Beanie Head and Blue Hair
4,000 words in this chapter!
May opens her eyes to see her mother.
"Mom-" said May, startled as her eyes widened and she began to sit up on the couch from her lying down position.
"May, I have told you so many times, not to leave the TV on when you're falling asleep!" shouted Kanker's mother, cutting off May. Pointing at the TV.
Marie was sitting to May's right. She had her head resting in her right hand, eyes still closed.
"I-" said May, as she continued to scramble, sitting up from the couch.
"Are you talking back to me?!" yelled Kanker's mom, as she glared at May, crossing her arms.
"No.." said May, softly, as she looked down at her hands and began to fidget with them.
"You know how much it costs to leave it open?! Waste of my god damn money!" shouted Kanker's mom, walking to the small table next to the green couch, right next to Marie.
Marie slowly woke up to the shouting. Blurry visions, but she could tell she was being scolded.
"You two, grown-ass seniors and still too stupid, and lazy to just turn off the damn TV!" yelled Kanker's mom. Turning off the TV after picking up the remote.
She then turned off the TV, the sound abruptly stopping, and they were now in dead silence in the middle of the night, but the mother's voice still rang in their ears.
"What are you? Kindergarteners? You get your own damn place if you wanna keep the TV open, for god's sake." continuing as she puts the remote back on the log table at the side of the green couch.
Both Marie and May are sitting on the couch. Marie opened her eyes, half-lidded, and looked at her mom, lowering her hands which she rested her head on, sitting upright.
May continued to stare into her hands, cupped, placed on her thighs.
"You got anything to say? May? Marie?" said Kanker's mom as she stared daggers at both of them.
"We're sorry." said May and Marie in unison.
"Get the hell up to your room." said Kanker's mom as she pointed at the staircase.
May and Marie both got up and slowly walked up the stairs to their room. Silent on the way there. They reached their room, and both got on the bed as they tried to fall asleep again. The clock reads 3:07 AM. Mom usually wakes up around 3.
"Mom scolded ya' two?" said Lee. Her eyes were still closed. Lying in the middle of the bed.
"Uh huh." said Marie as she climbed over Lee and laid down on her spot, the right end of the bed.
"What did ya' do?" asked Lee as she adjusted the covers while her two sisters got into the bed.
"Left the TV on." said Marie, pulling the blanket over her as she laid on her side, facing away from Lee.
"That's what you get." said Lee.
May quietly pulled the blanket over her as she stared at the ceiling and closed her eyes.
They all went silent. The faint sound of the air conditioner and silent crickets in the night was all that could be heard in the room. It was hard for May and Marie to fall asleep, but eventually, after moving around for over half an hour, ruffling the fabric of the pink bed, they did.
After god knows how many hours later, Marie slowly wakes up. Her vision is foggy, but the bright natural light from the window tells her this is way later than 8 AM. The air conditioner turned off. She realizes she is alone in bed, as she feels no one to her right. May is probably up doing something around the house, and Lee is probably at work. Marie loves having the bed to herself. She rolls around in the king-sized bed, taking up the entire bed.
After a few minutes of a half-asleep, half-awake state, rolling around in bed, she suddenly realizes what she's supposed to do today and sits up in bed immediately. She looks over at the clock quickly. It reads 11:42 AM. Looks like she has to hurry. Or she could just.
"Oh my god... let me call Double D." Marie thought to herself as she made her way across the bed to the bedside table where her phone was charging. She unplugged it and picked it up.
"Urrgghhhh... let's just text him instead." Marie thought, as she felt too fresh awake to mouth any coherent sentences.
Double D, vacuuming around his room when he hears his phone message notification. He turns off the vacuum cleaner, then goes over to pick it up as he reads a text from a contact he saved as "Marie Kanker".
"hi edd sorry i just woke up i will be at ur house in an hour or so ok" from Marie, 11:43. She wrote as she stretched her back.
"Salutations, Marie. Of course, it is no problem. Take your time." typed Edd. 11:43, waiting for Marie's response.
"ok thanks ill see u soon" from Marie. 11:43.
Edd acknowledged and put down the phone as he continued to vacuum his room.
Marie sighed as she stretched her arms and legs. She then got off the bed groggily and prepared herself to shower.
Edd continued vacuuming his room. After finishing, he cleared out the dirtbag. Setting aside his vacuum cleaner. He passes the time by observing his ants, doing random things on his laptop, or reading some books.
Marie, finishing her shower, goes up to her room to put on an outfit that is comfortable and good-looking for her. Sacrificing more of the comfort for attractiveness, as if she were trying to appear appealing to Edd. Which she believed she wasn't. She just wanted to always look good.
Marie brushes her hair while sitting on the bed as she holds up a handheld mirror, looking at herself. She had finished her makeup, it was her simple signature blue eyeshadow that complemented her hair. And cherry red lips.
May enters the room.
"You going out now?" asked May, slowly walking over, holding her hands together.
"Yep. What do you want?" said Marie, briefly eyeing May as she continued brushing her hair.
"Nothin'." said May as she sat down on the bed next to Marie, looking at Marie through the mirror.
The sound of Marie's hair being brushed was all that filled the air between them for a few seconds.
"How long have you spent makin' yourself look good for Double D?" asked May, raising one of her eyebrows in an accusatory tone.
"I'm not trying to look good for Double D. I'm trying to look good for me." said Marie, narrowing her eyes at May before turning back to check her hair.
"How long?" May doubled down on the question, looking at Marie.
"I don't know? Like 10 minutes, or something." said Marie, continuing to brush her hair.
They paused for a moment as May looked at her sister's cobalt blue hair.
"Your hair is pretty smooth, Marie." said May.
"I've been brushing it for a bit." said Marie.
Marie then ruffles up her hair in a specific way that enhances its appearance.
"Cool." said May, still staring at Marie's hair. She placed her hand on the edge of the bed and held it.
May has seen this happen for her entire life. Marie brushes her hair for a while, making it straight and smooth, like a classic thick bob cut. Then she messes it with her hands to make it look messy, but in a good way. May has tried it once, but she can't pull off a messy hair look. Her hair is just exceptionally straight.
"Stop starin'. What the hell do you want?" said Marie, as she checked out her hair in the handheld mirror.
"Marie." said May, looking at Marie.
"What?" said Marie. Putting the mirror down on the bed as she turned to look at May.
"Maybe I want something." said May, playing with her hair and her eyes darting around the space of their room.
"What do you want?" asked Marie, looking at May, raising one of her eyebrows.
"I was thinking.." said May as she continued to hesitate.
Silence fills the air between them.
"Get to the damn point!" shouted Marie as she narrowed her eyes at her sister.
"Okay, jeez." said May, turning back to look at Marie.
May paused for a few more seconds.
"I want to know what Ed thinks about me." said May.
She spent the morning thinking about her talk with Marie last night. While she stopped trying to go after Ed, remember, it was only because of a lack of options. This opened a new possibility for May, Marie, and Edd. She's gonna take it.
"Huh. So you want me to ask Double D what Ed thinks of you?" said Marie, raising one of her eyebrows.
"Yeah, I was gonna ask you exactly that. How did you know that?" said May.
"I just guessed. Didn't you say you know he's scared of you?" said Marie.
"I did." said May, looking down on her legs as she slightly kicked her feet.
"Think you're pretty enough for him to like you still?" asked Marie, tilting her head with a small smirk on her face.
"Maybe." said May, half smiling, briefly looking at the ceiling.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" said Marie, tilting her head further.
"Ask Double D?" said May, as she turned back to Marie, raising her eyebrows.
"No, dumbass! Ask Ed himself!" said Marie, narrowing her eyes at May as she returned her head to normal.
"No." said May, with no hesitation, crossing her arms together, straightening her back, shaking her head as she turned 90 degrees away from Marie.
"What? Come on, you can do it!" said Marie, assuring her younger sister.
"No. Too shy. You ask Double D for me." said May, continuing to shake her head.
"Uhm, no." said Marie, with an unamused, grumpy smile, and narrowed her eyes.
"Then no clean clothes." said May, turning back to look at Marie.
"Really?" said Marie, raising her eyebrows, surprised.
"Mhm hm." exclaimed May, pouting her lips in smugness.
Marie points her finger at May, rocking it up and down as she clenches it into a fist.
"Fine." said Marie, lowering her hands down, biting her teeth, narrowing her eyes at May.
"Great! Thank you Marie. You are the best sister ever." said May as she clapped her hands, her face relaxing into a wide smile.
"Whatever." said Marie as she stood up, went to grab her bag, and began to stomp out of the room.
Marie stepped downstairs as she exited the trailer with May behind her. May waved at Marie goodbye.
"Don't forget!" yelled May, pointing at Marie from the door of their trailer.
Marie walks out of the trailer park to the makeshift bridge over the creek that the community made years ago. The wooden board creaking beneath her feet, at any moment it could break and cause Marie to fall into the creek if it wants to. Amazing how it has not broken after years.
Marie makes her way along the lane, the sound of her footsteps, birds chirping, faint stream of the creek accompanied her as she walked in the middle of the lane.
She could hear a faint bike sound coming from behind her.
"Yo, excuse me, Marie!" yelled a guy from behind her, ringing his bike bell as he got closer.
Marie stepped aside to let him pass her. She makes that figure out to be Kevin. Iconic hat and bike. Seems like he bikes around at this time.
Marie continues heading towards Edd's house. She remembers where it is and what it looks like, even after all these years, it's blue. Upon reaching the sidewalk of the cul-de-sac, Marie crosses the road and she then steps onto Edd's property.
Marie knocks on the door to Edd's house. She then realizes he has a doorbell, she presses it. Dingdonging his house.
Marie hears the doorknob turning before Edd opened it and revealed himself.
"Greetings, Marie." says Edd with a smile on his face, he opened the door all the way.
"Hi, Edd. said Marie, waving at Edd as she smiled.
"Nice clothes." continued Marie as she pointed at his shirt.
"Thank you, Marie. Welcome to my humble abode, you may enter." said Edd as he stepped away from the entrance, holding the door, letting Marie walk in.
He had a feeling. it was mixed, on one hand, he believed Marie is no longer the same person, on the other, they've only shared a few brief conversations, and he's already let her into his home. It was slightly chilling. Well, fine price to pay for a well-graded assignment.
Marie steps into the living room, she looks around Edd's house.
"Wow." exclaimed Marie, taking in the details of his house as she stood on the carpet.
To Marie, she was surprised to remember what it used to look like. The house remained roughly the same, except for an additional TV above the fireplace, and the white couch, which used to stick to the staircase, has been brought forward closer to the fireplace. She felt a slight guilt in her heart, for she had seen the interiors of his house without his explicit permission 4-5 years ago.
"Have you eaten yet Marie?" asked Edd as he closed the door, locking it.
"No, actually, I tried to get here as fast as I could have." said Marie, looking back at Edd, holding her stomach.
"You shouldn't have. I'm in no hurry. Let's get something to eat, Marie. Food is important for critical thinking. And we are about to work together." said Edd as he walked behind the couch, headed to the kitchen.
"Eat where?" asked Marie, raising one of her eyebrows, her eyes following Edd as he walked.
"I have some ingredients in the kitchen. Follow me." said Edd, briefly turning back to Marie as he headed into the kitchen.
Marie followed Edd into the kitchen. Not a single dirty dish in the sink, and the tables and the counters were squeaky clean, but the same couldn't be said for her trailer. A bunch of post-it notes from his parents.
"Have a seat." said Edd as he searched around his kitchen cabinets and drawers.
Marie sat down on a bar chair, crossing her legs, putting her bag on the wooden kitchen table. Marie then noticed a post-it note on the table. Curious, she leaned over and peeled it off the table and began to read it.
"Edd, which one of your parents is a doctor?" asked Marie, attempting to read the handwriting.
"Hm? Both of them. How did you know?" asked Edd, as he turned back to Marie, seeing the post-it note in Marie's hand.
"What does this say?" asked Marie as she flipped the paper to show him the paper.
"Allow me." said Edd as he walked to the table, reaching his hand over and gestured for Marie to hand it to him.
"Wait, wait, actually. Let me try to read it myself." said Marie as she turned the paper back to read it.
"If you would like." said Edd as he lowered his hand, watching Marie.
"Ahem." Marie cleared her throat before beginning to read, both hands holding up the paper.
"Uhh.. cleun.. clean. I don't know. What's this? Atter, after. Fueling off post-it.. notes. From.. the table." said Marie as she read out loud, her eyebrows raising higher and higher the more she does.
"Nice try, Marie. Allow me." said Edd as he raised his hand back to Marie and gestured for the note.
"Uh-huh." exclaimed Marie, looking at Edd. She hands over the note to him.
"Clean away adhesive after peeling off post-it note from the table." Edd read.
"Oh. Here, wait." said Marie as she stood up and leaned to take the note away from Edd.
"To me it says.. "cleun auay ahire.." How do you spell adhesive to make it look like ahire? "atter pueling off post-it nute f-nom the table." that's what it looks like to the normal eye." said Marie, reading it as she sees it, looking at Edd upon finishing.
"You wanna know how I managed to read it?" said Edd as he smiled, looking at the note.
"How?" asked Marie. Tilting her head, looking at Edd.
"I didn't, I guessed, I later inquired my mother what she wrote, because you can't be certain. I, of course, got it incorrect. She would write messages on a post-it note and place them in a different place for each specific request. I had memorized them." said Edd. He explained as he walked to grab a rag from the sink.
"Of course, haha." said Marie, laughing.
Edd watered the rag and applied soap to it. He begins to wipe away the adhesive on the kitchen table.
Though he had hours to himself at the house, waiting for Marie, he hadn't completed that one task as he spent most of his time tidying up the place, his room, and preparing items for his work with Marie, thinking ahead.
"Wasn't it just that single post-it note on the table?" asked Marie, raising one of her eyebrows.
"Yes, why?" said Edd, wiping away, faint squeaks generating from where he was wiping.
"Post-it note telling you to clean what it left. When you don't even need it in the first place, that's pretty funny." said Marie, smiling.
"I'm sure my mother has a rational reason for this. I had never questioned it." said Edd as he finished wiping the table clean.
Marie lightly chuckled.
Edd put the rag away after washing it. He then picked a different towel and dried the table with it. He then placed it back where it was, turning back to look at Marie.
He watched him, resting her head on her hand the entire time. It was satisfying, watching someone work so smoothly, especially a man, doing housework. Interesting note is that all of the Kanker sisters and even their mother enjoyed this for some reason, it must be in their genes.
"Well, Marie, back on track. Would you care for a sandwich?" asked Edd, smiling at Marie.
"Okay." said Marie as she straightened up. Lowering her hands down.
"What type of bread would you prefer?" asked Edd as he searched through his cabinet.
"Whatever you want." said Marie. She tried naming as many bread types as she could and could only come up with white, whole wheat, and.. baguette. That's pretty good when you only have a few seconds or so to think.
"Okay. What items do you want on your sandwich?" asked Edd, taking a small bag of bread out. He then opened his fridge and searched through it.
"Just give me whatever you want, damn. Feels like I got a private chef, haha." said Marie, lightly laughing.
"Alright, hold on." said Edd as he began pulling stuff out of the fridge and some from the cabinets.
Marie watches. She's appreciating the work he's putting in just to ensure she's not on an empty stomach. She felt a slight kick in her heart. Smiling to herself, she looked down for a second and then back to watching Edd.
After a little under a minute of Marie watching Edd efficiently crafting a small meal for Marie. Edd turned back and placed the plate with a sandwich in front of Marie.
"Woah.. Looks great." Marie said as she looked at and reached for the sandwich, about to pick it up. She was excited. This looked nice.
"Thank you. It's whole wheat bread, rotisserie chicken slices, low-fat cheese, lettuce, tomato, carrots, and lastly, I put some mayo on it." said Edd as he went back to wash his hands.
"That sounds healthy." said Marie, then she began biting into it.
"It is." said Edd, drying his hands with a tissue.
Marie covers her mouth as Edd turns back to face her.
"How is it?" asked Edd as he leaned on the table, watching Marie.
Marie nodded her head. This is pretty good. It's not a super delicious, mind-blown type of meal, but it is good.
"I'm glad you enjoy it." said Edd as he smiled and stretched his back. He then looked back and began to put the ingredients he brought out back to where they were.
"Mhm." exclaimed Marie with the food in her mouth, chewing.
Marie swallows, covering her mouth with her hand. She then lowered it.
"You got ketchup?" asked Marie, looking at Edd.
"I do." said Edd as he reached for a red bottle in the fridge. Gently placing it on the table for Marie.
Marie and Edd chit-chatted for a moment until Marie finished the sandwich Edd had made for her. Only then had they discussed plans for their work. He washed Marie's dish and then placed it back on the plate rack.
"I believe you know exactly how to decorate our assignment." said Edd, turning back to face Marie after all's done.
"Why do you think that?" asked Marie, tilting her head, smiling. Still sitting at the same spot, looking at Edd.
"I had the impression that you're an artistic, creative individual." said Edd, pulling a bar stool from under the table and sitting on it.
"Really? Tell me how." asked Marie, raising her eyebrows, then resting her head on both hands. She was flattered by his comment.
"I suppose it's the way you express yourself. And I do know you partake in various forms of art." said Edd, looking at Marie.
"Express myself how?" asked Marie, more curious, her smile becoming wider.
"Your bag." said Edd as he pointed at her bag. It was a black wool crossbody bag, decorated with multiple patches and pins, such as a heart hand grenade, an anarchist symbol, a skull with a red bow, a smiley face, a yellow butterfly, a lightning bolt, and many more.
"Your hair." said Edd as he pointed at her bright cobalt blue hair.
"Hm." exclaimed Marie with a smile on her face. She appreciated how honest Edd was.
The conversation paused for a brief moment.
"You're right. I have an idea for what we should put on it." said Marie as she swiped her fingers to adjust her bangs, revealing her eye for a split second.
"Go on." said Edd as he rested his elbow on the kitchen table and leaned closer to listen to Marie.
"We could draw on a paper with a different texture to the one our A4 paper has. Cut out what we drew and then glue them to our main paper. Like I said, you draw flasks and DNAs or something, your interests, then I draw mine!" said Marie, hand gestures as she explained.
"I can picture it. Alright, excellent, Marie." said Edd as he nodded.
"You don't have any other ideas other than mine?" asked Marie, tilting her head and smiling.
"I do. However, I decided on yours. Simpler and more marriage-esque than mine." said Edd, adjusting his beanie.
"Hehe, okay." said Marie, lightly giggling.
"The decoration part is done. No need to concern ourselves over that as of now. Expanding on our conversation earlier on Thursday. The list, as I recall it, we need to discuss how many children, what kind of house, our chore duties, and how we would spend our time together. We skipped those parts and went to discuss the design and layout. We have the heading, and we have the main topics written down. Let's discuss the answers to the questions Mr. Carter requires us to answer." said Edd, listing off what they need, counting them on his left hand as he explained to Marie.
"Okay." said Marie as she straightened her back, stretching it.
CHAPTER 5 END