Chapter 18
As Double Dee changed into his pajamas and snuggled into his warm bed, feeling like a million bucks, Marie was walking home, shaken up by the events that had just transpired. She knew now that the secret would be out if Ed had told Eddy about their little meeting, if you would call it that. Eddy was too cunning when it came to matters like this not to suspect something. She was even surprised that Ed was even able to recognize her, as she appeared totally different than she usually did.
Marie's encounter with Ed was not the only thing she had to worry about; she had to worry about explaining her hair, manner of dress, and the food she was carrying to her sisters. She approached her trailer, and peered into the window. Lee was sitting on the couch eating a bag of potato chips, while watching what appeared to be some kind of Ultimate Fighting exhibition match. There was no sign of May. Marie began to ponder what she would actually say. She knew that Lee would suspect something if she simply said that she went out to a club.
Just then she peered over to the clothes lines that were hanging outside the trailer. Hanging on the lines were a few of May's shirts, a few pairs of underwear, as well as a pair of jeans. But luckily for Marie, her black tank top and green pants were hanging on the line as well.
Marie ran over to the lines, and quickly tore the clothes down. She ran around the back of the trailer and began undoing the brown belt she was wearing. As she began pulling it from around her waist, she was greeted by the sound of a familiar voice from behind her.
"Marie?" said the adenoidal voice.
Marie dropped the belt on the ground, the hair on the back of her neck stood up just as her stomach began feeling like it was full of butterflies. She was caught. She had nothing left to do but turn around and face her little sister.
Marie turned around to see May staring at her holding a trash bag, walking it over to the trailer park dumpster, she appeared to have just walked out the back door
"Great, she finally takes out the trash herself, and it has to be right now!" Marie thought to herself
"Is that you Marie?" asked May again eyeing her up and down.
Marie sighed,
"Yes May, it's me, got a problem with it!"
"You dyed your hair back to black?" said May as she dropped the trash bag on the ground and walked over to Marie. She touched her hair. "What gives!"
"None of your business Bucky!" barked Marie.
"Hey!" shouted May in her usual adenoidal, nasally voice, "Those are my leggings, and moms boots." May said pointing to her shoes
"And you're all dolled up like a girly girl." May said teasingly while smiling and flapping her wrists up and down.
"Shut the hell up May." said Marie as she grabbed Mays arm.
"HEY LEE, COME LOO…" May began calling for Lee at the top of her lungs before Marie cut her off by placed her hand over her mouth and slamming her into the trailer wall.
"Listen May," said Marie, "if you can keep your big mouth shut and not tell Lee, I will tell you why I'm dressed the way I am. But you cannot tell Lee anything, got it Bucky?"
May shook her head as if responding yes.
"Now, if you tell Lee, or anyone else what I am about to tell you, everyone within the confines of this 3 block radius will know that, one you still sleep with your teddy bear, and two that you wet the bed up until 4th grade. That should give you incentive to keep quiet."
Marie couldn't help but giggle inside her own mind. She had been around Double Dee so much it seemed that her pattern of speech began to mimic his.
Marie released May, who began rubbing her shoulder.
"Okay, okay, geez Marie, you didn't have to throw me around or insult me." said May.
"Okay, sit down on the step and listen, I'm putting complete trust in you as my sister right now May." said Marie.
"You got it, now just tell me what you got to say." said May.
"Okay," said Marie as she took of the green top she was wearing, she couldn't help but shiver as the cold winter air touched her skin.
"Well, remember a few days ago when our tv went out, and Lee got me to get Double Dee to fix it?" said Marie.
"Yeah," said May. "Well, it all started after that." Marie continued.
Marie spent the next few minutes telling the whole entire story of her adventures with Double Dee over the last few days as she got changed into her usual clothes, explaining why her hair was a different color as well as her manner of dress in the process. She also explained why she was carrying all of the food she was in the grocery bag. "So you kissed him, and he kissed you back?" said May.
"Yeah," said Marie, "It was great."
Marie paused.
"I know Mom always told us that men were only as good as the money they have, and never to trust them, but Double Dee is different", said Marie as she looked toward the sky. She turned towards May.
"There were a lot of things that were done wrong in our lives May." said Marie, "none of us asked to be born, and even though we were, we didn't exactly have the perfect childhood."
May looked into Maries eyes.
"And I'm not talking about the money situation, that's uncontrollable and mom really tries to do the best she can. I'm talking about all of the other crap, with school and all. We didn't deserve it. I mean it is a shame that I never got my eye fixed, and that you never got braces, but that's the way it had to be"
Marie continued.
"But the worst part about it is that instead of encouraging us to fulfill our dreams, and eventually get out of this trailer park, Mom seems to be telling us to follow her example when it comes to men. It sucks to have a mother that barely notices you as an individual. Even though Daddy has always been there for me and Lee, it kind of hurts that I don't know my real father."
Marie leaned forward placing her hands on her knees and glanced towards May.
"Just think for a second May, how much does mom really know about us? Our favorite foods? How about any of our interests? Whether we come home with A's or F's on report card day, does it matter? No."
May stared at Marie as she continued.
"I don't want to be anything like that in my life. I don't want to be that bully, who shows up just to make everyone's lives miserable. I want to be Marie."
Marie paused to clear her throat,
"I can tell Double Dee is different May, he is not out to use me, Jesus Christ, we were in his bedroom alone a few times, and he has never tried any funny business. He makes me feel like a person, he makes me feel girlish, and most of all he truly cares about me and loves me."
Marie looked down towards her feet as she finished her last statement. May touched her hand to Maries shoulder.
"You really do like him don't you Marie?" said May.
Marie shook her head up and down.
"You know what Marie," said May in a serious tone that Marie had never heard before in her life. "It's sad, but we sisters hang out together all the time, but I feel like I barely know anything about you or Lee."
Marie was shocked that May would make such an important point. There really was a lot that she didn't know about her sisters, especially Lee.
"Marie, we all feel the same inside. Even Lee, as much as she doesn't want to show it." said May.
"I learned that for myself," said Marie. "I guess the bullying and making others lives miserable is basically a way for us to get our minds off of our own miserable lives."
The two girls sat in silence for a few minutes before Marie broke the silence.
"Speaking of Lee, I think its best that we keep this to ourselves for now. I think Lee will over think it and blow it out of proportion. She'll wind up starting with Eddy over it, and with those two going at it, who knows what will happen. I will tell her eventually, but now is not the time. I told Double Dee not to tell anyone too, especially Eddy." said Marie, "Although I did bump into your Ed on the way back over here from Double Dees house." she said.
"Really?" Mays eyes lit up. "What did the big hunk say?"
"Nothing," said May, "But he almost blew my freaking cover. He was pushing a wheelbarrow full of old tree branches and wood. Eddy was somewhere further down the alleyway. I know this because he began to shout for him, just as I covered his mouth. I guess they were taking out their trash from yard work or something."
"What did you do?" asked May. "I threatened him not to say a word and walked away." replied Marie.
May giggled with Marie. After a few minutes, May interjected.
"I can't believe he took that much time out of his schedule to make you Crankshaft #5! He really is a great guy." said May
"I know." said Marie, "It was the most romantic thing ever, I kissed him like I never kissed him before after he gave it to me.."
The two girls giggled.
"And tonight, he gave me this after I joked with him while he played his pedal steel guitar."
Marie walked over to the clothes line and reached into her coat pocket feeling around for her signed school picture of Double Dee. To her dismay, she felt nothing but empty pockets.
"Oh no!" said Marie, panicking.
"What!" yelled May, back to her usually nasally obnoxious voice.
"I lost the signed picture that Double Dee gave me!" yelled Marie as she went through her pockets again.
"Relax Marie, you probably left it in his room." said May .
"I hope so," said Marie as she sat back down on the step, slightly disappointed.
"There's really nothing I can do about it anyway."
There was a pause before Marie continued.
"Listen May, can you somehow cover for me tomorrow after school, Double Dee wants me to visit somewhere very important to him, and I really don't want to miss it."
"Sure Marie," said May, "I'll try to think of something."
"Thanks May." said Marie as she hugged her sister.
Marie had not told May of Double Dees personal information such as anything to do with his scars or James, as she wanted to respect her boyfriends privacy. Nevertheless, she was glad that she was able to tell May as much as she did. That was another thing that Marie had been looking for throughout her life; another girl that she could talk to about things like this. She had always wanted a sisterly bond with another woman, and tonight she finally planted the seed for such a bond. She had begun her journey to try to become closer with her sister. Feeling comfortable around May, Marie began to try to lighten the mood up between them.
"So May, since I can trust you I guess I can tell you a little secret about what we did." said Marie giggling.
The two girls sat giggling as Marie shared her stories about her first real kisses. Their laughing eventually prompted the back door to fling open.
"What gives!" yelled Lee. "I'm trying to watch infomercials in there and you two are out here lollygagging on the step while you could be waiting on me hand and foot!"
"In your dreams queen bitch!" said Marie as she stood up and walked past Lee laughing.
"Don't test me Marie." said Lee."Come on May, get in the trailer, you're letting all of the cold air in."
May and Marie walked into the trailer and into the living room. Marie plopped herself down on the couch, laying her body along the whole length of it, leaving no room for Lee.
"Hey dead eye, get out of my chair will ya!" yelled Lee.
"You had it all day!" said Marie, "Why don't you give that bubble butt of yours some exercise and grab me some Dr. Pepper."
"That's it!" yelled Lee as she jumped on top of Marie. Lee began slapping Marie, and Marie returned fire with some slaps of her own. The scuffle eventually led to Lee grabbing Marie's hair and attempting to pull it. That action prompted curiosity from Lee, who stopped in her tracks. She stared at the tuft of black hair that she held in her hand, instead of the usual blue color. After taking a few seconds to absorb the sight of the black hair, she looked down at Marie.
"What the hell happened to your hair?" Lee questioned. Marie quickly came up with an excuse.
"Stupid May bought the wrong stuff. She was supposed to buy blue dye, but bought black instead." said Marie.
May, had overheard the fib while standing in the kitchen pouring a glass of soda. Being the absent minded person she was, she leaned into her head around the wall and yelled to her sisters.
"Hey don't blame me, you damn well know it wa…." As she came to the middle of her sentence, Marie who was now standing up behind Lee, made a motion with her hand like a knife cutting her throat, May caught on to the cue and finished her sentence accordingly. "was your stupid fault for not reading the package!" said May
"I have to agree Marie, you should never trust May with anything to do with beauty. Can't you tell?" Lee began laughing.
"Shut up Lee," said May as she walked back into the living room, setting her glass down on the table. "you're just jealous because I'm prettier than you." May struck a pose, placing her right hand on her ear, while placing her left hand on her hip while relaxing her pelvis to the right side.
"Will both of you can it!" yelled Marie, "I'm trying to watch tv!"
Marie sat up on the couch and leaned on the arm rest, May walked over and sat down next to her. She picked up the bag of chips that Lee was eating earlier and began snacking herself. Lee then sat down next to May, leaning on the opposite armrest. As Marie sat on the couch annoyed at the crunching sound May was making as she chewed the chips, she couldn't but think about where Double Dee could possibly be taking her tomorrow. Wherever it was, she put her total moral and emotional support behind him. For the rest of the night, as her sisters were lost in the television, and even as they all crawled into their bed, the only thing on Marie Kankers mind was her Double Dee.