Chapter 5: Life Won't Wait For You, My Friend

Well, it's been awhile and I'm so very sorry for the long, long wait, but here it is. Not a very long chapter, but please enjoy!

Marie couldn't handle the cold any longer, so she jumped to her feet and trotted over to Kevin's house. She trudged through snow as she made her way to his backyard. She could hear the upbeat rock music as she approached the backdoor, along with the other party-goer's voices and the sound of beer bottles clanking into each other as they sifted through a sea of ice. She froze once she reached the door, desperately trying to work up the courage to go inside. She wanted to see Edd very badly and also to have some fun, but this feeling of anxiety was overwhelming. She decided to go inside to warm up a bit, but to avoid detection, she figured the best way would be through the front door, since everyone was apparently downstairs as far as she knew. As she approached the door, she peered through the glass to see if anyone was there. There didn't appear to be, so she gently grasped the doorknob, slowly turning it, trying to make as little noise as possible. She opened the door and stepped inside, softly closing the door behind her.

Marie wandered around Kevin's house, taking in her surroundings as she explored this new environment. Marie always had mixed feelings when she found herself inside of an actual house, because it always made her feel like she didn't belong there; like she was an intruder...The irony of which, was not lost on her. That was understandable; she lived in a relatively small trailer most of her life, with three other people, in a tiny trailer community where there was always something going on that took away from the peace and quiet. Over time, she felt as if her trailer became smaller and smaller everyday. Marie was aware, and grateful, that she didn't have a bad home life, but she felt that the monotony of her life was taking its toll on her. She also had very limited personal space at home, which eventually caused her to start getting irritated at the absolute smallest and most trivial things, like May brushing her teeth 'too loud' or the 'sound' that Lee makes when she chews her food. Kevin's average 2-story, middle-class home felt like a mansion to her. Everyone's home felt that way to her. All she wanted was to live in a regular house, in a nice suburban community, in an area where it was warm almost all year. West Virginia was not that place.

Marie eventually found herself upstairs, looking for an area to relax before her sisters showed up…whatever was taking them so long she had no idea. She found a room at the end of the hallway. She tip-toed over to the room and flicked the light on, taking a moment to study the it. Based on the decor and the smell of what was probably weed, it had to be Kevin's room. Marie noticed a pack a cigarettes on the floor near Kevin's bed, so without hesitation, she crouched over it, desperately hoping it wasn't empty. She picked up the pack and shook it. To her relief, it rustled, so she opened the pack, pulled one out, and lied down on the bed. Luckily, she still had her lighter with her, which was nice because she didn't exactly feel like rummaging around Kevin's messy room to find one. She fired it up and lied down on Kevin's bed.

As she laid there, blowing smoke-rings, she took a cursory glance around the room, noticing how similar it was to hers. It had a bunch of band posters on the walls, loads of CD's scattered about, and as she looked across the room, she noticed that Kevin had a guitar sitting next to his computer desk.

Wow. She thought. This kid plays?

Initially, she thought Kevin was just another stoner-kid with a guitar that probably only knew how to play a few lousy chords, but it wasn't like he had some cheap secondary-brand guitar, it was a black Angus Young signature series Gibson SG with Lightning Bolts instead of regular dots on the fretboard. She thought maybe Kevin actually knew his way around six strings...or maybe he was just spoiled rotten. Who knows? Marie didn't care for Kevin that much but she found that to be quite impressive.

I'd destroy him, She thought. Where the hell's his amp?

About half-way through her cigarette, she held it with her mouth as she grabbed a couple more from Kevin's pack and stored them behind her ears, concealing them with her hair before tossing it back onto the floor. She went back to blowing smoke-rings, trying to get each one to hit the ceiling before they dissipated.

"Well, well, well..." said a familiar voice. In mid-drag, Marie's eyes shot open, then she casually turned her head, to find Lee standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. Marie froze until the smoke started to get in her eye.

"Uh...heyyyyy." Marie was unsure exactly how to respond, but knowing she was caught red-handed with a cigarette, she wasn't even gonna try to avoid the inevitable conversation.

Lee grinned at Marie, folding her arms. "So, when did you start smoking?"

Marie took another drag. "I don't know, like...an hour ago?" She replied, "What's it to ya?"

"Nothing." Lee walked over and hopped on the bed, across her sister, resting her legs over Marie's. "What do you think mom would say?"

"Why? You thinkin' of rattin' me out to her?"

Lee laughed. "No, of course not. C'mon Marie! When's the last time I snitched on you to mom?"

Marie glanced at Lee, looking at her incredulously. "Oh, I don't know, like two weeks ago?" She replied.

Lee lifted her hands up, looking puzzled. "What are you talkin' about?"

"That night when it was like 15 below zero and I poured orange juice into your engine block."

They both started laughing. "Oh, that's right!" Lee said, "Hey, to be fair, mom had already figured that was you before I even said anything."

Marie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I love how she was more pissed about me wasting the orange juice."

"Ha! I know, right? It was more like 'Screw the damn the car, you wasted all of the orange juice, Marie!'"

"What can I say? Water wouldn't have been as funny." Marie said.

Silence filled the room, then Lee extended her hand toward Marie. "Can I get a drag off of that?" Marie gave Lee a curious look.

Lee dropped her hand. "Marie, you're not the first one to steal cigs from mom's shower-stash."

Marie's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?" She snickered, covering her mouth and poorly hiding her guilty smirk.

"Don't bullshit me, sis! Where else would you have gotten them from?"

"Okay, busted, you got me. But these aren't mom's, they're Kevin's. His pack is right here." Marie grabbed the pack and tossed them at Lee.

"Nice." Lee said. She extracted a cigarette from the pack and then nonchalantly stuffed the pack into her bra. Marie grimaced at Lee. She double-tapped her lips with her fingers at Lee for a cigarette.

"So, where's May?" Marie said, as Lee tossed a cigarette at her.

"She's in the bathroom downstairs. Her hands were almost frozen by the time we got here. My car wouldn't start so we had to walk."

"I was wondering why you guys were taking so long."

"Yeah, well, shit happens when you get your oil changed with orange juice."

"Maybe your car's a diabetic."

Lee and Marie turned their attention to the door as they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "Lee?" May said, quietly. "Where are you?"

"I'm in here, ya dumbass."

As May entered the room, she immediately plugged her nose. "Oh, my God!" May exclaimed, "It smells like skunks in here." May glanced at Marie. "Marie!" She yelled as she pounced on Marie and gave her a big bear-hug. "What is up with you? Please don't leave like that again!"

"I'm sorry, May." Marie said, as May squeezed the life out of her sister.

"You're not mad at me, are you Marie?" May asked.

"No, May, of course not. It's just been a bad day."

May didn't seem to realize her own strength. Marie glanced at Lee, who was silently laughing.

"May..." Marie choked out, "I can't breathe..."

May released her sister, "Oh, sorry."

Marie felt a lot of tension beginning to dissipate and was relieved that her sisters finally showed up. Marie was never one to storm of like she did. Going rogue went against the Kanker-code and it made her feel guilty to some degree. As independent as Marie strove to be, she needed to be around her sisters, especially for strength. The Kanker sisters, as a whole, represented an entity of great power and unity, which they used to achieve anything they could possibly desire. They were strong, cunning, and incredibly elusive and with Marie slowly realizing this over the years and finally understanding it, especially now, she promised herself to never stray from her sisters again.

Lee stood up and faced her sisters. "Okay girls, let's not forget why we're here." She said. "Let's go claim our prizes…"

They all giggled, devilishly.