Chapter 68

As the snow fell on Rethink Avenue, the street was suddenly illuminated by a set of headlights, emanating from Tabby's Honda Civic. The vehicle rounded the corner, it's black top coated with a thin layer of snow. The windshield wipers maintained an unobstructed view, as it turned into the Kankers driveway, coming to a stop directly in front of the garage door.

May deactivated the windshield wipers, turned off the headlights, and switched off the ignition, at which time Marie opened the passenger side door and stepped out onto the snow covered driveway. As Marie placed her arms around herself to maintain warmth, May opened the driver's door and stepped out of the vehicle. The pony-tailed girl was breathing quite heavily as if she were in a state of panic, clutching her chest as she made her way around to the passengers side.

"Well May," said Marie, "I must say ya did a bang up job getting us home!"

"Says you!" yelled May, "I had no idea it was gonna snow that bad! I thought we were done for when I slid through that stop sign!"

"Whatever," said Marie, "We made it right? Look at it this way, you're barely fourteen and you already got experience driving a car on the highway, and in the snow. Hell, I won't even ever be able to drive because of this stupid eye, so I'd chock your experience up as a win."

Marie placed her hand on the rear door handle.

"C'mon," said Marie, "Let's get Rip van Redhead to bed."

May nodded as Marie opened the rear door, and unbuckled Lee's seatbelt. She then proceeded to grab Lee by the elbows and lift her out of the car, at which point May stepped forward and grabbed hold of her ankles. The two girls then worked together to carry Lee up the path leading to the front door of their residence.

Once inside, the girls proceeded to carry Lee up the set of five stairs leading to the upper level of the house, and down the hall to Lee's bedroom. Upon opening the door leading to the beautiful gingers room, the girls were met with the same surprise that Eddy was faced with an hour earlier; the completely disheveled state of Lee's room.

"Jesus Christ," said Marie as she gazed around the room.

"Man, she sure was mad!" said May, "Mommy and Daddy are gonna be pissed."

"Well they ain't gonna find out knucklehead," said Marie as she repositioned Lee back onto her shoulder, fully supporting her older sister while allowing May to let go of her ankles, "First things first, get the mattress back on the box spring so we can lay her down."

May obliged and lifted the mattress of off the wall, dropping it back onto the bed frame. After straightening out the bed sheets, Marie gently laid her older sister down on the bed, placing her head on a white pillow. Once Lee was settled down, Marie unzipped the zippers mounted on the sides of her black high heeled boots, and removed them from her feet. She then proceeded to unzip Lee's jeans, pulling them off the bottom of her legs. May, following Marie's lead, lifted Lee off of her pillow to a vertical position, and pulled her green sweater up over her head.

Marie then retrieved a set of sleepwear from Lee's drawer, consisting of an oversized pink t-shirt and flannel red bottoms. She spent the next few seconds working with May to dress Lee for bed, after which the girls laid Lee back to rest. Finally, Marie removed Lee's glasses, and placed them into their black case located on the night stand.

Once Lee was made comfortable, the girls spent the next few minutes cleaning up Lee's room, restoring it to the status quo. Following their clean up efforts, the girls made their way back over towards Lee's bed, and observed their sister sleeping peacefully for a few moments. As May drew Lee's quilt up over her body, tucking the beautiful girl under her covers, Marie touched her hand to Lee's face.

"Rest easy Lee," said Marie, "Don't you worry about a thing, we're gonna help you get through this, just like you always helped us. If I have anything to do with it, Lindsay's never gonna hurt you again, I swear it."

Marie turned towards May.

"C'mon May," said Marie, "We got some work to do. No more games, we're doing things our own way from now on. No one messes with our family and get's away with it."

May remained in her place as Marie exited the room, seemingly deep in thought. She then turned towards Lee for a few moments, observing her sister dreaming peacefully, after which she nervously followed her sister downstairs.

Around fifteen minutes had passed since the two youngest Kanker sisters put Lee to bed, and the girls had relocated downstairs to the den. Marie had commandeered the families desktop computer, sitting in the office chair located at the desk as May sat adjacent to her on a fold-up chair. As Marie frantically tapped the computer keyboard, May cradled a cup of tea on both of her hands, intermittently taking small sips as she silently observed Marie's revenge-driven scouting mission.

Marie typed a few words into the Internet search engine, after which she pressed enter on the keyboard. In an instant, the database yielded what seemed like hundreds of results; after a quick scan, it was apparent that none contained the information Marie was searching for.

"Damn it," said Marie as she smacked her hand on the table, "Nothing! I thought this bitch was supposed to be a famous model or something? I can't find nothing on her!"

"What did you type in?" asked May.

"Lindsay Statorowski, what else!" yelled Marie in a sarcastic manner, "The only Lindsay Statorowski that comes up in the area is someone 63 years old, I'm pretty sure it's not her."

As May took another sip of her tea, Marie began typing once again.

"Let's try...Statorowski, Peach Creek, City of..."

At that moment, the sound of the front door opening suddenly filled the air. Tabby and Rod had finally arrived home, and were conversing happily as they placed their coats into the closet adjacent to the front door. Tabby then called out for her daughters.

"Girls!" yelled Tabby, "We're home, where ya's at!"

"Down here Mom!" yelled May, at which point Tabby began making her way down the series of five steps leading to the lower level of the house. She was wearing a black gown, due to attending the holiday fireman's ball with Rod earlier that evening, and appeared quite stunning.

"Looking sexy Mom!" said Marie with a smile.

"Thanks Annemarie," said Tabby as she playfully struck a pose, "Looks like I still got it goin' on!"

The three women shared a laugh, after which Tabby noticed that the room was short by a factor of one daughter.

"Where's Annalee?" asked Tabby.

"In bed," said Marie, "She had a bad day..."

"A bad day?," asked Tabby, "What happened?"

"She and Eddy had a fight," said May rather absentmindedly, "She was really upset and took th..."

Marie quickly silenced her air-headed sister, who was just about to blow their cover regarding Lee's theft of Tabby's car.

"A huge hissy fit," said Marie, completing Mays thoughts, "She was really upset, so we made her some warm tea, and told her to lie down."

"Interesting," said Tabby, "What was the fight about?"

"It was all that no good Lindsay Statorowski's fault!" said Marie, "Ever since she moved here, Lee's every thought has revolved around their argument. She played a stupid prank on Lee, that managed to blow up into a full fledged fight between her and Eddy. I get it, Lee's really upset that Lindsay hurt her feelings all those years ago, but why the hell does she keep going back for more? She's done nothing but hurt us and Lee, and I for one am tired of it."

Marie turned back towards the computer.

"I'm done arguing, and I'm done handling it Lee's way," said Marie, "I'm taking action. Lindsay's gonna wish she never messed with anyone related to Annemarie Kanker."

Tabby pondered Marie's words for a few moments, appearing as if she were deep in thought, Eventually, she regained her composure, let out a slight sigh and made her way towards Marie. She kneeled down to her daughters eye level, as she placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Annemarie," said Tabby, "Why do you think Annalee refuses to wash her hands of Lindsay?"

"Beat's me," said Marie, "I always thought it was some kind of coping mechanism, it's like fighting with her is some form of weird therapy to help her deal with her feelings. But that's just a guess, why else would anyone, especially Lee put up with her nonsense?"

Tabby nodded slightly, at which point she stood up and made her way towards the leather arm chair located in the corner of the room. She took a seat in the chair, crossing her legs as she folded her hands on her lap.

"Girls," said Tabby, "Let me tell you a story that may help explain why Lee is handling this the way she is."

Marie and May glanced toward each other for a brief instant, after which they turned their attention back to Tabby while nodding simultaneously.

"It's a story Poppy told me a long time ago," said Tabby, "An inspirational story, to help me cope with the bullying I dealt with in middle and high school. It's obviously been a long time since I heard it, so I'll add my own little personal spin when it comes to the minor details."

Tabby paused for a few moments, then began the process of telling her story.

"Once upon a time there was a little girl living in a big city," said Tabby, "Her name was Dorcas, though her family called her Dorrie for short. She was a heavyset girl, who was quite shy. The only friend she had was her sister Rina. In contrast to Dorrie, Rina was very outgoing, but eccentric, and being alone in the world never seemed to bother her much, because she always looked on the bright side of things."

Tabby removed a box of cigarettes from her handbag, and proceeded to remove one from the pack. She ignited the cigarette using a match, took a long drag, and continued her story while cradling the stick between her fingers.

"The two girls recently moved to a new neighborhood," said Tabby, "Of course, Dorrie was quite scared, as from past experience she believed it was only a matter of time until she was picked on once again."

Tabby paused briefly.

"Her life changed for the better that Sunday at her new church," said Tabby, "As usual, the children went to Sunday school after church, and Dorrie was quite overwhelmed by the prospect of being around a dozen or so unfamiliar children."

Tabby took a draw from her cigarette.

"During the group activities, Dorrie took notice that one of the girls was routinely isolating herself from the rest of the kids," said Tabby, "This particular girl was quite awkward. She had severely crooked teeth, wore thick glasses, wore a sweater that appeared to be several years old, and had awkwardly long arms and fingers. She was also very skinny, built like a breadstick in tennis shoes, and relatively tall for her age. Knowing how it felt to be left out, Dorrie introduced herself to the girl, who in turn introduced herself as Cathy. It turned out that the two girls lived down the street from each other, and after that day in church, the two decided to 'be weird together', and became the best of friends."

Tabby paused slightly to catch her breath.

"Despite being best friends, the girls were vastly different," said Tabby, "While Dorrie loved playing with dolls, doing her nails, and wanting nice clothes, Cathy could care less about such things. Her only interests were math and any kind of arcade game, be it video games or ping pong. Even though neither really cared for each others hobby, they'd still find fun in participating for the sake of spending time together."

"That sounds like how Lee and Lindsay were!" said May.

"Yep," said Tabby, "That's what reminded me of this story."

Tabby paused for a few seconds, after which she decided to continue.

"Anyway, the two girls remained friends throughout their childhood, and through the end of middle school," said Tabby, "Around the time the girls were in seventh grade, a new girl arrived at their school. Her name was Eliza, she was an immigrant from a far away country, and was having some trouble adjusting to her new surrounds. Cathy and Dorrie, knowing what it felt like to be left out, welcomed Eliza into their group of friends, and did everything they could to make her feel included."

"Eventually, Eliza wound up breaking out of her shell," said Tabby, "She joined the school cheer squad, and eventually rose to become one of it's most popular members. The time she spent with Dorrie and Cathy dwindled, and while she began picking on Dorrie, despite at one point being friends, for whatever reason she refused to pick on Cathy."

"So what's the point?" asked Marie, "It sounds like these girls are just destined to be losers in the eyes of everyone, just like we always were when we were kids."

"Patience Annemarie!" said Tabby, "Let me finish!"

Tabby regained her composure.

"Around the time the girls started high school, things started changing for Cathy," said Tabby, "She was able to have her crooked teeth corrected, which helped her with her self confidence, and was recruited for several school sports teams due to her long limbs and slim figure. Cathy was quite nervous about participating, but with lots of persuasion from Dorrie, she mustered up the courage to do it. It was the right decision, because despite not ever touching a ball before in her life, Cathy became the schools star athlete."

Tabby took another draw of her cigarette.

"Sports seemed to break Cathy free of any shyness and self-consciousness she previously held, and she became quite the well rounded individual," said Tabby, "Her grades remained exceptional, she was active on the school debate team, and all kinds of other clubs. She also got up the courage to ask a guy out that she had a crush on ever since she was little, and they remained together for the remainder of high school. She was larger than life, everybody loved her due to her genuine nice characteristics, and her willingness to help people. It's like she just had this charisma about her, it was amazing."

Tabby paused briefly, displaying a smile as she stared toward the opposite wall of the girls, seemingly pondering something within her psyche. With seconds, she returned her gaze toward her two youngest daughters, and continued.

"Of course, Cathy's rising popularity attracted the attention of the popular clique," said Tabby, "Eliza, who had dropped them like rocks for her place in the sun, invited her to join her group of friends."

"Let me guess," said Marie, "Cathy went with clique, and ditched Dorrie."

"Nope," said Tabby, "Cathy was a person of high integrity, and a loyal friend. While she remained quite popular, she refused to reap the so-called benefits, and never left Dorrie in the dust. Her boyfriend was quite the nerd as well, preferring mathematics and computers over sports. Of course, Cathy was constantly asked why she would waste her time on a guy like that, as if she were too good for him. She didn't care, she loved who she loved, and that was all that mattered to her."

Tabby took another draw from her cigarette.

"Unfortunately," said Tabby, "The idea of denying the opportunity to be a part of the popular clique did not sit well with Eliza, who began using her power to manipulate the masses against Dorrie and Cathy. Dorrie was targeted much more so than Cathy, as she was seen as the reason Cathy didn't want to associate to the popular clique. Things got really bad for Dorrie, she was beaten and verbally abused on a daily basis; her clothes were turn up, and her lunch was often stolen. But through it all, Cathy stood by her, sacrificing her chances for the supposed dream of a high school life to protect her best friend as much as she could. From the time they met when they were six, until they were young adults and...unfortunately lost touch, they were inseparable. Nevertheless, even though they never spoke again, Dorrie thanked Cathy every single day for holding her on a straight path, and credited her for the reason she was still living in the present day."

At the conclusion of Tabby's story, the redheaded woman developed a somewhat saddened expression as she stared towards the far wall. May took notice of Tabby's melancholy demeanor, and decided to interject.

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

"Yeah," said Tabby as she turned back towards May, "I was just trying to remember if I forgot anything about the story."

Tabby put her cigarette out in the ash tray, after which she rose up from her chair.

"The moral of the story is that a true friendship lasts forever," said Tabby, "And if somebody has integrity, and a beautiful heart, they will never give up on those they love, even when things seem like they can't get any worse."

Tabby began speaking towards the stairs leading up to the middle level of the house. Upon reaching them, she turned back towards her daughters.

"Annalee has promised herself that she will never give up on Lindsay," said Tabby, "Just as Cathy in Poppy's story never gave up on Dorrie, even if it meant sacrificing everything and dealing with with adversity herself. Annalee is hurting because she feels powerless to help Lindsay, and it breaks her heart every day to see her former friend as a puppet to that overbearing woman."

Tabby paused briefly prior to continuing.

"I know you girls are hurting seeing your sister suffer," said Tabby, "But please keep my words in mind before you go seeking revenge."

Tabby turned, and began making her way up the stairs; however, upon reaching the second step, she turned around to deliver one final line with a sarcastic smile.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," said Tabby, "I usually back the Honda into the driveway to make it easier to pull it out in the morning."

The redheaded woman delivered a wink to the girls, after which she lifted her hand to her lips, pretending to run a zipper across them. She then giggled slightly and continued on her way up the stairs to get changed, leaving the girls in surprise.

A few seconds passed after which Marie glanced toward May with a somber expression.

"Well, May," said Marie, "What the hell do we do now?"

"I dunno," said May, "This whole thing is crazy. I just want to have a good Christmas with our family and friends, it's a shame all this bad stuff is happening right before the holiday."

"Yeah," said Marie, "It's our first Christmas as a family, and with our new friends in Peach Creek, and it's all been blown to shreds."

The two girls sat in silence for a few moments, after which Marie rose from her chair.

"I think I'm going to head over to Double Dee's house and apologize," said Marie, "I won't be able to sleep tonight knowing me and my Oven Mitt are having an argument."

"Good idea," said May, "Let's start fixing this thing one step at a time."

Marie nodded as May joined her on her feet, after which the two girls proceeded to make their way back upstairs to brainstorm their damage control plan.