarie held the picture she was working up towards her sisters. It depicted a cartoonish version of Annemarie holding her arms out, with beams of ice emanating from her hands towards a cartoonish version of another unidentified blonde girl, who was currently being frozen.
"Annemarie," said Annalee, "Remember what I said before, we are no better than them if we we even think about using violence."
As much as she had hated the torment she and her sisters had faced, Annalee knew that she had to continue to try to set her sisters on a path of righteousness, even through the face of adversity. She took the picture off of Annemarie, and threw it over her shoulder.
"Now no more bad thoughts from either of you." said Annalee, "C'mon, let's watch the ice princess, here comes the scene where she dances with the prince for the first time."
The girls sat in silence for a few moments, watching their movie with smiles on their faces. After a while of watching the famous dance scene, Annemarie decided to speak up.
"Annamae might want to be like the ice princess, but when I grow up I'm going to marry a prince" said Annemarie, "He's going to be smart, funny, and he is going to whisk me away from this dumb place."
"I'm going to marry a better prince," said Annamae, "He is going to be weally...really nice, and always laughing, and he is going to eat hotdogs with me all day!"
Annamae turned towards Annalee.
"What's you're prince going to be like Annalee?" asked Annamae in the innocent voice of a small child.
Annalee leaned backwards, placing her hands behind her head as she stared at the ceiling with a smile on her face.
"I dunno." said Annalee, "I think I'll just have to wait until I become a big person to figure that out. But it would be nice if he danced with me on stage, just like on tv."
Annalee turned towards her two sisters, and leaned her head on top of her elbow.
"And who wants to kiss boys anyway?" said Annalee
Both of her sisters made disgusted faces at Annalee's statement, after which the girls shared a giggle.
At that point, Tabby overhearing the girls conversation, placed her magazine down on the coffee table and began to speak.
"Annalee has the right idea." said Tabby, "The longer you girls stay away from boys the better."
Tabby used her lighter to ignite another cigarette, took a puff and exhaled the smoke across the room.
"Take it from me," said Tabby, "Boys are a waste of time. All's you ever need to know is that boys and men are bad and you should never trust them."
All three girls stared at their mother with a slightly disheartened look as she finished her cigarette and used the ash try to put it out.
"Well, it's about time for you girls to go get ready for bed." said Tabby with an inflection of irritation. She rose up off of the couch and proceeded out of the room towards the kitchen, leaving the girls slightly surprised by her sudden exit. After a few moments, Annalee rose up off of floor, turned off the television, and motioned her sisters to their room to prepare for bed.
A few minutes had passed, the girls had finished brushing their teeth and we're now changing into their pajamas for bed. Annalee had already donned her green pajama set, and was currently helping Annamae remove her day shirt as Annemarie continued to dress herself.
As Annalee handed Annamae her pajama top, Annamae decided to start a conversation.
"Is Mommy right when she says that all boys are mean?" asked Annamae.
"Probably," responded Annemarie as she laid down in the bed, placing the covers over her feet, "Every boy we know at school laughs at us when they see us getting teased, so I'd say that she is right."
"I don't think every one of them is mean." said Annalee as she pulled Annamaes pajama top over her head, "Daddy is a boy, and so was Poppy and they are very nice, so you can't say all of them are."
There was silence for a few seconds, after which Annemarie provided a response.
"I guess you're right." said Annemarie, "But I still never want to kiss them!"
Annalee lead Annamae over to the bed and helped her up into the middle position next to Annemarie. She walked over towards the book shelf, retrieved a children's book, and returned to the bed. She nestled herself underneath the covers next to Annamae and opened the book.
"Okay," said Annalee, "Time for a bed time story, just like Poppy used to read to us before he made his trip up to heaven."
Annamae snuggled close to Annalee, her head resting on her shoulder as Annemarie moved closer as well. Annalee read exceptionally well for her age, even changing voices to imitate the characters as she told the story in an attempt to entertain her sisters.
When she finished the story, she glanced down towards her two little sisters, who had fallen fast asleep. With a smile on her face, she uttered a few words prior to shutting out the small lamp next to the bed.
"Good night baby sisters, I love you more than anything."