Chapter 45
Around five minutes before Lee took her place hiding in the lane under the cover of darkness, Eddy had begun his long walk home through town. Eddy was still furious about Ed's betrayal, as he had thought that Ed's friendship was unconditional, and was currently cursing Ed inside his mind as he walked down the quiet streets of Peach Creek.
Ten minutes had passed, and Lee had finally begun to hear footsteps approaching her position. She peered around the corner to see the young man she was waiting for walking briskly towards the alleyway. He was right where she wanted him
Lee pulled out a dollar bill and threw it out onto the pavement while snickering. Eddy smiled as the bill came into view and began running to claim his lucky prize.
"Jackpot!" said Eddy to as he bent down to pick the dollar off of the ground, "Finally something good happened today.
"Don't worry, it's only gonna get better!" said the voice of Lee from the alleyway.
Before Eddy had the chance to react, he felt two hands grab him around the shoulders. He peered down to see the rusty red fingernails of Lee digging into his skin. Lee dragged Eddy into the alley, and threw him into the trash cans that were sitting outside of the gates to Kevin's yard. The collision between Eddy's body and the trash cans caused a rather loud crash. Eddy had dropped Lee's dollar on the ground in the midst of all of the commotion; Lee gladly reclaimed her money.
Lee ran up to Eddy, picked him up off of the ground, and slammed him into the fence by his shoulders, staring intently into his eyes.
"Hey Lee, whatsup, nice night huh?" asked Eddy in an extremely nervous tone of voice.
"Alright shrimp!" said Lee, "I get the feelin that you think I'm too stupid to realize that you were the one behind all of that funny business that happened this morning between Marie and Double Dee!"
Eddy stared at Lee like a deer caught in the headlights. For the first time ever, his notorious loud mouth could not find any words to say. He was essentially helpless at the moment.
"As I recall, we had a little understandin' that you wouldn't try any funny business behind my back!" said Lee, "I think it's time that ya get what's comin to ya for embarrassing Marie."
Eddy winced in fear as Lee began lifting her arm up, expecting a punch to the face. Lee took notice that Eddy was bracing himself for a strike.
"Relax half pint." said Lee as she giggled, "I ain't gonna hit ya."
Lee leaned into the frightened Eddy's face. She brushed the hair out of her eyes, granting Eddy his first glance at her blue irises.
"In fact, since your such a cute little shrimp, I'm gonna cut ya a little deal." said Lee.
"Oh yeah, what is it?" asked Eddy with a slight hint of attitude.
"I'll tell ya in a minute." said Lee, "But first, I have to take care of some other business."
Lee reached down into her shirt and pulled out the two pictures that she had confiscated from Eddy's room. She fanned the pictures out like cards and held them in front of her face, pretending to inspect them.
"I gotta hand it to ya, you were a cute kid." said Lee as she chuckled. Lee held out the photographs for Eddy to see. As soon as Eddy laid eyes on the photos, a fearful expression came over his face.
"Hey how'd ya get those!" yelled Eddy as he reached for the pictures, "Give em back!"
"Whoah, not so fast!" yelled Lee as she placed the pictures back down her shirt, "I'm gonna be holdin on to these for a little while."
Lee walked over to Eddy and leaned into his face once again.
"See, where I come from, we do things body blow for body blow," said Lee, "What you did to Marie was just wrong, and tomorrow morning, you're gonna feel the same horrible feeling that ya made her go through."
Lee giggled.
"I'm so sorry," said Lee sarcastically, "But that's just the way thing go!"
The last thing that Eddy wanted was for the pictures to be shown to the entire school. He attempted to reason with the red headed Kanker sister.
"Please, I'm sorry!" yelled Eddy as he dropped to his knees in prayer stance, "I'll do anything, please, just don't show those pictures!"
Lee laughed.
"As much as I've always wanted a man to beg me, I'm afraid that ya really have no say in this one!" said Lee.
Lee laughed as Eddy sat silent sitting on the ground. She began walking towards the trash cans that she had thrown Eddy into around five minutes ago.
"Lucky for you," said Lee, "I'm feeling very pitiful for you right now, so I'm gonn make ya a deal."
Lee leaned down behind the trash cans, and picked up the pile of Eddy's magazines. Eddy's eyes widened when he realized that his prized possessions were now in the hands of his arch nemesis.
"My MAGAZINES!" yelled Eddy.
Lee paged through the magazines, making faces as she did so.
"C'mon Eddy," said Lee playfully, "These girls are amateurs, if ya really wanted a good time, ya coulda stopped over the trailer when May and Marie weren't home!"
Lee laughed heavily as Eddy stared at his precious magazines.
"What are ya gonna do with them?" asked Eddy fearfully.
"Let's see," said Lee, "I can burn them, I can….give them out to all of the other desperate guys around here….or….I could arrange it so they wind up in the hands of those folks you call 'mom and dad.'"
Eddy's stomach dropped. He would do anything for Lee not to let his parents know that he was keeping dirty magazines in his room.
"Please, I'll do anything!" yelled Eddy, once again begging Lee, "Just don't tell my parents!"
"Now were makin progress!" said Lee as she giggled, "Alright first things first. Spill it! I wanna know how all of this happened, including how ya got your hands on those pictures of Marie."
Eddy spent a few minutes telling Lee the entire story of how he plotted against Double Dee and Marie, including how he manipulated the kids into helping him create the flyers. Once Eddy had finished, Lee continued her interrogation.
"Wow, If I wasn't so pissed at ya right now, I'd congratulate ya on a job well done!" said Lee jokingly.
"Can I please have my magazines back now?" asked Eddy.
"Not quite yet, there's still one more thing we gotta discuss," said Lee,
"Tomorrow night, you're gonna come over to the trailer, and apologize to Marie for what ya did. Then, your gonna help me bring our two lovebirds back together!"
Even though Eddy was at the mercy of Lee, anger was still building up inside of him. He couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Since when did you start caring so much about Double Dee and Marie being together!" yelled Eddy, "What the hell, you're the one who came up with a plan to break them up in the first place!"
Lee pinned Eddy against the fence and stared intently into his eyes.
"Listen Eddy," whispered Lee in a calm voice, "There are so many stupid things people because they are selfish and jealous of what others have that they don't."
Lee paused
"The day after the fight, I had a serious talk with May and Marie. Long story short, strong words were exchanged, and even though I treated Marie like crap the previous night, she was still there for me. I knew right then I had to be there for her too."
Lee leaned into Eddy, until her lips were almost touching his.
"Go home tonight and really try to think about things," said Lee, "I have a feeling that even if I didn't have these magazines in my hand, you'd have the same realization as I did."
Lee grinned and then quickly leaned into Eddy, pecking him on the lips. Eddy was too dumbfounded by Lee's words to realize that he had just received his first kiss on the lips, even though it was with someone he probably didn't want to share it with.
"So do we have a deal?" asked Lee.
Eddy looked up into Lee's eyes. She widened them and cocked her head to the side, waiting for an answer. Eddy groaned and pouted before holding his hand out to shake Lee's hand.
"I just knew you'd understand!" said Lee, back to her usually gravely voice.
Lee looked down at the books she was holding, before looking back up at Eddy.
"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to hold on to these until ya hold up your end of the deal." said Lee as she grinned slyly.
Eddy groaned under his breath.
"Geez, don't worry, it's not gonna kill ya if ya don't yank it for one night!" yelled Lee, "If it get's hard and you can't get it down, just stop by the trailer and see me!"
Lee chuckled at her own joke before turning around.
"Meet me at lunch tomorrow behind the school, and we'll talk about how were gonna do this." said Lee as she began walking away. She turned around and grinned at Eddy.
"And be there….or kiss you precious girlfriends goodbye."
Lee laughed as she turned around walking away from a speechless Eddy. Somehow, Lee had left an impression in him that none of the other kids were able to. He was no longer filled with hatred, or anger; at this point an overwhelming feeling of guilt was flowing through his body. As much as he tried, Eddy couldn't shake the horrible feelings as he picked up his dinner and continued on his way back to his house, alone with his thoughts.
At the same time that Lee had begun her conversation with Eddy, May Kanker-Lonergan was on her way up the concrete path that led to Ed's front door. Although May had wanted to talk to Ed on good terms, she was completely unprepared to be placed in that position so soon. Her stomach was filled with butterflies as she, for the first time, walked up to the forest green Cape Cod style house. She took a deep breath, and pressed the illuminated button to activate the door bell.
The doorbell chime was simply a slow "ding dong" that sounded as if it was emitted from an electronic speaker. May quickly ran her fingers through her hair, as a last ditch effort to make sure that she looked presentable.
"I'll get it!" yelled the obnoxious voice of Sarah from inside.
After a few seconds, the door had finally unlatched and opened. May found herself staring down into Ed's fiery red headed little sisters face. The two girls stood stunned, Sarah had never expected May Kanker to be standing on the other side of her door.
"Um…Hi." said May.
"Hi." said Sarah .
There was silence for a few seconds.
"I guess you want my idiot brother." said Sarah.
May paused before answering.
"Well, yeah um…that would be great." said May.
"Go around back," said Sarah, "You'll see a window leading into his basement room. He's probably down there watching some stupid movie that he saw a million times."
May paused, contemplating Sarah's statement.
"Okay, then…"
May was cut off, as Ed's mother had yelled to Sarah asking her who was at the door. Sarah saw the perfect opportunity to embarrass Ed.
"It's Ed's girlfriend Mommy!" yelled Sarah.
May's cheeks filled with a fiery red after Sarah's words had sunk into her ears.
Ed's mother quickly came to the door to meet the girl who Sarah claimed was Ed's girlfriend. Ed's mother being the amiable person she was, greeted May with open arms. May and Ed's mother became acquainted, and May found herself being invited into her house. After getting May a glass of soda from the kitchen, Ed's mother led May to the basement door, and informed her that Ed was down in his room.
May reluctantly began walking down the stairs to Ed's basement room. Her heart was racing as she gauged her surroundings. The basement was lined with the same wood paneling that her trailer was lined with, and there was a single light bulb hanging from a wire above the staircase, illuminating the whole washroom.
May approached the brown wooden door to Ed's room, immediately noticing the large red sign that he had hung on it that read "DANGER" in addition to a smaller triangular sign that read "Slow Moving Traffic." May's mind fought her heart, and her heart managed to win. She reluctantly knocked on Ed's door.
"Be right there mom!" yelled Ed from inside. May heard loud footsteps as Ed ran over to the door and flung it open. The smile that adorned Ed's face immediately turned into a frown when he laid his eyes on May. May stared back into Ed's fearful eyes and managed to muster up the courage to begin speaking.
"Um….Hiya Ed!" said May as she blushed.
Ed merely stood in his door way dumbfounded.
"Listen Ed, I really need to talk to you." said May, as she began walking into his room.
Ed grabbed one of his voodoo masks off of the wall, as well as the hockey stick he had used a few days ago to play with his friends. He placed the voodoo mask on his face and pointed the hockey stick at May's chest.
"STAY BACK EVIL WOMAN!" yelled Ed.
"Ed…please…" said May as she continued walking towards Ed. Ed, still with the hockey stick pointing at May's chest began backing up as May continued walking forward.
"I'm really not here to hurt you, or to kiss you or do any of that stupid stuff I did before!" yelled May gently.
"Don't come any closer!" yelled Ed as he continued backing up. Eventually Ed had nowhere else to go, as his back was pressed up against the wall.
"Please spare me youngest Kanker sister!" yelled Ed.
May needed to calm Ed down. She couldn't blame him for his fear of her, but she had something that she needed to do. Her duty to her sister came first, and she had to get Ed to listen to her.
"Alright!" yelled May, "Listen up bub!"
May yanked the hockey stick out of Ed's hand and tossed it across the room. May chuckled in her own mind, as her actions had reminded her very much of Lee. Ed curled his arms around himself bracing for the sloppy kisses that he was expecting to receive.
"I'm not gonna do anything to you Ed. I'm here to help Double Dee!" said May.
May's last statement managed to calm Ed down slightly. He was no longer curled up in fear, and was standing quite relaxed.
May walked away from him and proceeded to sit down on his bed. Although Ed was relieved that May hadn't tried any "lovey dovey stuff" as he called it, he was still quite uncomfortable with her being in his room.
"Marie really liked Double Dee Ed." said May, "And now they're broken up, she's mad at him, and it wasn't even his fault!"
Ed stood staring at May as she continued speaking.
"I really hate seeing Marie so sad," said May as she looked up into Ed's eyes, "And I think that you hate seeing Double Dee sad too."
May was gradually gaining Ed's trust. He began walking towards her with a concerned expression on his face, and eventually sat down on his bed next to her.
"That's why I came over here," said May, "I really want to help get Marie and Double Dee back together. Double Dee is such a nice guy, and Marie really liked him. Things were so much better when they were together."
May paused, at which point she looked up into Ed's eyes, blushing as she did so.
"So, Ed," said May, "Would you like to help me get Marie and Double Dee back together?"
Ed sat in silence, staring at May with what seemed to be a fearful expression. May was slightly heartbroken that she had made Ed so fearful of her, due to her horrible actions in the past. She would do anything to go back in time and make a better first impression on him.
May was about to give up and leave, when she felt Ed's hand touch her shoulder. She looked up at Ed's face; he was now smiling. May smiled back up at him.
"A friend of Double Dee's is a friend of mine!" yelled Ed as he grabbed May and squeezed her in a tight bear hug, picking her up off of the bed. Even though the hug was rather tight, May couldn't help but feel on top of the world as she leaned her head on Ed's shoulder.
Ed placed May back down on the floor and looked her in the eyes once again. May was blushing heavily, which Ed had taken notice of.
"May, your face is as red as me and Sarah's hair, are you okay?" asked Ed.
Ed's naïve questioning had slightly embarrassed May, causing her to blush even heavier. She had no idea what else to say.
"So what are we gonna do to help our pals May?" asked Ed.
May had not even considered any kind of plan prior to Ed posing his last question. She had usually left all of the planning up to the more cunning Lee.
"I don't know Ed." said May as she looked down at her feet, "Maybe we should get together at lunch tomorrow in school and talk about it."
May couldn't believe that she had just invited Ed to join her for lunch. The words had carelessly slipped out of her mouth, and she was sure that Ed would say no. A few moments passed before Ed chimed in.
"Your wish is my middle toe!" yelled Ed as he smiled at May.
"Great," said May as she blushed. She was now choking on her words, and didn't want to embarrass herself any longer.
"Um…I guess I'll see you tomorrow in school then?" said May as she began making her way towards Ed's window
. "Sure thing!" said Ed as he watched May walk towards the window.
"Okay then." said May as she turned around to the window. The window was close to the ceiling, and a good 6 feet away from the floor; May who was 5'4" tall, was simply too short to reach the base of the window without jumping.
May jumped and managed to grab a hold of the window. Although she tried as hard as she could, she didn't have the strength to hold herself up. She began to feel herself slipping downward, at which point she felt a pair of hands grab her hips. May turned around to see Ed helping her lift herself out the window, an extremely gentlemanly gesture; May couldn't help but melt inside.
"Going up!" said Ed in his dopey voice as he pushed May up through the window, at which point she stood up outside on his grass.
"Thanks Ed." said May as she leaned down into his window.
The blonde haired Kanker sister and large Ed boy stared at each other for a few moments before May broke the silence.
"Well…..good night!" said May as she began walking through Ed's backyard towards the fence that led to the lane.
"Good night, sleep tight and don't let those bed bugs bite!" yelled Ed as he returned to his monster movie. May couldn't help but smile and chuckle at Ed's statement.
May climbed over the fence and dropped into the lane, which was dark to the point of almost being pitch black. May's excitement due to the events that just transpired caused her to begin dancing around the lane, performing pirouettes and fouettes, smiling from ear to ear. She felt like she was the happiest girl in the world. Ed had not only just voluntarily given her a hug, but he had just referred to her as a friend. It wasn't love, but it was a long way from the fear based relationship they previously had.
May's dreams were broken when she inadvertently collided with Lee, who had just finished up her time with Eddy.
"Whoah there Anna Pavolva!" shouted Lee playfully.
"Sorry Lee," said May, rather embarrassed that she was caught in such an unusual situation.
"I can tell it went well for ya!" said Lee as she snickered, "C'mon, let's go home."
The girls jumped the fence to the trailer park, and made their way over to the silver and blue caravan that they called home. Lee opened the door and entered, May following her in shortly after.
The girls entered the trailer to find Marie sitting on the couch with her chin resting in the palms of her hands, watching TV. She had finally gotten out of bed, but was still completely heartbroken. Lee placed Eddy's magazines in May's hands and quietly motioned for her to take them upstairs and hide them in the closet.
"Hey Marie." said Lee in a gentle voice as she walked over to the couch. She sat down next to her sister. "Do ya wanna talk?" asked Lee.
Marie turned her head and looked into her sisters eyes. She began whimpering for a few seconds, after which tears began flowing down her face. Lee reached her arms out and embraced her sister.
"You were right Lee!" said Marie, "You and mom were right about men!"
"Marie!" yelled Lee, "Don't you dare say that!"
"He played me like a fool," said Marie, "I really fell for him too!"
"Marie, you have to listen to me," said Lee, "Double Dee is innocent. I know it sounds weird, but the whole thing was Eddy's idea."
"Then how did he get the pictures?" yelled Marie. "Eddy stole them from his room while he was in the bathroom." said Lee.
"Sure!" said Marie, "Sound's like he's tryin' to put the blame on someone else!"
"No, Marie you don't understand, Eddy told me tha.…"
"I don't want to talk about him," yelled Marie as she got up off of the couch.
"Marie, please!" yelled Lee.
"I hate him!" yelled Marie, "I don't ever want to hear his name or see his stupid face ever again!"
Marie ran up the stairs in tears, passing May who was currently descending the stairs. The girls stared at each other as they felt the whole trailer shake from the force of Marie slamming the door to the bedroom.
"Well that went well." said Lee sarcastically, as May reached the bottom of the stairs and sat next to Lee on the couch.
"She's so goddamn stubborn!" said Lee as she pounded her fists on her knees, "I damn well know that she didn't mean it when she said she hated him. If she really hated him, she wouldn't be this upset over the breakup!"
"How do we deal with this Lee?" asked May.
Lee contemplated for a few moments, before an idea sprung into her head.
"Marie and Double Dee were close." said Lee, "Here's what your gonna do. You and Big Ed are gonna go over his house tomorrow after school, and convince him to come over to talk to her himself. Maybe the sound of his voice will actually allow her to listen to reason."
The girls paused before looking each other in the eye.
"Sound like a plan?" asked Lee.
May smiled at Lee before the two girls shared a hug. After they pulled away, Lee grinned.
"We better get to bed, cause we gotta get up bright and early tomorrow!" said Lee.
"What for Lee?" asked May.
Lee reached down her shirt, and pulled out the photographs of Eddy that she had stolen from his room. She looked into her sisters eyes as she smiled. She uttered the words.
"We're gonna make some flyers of our very own."