Chapter 39
Double Dee walked through the dark trailer park towards the familiar 60's era caravan that served as the living space for his beautiful girlfriend. Double Dee's afternoon helping his friends with their homework did not go as well as he had hoped. Once the boys entered Eddy's room, Eddy completely forgot about his paper and decided to spend time between watching television and asking Double Dee and Ed to judge the girls from the magazine that he was reading. Double Dee and Ed paid him no mind while they sat at Eddy's dresser, using it as a makeshift desk. As much as Double Dee attempted to tutor Ed, he simply did not get the material. Eventually, Double Dee did the only thing he could do; correct Ed's paper as he had done with Rolfs and hope that Ed understood all of the corrections.
Double Dee had decided on a change of pace. He had had his shower, and applied his usual cologne. Over his blue buttoned shirt, he decided to wear a leather jacket that his father used to wear in high school. He also donned a pair of blue jeans, and his usual sneakers.
He stepped up onto the metal step of the trailer and knocked on the door in his usual pattern. He once again heard loud footsteps running down the stairs of the trailer. The footsteps stopped in front of the front door, at which point he heard giggles and whispers.
Moments later, the inner door to the trailer began opening. Marie appeared and began opening the screen door for Double Dee.
"Hey you, come on in!" said a smiling and excited Marie.
"Greetings Marie." Said Double Dee as he stood outside the trailer struck by Marie's beauty.
She was once again wearing the flower beret that she wore the first time they met, as well as the first time they declared themselves a couple. She was wearing a black form fitting shirt that really showed off her curves, and slightly exposed her midsection between the blue knee-length skirt that she was wearing. Underneath the skirt, she wore grey leggings and on her feet were a pair of black winter boots.
"Are you just gonna stand out there in the cold of are you gonna come in and spend some time with me Oven Mitt," said Marie as she chuckled.
Double Dee smiled as he walked into the trailer. Marie closed the door behind Double Dee and walked over to the couch to sit down. She patted the cushion next to her.
"Take of your jacket and come sit with me." she said smiling as she did so.
Double Dee took off his coat and walked over to the couch. He then sat down next to Marie.
"Hey May, can you please bring me a soda, and some water for Double Dee!" yelled Marie.
"Sure!" said May from the kitchen.
Even though Double Dee knew that Marie was a kind hearted and polite girl, he couldn't help but be surprised that Marie had used the word 'please' when asking a favor from her sister.
As Double Dee thought about Marie and Mays growing sisterly bond, checked his girlfriend out once again. He couldn't help but notice in the brighter light that she was wearing the necklace that he had given her on Friday, with the word 'Annemarie' in gold letters hanging from the chain. In addition, she was wearing the Crankshaft #5 perfume that he had made her.
"Marie, you look absolutely stunning this evening." said Double Dee as he placed his hand on hers, taking notice of her pink fingernails.
"Thank you Double Dee," said Marie as she looked at Double Dee, "You looked sexy in that leather jacket you were wearing."
Marie giggled as Double Dee blushed.
"And that blue shirt really brings out those gorgeous eyes of yours." said Marie.
The couple sat smiling with each other, at which point May entered the living room. May was wearing a pink knee length dress, complete with a sky blue belt around her waist. In fact, the dress she was wearing was the same exact dress from the day that the Kankers forced the Ed's to marry them in their Poppy's house. Her blonde hair was no longer straight; Marie had curled it to give it an appearance similar to their mother's hair.
"Hiya Double Dee!" yelled an excited May as she handed Marie her soda can, and Double Dee a glass of water.
"Hello May, thank you very much for the refreshment!" said Double Dee.
"Anytime." said May as she smiled and walked towards the television. She grabbed the TV guide off of the top of it and sat down next to Double Dee on the remaining couch cushion, going through the book. "
Anything good on tonight?" asked Marie. "Hmm, let's see…" said May, "Ooooh Who Busted Baxter Bunny? is on at 7:30!"
"Oh come on May!" said Marie, "I liked it the first time I saw it but not the 100th! Give me that!"
Double Dee chuckled, thinking about how his friend Ed would have had similar ideas about his favorite movies. Double Dee had practically memorized some of them just from watching them so much.
Marie yanked the TV guide out of Mays hands and began paging through it herself.
"HEY!" yelled May, "I was lookin at that!"
Double Dee found himself caught between the two fighting sisters on the couch, having no idea what to do. The politeness between the two sisters had vanished, and they were once again engaging in a humorous brawl. Although Double Dee knew that the sisters were closer than they were before, he remembered how he would fight with James over pointless matters such as control of the television, and concluded that it is just part of having a sibling. Even though he made this realization, he felt slightly saddened that some of the little time that he had with his brother was spent in pointless arguments.
May eventually wrestled the TV guide out of Maries hands and began looking through it once again, sticking her tongue out at her sister.
"I hope you know that you're in a relationship with a control freak Double Dee!" said May playfully.
"Shut up May, just pick something will ya!" said Marie jokingly.
May stood up off of the couch and began scanning through the channels. After concluding that absolutely nothing was on television, May switched it off and walked out into the kitchen.
"I'm gonna get some chips and dip." said May as she left the room.
"Okay," yelled Marie. As soon as May entered the kitchen Marie turned to Double Dee and smiled as she put her arms around his neck.
"Sorry Double Dee," said Marie, "You weren't meant to be in the middle of that scuffle. It's a sister thing ya know?"
"It's quite alright." said Double Dee, "I am quite aware that sibling can be quite the handful sometimes. James and I would quarrel over simple matters all of the time. And don't even get me started on Ed and Sarah's relationship."
Marie remembered something at the mention of Ed's name.
"Oh that reminds me," said Marie as she leaned into Double Dee's ear,
"I have something to tell you. It just so happens that May really li…" "
I'm back!" yelled May's obnoxious voice as she returned from the kitchen carrying a bag of tortilla chips and a bowl of salsa.
"I'll tell you later!" said Marie as she winked.
May put the bowl of salsa and bag of chips on the coffee table in front of the couch. She promptly began eating the chips, crunching loudly, and annoying Marie once again. Double Dee placed his arm around Marie and pulled her closer to him. Marie responded by placing her head on his shoulder.
"Hey, I got an idea!" yelled May.
"What's your idea?" said Marie, clasping Double Dees hand.
"Since there's nothing on TV, why don't I get some more of the home movies so that we have at least something to watch?" said May while giggling.
"NO." said Marie sarcastically. "Come on." said May as she turned to Double Dee,
"Double Dee, would you like to see Marie at her First Communion?"
"I would like nothing more." said Double Dee smiling as Marie blushed.
"Okay May, go get them!" said a less than enthusiastic Marie.
"Great!" said May, "I'll be right back"
May giggled and ran up the stairs to the bedroom to get the tapes. Marie turned to Double Dee.
"Well, it looks like you're gonna be seeing more of me as a little girl!" said Marie as she giggled and blushed slightly.
"I quite enjoy viewing your home movies Marie!" said Double Dee. Marie looked up at Double Dee and smiled.
"Double Dee, are you religious?" asked Marie. Double Dee paused for a moment. "
To be completely honest, I was not raised with a religion. Mother and Father are devout atheists and do not believe in organized religious groups. However, although I view science and reason as the ultimate driving force for the events that occur in this universe, I do believe that everyone has a destiny predetermined for them at birth." said Double Dee.
"You know what Double Dee," said Marie, "That is exactly how I feel. All things happen for a reason."
Marie smiled as she continued.
"But I was brought up Roman Catholic," said Marie, "Poppy took us all to church every Sunday, and he was a devout catholic himself. We each had our first Communion. In fact, May is probably gonna be coming down with pictures of all of our Communions and most likely the video my Dad took of mine."
Marie paused.
"Although we each received Communion, my Poppy died shortly after May had hers, and we eventually stopped attending church. May is the only one who received her Confirmation, per my Dad since he's Catholic as well. My mom didn't want me and Lee to do it for some reason. It's hard for me to go to church anyway, since my Poppy made it such a fixture in our lives, it's one of those things that reminds me of him a whole lot."
Double Dee squeezed Maries shoulder with his arm as Marie cracked a smile at him.
"Besides, who knows how many sins I have committed since I stopped going. If I went back I'd have to sit in the confession box for a few hours!"
Marie and Double Dee shared a laugh. At that moment May yelled down the stairs. "
Marie! Do you know where the box with those pictures is?" yelled May.
"I think it's next to the box with all of Poppy's Vietnam stuff!" yelled Marie.
May returned to searching the closet for pictures while Marie turned back to Double Dee.
"Pardon my questioning, but did I just hear that your grandfather was involved with the Vietnam War?" asked Double Dee.
"Yes he was," said Marie, "my Dad told us that he was drafted into the Marines 1969, a few months after he met my grandmother. Poppy never told us directly about his war experiences, most likely because we were young at the time, but my Dad told us that one day he was patrolling with his platoon when he suddenly heard a sound similar to a blast of dynamite. Long story short, my Poppy suddenly found himself in full blown combat."
"Marie I'm speechless," said Double Dee, "I can't imagine being in that predicament!"
"I know it's scary." said Marie, "He told us that my Poppy's lieutenant ordered the platoon to retreat because they were outnumbered. As they made their escape, a bullet hit him in the shoulder."
"My goodness!" said Double Dee. "Thankfully, one of his men helped to carry him out of the battle." said Marie, "They took him back to the barracks and removed the bullet. He was medically discharged shortly after, and he received a purple heart for being injured."
Marie paused.
"He then came back home and married my Mom Mom. Even though they removed the bullet, he constantly had problems with his right arm, especially his rotator cuff."
"That's terrible" said Double Dee, "My uncle suffered an injury to his rotator cuff and required a few high risk surgeries to totally repair the damage."
"Yeah, that's what happened with Poppy, although they weren't able to fully repair it. They didn't want to risk destroying what little movement he had left from his shoulder."
Marie paused before she smiled at her boyfriend.
"The funny thing is I absolutely cannot see him shooting a gun at someone with the intent to kill them." said Marie, "He was such a nice and kind hearted man, he wouldn't have hurt a fly."
Marie and Double Dee laughed.
"My Dad was a marine as well," said Marie, "But he was never involved in any war or combat like my poppy was. I can remember them two greeting each other. My Poppy would say "Semper Fi", and my Dad would reply with 'Do or Die' while they shook hands."
As Double Dee and Marie continued to converse, May finally descended the stairs with a large box of pictures and a video cassette.
"I'm back!" yelled May as she placed the box on the floor and opened it.
"What took ya so long?" yelled Marie playfully. "
I had to move all of Lee's junk that she threw all over the bottom of the closet." yelled May as she pulled a pile of pictures out of the box, "Here ya go Double Dee, take a look at your girlfriend when she was little."
Double Dee held the pile of pictures in his hand and began looking through them.
In the first picture, a young Marie stood in front of a brick wall alone. She appeared to be around 8 years old in the photograph. Her black hair which would have hung past her shoulders if it was allowed to, was styled up in a bun. A floral crown surrounded her hair, and a white veil hung behind her head. Young Marie stood with her hands in front of her, grasping a flower. Her dress had two straps that passed around the side of her shoulders, and the dress extended down to her feet. There was a peach colored wrapping around the dress by her waist, which was accented by a synthetic flower. Marie was smiling from ear to ear in the photograph.
"That's me!" said Marie with a grin on her face.
Double Dee chuckled as he went to the next picture, which consisted of Marie once again, only this time, Mr. Kanker was standing next to her smiling with his arm on her shoulder. He was wearing a black three piece suit.
"He looks so proud doesn't he Marie!" said May as she looked at the picture.
"Yes he does." said Marie.
Double Dee went to the next photograph. This time, Tabitha was kneeling next to her daughter, wearing a pink colored dress and open toed high heeled shoes. She had her arm around Marie and was smiling alongside her daughter. Double Dee noticed that she had not yet gained weight in the photograph, and that the "Laugh now, cry later" and ballet shoe tattoos were missing from her arms.
Double Dee flipped once again to the next picture. In this one, Rod was standing alongside Marie in a three piece suit with his arm on her shoulder.
Double Dee smiled as he reached the last picture.
In this photograph, Marie stood smiling in between a young May and Lee, both wearing pink frilly dresses and Mary Jane shoes with white stockings. All three girls were smiling at the camera. Lee's red curls dangled to her shoulders, and for the first time Double Dee caught a full glimpse of her blue eyes. Her eyes were a spitting image of Marie's, aside from the color. Nothing had appeared to change about May's look, other than her looking much younger in the photograph.
"So Lee has blue eyes as well." said Double Dee chuckling.
"Yep," said Marie, "I'm the only one with green eyes in the family. I guess I got Bubba's eyes."
The two sisters laughed with Double Dee.
"I must say you were quite the adorable little girl Marie." said Double Dee, "And that little girl became the most beautiful young woman I have ever laid eyes on."
Marie smiled and blushed at Double Dee's statement. May couldn't help but smile for her sister at Double Dees display of romanticism as well. She quickly cracked a joke to break the silence.
"Alright love birds." said May, "Let's watch the video."
May placed the VHS tape into the VCR and, as always, May was forced to remove it and rewind it before it worked. The video flickered and the sounds of Poppy and Tabitha's voice came from behind the camera, which was facing the back of a church pew. They're voices indicated that Poppy was asking Tabitha how to work the camera not knowing that it was recording.
The camera was soon jarred and the video went blank.
"Our family sure did make that mistake a lot with the cameras didn't they?" said Marie, prompting chuckles from her sister and Double Dee.
The video soon flickered to life once again. The sound of a pipe organ played as several little girls and boys walked down the aisle of a large church toward the alter. Eventually, young Marie filed in walking slowly past her family while staring into the camera. The camera, controlled by Rod panned to follow his daughter as she walked down the aisle. As soon as the last child entered, the priest followed the procession and took his place at the front of the church to begin the sermon.
"That's Father Sevino!" said May, "I remember him."
"Yeah, he was a really nice guy." said Marie as she turned to Double Dee, "He was always helping people and going out of his way to make sure people were happy. He would spend time talking to us about school, and other things that happened in our lives. His words even helped me make peace with a lot of the teasing I had in school, and he really helped us all push on during those hard times. It is a shame that we lost touch after we stopped going to church. He was really a great friend."
"He sounds like a great man." said Double Dee smiling at his girlfriend.
As Double Dee watched the remainder of the ceremony, he couldn't help but think about how much he had learned about the Kanker family since he had began his relationship with Marie. The three evil girls who he thought were complete monsters when he first met them were nothing more than normal everyday young women deep down inside. Watching these home movies allowed him more insight into the "normalcy" of their lives, even more so than Marie had already showed him during their time alone.
After around 30 minutes, the video ended and May ejected the tape. She placed all of the pictures and the video back in the box and picked it up off of the floor.
"I'm going to go up and put this back." said May, she turned towards Double Dee and Marie and winked, "I might take an EXTREMELY long time because I have to move all of Lee's things. Plus I want to look through some more pictures for myself. Feel free to have fun in whatever way you want. I hope you don't mind."
May giggled as Marie grinned at her sister. Double Dee was blushing.
"That's fine May." said Marie giggling, "You better go while the night is young."
May began making her way upstairs before turning around and saying the final words that she couldn't resist saying.
"Have fun you two!" she yelled.
"Get outta here!" yelled Marie playfully as she held her fist up to May. May giggled and ran up the stairs and closed the door to the bedroom. Marie wasted no time and grabbed Double Dees face. She pulled him into a kiss. After about 3 minutes, Marie pulled away from him.
"Oh I almost forgot to tell you what I was going to tell you earlier." said Marie.
"What is it Marie?" said Double Dee.
"Well me and May were talking earlier, and you'll never believe what she admitted." said Marie.
Marie paused before continuing.
"May admitted to me that she really likes Ed for who he is and not just because he's 'one of the guys'" said Marie.
Double Dee was surprised.
"So what you are saying is that May's aggressive behavior toward Ed was nothing more than a charade to cover up her emotions as well?" said Double Dee.
Marie shook her head up and down as she told Double Dee how May felt a connection to Ed due to his friendly nature and how if she showed who she really was, he would probably at least want to be her friend.
"I wholeheartedly agree with you Marie." said Double Dee, "I highly doubt that Ed truly hates May. The idea of Ed hating someone seems utterly absurd. He is just confused and bewildered by her wild displays of affections, just as I was before I was able to get to know the real you."
"I told her to let loose, be brave and try to talk to him on good terms." said Marie, "After all, no offense but they share similar disgusting interests."
"I concur Marie!" said Double Dee as the couple shared a laugh at their last statement.
"You know what else I told her?" said Marie snickering, "I told her that you Ed's are suckers for bad girls with big hearts, so if she opened herself up to him, she'd have herself her first boyfriend!"
Double Dee laughed
"I must admit that your "adventurous" side has grown on me, and I'm really beginning to enjoy it." said Double Dee.
At this point, Double Dee received another one of Marie's amorous grins. He chuckled as he knew he had just paved the way for Marie to initiate what she called "physical love"
"You like it huh?" said Marie as she twirled her hair.
"Well..we…I .um" Double Dee choked on his words while he blushed heavily. Marie climbed onto his lap and put her arms around his neck.
"Then let's continue where we left off." said Marie in a sexy voice as she pressed her lips back into Double Dees.
In what seemed like seconds, Marie pulled away and glanced at the clock. She quickly alerted Double Dee that it was 10:00. By this time he would have usually been in his bed sleeping for school the next day. The couple decided that it was time to say goodbye once again.
"Well, I suppose it's time for me to head home." said Double Dee as he stood up.
"Yeah, I wish you could stay over and sleep with me so that you could keep me warm." said Marie.
"I would really enjoy that as well." said Double Dee.
"I can't wait to see you tomorrow, we're gonna have so much fun ice skating." said Marie, "I can't wait to get my cutie out on that ice."
Marie grabbed Double Dees cheeks and pinched them playfully.
"I really hope you don't mind." said Marie, "But we're going back to my Dad's house for a little bit afterwards. He asked if you wanted to come too. If you don't want to go, I can have him drop you off at your place before we go."
"I would love to accompany you back to his house." said Double Dee, "Anything to spend more time with you."
Marie smiled at Double Dees statement.
As the couple walked toward the trailer door, Double Dee thought about the circumstances he was faced with tomorrow night. One of his greatest fears about having a girlfriend was meeting her father, and hoping that he was accepted in his eyes. True, he wouldn't be meeting Marie's biological father, but as far as Double Dee was concerned, Rod WAS Marie's father, as he was man enough to give Lee and Marie the same exact treatment as his biological daughter. That being said he was quite nervous, and it was beginning to show in the form of sweating. Marie took notice.
"What's the matter cutie?" asked Marie as she put her arms around Double Dee making a pouty face.
Double Dee wanted to be completely honest with Marie.
"Well, Marie to be perfectly honest, one of my fears about having a girlfriend is not living up to the expectations that her father would want me to live up to as a fellow man. I must admit that I am quite nervous about meeting your father for the first time. I can only hope th…"
Marie silenced Double Dee with her hand while smiling once again.
"Over Mitt," said Marie, "You over think things too much and make yourself nervous, calm down. My Dad's really nice guy, and he really doesn't say much anyway. He's gonna like you I just know he is."
Double Dee was slightly reassured by Marie and smiled back at her.
"Oh and don't forget gloves it's going to be cold on the ice!" said Marie as she smiled.
"Don't worry, I won't forget." said Double Dee.
Marie pecked Double Dee on the lips. She pulled away and yelled up the stairs.
"MAY! Double Dees leaving!" yelled Marie .
May opened the door and ran down the stairs to see Double Dee off.
"Bye Double Dee," said May, Double Dee was surprised when May reached out her arms and gave him a friendly hug. Although he was surprised to be hugging someone other than Marie for once, he knew the gesture was meant to be kind hearted and returned the friendly hug.
"Hey, before you go." said May, "I have to thank you for sending that Shepherds Pie stuff home with Marie. That was good, when are you making it again?"
"You're very welcome May." said Double Dee, "I will be sure to send some more the next time my mother decides to make it."
"We ate that down!" said Marie, "Even mom too!"
The group of three laughed before Double Dee and Marie made their way out the door. Even though Marie closed the door slightly behind her, May couldn't help but peek through the crack and watch her sister and her boyfriend share a passionate kiss. As Double Dee began his walk back to his house, Marie reentered the door and closed it behind her. She turned around to look her sister in the face. As soon as the girls met eyes they jumped around in each other's arms excited, before running upstairs with the idea that Marie would tell May about her night.