Ed, Edd, n' Eddy; The Last Chance

Part One - Autumn Blues

CHAPTER THREE - Crashing, Colliding

Marie Kanker

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Metal buckled under her fists as she punched, hard and furious. Her truck had done nothing wrong (this time anyway) it had simply been there - able to take the ferocity of her anger-induced flurries. The surface bent and sundered and pocked under her onslaught until finally she was content enough to simply drop her arms and sigh. Satisfied to hit something, anything - she shook her head and looked over the damage, running an idle thumb over the worse dents.

It's not that bad. It was screwed up already.

She sat down, body leaned against the wheel of her truck and the concrete of the lot. Her eyes cocked up and away from the ground towards the overcast October sky.

The blood rush to her head had been so strong before, but now all she was left with were bruised knuckles and a body shop bill. At least, she hoped they were just bruised. Marie looked down at the dark red on her hands and shrugged, rubbing the tops of her knuckles. Nothing broken. Nothing bloody. Nothing - she winced as she pressed down on her right hand's middle knuckle.

Nothing I can't handle.

She'd wanted to punch Kevin's face in but there Double D had been - ready to save the freakin' day. She wrung her hands together tight, hard enough to make the not so red parts of her fists turn entirely white. Why? Why was he always like that? Even more so, why did he stop her in the first place? The guy was still walking around with the giant reminder of why Kevin deserved to get his ass handed to him on his face.

She shook her head.

"I don't need you, or anyone else to fight my battles - do you hear me?"

Maybe she was getting soft. She'd already helped that beanpole out more than once this week, even going so far as to drive his rain-soaked ass across the city. She had just wanted to screw with him, like the good old days - but it just wasn't any fun anymore. He barely puts up a fight as it is and then he goes and does what he did today. She thought about his face, the way he yelled there in the detention room and her throat would knot together. Something about Double D's words stung - like hornets crawling up her chest.

"I know who I am, who the hell are you?"

"What does he know?" Marie growled. Her eyes shifted, catching the sight of nearly two dozen birds moving in unison away from the area and southward. She was who she was, and pretending she wasn't was stupid. A fighter, a smart-ass, and most importantly a damn good sister.

But that wasn't what he meant was it?

She shook her head, clearing the fog of uncertainty.

"Need some Band-Aids?" A voice asked.

Marie turned to look, seeing her younger sister: May, standing above her with a box full of adhesive bandages. Marie looked down, once more evaluating the damage on her fingers and knuckles. Nothing worth mentioning.

"Nah, not this time," she answered back. "Maybe next time."

May put the box down, situating it atop the fender of the truck, and sat down cross-legged with a sigh. They sat for a bit in silence, simply looking out at the sky together and enjoying the peace of a calm autumn evening. May shifted, stretching her feet out to readjust her red shorts with an idle hand.

May turned. "I didn't think he had it in him."

Marie looked over, slightly taken aback by the comment.

"Who? Oven mitt?" She paused to consider the words and sniffled. "Me neither."

Marie stood up, dusting herself off. She offered a hand to her little sister, to which she obliged - standing up off the pavement with a huff.

"Come on, dopey, we have stuff to do," Marie said.

May snorted. "Is Lee still whining about groceries?"

Marie shook her head, chuckling. "She wants something 'with flavor' this time," she said.

"Mmm, maybe ribs?" May slurped, tongue licking her lips. Marie frowned and hopped into the driver seat of the truck.

"Is meat all you ever think about?"

Marie hopped up the few steps leading to the trailer door and kicked it open, nearly sending it off its hinges. In her arms she carried the heavy load of several brown paper grocery bags, all fit to burst. She grunted, shifting her way through the main room and into the kitchen area. She dumped the bags, unceremoniously, onto the kitchen counter and stepped back. Trailing behind her was May, meandering through the door and into the kitchen with her cup of chocolate ice cream.

If there were two things in this world that May loved more than anything else it would be meat and sweets.

"Thanks for the help, bozo," Marie goaded, punching her sister on the arm.

May stepped back, confused and a little offended. "You said you could handle it," she said innocently.

Marie rolled her eyes, yanking the cup of ice cream from her sister's hand and frowning. "You could have at least opened the door."

May lunged forward. She grasped at the cup of ice cream trying to get back what was rightfully hers with a groan of displeasure. "Give it back, Marie!" She shouted.

Marie ignored her, putting one hand out to catch her slightly shorter sister's head. She turned away, lifting the cup up and taking a big gulp of melted ice cream with a smirk.

May dodged her hand and jumped up, taking the cup from Marie's hand. She looked down into the cup and pouted. "Ah, come on…," she whimpered, defeated.

Marie snickered, wiping her face with the back of her arm and walked out of the kitchen and into the TV room. Leaping into her favorite reclining chair, she hunted around for the remote.

"What about the groceries?" May called from the kitchen.

Marie reached into a cushion and pulled out the remote, distracted. "Make it up to me," she called back.

May grumbled about being tired but ultimately did as she was bid, shoving the groceries into their barren refrigerator. Then she sauntered in and flopped down onto the couch, face down with a groan. Though muffled, the distinct voice of May eked out through the ancient cushions, "I'm tired of today."

"You and me both, sis," Marie commented, still scanning through the available cable channels.

The sound of stomping perked both sisters up, petrified.

"You woke up the beast!" May whispered, head raised off the couch just enough to look her sister in the eye.

"I did?!" Marie whispered back. "She probably heard your whining, you cow."

Lee stepped out into the TV room from the stairwell, hair a slightly tangled mess and her clothes disheveled from sleep. "I heard both of you morons," she replied, tapping her foot. She raised a fist up and growled. "I should both knock your lights out, then I'd get some decent sleep around here," she threatened.

"But I guess the medical bills would be," she walked forward and plopped down on May's legs. "Too much."

Ow, was all the trapped youngest could muster out before resigning herself to her fate as Lee's couch pillow.

"Go easy on her, red-lightning," Marie replied. "She's had a bad day."

Lee shook her head and shimmied, putting more weight down than before. May groaned.

"Yeah? How's that?" Lee asked.

Marie placed the remote down and sighed. "Kevin."

Lee shifted, this time a bit less intent on breaking her sister's legs than previously. "You have my attention," she answered.

"He called her a what?!" Lee yelled, voice tense.

Marie shook her head. "A white trash-"

"Stop, I got it," Lee interrupted, standing up fully to allow May a chance to move her legs. May did so, curling her legs underneath her and looking miserable - either because of losing feeling in her legs or reliving the fight again.

"He said something about her stealing a note or invitation or something like that," Marie continued with a frown.

That was…

Lee looked over, scanning May. "Well did you?" She asked.

May shook her head so hard that her hair flew back and forth like a helicopter. "Not me," then she put her finger to her chin."I wish I had though."

Lee laughed, putting her hand on May's shoulder. "Atta girl," she said. Then she turned with arms crossed, directing her attention to Marie. "You gave him the Kanker special right, Marie?"

Marie furrowed her brows, shifting uncomfortably as she answered. "I would have but…," she trailed off.

"But what, Marie? Spit it out," Lee demanded, head cocked to the side.

May answered instead. "Double D," she said.

"He stopped the fight," Marie finished. Her mind was fuzzy, her words a bit unfocused.

"That's not weird, though," Lee replied. "He's always a goody-goody, right?"

Marie shook her head. "Nah, Lee he was yellin' and stuff - like super pissed off about something."

"Sounds like trouble in paradise," Lee crooned, leaning towards Marie and pinching her cheek. Marie swatted her away, eyes narrowed.

"Don't even start. He caught me off guard - that's all."

After dinner the three sisters spent a rather loud evening hurling insults at each other and watching television. By this time in the evening though, all bets were off on which of the three Kankers could reliably wrest control of said TV. A stand off of the highest degree, the TV like a hostage to be controlled and the sisters veteran fighters ready to die for their own personal causes.

The room was a war zone, blankets and cushions and furniture tossed aside - sister against sister.

Lee, a die hard sports fan, wanted to watch a Thursday night football game. She was stronger and taller than the other two, but often fell short in maneuverability.

Marie, the second oldest and the cleverest, wanted to enjoy an evening of monster truck mayhem and destruction.

May on the other hand was adamant that their night should consist of watching her new favorite reality TV drama. She, the youngest, was neither clever nor strong but had both her sisters beat on agility - which she took advantage of.

"I can't even take you seriously like that!" Lee yelled, ducking under a pillow moving at the speed of a fastball. It crashed against the bannister of the stairs and bounced away haphazardly.

Marie smirked, her entire body covered in pillows and cushions - all tied together by lengths of rope and knotted into some kind of armor. She lumbered away, backing off behind the recliner to replenish her ammo. "Then give up, you old fossil!" She yelled, words muffled through the pillows. She was down, having lost initial control of the TV in an earlier scuffle, but not out. May had the controller now but was currently too focused on dodging Lee's death grip to control the situation. She'd have to think of something quick before Lee or May's stamina ran out. At least now her enemies were preoccupied with each other and that presented an opportunity to take them both out.

May leapt back, left hand still tightened around the hard plastic cover of the remote like her life depended on it. "Come on, Lee, you haven't even seen it before," she ducked again, almost getting her hair caught in Lee's fingers. "It's not boring at all!"

"Why would I want to watch a bunch of idiots argue over who has the best looking hair, when I could watch some hunks try to kill each other over a ball?" Lee protested. She spun around, turning to try to keep up with her slippery foe but fell just short of nailing her. An opening had finally presented itself.

Go time!

Marie charged, letting out a great war cry as she did so, stunning them both. Lee would never budge even against a full body tackle like what Marie had planned. Instead, Marie opted to deal with her first, pulling off one of her armor-cushions and lobbing it directly into Lee's face. Bam! Lee went down - unable to dodge the incoming missile, her face taking the brunt of the cushion and falling aside.

Distracted by the sudden casualty, May failed to sidestep quickly enough. Boom! Marie dove forward and tackled her, both sprawling across the floor and into the kitchen. Then she tore the remote from her sister's hand and sprung up, making a bee-line for the TV room.

Lee had recovered by the time she got back, her nose red from the impact.

"That was dirty," Lee growled. Her arms were out, ready to completely prevent Marie from getting past her.

"Hate the game," Marie panted.

May was closing in on her, quietly like a ninja would her target.

"Not the player," she finished. Then she slipped out of the pillow armor completely and dove sideways and over the sofa.

Click click.

"ALL RIGHT BOYS AND GIRLS! IT'S THURSDAY NIGHT SLAM DOWN," The TV bellowed. Massive trucks fly past the screen, crushing cars and leaping across mud ramps - Monster Truck Mayhem was just getting started.

"Ugh!" Lee groaned, throwing both her arms over her head.

May shook her head and pouted.

Marie shot up from the ground where she had fallen beside the TV, throwing a fist into the air. "Hell yeah! Suck it losers!" She yelled, prancing around the couch.

Lee shook her head - replacing an empty spot on the sofa where a cushion should have been with the one she'd been hit with. She flopped down, accepting defeat.

"Rules are rules," Lee sighed.

May bent down, retrieving her own cushion from the discarded armor of Marie's pillow suit and sniffled. "I almost had it," she whined.

Marie stuck out her tongue, childishly and started towards the trailer door.

"Where are you going?" Lee asked. "Win the game then leave before the trophy ceremony?"

"Gotta smoke. If I get back and it's not where I left it - I'm invoking Kanker law 301a," Marie called back.

"301a?!" May asked, shocked. "You're crazy."

Lee shook her head with a grimace, "Did you see that cushion move earlier? She's not messing around, apparently."

Outside, in the chill of the autumn night, Marie felt a weight fall off her shoulders. With an idle hand she dug through her backpack situated in the truck bed against the cabin. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes, a matchbox, and a bandage roll from a small front pocket and stepped back. Unfortunately, after that cushion-missile from earlier her injured hand was hurting now more than ever. She unbundled the bandage from its protective plastic casing and set about the working of casting her dominant hand into a mound of gauze. It was a pretty expert job, all things considered. Years of tending to May's sports injuries had trained her for rare moments where she needed tending to. Now onto the cigarette.

The match flicked to life, burning bright orange flames across her face. She inhaled, taking in the noxious smoke for a few seconds only to blow it out in heavy gray plumes. It was a terrible habit and she knew it, but it felt like home. Kind of like osmosis: a trailer park kid with a terrible nicotine addiction? Seemed right.

Marie raised up her arms, idly inspecting the dark-tan wrapping of her makeshift hand-brace.

Just hide it in your pocket until tonight.

Through the window of the trailer she could see her sisters, their obnoxiously loud voices echoing through the calm of the park. They would surely make a stink about her hand, so - it'd be best to not show it off.

The night passed; just her, the night, tobacco, and the quiet. She closed her eyes. She had some time to think - away from the constant bickering of her sister. But what to think about?

Double D comes to mind.

"Ugh!" She groaned, turning to kick the wheel of her truck. She was tired of thinking about him and the crap he pulled earlier today but his words stuck to her like dirty motor oil. He knew from the very beginning that she wasn't really being nice to him a single time this week. It was all an act, a show, a way to mess around with him - make him fidget. It made her angry but for some reason she also felt strangely guilty too.

"But he still jumped into a fight, for me!" She was whisper-yelling now. Her voice was terse, strained. A fight she would have definitely won, but a fight nonetheless. The motivation just doesn't make sense to her and she was getting all wound up again.

"Just," Marie paused, rubbing her forehead, "leave him alone - like before."

As nice as it would be to try and squeeze some more reactions out of him, it simply was not worth these weird feelings.

"Marie, are you coming back in here or what?!" Lee yelled from the living room. "May's gonna change it if you don't hurry up!"

Marie shook her head. "Keep your shorts on, I'm coming!" Then she walked inside.

Just leave it alone, Marie.

Marie jerked awake, a sharp pain ripping through her hand. She sat up, suddenly alert - checking the room for any signs of foul play. Fortunately only the dull dark-black of her lightless living room greeted her eyes. She relaxed a bit, rubbing her face.

"Ow, what the hell?!"

She took her right hand into her left and examined it, cautiously. Without the bandage on, which she decided to take off to sleep last night, the foremost knuckle had become slightly swollen.

Marie groaned, her index finger pressing into the hot and bruised skin.

You broke your hand again, you moron.

She shook her head. "Can't afford another," she sat up, pulling the bandage out from her discarded cargo pants, "hospital bill."

Then she fastened the length of the bandage to her hand once more, making sure to put a bit more pressure on her middle knuckle than last time. With a bit more effort than should have been necessary she stretched out over the coffee table to retrieve her cellphone. Flipping up the old clamshell hand-me-down she sighed.

6:38 AM.

Too early to head to school, and too late to go back to bed. Marie wiped her eyes with her good hand and clamored up off the couch, meandering her way through the living-room and up the stairs. In the bedroom, which was a nightmare as usual, laid the sleeping forms of Lee; who had asserted herself as the blanket haver. And May, who was just shy of sliding off the bed and straight onto the floor.

Almost a year ago, Lee had decided that the king-sized bed that they had all shared was too small for all three of them. Well, in Kanker-tongue that really just meant - "you two are gonna have to fight over who gets the other spot."

Marie grimaced holding her shoulder - recalling a previous injury, "May does not mess around when it comes to her beauty sleep."

Regardless, Marie would be relegated to the couch every night until the 'Sleeping Games' came back around this spring.

Stepping over a gaggle of random shoes and a massive pile of 'god-knows-whose-clothes-these-are' Marie finally made it over to the closet door.

Whack!

May shot up from the ground, wide-eyed.

"Holy hell, kid - you good?" Marie asked back, startled by the noise. May mumbled something about chicken wings then rolled over to go back to sleep. On the floor. Marie chuckled and retrieved her clothes before heading out into the bathroom to get changed.

"Ouch!" May yelled from the bedroom.

"Why are you on the floor you blonde-headed flop?!" Lee yelled back.

The Kanker sisters were up and ready to rumble.

Tuning out the commotion, as she was more than used to doing, she got dressed. Satisfied with her appearance she shot out of the bathroom quickly, so as to hopefully not get caught in Lee's death grip. The last thing she needed right now was a game of 20 Questions with her older sister.

Lee, however, was one step ahead of her. In one quick motion she reached down and grabbed Marie's bandaged hand, painfully, and lifted it up as she tried to slip past.

"What the hell is this?" She asked.

Marie shook her head and dislodged herself from Lee's hand, taking a step back.

"Lay off, Lee," she started with narrowed eyes, "I burned my hand last night."

Despite her bravado, she was terrified Lee would do something drastic if she found out.

Lee, incredulous, lifted her bright orange hair from her eyes to further examine Marie more closely.

Oh god! She pulled out the 'Piercing Eyes' for this! I'm screwed.

Despite Marie's panic, however, Lee did nothing more than grunt and turn around. Accepting Marie's lie before locking the door behind her with a slam. Marie exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in before making her way back down stairs.

In the kitchen stood the stilted frame of May - trying her best to simply stay upright. Mornings were never really her strong suit.

"Mmorninggg," May said to no one in particular - her mouth slurring the whole time. Marie rolled her eyes as she passed her.

"Princess Zombie is feeling," Marie started, reaching across her sister to get a bowl. "Particularly talkative today, huh?"

May shook her head, but did nothing else - surely all in an attempt to conserve precious energy.

With a bowl in hand and a freshly stocked fridge Marie set about the perilous task of obtaining breakfast. Perilous of course because-

Lee leapt into the kitchen as her feet filled sneakers crashed across the linoleum with a loud thwap! Marie ducked, instinctively and stepped back away from the fridge, just barely avoiding Lee's red-painted fingernails trying to swipe at her face. Lee gave a huge grin as they both recovered from their strange, aggression-filled dance and threw the fridge door closed.

"Put the bowls away, girls!" For the first time in a long time Lee looked absolutely ecstatic.

Marie scratched her head, while May simply turned - mouth agape. "Where's the fire?" Marie asked.

"We're eating out for breakfast!" Then Lee produced a giant wad of freshly crumbled cash from her jeans pocket, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Whoa! Where did you get all that money from, Lee?!" May asked wide-eyed.

Marie frowned, folding her arms over her chest with a scoff. "Drugs, huh? I know we live in a trailer park but we have standards."

Lee shook her head, unamused. "Can it, wombat - It's from the diner. Tips were crazy yesterday."

Why is everyone calling me a wombat this week?!

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.

"Sssstrike," 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 a few hundred feet further down. Kevin was at the center of the field slipping around some freshman rookie and panting. She cursed his name, pulling her phone out and checking the time once more.

Almost time for work. Finally, something to do.

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

"Typical May," she breathed through a small smile. Opening up her bag she, once again, retrieved her pack of cigarettes and her matches. At this late in the day the teachers, but mostly the coaches, couldn't be bothered to pay attention to underaged smoking. With her smoking-addiction taken care of, her eyes eventually fell to a few sheets of loose paper laying at the bottom of her bag. It was a few pieces of her graded work and not a single one of them was hopeful in any way. Most of them were in the D range and at least one big fat F.

She winced at them, before taking them up into her hands and tossing them off the side of the bleacher in a wad.

"She kickin' ass?" A voice spoke from beside her. Turning her head she could see the orange-headed frame of Lee squeezing out from under the bleachers.

Marie nodded her head and sniffed, "Yeah - she's merciless." Then she paused and frowned. "Where the hell did you come from?"

Lee laughed, arms deep in her backpack as she did so. "I'm a ghost, Marie," she chided. With a hand she zipped up her backpack and stood over Marie. Then she pointed to the cigarette in Marie's hand and gestured to take it. Marie obliged, then scooted over for her to sit.

Lee plopped down with a huff, cig' between her fingers like an old pro and took a deep drag. When she was done she scowled and handed the half-burned stick back to her sister and shook her head. "Ugh, menthol? Really?"

Marie scowled back and stuck out her tongue, "What is it 'pick-on-Marie' day?" Then she tossed the cigarette butt into a metal can and sealed it up.

"Only when she lies to me," Lee retorted, leaning back. Marie froze, her heart a car engine pumped full of nitrous.

I knew she wouldn't buy that whole 'burned my hand' crap! The Piercing Eyes strike again.

"Ugh, look I-"

Lee shook her head, "Don't even start." Her voice wasn't angry, or venomous. Uncharacteristically, it sounded borderline disappointed. Marie stopped - for once she couldn't think of anything to say so instead she waited.

"You've always been a punch it first kinda gal," Lee started sitting up to rest her elbows on her knees. Her eyes, though hidden beneath her hair, were clearly fixated on May prancing about the playing field like a crazy disco dancer. "But you and I both know that Kevin wasn't the reason you broke your hand," she finished.

Marie sat still for a moment, stunned.

Sisters know everything about each other, huh?

"It's stupid," Marie deflected, eyes looking up towards the sky for a second time this week.

"Stupid or not," Lee answered. "You have to figure it out, 'cause it'll eat you up."

"You some kind of therapist now?"

Lee turned back, frowning. "Not yet, but," she pointed to her temple with a finger and smiled. "I'm sure I can figure it out, I always do."

The silence between them felt calm, peaceful. Just two sisters being sisters. Marie loved these talks, she pretended she didn't but a chance to be closer to Lee was nothing to scoff at - not to her.

"I think I got it figured out," Marie responded.

Lee stood up after that, a hand on her hip, "atta girl." Then she turned and walked down the bleachers and towards the parking lot. Then she turned, "Oh and, uh, go to the clinic if it hurts too bad. I'll figure it out."

Marie watched her go for a while. Watched her until she got into her beater sedan and drove off towards the main road and out of sight. Then she leaned back against the cold bleacher seat and closed her eyes, strange thoughts and feelings racing in her mind.

Just sleep it off.

"Holy shit," Marie cursed, hands and torso hidden under the front end of a beater van. It was a mess under there. Wires loose, corrosion everywhere, and grime - grime as far as the eye could see.

"Marie…what have I said about cursing in front of customers?" The voice was deep, gravelly.

Marie pulled herself out from under the engine bay just far enough to see him. He was a tall man and heavy too, his large hands covered in dirt wringing themselves together over a rag. The boss. Unfortunately, her arms were stuck holding the weight of the most disgusting alternator she had ever seen. Instead, she simply answered back. "Uh, I didn't see any customers, Rick."

"I just got in," she squeezed her right hand out to gesture. "Saw this one and started going. Bad alternator."

Rick shook his head, brushing his long hair back. "How did you even know it's the alternator if you just got here?"

"Well, Allen, no offense to him," she started, the alternator finally coming free from its dirt prison and into her hand. "Hates electrical jobs."

Marie rolled out from under the car fully, her face covered in grease. She held up the alternator like a predator would its prey and smirked. "And I don't see him over here."

Rick took the alternator from her and examined it with quiet scrutiny before handing it back to her. "Good work, that thing is shot."

"Thought so." She stood up, dusting her red jumpsuit off. "I assume the shop has a new one?"

Rick shook his head. "Probably not this model, but it shouldn't be too hard to find one around town." Marie frowned but said nothing else.

"Anything else wrong with it?" Rick asked.

Marie looked over the top of the exposed engine, this time with a flashlight. "Eh, nothing that would stop it from running electrical-wise. Battery's probably dead, but that's an easy fix."

"Well," Rick started turning to look at the new customers entering the store. "Find the customer, we're getting swarmed today. He's a short guy with a Hawaiian button-down." Then Rick took off.

Hawaiian shirt, huh? Sounds tacky.

But, Marie mused no further - instead divesting herself of her tools and making her way out into the parking lot.

Despite her best efforts there was no sign of anyone that looked anything like how Rick described even after five minutes of looking.

"Where the hell is this guy?" She whispered to herself, rounding the corner towards the bathrooms and right into someone.

Wham!

"Oh shit! You o-"

It was Double D, hand over his chin in pain.

"M-Marie?!" He yelped.

"Marie?" Eddy asked from somewhere still within the bathroom.

"Shut up!" Marie whispered. With a yank she sequestered Double D around the corner by the shirt before Eddy could see her - hand over his mouth before he could protest. Sure enough out came Ed and Eddy, both looking for Double D.

"Sockhead? Ed, I think we lost our human calculator," Eddy said, scratching his head. Double D murmured something inaudible behind Marie's hand.

"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 panic. Double D looked on, a pale expression of anxiety painted on his face.

"W-well Eddy's van broke down so we pushed it here," he stuttered.

Marie gripped her forehead in exhaustion."God! 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 loose ten 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 and I might lose my job if either of them makes a scene, okay?" Double D's eyes widened in protest.

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

Marie's left eyebrow shot up. "Why would you do that? I treat you like crap, you said so yourself," she was getting herself spun up by the whole situation again, 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.

Oh.