Chapter 7 – The Dangling Conversation
The alarm rang out its great bell adjacent to Double D's bed just as it had three days before; the meeting between the boy, the sun, and the alarm was once again occurring at its normal time. This time however, the sun was not begging for comfort. Warm spring air whipped around Double D's cracked bedroom window, causing the colder weather of the previous week to seem like a distant memory.
Double D awoke and was quite pleased with the warmer weather, stretching his long arms out and taking in a rather large yawn in the process. His morning rituals commenced: brushing of the teeth, dressing in the typical outfit, and he was off to the kitchen. Of course he noticed the all-too usual yellow post-it note attached to the sleek steel of the refrigerator, and his internal narration read it off:
Dear Eddward,
Thank you for mopping the floor Friday! I''ll be home late tonight, but I've left plenty of groceries for you in the house. Your father will be coming home Friday night, so make sure the house is clean for him. He's looking forward to seeing you!
Love, Momm
"Father's coming home, how delightful!" Double D said to himself as he opened the refrigerator and retrieved a lovely red apple, which he took a crunchy bite from as he walked through the living room and out the door. He then headed over to Eddy's house, enjoying the gorgeous spring morning.
Eddy was actually already awake by the time Double D made it to his glass door. He was dancing around his room, pretending his comb was a microphone as he belted out a tasteful rendition of What's New, Pussycat? by his favorite singer, Tom Jones. The distinctly deep Welsh voice of Tom was overrided with the various squeaks and squeals of Eddy's singing. He leaped atop his bed and commenced to doing this dance that Double D was positive had to be illegal as part of the Geneva Convention.
Double D smirked as he peeped through the door, before laying a sly knock on the glass. Eddy nearly jumped out of his skin at the hearing of the knock, when he flew up and nearly crashed through the ceiling. His three hairs perked up and he whipped around, seeing his friend giggling outside the glass. He ran over, tripping in the process, to slide the door open and let him in.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Double D!" Eddy shouted, "Can't a man just listen to Tom in peace!"
"Apologies Eddy, but I couldn't bear to witness your…gyrations…for much longer. To be quite honest, I would rather look into Ed's window and see him drooling onto his own arm."
"You just don't know sweet moves when you see 'em, Sockhead…" Eddy replied, gathering his book-bag and stopping quickly to look in the mirror. He used his microphone-comb to slick his poor little hairs back and smirked at himself. "Eddy, you are one cool customer…" he said aloud, embarrassingly, before following Double D out his door, sliding it closed behind him.
"I guess we ought to go get Lumpy now, huh?" Eddy said, walking beside Double D.
"Yes, it would be quite convenient, Eddy." Double D responded.
The two arrived and went through their typical schedule with Ed: in through the window; down into the basement; wake Ed up; he gets dressed; they leave.
The bus stop felt a quite bit better on this Monday, for the weather was far more cooperative and a stiff breeze filtered the trees and carried buzzing maple seeds all over, a few clattering around the feet of Eddy.
"Ahhhhh-chooo!" Ed sneezed out, blowing snot in various directions before wiping his nose with his sleeve.
"Bless you Ed, it sounds like you have a terrible case of allergies plaguing you!" Double D cried out, offering his friend a mini-tissue from his satchel-bag.
"No thanks, Double D!" Ed called out, waving his hand in the air, "Got all the tissue I need!" He held up his sleeve with snot now dripping onto the sidewalk.
"I think I might need to bathe now…" Double D responded in a low voice.
"I think I might need to barf!" Eddy said as a made a gagging face and turned away. "Ed you are just gross as hell, you know that!?"
"Not as gross as the slime monster from the eighth dimension, Eddy!" Ed replied, wagging his finger in Eddy's short face.
"Yeah, I'm sure…" Eddy said, shoving his hands down into his pockets.
The bus came and took the three Eds and Jonny to that bastion of learning that Double D had said goodbye to just two days prior. The three Eds went through with their normal morning routines once they entered the building; Double D paid a visit to his pristine locker, Eddy got his chocolate milk, Ed walked around hopelessly. As Double D was headed for his chemistry class, he passed a familiar face as he stepped eagerly down the hall. He spotted the signature blue hair of Marie Kanker, slowly treading down that third-floor hall with a few books in hand.
"Greetings, Marie! I certainly hope your weekend was exciting and that you're ready to get back to the educational learning today!" Double D said, waving his hand in a very happy fashion. Marie slowed down, nervous and shocked at his gregarious display. Did he really just speak to me first? Is he actually trying to make conversation? This really can't be happening; how does he not hate me?
"Oh hey there Double D. The weekend wasn't too bad, a little boring but it was alright. How about yours?" Marie finally responded as she stood next to a set of crudely beaten lockers.
"I'm sorry to hear about the boredom that plagued your weekend, Marie! That must have been quite unpleasant. My weekend did consist of a few neighborhood antics, but I of course was stuck into my books for the most part."
"Ooh, me too!" Marie replied, sporting a slight grin on her face, "It's probably pretty shocking, but I studied a lot over the weekend, especially the stuff that we went over on Friday. It's really starting to make sense now! Thank you so much Double D, I'm really….excited about our next study session today!" Her tone had become incredibly nervous, and her hands were starting to shake slightly. She really hoped that he wouldn't notice.
"That is truly wonderful Marie!" said Double D, smiling large, "I am more than happy to assist you, and I'm very glad that you're taking such an excited approach to this process! I too am looking forward to more study sessions, I find them quite enjoyable as well!"
"Cool, well I'll see ya later then Double D, I gotta get to my locker to drop a few things off…" Marie said, looking to the ground as her statement drifted off.
"Farewell Marie, I shall see you at the end of the day then!" Double D said, giving a hearty wave goodbye before shuffling up the hallway, into his chemistry class for the day. Marie slowly walked down the hallway, feeling almost as if everything had slowed down to a halting pace. The world seemed dizzying and fuzzy, and it confused her to no end.
Double D walked into the room, seeing his favorite teacher in the process. No one else had arrived yet, and Dr. Strickland was incredibly early today. He sat at his fake-wood desk, tapping and bapping at his keyboard and occasionally reaching up to sip from his steaming coffee mug, a simple white mug bearing the Lewis structure for caffeine. Double D shuffled over to take his normal seat towards the front of the room, with the fume hood clattering away in the background.
Dr. Strickland must have been cleaning in here this morning… Double D thought to himself as the heavy odor of ammonia drifted through the air, unaided by the workings of the fume hood. Dr. Strickland always kept a spray-bottle of good old NH3 solution in his room for cleaning lab stations. Strickland was a meticulously clean and organized individual, giving Double D all the more reason to like him.
"Good morning Edd, how was your weekend?" Dr. Strickland awkwardly asked as he peered over his large glasses towards Double D.
"Salutations on this beautiful morning, Dr. Strickland! My weekend was quite well, thank you, but now I am eager to begin the learning week anew!" Double D responded with a rather large smile on his face.
"I don't know if I'd call it beautiful…" Strickland said with a frown. "I've been in here cleaning glassware and stations since six this morning. It's starting to get warm outside and the damn air conditioning still isn't working in this room. Plus that fume hood keeps rattling around, I'm going to have to get the principal to call the people to come out and service it. God this stuff gets so old…"
Double D's smile slowly collapsed itself, like a balloon suddenly escaped of air. Strickland had these bad moods sometimes, but hopefully he'd get over it. He watched as the man sipped from his coffee and swirled his mouse around. Awkward silence settled in the room for several seconds longer.
"So…what subjects will we be dealing with today then, doctor?" Double D asked.
"We're,…uhh…." Strickland took this opportunity to stand up and open his three-ringed binder, placing it carefully on the podium next to his desk. "…we're looking at how to predict spontaneity based on the delta G prime values for particular reactions, namely phase changes like vaporization or boiling points."
"Fascinating, truly fascinating!" Double D replied as he removed his books and notebook, eager as ever to start this class.
Minutes passed, and the class began. Strickland lectured in his somewhat boring and disconnected manner, Double D diligently copied down his notes, all was well. These minutes slowly ticked away as they became fifty-one, and the class was over. Minutes converted into hours as one class melded into another. Lunch came, and the Ed boys, Rolf, and Jonny ate in their normal fashion, discussing the events of the day and complaining about things to come. Before either Double D or Marie realized it, the three o'clock bell rang out its mournful cry ending classes for the day. Time separated them, yet it also brought them together.
Marie sat in the chemistry room, all alone as Strickland had departed himself as soon as that dismissal bell had called forth all that could hear it. She listened once more to the overcast noise of the fume hood, mingling now with the dripping of a leaky faucet in the back. If one more appliance was to fail or break, it would soon become a three-piece jazz band of neglected noises.
She sat and began her daydreaming cycle as she waited for Double D to come through that great wooden door at the front-right side of the classroom. She happily envisioned a date between the two: ice cream and a lovely walk along the river that trailed along the boundaries of the cul-de-sac region of Peach Creek. She imagined his hand reaching out, brushing hers, grasping for the warm comfort of romantic touch, but then-
A tumbling door-lock disturbed the illusion of silence as the great door opened and Double D himself walked in, holding his textbook like a newborn child. Marie shook out of her fantasy, smiled and waved.
"Hey Double D, was just wondering where you were!" she said, as he ambled over to take the seat next to her at that slick-black lab table.
"Sincere apologies for my tardiness today!" Double D said, taking his seat and laying his book upon the desk. "I was held up by an enormous, and dare I say ravenous, crowd that had gathered around to see a fight in the hallway. I ran into Eddy, and he took his sweet time to tell me all the details, particularly the monetary gain he could benefit from if he had placed bets on the winner. Anyhow, I am here now, and I apologize again!"
"Oh, it's fine Double D, totally fine. It's only been four minutes, anyway…" Marie said, smiling at him and brushing her hair over her ear.
"Well thank you for patiently waiting Marie!" he said, drumming his fingers on the book face. "So what are we to go over today?"
"Well Dr. Strickland was talking about bonding and hybrid bonds today, so maybe we could go over that…? If that's okay with you, that is…" she said, laying her hand out on the table.
"Certainly Marie, we can review anything you wish. It is your study time, afterall…" he replied.
"Thanks Double D…" she said with a smile, "I understood what he was getting at today, but he kinda lost me when he started talking about the different kinds of bonds. Could we go over that?"
"Why of course Marie, let us look at what the book has to show us in the way of illustrations…" Double D responded as he opened the book in the index, scrolling his finger down the various columns of words until he found the treasure he was seeking.
"A-hah!" he cried out, his other finger jutting itself into the air, "here we are. Bonding principles, page one-hundred and seventeen!" He skimmed through the pages until he reached the one in question, the illustrations beautifully depicting a sigma bond in bright orange.
"See Marie, this is a sigma bond! This beautiful illustration shows a methane molecule with four sigma bonds. The central carbon shares its four valence electrons with the four valence electrons of the hydrogen atoms in order to fill its shells. Does that make sense, Marie?"
"….oh yes, very much so. So it's basically just linking up with the hydrogens? I can get that. So all of these are sigma bonds?" Marie asked, finally beginning to grasp some of these concepts under his leadership.
"Oh yes, these lovely bonds are all sigmas, and we write that as the letter for sigma, which looks like an 'o' with a line across the top, like this…" Double D replied as he drew the letter for sigma (σ) on his pad of paper.
"Oh it's looks so cute!" Marie chuckled as she practiced drawing one for herself.
"I had never thought of it in such terms, Marie, but I suppose one could call sigma…well…cute."
The study session went on in this way for the next fifty minutes. Double D showed Marie the wonders of hybridization, molecular geometry, and how it all ties together. A lot of material was covered in this session, and Marie was answering a great many of the practice problems correctly. Her confidence was beginning to build itself up, but alas time was up as the digital clock above the chalkboard read 4:05.
"Well Marie, it seems our time has come to a close today. Have we covered enough to assist you even slightly?" Double D said, drumming his fingers together nervously.
"Yeah, time has really flown today!" she replied, putting her notes away and zipping her bag closed, "time to go then I guess…"
"Yes, quite true…" he said, strapping his own bag closed and placing it over his shoulder.
"Would you…" Marie started, biting her cheek slightly, her mind running around in whizzing circles, "Would you maybe like to walk with me again? It's such a pretty day, and that walk home can get kinda boring…"
"Certainly Marie, it is a magnificent day out and the detour certainly would be quite pleasant." He replied, making his way towards the door, flicking the light. The room flooded with darkness, and the whirling sound of the fume hood echoed on the empty cinder-block walls.
"After you…" she said with a smile, pointing towards the door.
Double D exited into the hallway, followed by Marie, whom he had held the door open for. The door closed behind them with a solid thud, and the two walked down the hall, down the two flights of stairs, and out the building altogether. The lengthy journey had left Double D a little winded, for his breathing escalated as the two exited out the front glass doors.
"You okay, Double D?" she asked as she heard his panting.
"Oh yes yes, quite alright…" he said, reaching into his bag. "My lungs seemed to have been overworked, and this cursed asthma doesn't help matters either…" He pulled out his orange inhaler and took several long puffs from it, his cheeks heavily inflating with every new press of the button.
"I never knew you had asthma!" she shockingly replied, her hand touching her chest. "You sure you're gonna be okay with the walking?"
"Oh yes, I'll be quite fine Marie, but thank you very much for concerning yourself with my retched health conditions…" Double D said, placing his inhaler back in its rightful pouch.
"Okay, if you say so…" Marie said as the two started walking forward down the road. "But if you start feeling bad, please let me know and we can stop for a break…"
"Thank you Marie, I shall keep that in mind!" he said with a smile. She smiled back at him, and the two crossed the road and hurried down the street.
It was indeed a very beautiful spring afternoon. The birds happily chirped and sang as they danced around the tree branches, dodging the fresh green buds and blooms of flowers at their peak. Many of the yards of this street were decorated with pear and cherry trees, the blossoms of which spread their colorful petals out in the bright sunshine. Occasionally nature's gorgeous spectacle was spoiled by the whiz of a car going by or a lawn-mower cranking, somewhere in the distance. Eventually too human speech broke the silence, and Marie was the one to do so.
"So, how was your day then, Double D…?" she asked, briefly looking up at him.
"It was fairly normal. All my classes went about in their typical fashion, and Eddy told a really funny joke at lunch, which caused milk to come flying out of Jonny's nose at great speed!" Double D had to stop for his laughter had gotten the better of him, and he caught a fit of the giggles. Marie couldn't help but laugh with him at a joke she was completely ignorant to.
"Ahh, anywho…" Double D finally said, coming back to his senses, "How was your day then, Marie?"
"Oh, it was okay. Classes were a little boring today, but that's pretty typical. Lee and May got into an argument today and May ended up throwing a hot dog at her!"
"Oh my, that sounds awfully violent!" Double D said, a look of slight horror on his face.
"They get a little out of hand sometimes, especially Lee. But that's how sisters are; love each other one minute, hate each other the next. You don't have any brothers or sisters, do you Double D?"
"I have no siblings, no." He replied, looking to the ground. "It's amazing for me to ponder the fact that my parents had enough free time to marry one another and conceive me. They're never in the same place for longer than a few minutes…"
"They're out of town a lot, I've noticed there's almost never any cars or anything at your house. What do they do then?" she asked, a flight of birds darting past and whistling their carefree song.
"Well, my father is the one out of town the most. He's a rather senior physicist in the Air Force, working with the space affairs department. He assists in designing and conceptualizing ideas that the military can use for travel in outer space. He works quite a bit for NASA, and for those reasons he's almost never around. He has his own personal apartment on the base, and he only comes home one weekend a month…"
"How come he doesn't have a house on base, and you guys live there? Why live here in Peach Creek when you work so far away? That doesn't make a lot of sense, Double D…" Marie responded, a look of confusion now apparent.
"He wanted to me to live a normal life around normal children, devoid of any of the military entanglement and base lifestyle. I have to say that I respect him for this decision, for as a pacifist I would never acclimate well to military base life, even if my father's occupation is mostly an educational one." Double D answered, looking towards her now.
"Ooh, that makes sense…" she replied, looking to the ground again. "So how long has he been in the military?"
"It'll be nearly eighteen years I believe… he went in right as he completed his doctoral work. I was born just after he completed officer training, and when he was permanently stationed at the base near this town, he moved my mother and myself in the cul-de-sac. I was roughly three at the time, so I don't remember very much of this, I apologize. I've also only been told small pieces of this history from my mother."
"Why on earth would he join the military if he completed his doctorate? Wouldn't he rather become a professor or work for a normal company?" she asked.
"Well, he was told that his student debt would be taken care of by joining the military. In addition, he really fancied the idea of retiring very young, so he could spend time either teaching or spending time with my mother. I suppose he figured it wouldn't hurt. Though I don't know the full answer myself, I've never really asked him before." He answered.
"Well what does your mother do?" she asked.
"She's a registered nurse at the General Hospital." He answered, his breath becoming a little too heavy for comfort. He pulled out his trusty inhaler and puffed before continuing. "She works twelve hour shifts quite frequently, and she goes out of town a lot as well for conferences and the like."
"Ooh that's cool! My mom is kinda like a nurse. She works at the Golden Years Retirement Home in town. She sits with the old people, takes care of them, etc. She has to work really long hours too, and the pay is lousy. But she likes it, which suits her I guess." Marie said, the two edging closer and closer to the trailer park.
"Interesting, I was always slightly curious as to what your mother did for a living, and now I know!" Double D said, "But what does your father do exactly."
Marie froze, her eyes wide and lip trembling. Her father was forbidden from conversation in her house, an illegal name that was spoken only in extraordinary circumstances. She'd only ever heard her mother mention him two times, and neither one of them gave her much information. Her father was a complete mystery. Double D probably knew as much as she did about him.
"Ooh, …uh,..well…" she stuttered, "my dad isn't around. In fact, I don't even know who he is. My mom never brings him up, so I assume it can't be good…".
"Ooh, I'm quite sorry Marie, it was wrong for me to bring it into the conversation…" he said.
"Oh it's fine Double D, you didn't know…" she reassured him with a smile.
The two entered the trailer park and stood before the old Kanker manor. The gold Toyota was not present, and there were no lights illuminating the old glass windows.
"I don't think anyone's home…" Marie said, stepping up the rickety wood stairs to peer through a few of the round windows. "Would you…would you like to come in?"
She couldn't believe that she had the nerve to invite him in, but now was probably her only chance to do so. Her mother was still at work probably, Lee was working, and May was probably at dinner with her dad.
"Are you sure I wouldn't bother you, Marie? Surely having the home to yourself for a little while would be a nice thing?" Double D said. In truth, he was incredibly nervous. His memories inside this building were definitely not the best and being alone with Marie didn't exactly fill him with confidence.
"Ooh yeah, it's totally fine!" she said rather confidently, pulling out her purple keychain and unlocking the front door. Double D cautiously walked up the rickety stairs and followed Marie in through the front door.
The smell of cleaning products and air-freshener immediately hit Double D as he walked in; he considered it quite a good thing. He looked around and took in the familiar view; a view he had not seen in many a year.
"Please sit down, can I get you anything to drink?" Marie asked, heading toward the kitchen.
"Ooh I'm quite fine Marie. I usually don't get thirsty, especially not when I'm functioning as a guest." Double D nervously responded.
"Ooh that is so silly!" she said in return, leaning her head in from the kitchen, "Would you care for some water?"
"Water sounds refreshing!" he responded, drumming his fingers together, waiting for the gotcha moment he was certain would follow.
"Got it!" she said, as she opened the faucet for several seconds before coming back with two glasses of ice-water that she laid on the coffee table; the table was already pock-marked with the remnants of ring stains, but he decided it was best to use one of the decorative coasters anyway.
"Why thank you very much, Marie!" he said, "I really appreciate this great gesture!"
"No problem Double D, I figured you might be thirsty after all that talking!" Marie replied, taking a short sip from her glass before sitting it back down.
The two sat in silence for some time, neither really knowing what to say. Double D could hear the lowly hum of the window-unit air conditioner and could feel the cold air blow against his neck. Random creaks and cracks occasionally rattled out, the old trailer showing signs of its advanced age.
"So, you three have different fathers, is that correct?" Double D nervously asked, breaking the slight silence.
"Yeah, we do." Marie answered. "Lee's father died when she was little, I don't know mine, and May's dad is still around. She's actually out with him now; they go to McDonalds for dinner every Monday."
"Oh, I'm sorry about Lee's father. Do you know what happened to him?" Double D asked, taking a small sip from his water glass.
"I'm not really sure, Mom doesn't really talk about it. I think it really hurt her, so she's never told any of us any details, except maybe Lee." She answered.
"How about May's father, is he an alright individual?" he asked, placing his water glass back on its coaster.
"He's not bad, just kind of indifferent to me or Lee. His name's Rod. He's a security guard at some business in town. He and Mom divorced when May was four, so he lived with us for those years anyway. He's always been awkward around me and Lee, though. May is his golden child, and he spoils her rotten. She always acts like a spoiled bitch when she goes anywhere with him, it's so annoying!"
"Why exactly did they divorce, or is it a very personal reason?"
"I have no clue Double D. I was so little, I didn't really understand. I just know they got to fighting a lot and mom would stay out really late sometimes. Rod left like I said, and they separated for a while before the divorce. He got joint-custody, and so she stays with him every weekend, and dinner on Monday's. Him and mom get along well enough now, but they definitely don't speak. Rod will call and leave a message when he's coming to get May, but they don't give each other any face time."
"I'm really sorry if I'm prying too much into your personal life Marie, sometimes I just become too curious for my own good…"
"Oh it's fine Double D, I promise. I'd tell you if you were digging too deep, but there's a lot of stuff even I don't know. Mom doesn't tell us much about the past or our dads. I guess she just doesn't want us to get hurt. I'd tell you more but that's about all I know, really." Marie answered, looking down with a slight frown forming. Suddenly the phone rang loudly, Marie's ears perking at the sound.
"One second I'll be right back!" she said, getting up and running into the kitchen. The green phone rang loud on the wall, it's curly cord flowing down before dipping back up again. She picked up the receiver and half-whispered a hello into the speaking end.
Double D sat quietly, looking across the contents of the living room as he heard muffled talking going on in the kitchen. He saw a bookcase with a few paperbacks, likely read by the mother in her spare time. A few boardgames laid on top of the case, and pictures of the girls were all over the walls. Double D could smell the lemon Pledge as he leaned over to grab his glass from the table, taking several sips until it was around half empty. He heard the phone click and footsteps as Marie walked back into the living room, but not sitting down.
"That was mom, she's running a little late but she's on her way home now. So I'd probably start heading home if I were you-"
"Say no more Marie…" he said, standing up quickly, "I'll begin my long trek home then, my own mother is probably not too far off herself."
"I hate to put you out," she said, "but my mom is really funny about guys in the house. She said she'll kill the first one she says. She's just really protective."
"I understand completely Marie, no need for apologies." He replied.
"Well I guess I'll see you around school tomorrow Double D! Thanks again for all your help, and it was really nice talking!" she said, following him to the door and holding it open for him.
"Yes, I agree with you Marie! It was nice talking with you again, and I'll more than likely come across you in the hallways tomorrow! I hope you have a wonderful evening!" he said, walking down the wooden steps, creaks groaning out under the weight.
"Bye Double D!" Marie said as she waved and closed the door behind her. Her mind flooded with a million thoughts as she gathered the water glass that he left behind and quickly rushed it to the kitchen for washing.
Double D, looking around at the lifeless gravel and cigarette butts, began his sojourn home with a happy smile. She actually didn't kill him or harm him in any way, how strange! Eddy would never believe this unless he saw it himself. He walked away from that trailer park as the evening fog began to rise, and it was but a few minutes later that the gold Toyota pulled in, crunching the gravel with loud announcement.