The Last Chance

Autumn Blues

Chapter Three - Crashing, Colliding

October 11th, Thursday

Marie's face was unreadable as she stood above him, eyes locked with his for what seemed like an eternity. Double D could feel the sweat draining beneath his collar, pulling the damp shirt from his neck as the room seemed to grow hotter and hotter. Marie opened her mouth but snapped it shut quickly as a noise further in the room caught her attention.

The detention teacher stood groggily from his seat and meandered towards the opened classroom door. He muttered something about 'young love' before scurrying down the hallway. Only once his footsteps faded to nothing did Marie open her mouth to speak again, eyes trained like a hawk.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She finally blurted out, more disappointed than angry. Double D was dumbstruck, barely able to even articulate the words to respond to such a strange question. She backed away, removing her hand from his desk. She rested it on her hip, which was now cocked to one side as if getting ready to scold a disobedient child caught misbehaving.

"P-pardon?" Double D finally squeaked out. Marie rolled her eyes and stepped closer once again, putting her face right in his.

"What were you thinking, jumping in on that fight?"

Double D looked her dead in the eyes, but only for a second unable to meet her intense stare for very long.

"I-i just did what any student body r-representative would do," his voice was weak, untrained like he didn't really mean what he said. Marie sighed, rubbing her eyebrows with two fingers while the other folded across her chest.

"Do you even have any idea what he said to her?" Marie asked, pointing towards May who was too enveloped in her phone to even acknowledge them. Double D looked accosted, bewildered that she was scolding him right now.

"N-no."

"Of course, you don't," She sighed, "now you've gone and gotten yourself detention and you don't even know why." Her shoulders slumped in a defeated posture. She turned around quickly and took up her old pin-covered green backpack off the ground and stopped.

"I could have beaten him," she whispered.

"B-beaten him?" Double D echoed, confused. Marie spun around, face red and eyes wild as if a switch had flipped in her brain. "Yeah! Beaten him up, told him to stop messing with people!" She paused taking a breath. "I mean look at what he did to your face!" The silence that followed was uncomfortable, leaving trails of sweat under Double D's orange t-shirt.

"Why do you always have to be a goody-two shoe?!" She was now directing her anger toward him. "It was none of your business to get involved with our problems," she finished with a deep huff. "You can't even stand up for yourself!"

"You can't fight your way out of every problem Marie," Double D retorted back, a small flame of anger lit behind his eyes. "You can't just push people around until you get what you want!" His voice was hoarse and tight as if both anger and sadness filled his words.

Marie looked shocked. Her mouth fumbled for words that wouldn't come then she scowled.

"When did you suddenly grow a conscious Marie?!" Double D let loose; no longer shackled by his normally shy demeanor. "You act as if you care about me, but it doesn't even make sense! You tortured us, ridiculed us, then you act like you care that I got a black eye? You've given me far worse!" His voice boomed across the empty room in a force that even he didn't know he could muster. Marie looked hurt but mostly she was angry and she turned on her heels and strode out of the classroom, stomping the whole way, May trailing behind her as she went.

Double D felt the quiet in his bones, he could hear his own heartbeat and he sighed. He looked down at his hands, now covered in sweat and shaking.

"What's wrong with me?" He sat in his seat, shock flooding his body. "Why would I say any of that?"

Marie Kanker

Having sufficiently dented the already beaten fender of her truck with her bare fists she looked down at her bruised knuckles and sighed. She slid down the side of the truck, resting against the door and the pavement. She was still angry, but she couldn't even figure out why. What was she even doing with him? Why had she even talked to him? He obviously hated her. She was no good for him anyway.

"Need some bandaids?"

Marie looked over towards the voice. May stood just behind the dark green pickup truck's tailgate, athletic bag in one hand and a box of bandaids in the other. Marie scoffed, rolling her eyes. After making sure none of her fingers were broken or bleeding, she turned to her sister with a weak smile.

"Not this time," she chuckled, "maybe next time."

"You know he's right," May continued, sitting cross-legged on the cool pavement. "We weren't very nice to any of them," she sighed, eyes fixed down. Marie sighed back, leaning her head against the frame of the truck.

"We were kids, May," she said, "Don't you think it's time to move on?" May shuffled awkwardly in place, twirling a piece of her long blonde hair in between her fingers before she spoke.

"Sure, but it takes time, doesn't it?" She paused, eyes now plastered to the growing evening sky. "I mean Lee stopped talking to you for nearly a month for using her lipstick."

Marie laughed involuntarily, shaking her head as she did so. "She did do that, didn't she?"

After a few moments of peaceful silence, May stood up from her spot and dusted herself off.

"We should probably go get those groceries Lee mentioned, she'll probably have a cow if we don't go soon," May smirked, offering a hand to her sister. Marie smiled, before taking her sister's hand.

"Yeah."

Marie strode up to the trailer, grocery bags filled to the brim with snacks and various meal prep items. She kicked the door hard with one foot, nearly sending the trailer door off its hinges. Struggling the whole way to contain the massive load of groceries she had insisted on grabbing all in one trip. May followed behind, meandering into the trailer, hands occupied by a cup of chocolate ice cream.

"Thanks for the help, dopey," Marie goaded sarcastically as her sister wandered into the kitchen.

May shrugged with a thin grin on her lips, "You said you could handle it." Marie rolled her eyes and punched her on the arm.

"You could have at least opened the door."

May rubbed her arm with a free hand, her lip pouting as she did so. Marie snatched the cold snack from her sister's hand, spoon and all.

"I spent 8 dollars on this, at least share it," Marie hissed, downing a few spoonfuls while May protested, vehemently.

"Hey! Larry's is good stuff!" She protested, yanking back the half-eaten remains of her ice cream, cradling it in her hands like it was a babbling child. Marie snickered, leaving the kitchen and collapsing into her favorite reclining chair. "What about the groceries?" May yelled from across the trailer.

"Make it up to me," Marie laughed, waving her sister off. May frowned but did as she was told, shoving as much as she could into their rather skimpy-looking refrigerator. After completing her assigned task she took to the couch flopping face-first into it with a loud and tired groan.

"You and me both, sis," Marie sniffled, rubbing her aching knuckles as she did so.

"Can't you girls be quiet for ten freakin' minutes?" Lee, the tallest and oldest of the sisters, came stomping down the hall with bleary eyes, curled red hair obscuring her eyes as she sauntered into the room.

"Blame her," Marie protested, pointing at her younger sister, still face down on the couch.

Lee's lips curled into a slight sneer, "I should knock both of your lights out," she started, "but that'd be too much blood to clean up." Then she flopped her entire body onto the couch crushing May's legs as she did so. May let out a stifled 'ow', through the couch cushion but beyond that, she was simply resigned to her fate as Lee's pillow. "Anything good on, tonight?"

Marie rolled her eyes, fishing the remote out from between the recliner cushions. After a few minutes of searching and even longer spent arguing the three finally resigned to watching the monster truck exhibition.

After a half-hour of car demolition and mayhem, Marie hoisted herself from her comfy recliner and headed towards the trailer door. "Where are you going?" Lee asked, barely taking her eyes off the massive trucks moving across the screen.

With a wave, she said, "Gotta smoke." In a single fluid movement, she was out the door into the cold autumn night, walking towards her beat-up truck. Even through the light pollution from the nearby city, she could see hundreds of stars trying to peak out against the pitched sky. It was a beautiful night, albeit chilly, and Marie was eager to spend a few minutes out here smoking down a cigarette. Snaking out her pack of cigarettes from the glove compartment of her truck a thought came over her as she fished for her lighter.

"When did I grow a conscience?"

Double D's voice was still fresh in her mind as she lit her cig and closed the car door behind her with a slam. The thought depressed her, a feeling of guilt crawling its way through her bones and into her chest. Over the past couple of days maybe she hadn't really taken him into any real consideration, she was simply lonely. At least that's what she figured anyway. Something different from the incessant bickering of her two sisters and her drowsy mother had to be better than going crazy, right? She took a deep drag and pondered that thought.

Who was she kidding? She was bored. She was playing with him because just like in the past she thought it was funny to see him react to her.

"Bored, huh?" she breathed, "was I bored? Or guilty?" The question rattled her for a second. Did she truly feel bad for what she and her sisters had done to him and his friends or was she just playing the game all over again? Her frustration grew, she couldn't find a solid answer and it made her head spin with indecision.

"Why did I even talk to you in the first place, Oven Mitt?" she asked, pointing her question to the sky as she blew out a puff of smoke. Sadly the sky held no answers, which only left her just as confused and conflicted as she had been before she had asked it. Her feelings were mixed, that was real, but she couldn't pinpoint why. It had only been a few interactions. Surely things should have gone back to normal naturally right? Eying each other suspiciously from across the school, no interaction at all just like it had been before.

"Ugh, this is pointless," She spit, throwing her cigarette on the gravel and stomping it out with her shoe. She snaked her way back towards the trailer, slowly, trying to take in as much of the gorgeous night sky before heading inside. Finally, she reached the door, holding the handle for a few seconds.

"When did I grow a conscience? Who knows," she relinquished, heading inside to cool down another argument between her raucous sisters.

October 12th, Friday

Grey morning light shone through the open trailer door. The thin screen window did very little to prevent the encroaching light of the early autumn morning. On the couch, Marie was rousted awake; eyes bleary with sleep. She winced at the intense light, shielding her eyes with her ragged blue blanket. She reached out, sliding across the coffee table to find her phone and check the time. Feeling the cool, glass screen against her fingertips she grabbed it and tugged. With a faint click, the phone unhooked itself from the charger cable.

She noted the time and rolled up to sit against the back of the couch. It smelled musty, like wet dog and cat hair; but it was a rather comfortable couch for what it was. She took her blankets off and roamed into the bedroom, where her two sisters were still fast asleep in the single queen-sized bed. A few years ago, Lee had decided the bed was too cramped for the three sisters to comfortably sleep on. So in classic Kanker fashion, they orchestrated a bet to see who would have to sleep on the floor between Marie and May.

Marie rolled her eyes and opened the closet, which was jam-packed with clothes, jackets, and shoes. She stumbled over a few loose boots before retrieving a clean pair of cargo pants, her knee-high canvas shoes, and a death metal sleeveless shirt.

As she closed the door she could hear Lee rising from the bedroom. A loud thud sounded, signifying Lee had finally rolled the buzz saw, May, directly onto the floor in a heap. She yelped blearily and before even a second could pass an argument had erupted between them. Tuning out the commotion, as she was more than used to doing, she got dressed and applied a healthy dose of makeup before shooting out of the bathroom.

"What's got you up early?" Lee teased, catching her halfway out of the bathroom, grabbing at Marie's shirt. Marie yanked away with a sour look of disapproval, her left eye narrowed in defiance.

"Lay off, Lee; I'm always up this early," she pointed towards the bathroom as she finished, "cause your fat ass takes forever in the bathroom." Then she stomped away.

Lee snickered before heading into the bathroom, a loud clicking as the door locked behind her. May stood in the kitchen, fixing herself a helping of cold oatmeal and milk. She grunted as Marie passed, handing her the remnants of the now half-drunk milk carton. Marie groaned audibly, raising her head to the sky in defeat.

"I just bought this thing," she grumbled. A chipped blue bowl sat neatly amongst the other newly washed dishware. She retrieved it before checking the time on the adjacent microwave.

7:22, nearly time to head out. She poured a bowl of Muchie O's cereal into the bowl, nearly to the top, and filled it with milk. Looking at May, who was not a morning person, was like looking into the face of torment. Her hair was wild, her eyes were dark and her mouth hung loosely as she lazily slopped oatmeal into her maw.

"Yikes kid, hurry up, you're gonna miss remedial at this rate," Marie goaded, poking at her barely responsive sister. May made some kind of grunt or moan, her eyes never really focusing on any one particular thing.

"You act like that's the first time she's gone full zombie," Lee piped up from behind the kitchen wall, getting books and papers situated in her messenger bag. Marie shrugged, stuffing her face full of tasteless wheat cereal, mostly out of habit than any real enjoyment of the activity. She checked her smartphone, her mouth furious in the activity of chewing and swallowing her food with very little grace.

"Alright princess zombie," Marie scolded, taking the half-eaten bowl of oatmeal from her sister's hand, "We gotta go."

May grunted, to which Marie rolled her eyes and placed her sister's bag in her hands, and pushed her out the door. "We're heading out; don't do anything stupid," Marie called to Lee who simply waved them off, book bag in hand. With a clatter, the trailer screen snapped shut, Marie pushing May the whole way down the driveway. She walked past Lee's parked sedan and towards her truck. She made a short pass to ensure her heavy dark green bag was still in the truck bed and opened the car door. May slid into the passenger seat clumsily and passed out almost immediately before her head even hit the headrest. With a sigh, Marie threw the truck in reverse and shot out of the trailer park and onto the main road with only a few minutes to spare before the first bell.

A late afternoon breeze carried the sound of a loud crack echoing from across the playing field, a bat making contact with a softball and into the outfield. May shot away from home base with incredible speed as if her life depended on it. She was the fastest on the team and everyone knew it so they often didn't even bother to chase her.

"Go kid," Marie said between breaths of cigarette smoke. She sat a few feet away on a set of old bleachers overlooking the entire softball field. A few dozen feet away the raucous cacophony of football practice was taking place, Kevin at the center of the field slipping around some freshman rookie. She cursed his name, pulling her phone out and checking the time once more. On days like this, she would honestly rather be at work than sitting around on her hands, but her shift wasn't for another hour. With nothing left to do she had resigned herself to watching May practice to kill time.

May shot passed, eyes intently focused on the game, not even realizing that her older sister was on the bleachers watching her.

"Typical dopey May," she breathed through a small smile. Then she saw him; Double D. He was walking away from the school into the parking lot towards Eddy's dilapidated van. Around the car stood Eddy looking at some kind of magazine and Ed beside him full entrance in a handheld game console. She imagined what they talked about as Double D greeted them, trying to read their lips from many feet away. Then with little fanfare, the three of them gathered into the rickety van and sped off down the main street.

"What the hell do I even say?" She asked herself, mind still stuck on the three Eds. 'Probably shouldn't say anything,' she chastised herself.

A passing glance down at her last graded work was not hopeful, most of them in the D range and one a solid F. She winced at them, before shoving them as far into her bag as she could trying her hardest to forget the papers even exist at all. She leaned back against the cold bleacher seat and closed her eyes, strange thoughts and feelings racing in her mind.

"Ugh, maybe I should get some sleep before work."

Though a long, arduous evening of fixing cars was ahead of her, Marie was always as lively as she can be. She loved this job, how could she not love working with "road demons" as she called them.

"Keep your shorts on," Marie chided loudly, her body almost completely stuck underneath a nasty beater van. Ratchet in hand she started undoing the alternator, pulling the belt off the block and tossing it aside. The head mechanic shuffled over, fingers over his head in embarrassment.

"Marie, what did I tell you about talking to customers like that?" he whispered almost imperceptibly. She frowned from under the car, "What customers?"

Her boss looked around and realized that the customer, or really customers were completely missing. He shook his head and piped up, "Well whatever, did you figure out what's wrong with it?" She slid out from under the van with a grunt, alternator in hand; ancient and corroded.

"While not the worst alternator I've ever seen," she frowned, placing the part off to the side with a thunk, "should have been replaced years ago." The boss looked it over a few times and finally concurred that that could be the issue. Marie rose up off the ground dolly, wiping a great deal of oil and grease from her forehead and onto her arms. "Did you see where they went?" Marie asked.

Her boss gave a wary glance, unsure," I really thought they were over here," he sighed, "Had to push the thing all the way up the hill to get here." He pointed towards the pretty busy intersection which slopes almost at a 45-degree angle straight up. Marie grunted, taking a rag and wiping more grease off herself and her softball cap.

"I'll find them."

The boss grunted an affirmation before sauntering away towards a new set of customers who had just pulled in. Slightly irritated, she searched around the building in search of someone who might look like the owner of that awful van. A voice came from around the corner where the bathrooms were located and she turned the corner.

Wham. She ran right into someone.

"Shoot, sor-" Her voice caught in her voice as she finally realized who it was. It was Double D, he was gripping his ribs which had just been headbutted by her.

"M-Marie?!" He yelped, a mix of confusion and fear soaking his voice.

"Marie?" Eddy asked, bewildered.

"Shut up!" Marie whispered, yanking Double D by the shirt and dragging him around the corner before whoever it was could see her. She covered his mouth with her hand before he could protest. Sure enough out came Ed and Eddy, both looking for Double D in exaggerated callouts.

"Sockhead? Where did that beanpole run off to?" Eddy said, scratching his head in confusion. Double D murmured something inaudible behind Marie's hand but he could not be heard.

"Shush!" She hissed. After a few seconds, the two Eds made their way back towards the front of the store towards the dismantled van. After they were long gone she uncovered his mouth to which he breathed deeply, grabbing his chest in relief.

"What the hell are you three doing here?!" Marie asked, her voice unable to contain her slight panic. Double D looked on, a pale expression of anxiety painted on his face.

"W-well Eddy's van broke down so we p-pushed it up here," he stuttered. Marie gripped her forehead in exhaustion.

"Look, Oven mitt. If either of them sees me here they will freak out," she protested exasperated.

Double D rubbed the back of his neck with embarrassment, "I genuinely did not know this was your place of employment, Marie." She gave a greatly exaggerated sigh before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a 5 dollar bill.

"Look, just take the cash and pretend I was never here, okay?" She started, eyes pleading, "I got a good thing going here I might lose my job if either of them makes a scene, okay?" Double D's eyes widened in protest.

"O-oh n-no Marie, you don't have to pay me, I won't tell them a-anything I swear."

Marie's left eyebrow shot up, interested. "Why would you do that? I treated you like crap, you said so yourself," she was getting herself spun up by the whole situation and she just wanted it to end. Double D shook his head, pushing the bill back into her hand.

"That doesn't mean I have any right to ruin your life," with that he made his way back towards the van.

"But-" But he was long gone before she could protest.