by Doris Miller
During the meantime, Missy and the triplets are at a casual function that their Uncle Kevin is giving inside a bar. Missy and the triplets each have their hair back in a long thick braid with bangs in front of their heads. They are all dressed in short black jackets and black leggings. Landa is wearing a blue shirt on the inside, Londa is wearing a green shirt, Linda is wearing a red shirt and Missy is wearing a brown shirt. The triplets sit at a table with Rick, a male black around his early 30's, and a couple of other fellows, Terrance and Chad. Missy stands over them with her boyfriend James, a dark skinned male black around his early 30's. Missy nervously looks at her watch. She tells the triplets, "You know we all better get back home to be with Grandma and Grandpa. If Dana catches us all in here you know she's gonna have a fit, right? She'll drag us all right out of here!"
"Oh relax Missy!" Linda says. "Dana is not gonna come home from work until around another four or five hours! We still have plenty of time!"
James turns to Missy and asks, "Why doesn't Dana want you all to be here?"
"Well, both of my grandparents are home sick with the flu. They're both very weak right now and nobody is home with them, so Dana wanted us four to stay home to take care of them. She didn't want any of us to leave the house! Dana told us all to stay home with our grandparents until she gets off work."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"How did both of your grandparents wind up with the flu?"
"Well at first my grandfather caught it, then I think my grandmother caught it from him."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Missy nervously looks at her watch again.
James says, "Ah come on now Missy, stop looking at your watch! You shouldn't worry about anything! Dana is not gonna come home for a while! And if she did walk in here right now, she's not gonna really drag you all out of here!"
"James, she's done it before," Missy says. James becomes stunned. Missy then says, "Don't ever under estimate Dana! She is not one person to under estimate!" James remains stunned.
Missy starts to annoy Linda about the time on her watch. Linda annoyingly looks at Missy's watch. She then gets up from her chair and goes to a pay phone in the back. She decides to call home and check up on her grandparents.
The phone rings inside Gracy and*Mike's house. Gracy picks up the telephone and says, "Hello?"
"Hey Grandma! It's me Linda! How's it going? Has Dana called yet?"
"Yes Dana has called! Dana has called here twice already! She wanted to speak to all four of you, but since you all weren't HERE, I had to make up some kind of line and excuse to her just to keep her from getting angry and upset! Now I didn't want to lie to Dana, but I had told her that you four were down in the basement, cleaning up a heavy flood! I told Dana that the washing machine had a bad leak!"
"What! You told her that?"
"Yeah I had to! I told Dana that the washing machine had a bad leak and that there was a heavy flood down in the basement! I told her that you four were down in the basement cleaning up the leak and that none of you were able to come to the phone!"
"Oh yeah? Then what did she say?"
"She got very angry and started shouting all over the telephone! I didn't know what else to tell her Linda! I just told Dana that you all were too busy cleaning up the heavy leak!"
"Oh yeah? Well thanks Grandma."
"Now don't thank me Linda! I'm not doing this for you! I'm only doing this to keep Dana from getting angry and upset!"
"I know Grandma! We don't want Dana getting angry and upset either! That's why if she calls you again, just tell her that we four are still down in the basement cleaning up the water okay?"
"Dana says that the next time she calls here, she wants to hear your voices."
"Can't you just tell her that we're all still down in the basement and that we're very tied up?"
"NO LINDA! NOW I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG I CAN KEEP ON MAKING UP EXCUSES WITHOUT DANA GETTING SUSPICIOUS!"
"Just keep telling her what you've been telling her before Grandma! Dana won't be home for another four or five hours! We'll be back home by then! Okay? We're all having a good time here and we don't want to leave yet!"
"Okay, Linda. But just TRY to come home as soon as you can! You know I would love for you guys to stay at the function, I really would, but it is important to Dana that you guys be here!"
"I know Grandma! We just wanted to be at the function real bad, that's all!"
"Okay then Linda! JUST come home as soon as possible alright? I don't like lying to your sister! I don't want Dana to find out that you four had went out of the house."
"Grandma, it won't hurt Dana as long as she doesn't know about it! We'll be home as soon as possible, okay?"
"Okay Linda. I'll see you all later."
"Okay Grandma. Bye." Linda hangs up the telephone. She then walks back to the table.
Missy and the triplets continue to stay at the function. Londa gets up from her chair and walks to the bar. Missy goes and follows behind Londa. She starts to annoy Londa about the time on her watch. Londa stops and furiously turns around towards Missy! She gives Missy an angry stare as Missy nervously backs away from her! Londa turns back around and continues to walk to the bar! She then sits on a stool. Missy goes and stands beside Londa, nervously looking at her. Londa sits angrily at the bar as she takes a drink.
An old time friend of Missy and Londa's named Steven is at the function also. Steven, a male black in his early 40's, sees Missy and Londa at the bar together. He sees Londa being constantly annoyed by Missy as Missy constantly shows Londa the time on her watch. Steven knows how much Missy and the triplets fear Dana. He decides to play a small trick on them. He goes over to Missy and Londa. He approaches Missy and Londa and says to them, "Hey you two! What's happening?" Missy and Londa look at Steven. Steven then says, "Say, I thought you two said that Dana was at work right now!"
"Yeah! Dana is at work right now," Missy responds.
Steven looks far behind them and says, "Oh yeah? Well how come I just saw her walking through the front door?" Missy and Londa frighteningly stare at Steven! They start to freeze in fear! Three other people, who are at the bar turn to look towards the front door, but it is hard to see anything because it is crowded inside the place! Steven continues, "It looks like she's coming this way too!" Missy and Londa continue to stare at Steven! They both start to panic inside! Steven continues again, "Oh man she's coming right over here too!" Missy and Londa continue to stare at Steven! They both start to sweat! They are afraid to turn around! Steven seeing Missy's and Londa's fears, starts to feel bad for them and decides to give up the joke! He laughs and tells Missy and Londa both, "Hey! I was only kidding with you two! Dana's not here!" Missy and Londa continue to frighteningly stare at Steven. They are still afraid to turn around! Steven continues, "Hey! I was only kidding! Dana's not here! You two can turn around and look now!" Missy and Londa still refuse to turn their heads around! Steven then says to the three other people at the bar, "Hey, will you guys tell them that I was just only kidding with them, would y'all! Tell them that Dana's not here!"
Two of the three people at the bar, Paul and Carol tell Missy and Londa, "Yeah! Steven was just kidding around! Dana's not here! We don't see her anywhere!" Missy and Londa are still sweating! They slowly and nervously start to turn their heads around! They look around the room. They are both relieved to see that there is no Dana! They then get very angry and upset with Steven as Londa shouts, "I DON'T THINK YOUR DAMN JOKE IS FUNNY!" She gets up from her stool and angrily throws her drink right in Steven's face, shouting, "NOW HOW ABOUT THIS? I THINK THAT'S FUNNY!" She angrily storms away! Missy angrily says to Steven, "You know you really went too far this time Steven. Why don't you try to grow up okay?" Missy angrily walks away, following right behind Londa.
Steven calls out towards them and says, "I'M SORRY GIRLS! I'LL NEVER JOKE LIKE THAT AGAIN!"
Paul, a male black in his early 40's and Carol, a female black around her early 40's, approach Steven. They ask him, "Why
did you make a bad joke like that Steven? That wasn't very nice at all."
"Oh I was just kidding around with them! I wanted to see their reaction because I know they're all scared of Dana!"
"Scared of Dana?" Paul asks. "What do you mean they're all scared of Dana? Why?"
"I really don't know! They don't really talk about it!"
"Yeah, that's true," Carol says. "A little while ago, I was standing over there talking with Linda while she was sitting on a stool in the back! Then somebody had come up to her and jokingly told her that Dana was coming towards her way! All of a sudden, Linda looked scared! I mean she started sweating like crazy! I didn't know what was wrong with her! I asked her what's the matter, but she was too scared to say anything!"
"Really?" Paul asks. "Why are they all so afraid of Dana? Dana is their sister!"
"Well that's what I've been trying to figure out for years Paul," Steven frustratingly says. "They've feared Dana all their lives! And the sad thing is, they still do! And nobody really knows why! A few people have asked them all before, how come they're all so afraid of Dana, how come they're so afraid of Dana, but they will never answer the question! But everybody sees that they're all scared of Dana! Everybody sees that!"
Paul and Carol stare at each other stunned. They then look towards Missy and the triplets. Carol then says, "Well maybe it could be something about Dana that they all know about and that they're all afraid of. Maybe they're all afraid of Dana because of the many times Dana has been arrested!"
"Could be," Steven says. "But whatever it is about Dana that they're all afraid of, they're all scared like crazy!"
"Well maybe they could be just faking it," Paul says.
"Paul, how can anybody fake a sweat?"
Paul and Carol stare at Steven. Steven looks away from them and sadly looks towards Missy and the triplets.
Back at the stockroom, another hour passes by. Victor is still inside the stockroom. He continues to worry about Teresa and Dana, wondering if they're going to come back. He starts to use the telephone on the table and calls up Kenneth at the back desk. There's no answer. Victor tries again, but there still is no answer.
A couple of minutes later, Kenneth walks into the stockroom and puts some newspapers down on the table. As he is about to walk back out, Victor sees him and calls out, "HEY KENNETH!" Kenneth stops and turns around towards Victor as Victor asks, "Where were you? I just tried to phone you at the desk!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh I'm sorry Victor. I had to open up the back door to let Dana and Teresa back in the building."
"Dana and Teresa? They're both back?"
"Yeah."
"Well that's why I tried to call you up in the first place Kenneth, to see if they had both came back yet!"
"Yeah. They're both back," Kenneth says. He then walks back out the stockroom. Victor hurries to the stockroom doorway! He looks down the corridor and sees both Dana and Teresa at the back desk as Kenneth walks back to the desk. Victor comes partially into the corridor. He is happy to see that Teresa is alright. He then sees Dana handing Teresa some medication. He hears Dana telling Teresa, "You know Teresa you should really stay away from fried foods. Your stomach wouldn't feel so bad."
Dana then turns the corner into the other hallway as Teresa walks towards Victor. Victor says to her, "Damn Teresa! You gave me a good scare! What the hell happened to you two? Where did you both go?"
"Oh Dana had drove me to the drug store for some aspirin and some medication."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Well why didn't you tell anybody where you two were going? Why didn't you tell anybody that you were going there?"
Teresa looks around and says, "Because I didn't know I was going to go there Victor! I didn't even know I was going to be there!" Teresa smiles and says, "But I'm alright Victor. I'm okay."
Victor then smiles and says, "Well thank God for that!"
In Dana's grandparents' house, Gracy and Mike are still inside the house alone. The phone rings. Gracy picks up the telephone and says, "Hello? Oh hi Dana!.... Oh, they're all still down in the basement. It's just too much water down there. Missy and the triplets are still down the basement trying to get rid of it! ….. I know you want to hear their voices this time Dana, but they're all still down in the basement trying to clean up the flood! It's hard for them to come to the phone right now! ….. No they still haven't cleaned up all the water yet! There's still a lot of water down the basement! None of them are able to come to the phone right now! …… NOW WAIT A MINUTE DANA! DANA! DANA! DANA!" Gracy hears no answer on the other end of the phone. It had went dead. Dana had hung up the phone! Gracy becomes hysterical and cries out, "OH MY GOD!" She decides to call up the function! She anxiously looks for the telephone number of the function. She finds the number and calls up the function! She anxiously shouts, "HELLO, LET ME SPEAK TO LINDA PLEASE! …... MY GRANDDAUGHTER LINDA! PLEASE, LET ME SPEAK TO HER RIGHT AWAY!"
At the function, someone approaches Linda and tells her that she has a telephone call. Linda goes to the telephone. She gets on the telephone and says, "Hello?"
"LINDA, IT'S ME!" Gracy shouts.
"Oh hey Grandma! Did Dana called again yet?"
"YES DANA CALLED AGAIN, AND SHE IS VERY UPSET! SHE WANTED TO SPEAK TO ALL FOUR OF YOU AND TO HEAR YOUR VOICES THIS TIME, BUT I TOLD HER THAT YOU FOUR WERE STILL DOWN THE BASEMENT CLEANING UP ALL THAT WATER! I TOLD HER THAT IT WAS JUST TOO MUCH WATER DOWN THE BASEMENT AND THAT NONE OF YOU ARE ABLE TO COME TO THE TELEPHONE!"
"Oh yeah? Then what did she say?"
"SHE SAID THAT SHE IS ON HER WAY OVER HERE RIGHT NOW TO GO DOWN IN THE BASEMENT AND HELP Y'ALL GET RID OF ALL THAT WATER!"
"WHAT!"
"YEAH! THEN SHE SAID THAT IF SHE DOESN'T SEE ANY FLOOD DOWN THE BASEMENT, OR IF SHE DOESN'T SEE ANY OF YOU DOWN THE BASEMENT OR ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE HOUSE, SHE SAID THAT SHE'S GONNA GO PAY YOU ALL A VERY UNPLEASANT VISIT AT THE FUNCTION! THEN SHE JUST HUNG UP THE PHONE!"
Linda starts to panic and shout, "GRANDMA WE'LL BE RIGHT THERE!" Linda quickly hangs up the telephone and rushes off!
Landa and Missy are sitting next to each other at a table. Landa angrily looks at Missy as Missy annoys her about the time on her watch! Linda rushes to them! She whispers something in their ears! Landa and Missy QUICKLY leap from their chairs and rush off! Linda then rushes off to Londa at a nearby table! She whispers something in Londa's ear! Londa QUICKLY leaps from her chair and rushes off too! They all go to the coat rack and QUICKLY grab all their belongings! They do not say a word to anybody! James, Rick, Terrance and Chad all come back to the tables carrying drinks for everyone. They suddenly see Missy and the triplets rush off through the crowd of people and head for the front door, almost knocking a few people down! The fellows, puzzled, watch Missy and the triplets, wondering what had happened or what the heck is going on! Steven and the crowd look on also, wondering what the heck happened or what the heck is going on as Missy and the triplets QUICKLY dash through the crowd! Missy and the triplets soon dash right out of the crowd one by one, with Londa dashing out first, followed by Landa, then by Linda, and then by Missy! They all then dash right out the front door! They all rush towards their grandfather Mike's car, which is across the street!
As they rush towards their car, they are about to dash in front of an oncoming car! They quickly back up! The oncoming car passes right by them! Missy and the triplets continue to rush towards their grandfather's car! The crowd runs out the front door and looks on stunned, wondering what the heck is going on! Missy and the triplets rush inside the car with Londa getting behind the wheel! Londa backs the car up and pulls off very fast as the car tires screech! James and the fellows rush out the front door, wondering what the heck happened or what in the world is going on! Missy and the triplets' car speeds down the street! A few stunned people ask each other, "What was that all about? What happened? They didn't say anything! They just all ran out of here like a bat out of he
ll! Why did they all leave so quickly like that?" Nobody seems to know.
Back in the stockroom, Victor and Teresa come out into the hallway. They look around and do not see Dana on the pay phone or anywhere else. They see Kenneth at the back desk. Victor asks, "Hey Kenneth! Where's Dana? What happened to her?"
"Yeah," Teresa says. "We had heard her shouting out here again! Where did she go?"
"Oh Dana just stormed out the back door," Kenneth tells them. "She got inside her car and pulled off real fast! I think she's going to her grandmother's house!"
"Oh yeah?" Victor asks. "Why? What happened?"
"Oh I don't know. All I know is that she was shouting and yelling at her grandmother! Right after that, she just stormed out the door, took off in her car and sped off real fast!"
"Really?" Teresa asks.
"Yeah!"
Victor and Teresa hurry to the back door and look out towards the parking lot. They do not see Dana's car anywhere.
Outside, Dana's vehicle is speeding down the street! It then speeds straight into the highway! On the other side of town, Missy and the triplets are speeding their vehicle down a street! Londa is still at the wheel as Linda sits beside her! Missy and Landa are in the back seat with Missy sitting behind Londa! They are all nervous and scared! They are all shouting and arguing among each other! Landa shouts, "SPEED UP THE CAR LONDA!"
"I'M TRYING TO!" Londa shouts back!
Missy then shouts, "SEE, I TOLD YOU ALL LET'S HURRY UP AND GET OUT OF THERE, LET'S HURRY UP AND GET OUT OF THERE, BUT YOU ALL KEPT WANTING TO STAY! AND YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KEPT TELLING ME TO RELAX, LINDA," as she strikes Linda on the shoulder!
Linda strikes back at Missy's face and shouts, "WELL HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSE TO KNOW THAT DANA WOULD DECIDE TO COME HOME SO SOON MISSY?" Linda strikes Missy's face again and shouts, "HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSE TO KNOW THAT?"
Missy shoves Linda's hand away and angrily points her finger at Linda shouting, "IF YOU WOULD HAVE JUST LISTENED TO ME IN THE FIRST PLACE, WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE RUSHING BACK HOME RIGHT NOW! WE WOULD HAVE ALL BEEN THERE ALREADY!" They all continue to shout and argue among each other as the wheels of their vehicle speed down the highway!
Several miles away, the wheels of Dana's vehicle speed down another highway!
Back on the other side of town, Missy and the triplets continue to argue and shout at one another! They all continue to shout as the wheels of their vehicle speed down the highway and the wheels of Dana's vehicle speed down another highway!
Missy and the triplets soon exit the highway! They continue to speed down a local street! As they speed down the local street, they see a dark blue Oldsmobile on the other side of the street speeding quickly pass them, going down the opposite direction! Missy frighteningly shouts, "OH NO, I THINK THAT WAS DANA'S CAR THAT JUST SPED PASSED US! SHE'S PROBABLY ON HER WAY TO THE FUNCTION!"
Linda and Landa nervously turn their heads around to look as Londa nervously looks in the rearview mirror! They all see the dark blue car speeding way down the street! As the dark blue car continues to speed into the far distance, Missy and the triplets suddenly see the dark blue car make a quick U-turn. They all assume that it's Dana's car! They start to panic as Landa nervously shouts, "OH NO I THINK SHE SAW US!"
Londa continues to speed the car as Missy, Landa and Linda continue to look out the rear window, watching for the dark blue car! The dark blue car is coming towards their direction! Missy nervously shouts, "OH NO SHE'S COMING," as she, Landa and Linda continue to look out the rear window! Londa nervously looks into the rearview mirror as she continues to speed!
"COME ON LONDA SPEED UP," Linda shouts!
Londa speeds up the car more faster! She speeds the car for several blocks! As Missy, Landa and Linda continue to watch for the dark blue car, they suddenly see the dark blue car make a quick turn on a side street! Missy shouts, "THAT CAR HAD JUST TURNED THE CORNER! I DON'T THINK THAT WAS DANA'S CAR!"
"THAT STILL COULD HAVE BEEN DANA'S CAR," Landa shouts! "SHE'S PROBABLY GOING TO TAKE SOME KIND OF QUICK SHORT CUT OR SOMETHING!"
Londa continues to speed the car towards their grandparents' home! She then makes a turn to the side streets and continues to drive! They soon are about to reach their grandparents' house, which is around another corner! As Londa speeds the vehicle to the corner, Landa nervously shouts, "WAIT A MINUTE LONDA, SLOW DOWN! WE GOTTA MAKE SURE DANA'S NOT STANDING AND WAITING FOR US IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE!" They all nervously look at one another! Landa then says, "Go around the corner slowly!"
Londa drives towards the corner very slowly. They are all scared and nervous. They all are sweating with fear! They reach the corner and look down towards the block. They see their grandparents' house. They do not see any sign of Dana or her car anywhere yet. Londa slowly turns the car around the corner. She slowly pulls the car up in front of their grandparents' house! She then says, "I don't see Dana's car anywhere yet!"
"WELL DANA MIGHT HAVE CAME AND LEFT ALREADY," Missy cries and shouts! "SHE COULD BE ON HER WAY TO THE FUNCTION RIGHT NOW!"
"NO I DON'T THINK DANA'S BEEN HERE YET," Linda nervously shouts! "SHE WAS MORE FURTHER AWAY FROM HERE THAN WE WERE! SHE'S PROBABLY STILL ON THE HIGHWAY RIGHT NOW!"
"YEAH SHE PROBABLY STILL IS," Londa shouts! "WE STILL HAVE TIME TO FLOOD UP THE BASEMENT!"
"WHAT," Missy shouts!
"YEAH WE HAVE TO," Landa shouts! "DANA'S GONNA BE HERE ANY MINUTE NOW! WHEN SHE GETS HERE THE FIRST THING SHE'S GONNA DO IS GO RIGHT DOWN THE BASEMENT AND EXPECT TO SEE A HEAVY FLOOD OF WATER DOWN THERE! SO COME ON LET'S GO! WE GOT TO DO THIS!"
Londa shuts off the car engine! They all rush out the car and run towards their grandparents' house! They are all frightened, scared and terrified! They reach the front door! Missy tries to unlock the front door with her keys, but she is so scared and nervous that her hands are jittery, which causes her to accidentally drop the keys on the steps! She nervously picks up the keys! She is a nervous wreck! She tries to unlock the front door again, but her hands are still jittery from nervousness that she drops the keys again! The triplets start to glare at Missy as she picks the keys up off the steps again! They all become more scared and more nervous as they wait desperately trying to get inside the house! They do not want Dana to catch them standing outside the house! Suddenly, they hear a car roaring down the street! They frighteningly look away from the door lock towards the street! They see a car coming fast down the street passing by their grandparents' house, but it is not Dana's car. They all continue to be scared and nervous as Missy desperately tries to unlock the front door! The triplets tell Missy to hurry and open the door! Missy's nervousness causes her hands to still be jittery! She accidentally drops the keys again the third time! The triplets become angry! They start to verbally attack Missy, angrily throwing their arms towards Missy as Linda shouts, "DAMMIT MISSY WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
"CAN'T YOU OPEN THE FUCKIN' DOOR?" Landa shouts!
"GIVE ME THOSE GODDAMN KEYS," Londa shouts as she violently snatches the keys right out of Missy's hand! Landa and Linda start to bang and pound on the front door, calling for their grandmother to please let them in as Londa bends down between them, desperately trying to unlock the front door! Missy nervously looks towards the street! She looks and sees a dark blue Oldsmobile at the edge of the next street corner, facing towards their direction! She alerts her sisters! They all turn around to look! They see the dark blue car also! The dark blue car just sits there, right at the edge of the next street corner, facing them as if to be watching them. They all begin to panic! They all begin to sweat more! They begin to huddle up against one another as they nervously and frighteningly look at the dark blue car! Missy's eyes are full of nervous and scared tears as she and the triplets frighteningly huddle up against one another! They continue to nervously look at the dark blue car! They all begin to say among one another, "Is that Dana's car?, I'm not sure!, It looks like the same car that we had spotted earlier! Why's that car just sitting there?, I don't know! It seems to be w
atching us!"
All of a sudden, a group of small children begin to walk right in front of the dark blue car. After the children pass in front of the car, it starts to come slowly through the intersection. It then heads slowly down the street. It comes down the street towards Missy and the triplets. Missy and the triplets get more nervous and more scared! The dark blue car continues to come down their street, passing right by their grandparents' house! Missy and the triplets nervously look at the driver of the dark blue car! The driver is a white male! It is not Dana! The dark blue car then keeps on going! Missy and the triplets still do not see any sign of Dana! Londa continues to try and unlock the front door! She finally gets the front door unlocked! It opens up and they all rush inside the house! Londa rushes in first, followed by Linda, then by Landa and then by Missy! Missy closes and locks the front door behind herself! As they all rush towards the staircase, Londa throws the keys to the side! She points her finger behind to Linda, then points her finger towards the upstairs! Londa rushes down the basement steps as Linda rushes up the stairs towards the bedrooms! Landa follows Londa down the basement steps as Missy follows Linda up the stairs! Linda and Missy rush up the stairs to their grandparents' room!
Londa and Landa are down in the basement taking their shoes off! They put their shoes up high on a shelf! They go and grab some big pails and some big trash cans! They then go outside the back of the house and grab a water hose! They turn on the water hose and begin to fill the pails and trash cans up with water! They go to the shower stall and begin to fill more pails and more trash cans up with water! Missy and Linda soon rush back downstairs from the bedroom, followed slowly by their grandmother Gracy! They then rush down the basement steps! When Missy and Linda reach down the basement, they take off their shoes and put them up high on the shelf also! Londa then roughly hands them each a full pail of water! Londa and Landa then hurry towards two trash cans that are filled with water! Landa then shouts to all her sisters, "COME ON Y'ALL, WE GOTTA MAKE THIS LOOK GOOD!" She takes a big pail of water and THROWS the water on to the basement floor! She then takes one of the trash cans that is filled with water and KNOCKS the trash can and all the water down to the floor, deliberately flooding the place! She then takes another trash can and KNOCKS it and all the water down on the floor! The rest of her sisters follow her step and throw the big pails and trash cans of water all on to the basement floor also! They go to the shower stall and fill the pails and trash cans up with more water, then throwing the water all over the basement floor! They leave the shower stall running loud. They soon have the entire basement flooded! Their grandparents Gracy and Mike soon come to the top of the basement stairs looking down in disbelief! Mike is about to angrily go down the basement steps, but Gracy pulls him back and stops him! She persuades him to keep silent! They both continue to look on down towards the basement in disbelief, but they do not say anything as Missy and the triplets continue to deliberately flood up the basement!
After a short while, Landa becomes frustrated with Missy! She screams at Missy as she angrily slams a trash can on the floor, banging it hard against Missy, shoving Missy right into the flood! Landa angrily turns around and storms away from Missy! Missy then gets up and goes off after Landa, stepping through the flood pass Londa and Linda as Londa and Linda shout at each other, grabbing and pulling on to the water hose! Soon, they all are frustrated with one another! Their grandparents continue to watch down in disbelief! Gracy then hears the telephone ring. She goes to the kitchen and answers it. She says, "Hello? …. Oh hi Dana!" Dana calls her grandmother on the phone and angrily tells her grandmother that she had caught a flat tire, speeding over a deep pothole on the highway! Gracy becomes angry and starts to yell at Dana about her speeding, shouting, "NOW YOU KNOW BETTER TO BE SPEEDING ON THE HIGHWAY DANA! YOU COULD HAVE HAD A BAD ACCIDENT FROM THAT POTHOLE! YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN SERIOUSLY HURT!"
"Oh I'm alright Grandma! I'm okay! Put Missy and the triplets on the phone!"
"Hold on Dana, I'll go get them." Gracy puts the phone receiver down. She goes to the top of the basement steps. She calls down to Missy and the triplets and says, "HEY GIRLS! DANA IS ON THE PHONE AGAIN!" Missy and the triplets stop what they're doing and nervously look up at their grandmother. Gracy continues, "SHE WANTS TO SPEAK TO YOU GUYS!"
Missy goes to shut the shower off! She and the triplets then hurry up the basement stairs! They go into the kitchen and wait around the table as Linda goes and picks up the phone receiver! Linda nervously laughs and says, "Hey Dana! It's me Linda! What's up?"
"WHAT'S UP? I CAUGHT A DAMN FLAT TIRE SPEEDING OVER A POTHOLE ON THE HIGHWAY, THAT'S WHAT'S UP!"
"You caught a flat tire speeding over a pothole, while you were on the highway?"
Missy, Landa and Londa shockingly and worriedly look on at Linda, hearing that Dana had been speeding as Linda cries out, "You could have had a bad accident speeding, Dana! You could have been seriously hurt!"
"I'M ALRIGHT! DID Y'ALL CLEAN UP ALL THAT WATER YET?"
"Yeah, we're almost finish! Do you need help with the flat tire Dana? Do you want us to come meet you somewhere and help?"
"No that's okay. I'll change it myself. Put Missy on the phone."
"Okay." Linda then tells Missy to come to the phone. Missy comes forward from around the table. She takes the receiver, gets on the telephone and nervously says, "Hi Dana! Hey, guess what? The washing machine had a bad leak! We just wanted to clean up all of that water, but we're almost done! We have everything under control!"
"You do?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay then. Is Landa and Londa there?"
"Yeah, Landa and Londa are here," Missy says as she nervously smiles towards Landa and Londa. Landa and Londa sadly look at Missy as Missy continues, "We're all here!"
"Good. Okay, I'll see you guys later. I'm gonna go back to work after I finish changing the tire."
"You're gonna go back to work after you finish changing the tire?"
"Yeah I'm gonna go back."
"Okay then Dana. You sure you don't need us to come meet you and help you with the flat tire? Just let us know where you are and we'll be right there!"
"No! Just stay there with Grandma and Grandpa until I get there after I get off work."
"Okay Dana. We will. Take care. We'll see you later, alright?"
"Alright."
"Bye." Missy then hears the other end of the phone go click. She then hears a dial tone. Dana had hung up the telephone. Missy looks at her grandmother and the triplets and says, "She hung up." Missy then hangs up the telephone. She tells her grandmother and her sisters, "Dana had decided to go back to work after she finishes changing her tire. I guess she just wanted to hear our voices, huh?"
The triplets sadly look at Missy as Gracy smiles and says, "Yeah I guess she did."
Missy's eyes fill with tears as she sadly says to her sisters, "You know guys, let's just stay home, huh? We don't need to be at that function! There'll be other times we can go, right?"
The triplets' eyes are all filled with tears as they sadly look on at Missy and agree. They tell their grandmother, "We're not going to go back to the function Grandma! We're going to stay right here with you and Grandpa!"
Gracy smiles at them all and says, "I'm so happy to hear that."
Missy's eyes continue to fill with tears as she says, "Now it's only one thing bad that came out of this."
"Yeah?" Gracy asks. "What's that Missy?"
Missy smiles and says, "That we still gotta clean up all that water down the basement!"
They all smile as Gracy tells them, "I'll come with you all. After all, it was my fib."
"No, that's okay Grandma," Missy says. "You did what you had to do! You wanted to save Dana from getting angry and upset! We should not have put you in this situation! I'll tell you what; you can come watch, but we'll take care of everything!"
They all smile as they go downstairs to the basement.
Dana soon arrives back to the stockroom building. She made i
t back to her job. She knocks on the back door. Kenneth is still sitting at the back desk, listening to Oldies music on his radio. He gets up to open the back door to let Dana inside the building. Dana comes inside and walks through the corridor. Teresa approaches Dana and asks, "Hey Dana! What happened? Why did you take off like that?"
"I had an emergency at home Teresa. But I got it taken care of."
"Oh yeah? Is everything alright with your grandparents?"
"Yeah, they're both fine."
"Good," Teresa says as she follows Dana back into the stockroom.
Around two hours later, Missy and the triplets are still cleaning up the flood of water in the basement. Their Aunt Celeste, their older brother Thomas and their younger brother Robert soon come down the basement steps and see Missy and the triplets cleaning up a heavy flood of water. Thomas shouts, "HEY! WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED DOWN HERE? WHAT'S GOING ON?"
"Oh, hi guys," Missy and the triplets say.
"WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED DOWN HERE?" Aunt Celeste shouts.
"We're all trying to clean up this heavy flood," Londa says.
"Yeah?" Robert asks. "Well, what happened?"
Missy says, "We all had snuck out and went to the function today, even though Dana had told us all last night not to go anywhere and to stay home to take care of Grandma and Grandpa until she gets off work! We all had wanted to go to the function real bad, so we had went anyway, hoping that Dana would never find out that we were all out of the house!"
"Yeah," Linda says. "And when Dana had called Grandma a couple of times, she told Grandma that she wanted to speak to all four of us and to hear our voices, but we weren't here! Grandma had to make up an excuse to Dana as to why we weren't able to come to the phone, so she had told Dana that the washing machine had a bad leak and that it was a heavy flood down the basement! She had told Dana that water was everywhere in the basement and that we were all trying to clean it up! Grandma kept telling Dana that none of us were able to come to the telephone! And when we found out Dana called Grandma the third time and still didn't get to hear any of our voices, we all heard that Dana was on her way over here! Grandma said that if Dana had come over here and didn't see a flood in the basement, or if she didn't see any of us down here in the basement or anywhere else in the house, she said that Dana would have gone straight over to the function and we don't know what in the world would have happen if she would had come over there!"
"And we sure didn't want to wait around there to find out either," Landa says. "That's why we all cut out of the function so fast and raced over here! We had to race over here real quick and deliberately flood up the basement so that Dana could see that there was actually a flood of water down here and that we were actually trying to clean it up!"
"But Dana never made it over here," Londa says. "She had caught a flat tire speeding on the highway! She ran over a pothole!"
Aunt Celeste and the boys become hysterical as Aunt Celeste shouts, "OH NO! IS SHE OKAY? DID SHE GET HURT?"
"SHE'S NOT STILL STUCK OUT THERE IS SHE?" Thomas hysterically shouts!
"No, Dana is alright now," Missy says. "She said that she was going to change the tire herself! Then she said that she was going to go back to work after she finish changing the tire. I think she would have called us back by now if she was still stuck out there."
"Yeah?" Aunt Celeste asks. "Well you all should have told me or somebody else last night that you all had wanted to go to your Uncle Kevin's function! We would have stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa! Why didn't you all tell anybody?"
"I guess we never thought of it," Missy says.
"Listen, I tell you all what," Thomas says. "Why don't you girls go upstairs and take a rest, alright? We'll finish the rest." He looks at Robert and asks, "Okay Robert?"
"Yeah, we'll do it."
Thomas then looks at the girls and says, "Whenever Dana comes in, I guess you all can go back to the function."
Missy and the triplets thank Thomas and Robert. They then go up the stairs with their Aunt Celeste.
Around an hour later, the telephone rings. Missy goes to answer it. She picks up the telephone and says, "Hello? Oh hi Dana!"
"Missy I'm on my way over there."
"Okay Dana! Thomas, Robert and Aunt Celeste had come in the house not too long ago. Thomas and Robert are finishing up the flood in the basement."
"What! You mean there's still a lot of water down the basement?"
"Yeah," Missy nervously says. "There's still a lot of water down there, but Thomas and Robert should be finished shortly."
"Are Grandma and Grandpa alright? Are they okay?"
"Yeah, Grandma and Grandpa are alright! They're both fine! Aunt Celeste is upstairs in the room with them now!"
"She is?"
"Yeah!"
"Alright Missy. Since a few people came home, I guess you all can go back to the function now. That's if you all still wanna go."
"Yeah we all still want to go."
"Okay Missy. I'll see you all later."
"Okay Dana. Bye." Missy hears the other end of the telephone go click. She then hears a dial tone.
A half-hour later, Missy and the triplets get ready to leave the house. They are wearing different clothes now. They are heading back to their Uncle Kevin's function. They happily leave the house together and walk out the front door with their arms wrapped tightly around one another, holding and hugging each other with Missy at one end and Linda at the other end. They happily joke with each other as they all leave for the function. They wave to their grandmother and their Aunt Celeste who are both standing at the front door. Missy and the triplets head to their grandfather Mike's car as Gracy and Aunt Celeste wave back, telling Missy and the triplets to have a good time.
Chapter 13
Kathy Spots Dana Again