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( PICS BY RACH)"what gives?!?" hissed Eddy, using the edge of
his newly-awarded report card to scrape off the stubborn
squidpaste off his shirt. Edd, feeling his stomach churn,
slowed down and walked alongside Melissa on their way to music.
"Dork city!" bellowed Kevin from outside the nurse’s office with
a caste on his foot and a crutch under his arm that was
bigger than him. Edd cringed and Eddy blew a raspberry
patronisingly as he made a rude gesture with his fist as an
insult to Kevin's bedroom pastimes...think about it.
"Been caste out, Kev? Get it, Double D?!? Kevin…Caste out?!? I crack me up."
"I’m sure you do Eddy." Yawned Edd, hopping over a cliché
tumbleweed. Eddy turned around and spotted Melissa i.e. the
girl with the super-cool vegasrug. She was bopping her head
along to her Walkman, and from what he could make out
it was either The Beatles or a cheesy imitation.
Edd laughed as she handed one plug to him and started singing
"Hard days night" out loud.
"that’s quite profound, Melissa!" he joked.
" John Lennon would be proud." She sighed.
"that’s pathetic!" scoffed Eddy. " Double D doesn’t even Like
The Beatles…they’re so last century!"
"So…Um…" muttered Edd to Melissa, who was hardly listening but
walking with a beat to the music. "how are you finding life
in Peach Creek?"
"What…sorry? Oh! It’s as well as can be expected, y’know? We
haven’t been here all that long, Double D." she answered turning her Walkman off.
"How did you end up here when you’ve lived in Vegas all your
life, if you don’t mind me asking." He wondered politely.
"It’s a long story…" mumbled Melissa, looking at the
floor. "Let’s just say I won’t be running back anytime soon.
I do miss my mom and dad something awful. At least I get to
see Dad when he comes to see Grandma, heh, but Ronnie and
him are off on another one of their enterprises back home so..."
Melissa shrugged her shoulders with a glum smile.
Edd scratched his sockhat, filled with intrigue.
"I hope you don’t mind, but I am curious...Who is Ronnie to
you?" He said with a dubious gulp, not wanting to seem pushy.
“He’s my step grandad. He’s a great guy. He loves Nana very much
and says all the time my sister is a female version of
Dad when he was younger, as far as being REAL headstrong! I can definitely vouch for THAT!”
Melissa laughed. “ He couldn't have kids himself so he took my dad on as his own
almost
straight away!
HOW he ended up in Peach Creek I’ll never know.
It’s like on the other side of the country!”
“ Yes, there’s quite a distance from Peach Creek
to Nevada! over 3000 miles!” Edd said in amazement.
“Hmm....Ronnie told me once the house where we live was like a
retreat for his family when Vegas got too much. I personally
think it was some kinda place for them to hide
their heads when the going got tough...”
“I don’t understand...” Edd stammered.
“Heh, I dunno whether I should tell you this but...” Melissa
said weakly.
“It’s kinda hush-hush, but apparently his family made their
money in the speakeasy circles back in the 20’s, when
alcohol and gambling were illegal. Raking it in they were!”
Melissa exclaimed. “You could say it stirred alot of
jealousy and bad feeling back in the day...”
“Oh I can imagine!” Edd nodded. “ It’s amazing how social
activities today’s adults take for granted were once hugely
taboo and outlawed things...intruiging!” Edd pondered.
“ I suppose if you told a person in the 20’s one day alcohol would
be legal they’d laugh in your face! That’s corporate America for you...” Edd said cynically.
“who knows WHAT vice will be the next government bandwagon...”
“I dare not think about it at times,
it makes me really sad the way the world’s going...” Melissa sighed.
“Me too...” Edd acknowledged. It was really refreshing to talk
to someone about things that his pals would rib him
for. Felt kinda...special!
“ We’re lucky though...I mean, where else will you find songs
about a man who stuck a feather in his hat and called it
macaroni?” Edd said with a grin.
“Nowhere!” Melissa giggled as they walked. “ Only in good ol’ America!”
“A-men to that!” Edd chortled. Melissa smiled at him warmly, and
the goosebumps shot up his arms. Melissa gulped and her
eyes darted nervously.
“ Um, what were we talking about before?” she asked.
“You were telling me about Ronnie’s colorful heritage...” Edd
reminded her with a slightly flirtatious sarcasm.
Man, I ain’t heard Double Dee TALK so much! Eddy thought to
himself. Hey! What’s she got that I ain’t got?!?
“Oh yeah, I was wasn’t I?” Melissa remembered.
“ I often think about how Ronnie knows all these bigwigs back
home, and when I put 2 and 2 together”-
“You get six, you Vegas airhead?” Eddy mumbled bitterly under
his breath as he walked in front of them. Edd flicked his
eyes at him angrily. Luckily Melissa didn’t hear.
“It kinda makes sense he has so many ties with Vegas, you know
what I mean?” She continued.
“Yes, it’s only logical.” Edd added. Boy was he impressed with
this girl! She was attractive, sweet AND intelligent!
"Why is your grandmother here?” Asked Edd, forgetting his usual
manners in not asking too many questions. Melissa seemed
only too happy to answer them though. “Did she ever live in
Vegas with you?"
"Well…" breathed Melissa. "My Grandmother and father were
originally from Liverpool, England. Nana moved over to Peach
Creek in 1968 when she married Ronnie, 3 years after grandad died.
He was on a Beatles fan tour he payed for out
of money beqeithed to him by his father when he passed away. He was his only son so
he got everything. I'm not too sure how MUCH exactly
...ANYWAY, it was a LOT in those
days!” Melissa gasped for breath. Edd smiled as she nattered on.
Somehow she looked even cuter when she talked about her
life. Like she was opening a door to a whole other world no-one else could touch.
She seemed to act out her stories with every word she spoke
and inflection she made. Edd listened on with genuine interest.
“ Ronnie and my Nana met in Penny Lane when she was out shopping
for muffins. Sparks flew from there. He said he
mistook her for Lulu, and man-oh-man does she make him wanna
shout! He’s a huge fan of the Fab Four too so a Liverpool
Lass was a real bonus.
And hen thee was my dad,lil man-abut-town Benny Morris, or rather, Benny Twinkle!"
"how very um…touching!" flinched Edd."Benny...could it
be...nah! That would be too coincidental! dismissed Edd to himself, reverting back to the letter from Eddy's brother.
Yeah, gorgeous isn’t it?" beamed Melissa. "My dad was so
thrilled to move to America, as much as he loved home, and still does.”
“What happened next?” asked Edd, hardly looking where he was going.
“My dad loved everything to do with America, but ESPECIALLY
Elvis!!” Melissa exclaimed. “Next to the Beatles he was his
idol! He could do the wiggly thing with his legs and
everything!” Melissa laughed. Edd chuckled as the exciting story unfolded.
“Anyhoo, he heard the gypsy band who stayed in the trailer park
on the other side of the forest from where he lived were going
west for the summer. Hearing about this, my dad begged Nana to
let him go, hoping he could hit Vegas with them and follow the
stars to fame. Eventually she did, when Ronnie gave my Dad
instructions to meet with his old friend from his childhood Fred
Spencer. Fred and Ronnie's dad were in on the ol'
speakeasy scene together apparently.They rocked
1920's Vegas! ...um...what else...”
“Oh, please, go on!” Edd piped.
“Yeah! Anyways, my dad travelled with the gypsies across the
country, all the way from Peach Creek to Las Vegas. Fred met
with my dad at the train station. He pulled up in this huge
limosine, which was REALLY something in those days! He was with
his 13 year old son Freddy Spencer Junior, or as he prefers to
be called nowadays...” Melissa’s eyes darkened.
“Freddy Sparkle...” she said with a slight snarl.
Edd gulped.
“Fred Senior had just opened a performing arts academy for kids.
The only thing is, none of his kids had musical talent. It
wouldn’t be until his kids started having broods of their own
that anyone REMOTELY musically talented would come along, but
that’s another story....ANYWAY!” Melissa interrupted herself
“He’d only really bought the school because it looked like such
a great cash cow. Vegas being a city of just TOTAL musical
energy and its backbone being entertainment!” Melissa said with
understanding
“ He was ecstatic with my dad when he heard him play his
rickety old guitar. He immediately asked my nana and Ronnie if
my dad could live with him and his family and enroll at Paris Hilton. ”
“Oh my!!! Paris Hilton! That’s YOUR school!” Edd realised.
“WAS my school...” Melissa corrected dimly. “the family joke was
that we’d be the ancestors of a whole bunch of Twinkles
attending Paris Hilton, our forefather being my Dad, Benny
Twinkle!
He took Twinkle as a stage name from Ronnie cos back in his
casino days Ronnie’s hand moved so fast throwing the dice his
rings looked like a twinkle of stars flashing across the
sky...how lame is THAT? Why couldn’t his nickname be Ronnie Snake-Eyes
or something remotely cool?” Melissa ranted on. Edd murmured in
agreement as he recalled Eddy’s letter again. Suddenly his eyes widened.
Holy St Francis! he exclaimed inside his head. It IS the same
person! Eddy's brother is working with Melissa's father!
“Man, I went off track again, I’m notorious for that Double
Dee!” Melissa said in embarrassment.
“ Don’t worry about it!” Edd said enthusiastically.
“ It’s an amazing story! And you tell it so well!” he complimented, surprised at his own avid
interest in Melissa’s life. Playing the good listener was
something Edd had become accustomed to, but actually hearing a
story worth actually paying attention to was something
else. This particular story was different.
“You didn’t finish telling me about your father as a kid!” Edd reminded her..
“Oh yeah, you’re right...” She beamed. “ Well anyway, Dad had
his heart set on making his mark in Vegas. Bear in mind he was
13 at the time, and already he wanted to take on the world!
Nana was reluctant at first, but Ronnie trusted Fred, he was
such a good man.”
“The Paris Hilton fellow?” Edd asked, keeping track.
“yep” Melissa nodded. “Ronnie argued on Dad’s behalf with nana
that if SHE was allowed to follow her dreams and move halfway
across the world for love, why can’t my Dad follow his, and with
such an influental guy as Fred Sparkle! My dad told me he was
so kind and intelligent, he taught him how to manage the
pittence he made washing dishes in the school cafeteria into
money he could work with in the future. My dad did so, and by
the age of 14 he had met other kids his age who loved music and
wanted to be famous too. 3 guys, A saxaphone player, a drummer,
a pianoist and the prettiest girl this side of Vegas, Tina,my
mom, as the vocalist."
"Your mom?!? How exciting!" gasped Edd in disbelief. Eddy
pricked his ears up walking in front of them as the undeniably
cool saga of Melissa’s life unravelled.
"I cant believe he was just our age when he went to
Vegas...alone!!!" Edd was totally intimidated at the thought.
His parents just about let him go to the candy store alone.
"He’s a daredevil, my old man…always has been." Boasted Melissa
as they made their way across the music corridor. “He was
always running off on his own little adventures. I guess half
the reason Nana let him go finally is because she knew how
headstrong he was and give him chance he’d probably high-tail to
Vegas anyways! The same goes I guess for him and my mom...once
he knew she liked him too he was determined to have her by his
side. Heh, according to Ronnie he was a total puppydog for her!”
Melissa chuckled sweetly.
“ The story if your parents romance is...for want of a better
word...very heartwarming, Melissa!” Edd stated.
“Yeah...Freddy Junior wasnt too keen on it...heh...” Melissa
said with a slight smirk. “He resented Dad anyway for being his
father’s new musical prodigee. I guess he kinda looked down on him cos Dad wasnt really Ronnie's son and
in Freddy's eye's he didn't deserve to treated as such.
isn't that
pathetic? How does money make someone a better person?"
Melissa protested firmly."I believe in some cases it can make people worse..."
"Oh, you don't have to tell ME..." Edd interjected, the greediest person
he knew walking in front of them.
"But you said so yourself Melissa. Your father was a exceptionally talented boy! He deserved as good a chance as everyone else!"
" Exactly! I guess my dad just stuck out like a sore thumb. and his accent was
VERY strong scouse, still is.
but Freddy REALLY dug Mom, and when
she and Dad started dating, that was it. he HATED Dad! All the
money Vegas had to offer didn’t make Freddy Junior any better in
Mom’s eyes. She loved Dad for his quirkiness, he was such a
square peg, but proud of it, you get me?” Melissa explained.
“Your father is an example to square pegs everywhere!” Edd
beamed. Eddy listened with disgust, and mimed an impersonation
of Edd sucking up to their Vegas visitor.
" My parents...They relived their teenage years over…and over…and over
again!" giggled Melissa,
handing Edd 3 pictures of her parents.
In one her mom was strutting her stuff doing the cardboard box
in Nancy Sinatra stylee boots. Her father donned a Sgt Pepper
suit in a lovely shade of lime green. Edd shuffled the pics
and another presented them in a more 70’s aura, while the last
was of a heavily-pregnant Tina Twinkle, looking somewhere
between Madonna's Material Girl stage and Jonny Rotten's barely
conscious stage,
and a Simon LeBon-looking
Benny-Melissa’s dad.
"My…how colourful." Peeped Edd, handing them back.
"yeah…" sighed Melissa with a touch of
lament in her voice.
"They finally gave up the gallivanting when mom
discovered she was pregnant…with twins!"
Edd gulped. "Oh dear, what happened next?"
"Nothing, that’s my point." Shrugged Melissa.
"No big loss, Viva Punk Vegas wasn’t really catching on anyway."
"I see." Nodded Edd, looking at the floor.
LINKS AT TOP
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