Chapter 6

The sun had finally gone down, and night had once again casted it's shadow over Rathink Avenue. The cul-de-sac was quite tranquil, as all of the children indoors, finishing up dinner or otherwise preparing themselves for the next day at school. Jimmy was in his house perfecting his hair after finishing up in the shower. His best friend and neighbor to the left, Sarah was sitting in her pink colored room, fiddling around with her dolls. Her brother, Ed was in his basement room dividing his time between immersing himself in comic books and watching "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians", a B-Movie that was a complete failure in almost everyone's eyes but Ed's. Eddy was spending time in front of his mirror; he had just finished up brushing his teeth and was admiring his smile while confidently striking poses. Double Dee was quite busy at the moment. He had already taken care of all of his evening chores, and eaten dinner. He now had a large stack of books piled up on his desk next to his computer which he was using to diligently work on the biology essay he had started the previous night. His nose was feeling much better than it had been earlier that day after sustaining the injury at the ball field.

In the sea of tranquility that was Peach Creek, there was only one family that was not at peace; the Kankers . Inside their trailer, it appeared as if a nuclear warhead had gone off. Books were pulled off shelves, tables were tipped over and cupboards were flung wide open. The console television in the living room was displaying a blank screen, instead of the intended monster truck demolition derby.

"Where the hell is it May!" yelled Lee as she was throwing books off of the shelf.

"You had it last!" May yelled back as she searched through drawers in the kitchen.

"I'm missing my show girls, don't piss me off!" yelled Lee.

"We're all missing it dim wit!" yelled Marie. "We checked everywhere in this stupid trailer and still can't find the phone book!"

"What are we going to do?" yelled May.

The girls stood around thinking and then Lee all of the sudden smirked as if she had a great idea.

"Don't worry girls, we don't need to get no professionals involved in this little matter." said Lee. "We got someone with enough brains to know how to fix this thing right here in our own backyard."

"Nobody in this place has enough sense to fix this thing you lug head!" yelled Marie.

"What about that brainy little man of yours, Double Dee?" said Lee.

Marie's eyes widened, "Double Dee, he's so cute." She said in a dream-like calm voice that made her sound especially feminine. Lee slapped her across the face.

"Get focused Marie!" yelled Lee. "He's your man, go get him and get back here quick so I can watch my show!"

"Fine!" Marie shoved Lee out of the way and walked out of the trailer. She shivered as a cold wind gust hit her face, her blue hair flowing in the wind. She ran quickly through the trailer park and hopped the fence into the lane. She again hopped the fence into Ed's yard and bolted quickly through it, out into the cul-de-sac. Crossing the street, she finally arrived at Double-Dee's front yard. She had known from breaking into his house already that his room was in the back on the second floor, so she ran through the alley around into the back yard. She climbed up the drain pipe adjacent to his window, and peered in to his room. Double Dee's desk was situated so that his back was towards the window. Marie chuckled under her breath and grabbed onto the window. She slowly opened it and began to make her way into the room. She continued to tip-toe across the room until she reached Double-Dees bed. She sat down on the edge of the bed, crossing her legs and leaning slightly back, attempting to make herself look as sexy as possible. She finally broke the silence.

"Hello Oven Mitt." she said in a seductive voice. Double Dee jumped up from his desk, startled beyond belief. He turned around and to his dismay, laid eyes on the person he expected to see.

"Uh, hello Marie." said Double Dee in a nervous tone of voice while sweating profusely . "How did you manage to."

Marie cut him off.

"Get up here? I knew you'd be up here so I just climbed up the drain pipe. This isn't the first time I've been in here you know."

"Not the first time?"said Double Dee. He was quite disturbed by Marie's last statement. He managed to get a hold of himself, after which he attempted to reason with Marie to leave.

"While I really enjoy your visit Marie, I must ask you to leave. What would mother and father think if they were home and discovered a girl had secretly infiltrated my room?" said Double Dee.

"Double Dee," said Marie as she stood up and walked over towards him. She pinned him against the wall and moved her face close to his right ear.

"While I really enjoy the fact that we are in your room and that nobody else is home, I'm afraid that we'll have to save that for another time."

Marie pulled away from Double Dee's ear and looked into his face.

"Listen lover boy, I need you to do a little favor for me and my sisters. I need you to come to the trailer and fix our television. I know that you can do it."

Double Dee stared into Marie's eyes in silence for a few seconds. Before he even had a chance to retort, Marie made his decision for him.

"I knew you'd want to let's go!" yelled Marie as she dragged Double Dee out of his room.

"But I need to finish up this essay for biology class tomorrow!" yelled Double Dee

"You'll have enough time to finish it brainiac don't worry. Now grab your tools and let's go!"

The pair made their way out of Double Dee's room, stopping only for him to grab his bag of electronic components and soldering gun. The two exited through the front door of his house and made their way back to the trailer park.

Back in the trailer park, Lee and May were pacing back and forth in front of the broken television.

"Where is she, don't tell me she let her feeling get the best of her!" Lee yelled.

"We have five minutes till it starts, what are we going to do?" said May.

At that moment, the door to the trailer flew open with an audible thud.

"We're back!" yelled Marie. "And my cutie pie said he'd fix the television for us!"

"I knew he would." said Lee grinning and chuckling.

Double Dee stood in front of the two angry sisters sweating profusely. "Hello, May, hello Lee. How are you this evening?" He asked very nervously.

"We'll be much better when that television is in working order. Now get going." yelled Lee.

Double Dee sighed as he made his way to the back of the television. The three girls stood watching nervously, hoping that Double Dee could pull through for them. As soon as he removed the rear panel, Double Dee discovered the problem.

"Ahh here's the problem, it seems that there is a blown capacitor, causing the switch relay to malfunction and the…"

Lee quickly cut Double Dee off and leaned into his face with an angry expression

"I don't care what the problem is as long as you can fix it!" yelled Lee.

"Certainly." said Double Dee as he opened his electronics kit and heated his soldering gun. After a few minutes of fiddling, he closed the back panel and walked around the front of the television. With a turn of the dial, the television came to life, just as the monster truck rally was beginning.

"All right girls, see I told you it was a good idea." said Lee.

The girls moved backwards toward the couch and set themselves down, never taking their eyes off if the TV. Double Dee remained in his place, standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room.

"Well, now that the situation is remedied, I suppose I shall be getting back to my studies." said Double Dee.

The girls kept their focus on the television paying Double Dee absolutely no mind.

"Very well then, I will see you girls tomorrow in school." said Double Dee as he turned around and walked toward the door. He quickly opened the door and walked out of the trailer.

The sound of the door slamming prompted Marie to take notice of Double Dees exit. Marie rose off of the couch and walked over to the door. She looked out the window on the door and watched Double Dee walk a few paces away from the trailer. After a few seconds, she opened the door and walked out into the frigid air. She closed the door behind her, as to not disturb her sisters.

"Double Dee." she called.

Double Dee froze at the sound of her voice. He turned around to see Marie standing just outside the door of the trailer, with her blue hair flowing in the wind.

"Come here real quick." She said while motioning Double Dee to come over with her index finger. Double Dee remained still for a few seconds, after which he reluctantly made his way back to the trailer.

"How is your nose feeling?" asked Marie.

"Much better now," said Double Dee, "I am just glad that it did not bruise."

He paused.

"I must thank you for your assistance earlier today as well." said Double Dee.

"You are very welcome." replied Marie.

The two stood in silence for a few seconds before Marie continued.

"Listen." said Marie. "Thanks for taking time out of your studies to come over and fix our TV for us, even though I kind of forced you to."

Marie chuckled.

"And I really have to thank you for returning my sketchbook to me," said Marie, "That really meant a lot to me Double Dee."

Double Dee was quite shocked. He had never seen this kind of politeness come out of a Kanker sister before. Until now, he had never thought Marie's lips were capable of annunciating the words thank you.

"Well Marie, you are very welcome, I am always happy to help with a technical problem." said Double Dee as he smiled at Marie. For the first time, Double Dee noticed that Marie was returning a genuine smile of her own, and he couldn't help but notice that she looked quite attractive.

"Well." said Marie, "I guess I'll see you in school tomorrow then" she said.

"Yes" replied Double Dee. "Be sure to enjoy your television program."

"Thanks, I will" said Marie.

A few seconds passed until Marie broke the silence.

"Well goodnight." said Marie as she leaned in towards Double Dees face. He winced back slightly, expecting one of sloppy wet kisses he usually received from Marie. Instead, to his surprise he received a gentle peck on the cheek. Marie backed away and began to open the door behind her.

"See ya Double Dee." said Marie, smiling as she closed the door to her trailer.

"Goodbye Marie." Double Dee said as the door to the trailer shut and latched.

Double Dee remained in front of the trailer for a moment before turning around to begin his journey home. As Double Dee made his way through the poorly lit trailer park, he couldn't help but ponder the behavior that Marie had just displayed for him outside of her trailer, as well as in school that afternoon. Marie had showed kindness, and respect, two adjectives that did not describe the personality that Marie had typically portrayed for herself. After glancing at her sketch book, he had began to question if Marie was really who she seemed to be, and his recent encounters with her had only heightened his curiosity. He couldn't help but think of the genuine smile that Marie had shown him tonight, a smile that he had never seen been and had made her look quite attractive.

A wave of nervousness flew through Double Dee's body after his last thought, at which point he ceased walking for a few seconds. Why was he thinking about Marie so much? What concern was it of his if Marie did have a sweet, sensitive side that he did not know about?

As much as he tried to deny it, Double Dee could only come up with one conclusion for his seemingly abnormal faults. Could it be that he was beginning to reciprocate Maries feelings?. Is it possible that he was beginning to become enamoured with the girl whose voice used to cause him to tremble in fear, the girl who had persistently invaded his cherished personal space? The girl who did not hesitate to take part in making life for Double Dee and his friends a living hell?

These overwhelming and unexpected feelings continued to plague Double Dee, as he made his way back to his house and into his front door.