by Doris Miller
PARTMENT, NOW!"
"Alright Mom, calm down! I'll get Dad and Thomas together, alright? We'll get the people out of the apartment!"
"YOU'RE GONNA GET THEM ALL OUT RIGHT NOW? RIGHT THIS MINUTE?"
"Yeah Mom, right this minute! We're gonna get them all out as soon as possible!"
"Alright Sammy! Make sure you do! I'm gonna be worrying and scared the whole entire night, thinking about whether or not everything is going to be alright!"
"Yeah Mom! Everything's gonna be alright!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah Mom! Everything's gonna be alright! We'll get the people out!"
"Okay good! Now I'm gonna call back over there first thing in the morning! I want to make sure there are no tragedies and everything had went okay!"
"Okay Mom! Just call back in the morning, okay?"
"Okay Sammy, I will! You take care of everybody, alright? Please make sure no one gets hurt?"
"Alright Mom, I'll make sure."
"Okay Sammy, I'm gonna go now!"
"Okay Mom."
"I'll call you in the morning! I love you!"
"I love you too Mom. Bye." Sammy hangs up the telephone. He sits on the bed and stares into space, not sure of what to do. He worriedly looks around the bedroom. He then gets up from off the bed and leaves the room. He heads back towards the living room. When he enters the living room, he sees Thomas standing with Missy, Robert and the triplets as they all look at their watches. Sammy goes to them all and says, "Hey you guys, I just spoke to Mom on the telephone! She called here!"
"She did?" Missy asks.
"Yeah. She knows that we're all throwing a surprise birthday party for Dana. Thomas, Mom says that you, Dad and I should get all these people out of the apartment right away before Dana gets here."
"Sammy I thought that you, Dad and I had planned on grabbing and holding onto Dana, just in case she decides to attack anybody!"
"We were Thomas, but Mom thinks that for these people's sake, we should get them all out now! I already told her that we will!"
"Sammy we all want to throw this surprise party for Dana! We all want to try to make her happy for a change! We have food and gifts for her everywhere! Look at all the gifts for Dana in that corner," Thomas says as he points through the crowd to a corner of the living room. Sammy, Missy, Robert and the triplets look through the crowd at all the gifts that are stacked in the corner. "Look at all the gifts for Dana in that other corner," Thomas says as he points towards another corner in the living room! "Look at all the food in the kitchen," Thomas says as he points through the crowd towards the kitchen. Sammy, Missy, Robert and the triplets look through the crowd towards the kitchen and see all the food on the kitchen table. "I mean this is all for Dana, Sammy!"
"I know Thomas, but that didn't seem to make a difference back in Jamaica! Dana still tried to attack everybody over there, even though we had food and gifts for her everywhere! Those food and gifts didn't matter to Dana! I don't think she gave a damn about the food and gifts back in Jamaica and she might not give a damn about the food and gifts right now here! Thomas what else can we do? We don't know how Dana is gonna react or what she's gonna do once she walks through that front door and sees all these people in here!"
"It's true Sammy! We don't know how Dana is gonna react or what she's gonna do, that's why we have to get prepared this time just in case she decides to attack anybody or do something crazy! Listen Sammy, if or whenever Dana walks through that front door and decides that she wants all these people out of the apartment, then we have to respect her wishes and tell all these people that they have to go! You, Dad and I will surround and hold on to Dana while Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Celeste get all these people out of here safely!"
Sammy worriedly looks at the crowd of people. He then looks at Thomas and says, "Alright Thomas, I guess these people can stay. But as soon as we get word that Dana is on her way, you, Dad and I are gonna have to get ready and hide right near that front door! We have to get prepared! We have to be close to that front door so we can catch and hold Dana in time just in case, alright?"
"Alright Sammy! We'll do that!"
"Good, because we cannot allow another deadly stampede!" Sammy's siblings nervously look at him. Sammy nervously looks at his watch. He and his siblings worriedly look around the living room, watching the people dancing around having a good time. They watch as the people dance and snap their fingers in the air to the tune of a 'Saturday Night Fever' theme song. They watch Diane D, Teresa and a small group of people happily following their Aunt Celeste into the kitchen. Suddenly, there is a ring at the doorbell. Missy's nervousness causes her to shake and jump a little! Sammy and Thomas look at Missy as Sammy says, "Relax Missy! It's not Dana! Dana would use her keys!" Sammy and his siblings look towards the front door as Tony goes to answer it.
Tony opens the front door and sees the two look-outs, John and Eddie. They had come back. Tony asks them, "No sign of Dana yet huh?"
"Nope," Eddie says. "There's still no sign of Dana!"
"Alright, come on in."
John and Eddie come inside the apartment. Tony sends two other look-outs to go downstairs to look out for Dana. He sends a Hispanic-Indian male named Peto and a black woman named Towana. Peto and Towana leave the apartment. Sammy and his siblings continue to look towards the front door as Tony closes the door behind Peto and Towana. Sammy and his siblings then worriedly look back towards the living room again at the crowd as they all nervously wait for Dana's arrival. They are all afraid of what might happen once Dana enters the apartment.
The two look-outs, Peto and Towana reach the outside of the building. They walk to the same bench Eddie and John were sitting on. Towana turns to Peto and asks, "Now which direction did Tony say we're supposed to look out for Dana?"
"He says that Dana usually parks her car way over there," Peto says as he points his finger towards the supposed direction. "So we're supposed to look out for her that direction."
"Okay," Towana says as she and Peto start to sit down on the bench. They sit and face the direction that Dana is supposed to be coming from.
Dana continues to drive on the highway, still looking meaner and angrier than ever with the wind blowing fiercely against her long dark hair! She soon exits the highway and drives down the local streets! She is approaching closer and closer to home! She soon reaches her part of town. She drives around her part of town and looks for a space to park her car. She finds a parking space, but it is not close to her building. It is quite a distance from her building. She pulls into the space anyway and parks her car. She shuts the engine off. She opens the car door and slowly gets out. Her heavy feet walk to the back door of her car. The back door opens. The back door closes as Dana's heavy feet walk back to the driver's door. The car doors then lock with the automatic locks. The driver's door closes. Dana's heavy feet start to walk slowly away from her car. Her feet walk slowly towards a very dark park. Her feet then reach the park and slowly walk into the very dark park. Her feet are slowly walking under the very dark trees and very dim lights. Her plastic bag of clothes is in one of her hands. Her black shoulder bag is hanging on her opposite shoulder. Her face has the most meanest, angriest, and scariest look ever!
Dana has a lot of anger in her. She has a lot of anger in her walk. She continues to walk slowly through the very dark park, under the very dark trees and very dim lights. She is slowly walking closer and closer towards her building, which is way in the distance. She has quite a walk to go.
Back at the party, everyone continues enjoying themselves, listening and dancing to old disco music! They dance to the tune of, 'Summer Love,' by Musique. Sammy constantly looks at his watch as he talks with David and Thomas. Missy and Landa sit on the couch with James and Chad as they all drink on cups.
Back outside, Dana continues to walk slowly towards her building in the dark park. As she is walking under the very dark trees and very dim lights, she angrily looks her face towards the side way in the distance. She notices two dark fig
ures outside on a bench. She does not know who the two figures are, being that it is too dark and too far away to tell. She continues to walk as she angrily looks towards the two dark figures way in the distance.
As Dana is walking, the two look-outs from the party, Peto and Towana are still talking outside on the bench. Towana is sitting facing the direction her and Peto are expecting Dana to come from, but Peto is standing facing Towana. As Towana and Peto continue to talk, facing each other, Peto notices a very dark figure, slowly walking way in the distance, behind Towana. He sees the figure walking slowly along the very dark park along a very dark path. He sees the figure slowly walking under the very dark trees and very dim lights. The figure appears to be looking right towards his and Towana's direction. Peto sees the figure and tells Towana to turn around and look. Towana, who is sitting with her back towards the figure, turns her head around to look. Peto asks, "Is that Dana? It kind of walks like her!"
Towana sees the very dark figure also. She sees the dark figure slowly walking in the very dark park way in the distance. She sees the figure slowly walking along a very dark path under the very dark trees and very dim lights. She sees the figure looking towards her and Peto's direction. She then says, "It does kind of walk like Dana Peto, but I'm not sure whether it is her or not! It's too dark and too far away to tell right now! Plus, we're not supposed to expect her coming from that direction! We're supposed to expect her coming from this direction, where Tony says she usually parks her car," Towana says as she points her finger towards the supposed direction.
"But it might be Dana, Towana! It sure kind of walks like her! But whoever that person is, it looks like they're looking right at us!"
Towana and Peto continue to look at the dark eerie figure walking way in the distance. As the figure is walking along the very dark path under the very dark trees and very dim lights, it turns from the dark path and starts to head towards Peto and Towana's direction! It still appears to be looking at them! As the figure continues to approach closer and closer towards Peto and Towana, they realize that it is Dana! Especially by the firm way she is walking!
As Dana approaches closer and closer towards Peto and Towana, Towana says, "I don't think that we should let her see us! Let's back up!" Peto and Towana start to back up! They duck down and hide behind some bushes so that Dana cannot see them! Peto and Towana look and peak through the bushes at Dana as she slowly walks through the dark park, approaching closer and closer towards them. Towana turns to Peto and asks, "Why is Dana coming home from that direction this time of night anyway? It's kind of strange for her to be coming from that direction! Isn't she supposed to come from this direction?" Towana asks as she points her finger towards the supposed direction behind her.
"Yeah! We were all told to be expecting her to come from this direction, the direction she and Tony usually use when they come home!"
"Then why is she coming from the opposite direction?"
"Beats me! The direction she's coming from, neither she nor Tony ever use that direction when they come home! They usually don't come home from that direction! This park is usually very dark at night, but yet Dana seems to be walking right through the park like it's nothing! Where do you suppose she's coming from? Why is she coming home from that direction?"
"Why is she walking through the dark park?"
"Why is she walking kind of slow and why is she arriving home so late?"
"Well maybe her car probably broke down and she probably had to walk! She's probably tired! That's probably why she's walking very slow and coming home so late!"
Towana and Peto continue to watch Dana's dark eerie figure as she walks slowly under the very dark trees and very dim lights. They see her dark eerie figure slowly approaching closer and closer. Towana then asks, "Why does she seem to be dressed in dark clothes?"
"I don't know Towana! I mean she's walking through a dark park, wearing dark clothes, walking very slow through an isolated area, coming home late and coming from the opposite direction, it's like she doesn't want to be seen!"
"Why wouldn't she want to be seen? Peto, do you think that she could be having some kind of secret affair or living some kind of secret double life?"
"I don't know Towana! But it would be best if we don't mention anything to Tony about this! It might just upset him and cause problems in his and Dana's relationship and then Dana would start to look at us! And one thing we don't need, is Dana giving us an angry look!"
"I know what you mean Peto," Towana says as she and Peto continue to watch Dana's dark eerie figure through the bushes.
As Peto and Towana continue to peek through the bushes, they see Dana's dark eerie figure approaching closer and closer. Peto frighteningly whispers, "She's getting closer! Come on! Let's get the hell out of here before she sees us!"
"Alright, let's go," Towana says as she and Peto turn and duck towards the building! They continue to duck down all the way to the building so that Dana cannot see them!
Towana and Peto soon reach the building! They go inside the outer doors! They both give a sigh of relief as the outer doors close behind them! They start to call upstairs on the intercom!
Everyone upstairs at the party is still dancing to old disco music! They are still dancing to the haunting sounds of 'Summer Love,' by Musique! The intercom rings. Tony goes to answer it and says, "Hello?"
"HEY TONY, DANA IS ON HER WAY!" Peto and Towana shout!
"SHE IS?" Tony excitingly shouts!
"YEAH, WE JUST SAW HER! SHE'S COMING THIS WAY!"
"OH MY GOD! OKAY! HOLD ON!" Tony turns to everyone at the party and shouts, "HEY! LISTEN UP EVERYBODY!" Everyone stops to listen. They turn the music off. Tony continues, "PETO AND TOWANA ARE DOWNSTAIRS ON THE INTERCOM RIGHT NOW! THEY SAID THEY JUST SAW DANA! THEY SAY SHE'S ON HER WAY!" Everyone becomes excited! Missy, Robert and the triplets become nervous as Missy nervously drops her punch on the floor! After Missy drops her punch, she nervously drops her plate of food on the floor! Robert and the triplets look at Missy. Missy nervously turns around and hurries to her grandmother as she cries her face on her grandmother's shoulder! Everyone else starts to gather around Tony as he speaks on the intercom! Tony continues to talk to Peto and Towana through the intercom as he asks, "NOW ARE YOU TWO SURE THAT IT WAS DANA THAT YOU BOTH SAW?"
"YEAH WE'RE SURE IT'S HER!" Peto shouts! "WE HAD WAITED UNTIL SHE GOT A LITTLE BIT CLOSER TO MAKE SURE THAT IT WAS HER!"
"WAS SHE WALKING WITH ANYBODY, OR WAS SHE WALKING ALONE?"
"SHE WAS WALKING ALONE!"
"OKAY! YOU TWO BETTER HURRY AND COME ON UP NOW!" Tony presses the intercom button to let Peto and Towana inside the inner doors. Then he and everyone else excitingly walk away from the intercom!
Downstairs, Peto and Towana try to push the inner doors open, but there is no buzzard sound. The inner doors won't budge! Peto asks, "Hey, what's going on? The doors won't open! There's no buzzard sound!" Peto and Towana look at the inner doors. They try to push the inner doors open again. It still won't budge. There is no buzzard sound to let them inside. Puzzled, they look at each other. They quickly call back up to Tony again!
As everyone upstairs start to get ready for Dana's arrival, the intercom rings again! Tony goes to answer it and says, "Hello?"
"HEY TONY!" Peto shouts! "WE DIDN'T GET INSIDE THE INNER DOORS YET! WE DIDN'T HEAR THE BUZZARD SOUND!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T HEAR THE BUZZARD SOUND?" Tony shouts! Everyone at the party hearing this turns around and worriedly looks at Tony! They come and start to surround Tony as he speaks on the intercom!
"WE DIDN'T HEAR IT! THERE'S NO SOUND!" Peto shouts!
"I PRESSED THE INTERCOM BUTTON! YOU SHOULD HAVE HEARD THE BUZZARD SOUND!" Tony presses the intercom button again and shouts, "TRY IT AGAIN!"
Peto and Towana try to push the inner doors open again! There is still no buzzard sound! The inner doors still won't budge! Peto and Towana start to become nervous! Tony then shouts, "DID Y'ALL GET INSIDE THE DOOR YET?"
"NO WE
DIDN'T!" Peto nervously shouts!
"TONY, IF THERE'S NO BUZZARD SOUND, WE CAN'T GET INSIDE THE DOORS!" Towana nervously shouts!
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT! THE BUZZARD SOUND WAS WORKING EARLIER! IT HAD WORKED FOR EVERYBODY ELSE! I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY IT'S NOT WORKING RIGHT NOW!" Tony shouts!
"What's wrong Tony?" Gracy nervously asks. "They can't get inside the inner doors?"
"No! They're stuck down there!"
The people at the party start to become nervous. Tony then shouts to Peto and Towana, "OKAY, I WILL TRY AND PRESS THE BUTTON ONE MORE TIME! IF THE BUZZARD SOUND STILL DOES NOT WORK, THEN I WILL HAVE TO COME DOWNSTAIRS TO OPEN THE DOOR MYSELF TO LET YOU TWO IN, OKAY?"
"OKAY, JUST HURRY!" Peto shouts!
Tony presses hard on the intercom button again and shouts, "ALRIGHT! TRY IT NOW!"
Peto and Towana try to push the inner doors open again! This time they try with all their might! There is still no buzzard sound! The doors still won't budge! Tony shouts, "DID Y'ALL GET INSIDE THE DOORS YET?"
"NO!" Peto nervously shouts! "THERE'S STILL NO BUZZARD SOUND!"
"OKAY! I'M ON MY WAY DOWN!" Tony shouts! He hurries away from the crowd and hurries towards the front door! He quickly opens the door and dashes out of the apartment as Diane D shouts, "I'LL GO WITH YOU TONY!" Diane D quickly dashes out the front door behind Tony as the front door slams behind her!
As Tony and Diane D are on their way down the stairs, Peto and Towana continue to be stranded outside the inner doors! Towana nervously says, "Oh Peto if Dana catches us here, she's gonna look at us strange and wonder what we're doing here! She's gonna think that we might have seen where she was walking from! She's gonna want to know what we're doing here in her building! Especially around this time of night! She knows we don't live here! She knows that we don't know anybody else that lives in this building but her and Tony! Oh Peto, it's gonna spoil the whole surprise!" Peto nervously looks at Towana as Towana nervously looks back at him.
As Peto and Towana continue to be stranded outside the inner doors, they suddenly see an elderly black woman inside the building, looking in her mailbox. Peto and Towana start to bang on the inner doors! The elderly woman turns around and sees them! Peto and Towana bang on the inner doors, pleading for the elderly woman to let them inside the building! The elderly woman does not know who they are! She does not want to take any chances with opening the doors to strangers and letting them inside the building, so she goes back to her apartment, gets inside and shuts the door! Peto angrily pounds his fist on the inner doors and shouts, "DAMN!" He and Towana angrily stare towards the elderly woman's apartment door, then they turn and nervously stare at each other. As they stare at each other, they suddenly turn their heads around towards the outer doors and nervously stare outside towards the street. They both start to sweat as they look out towards the street. They hear the haunting sounds of the wind going through the building as they nervously look out for Dana, knowing that she is about to approach the building anytime.
As Peto and Towana continue to nervously stare outside towards the street, they suddenly turn their heads back around towards the inner doors and see Tony and Diane D hurrying towards them! Tony and Diane D finally arrive! Tony presses the button! The buzzard sound goes off and the inner doors open up! Peto and Towana finally go inside the inner doors! They become relieved! Tony asks, "Did Dana come yet?"
"No," Peto says. "She still hasn't shown up yet!"
"Okay good! We still have time! Come on, let's shoot," Tony says as they all start to hurry through the lobby towards the long corridor! They all hurry down the long corridor towards the elevator, which is around the corner! They go around the corner and reach the elevator! The elevator door opens, but before they all go inside the elevator, Tony decides to stop! He wants to listen for the sound of the front doors. He wants to listen for the buzzard sound of the inner doors when Dana uses her keys to unlock it. He wants to know exactly when she enters the building! They all stop and stand around for a while, trying to catch their breath! They stop and listen. They hear the haunting sounds of the wind going through the building as they stop and listen out for Dana!
After a while, they all start to whisper as Peto asks, "Does Dana have a key to get inside the building?"
"Yes," Tony whispers back. "She has her own keys. Now are you two sure it was Dana that you both saw out there?"
"Yes, it was Dana," Towana whispers.
"Are you sure?" Diane D asks.
"Yes," Peto says. "We both saw her!"
"Well if that was Dana that you both saw, what's taking her so long?"
"She was walking very slow," Towana whispers.
"She was walking slow?"
"Yes!"
"Now why would Dana be walking slow Towana?"
"I don't know Diane! I have no idea why Dana was walking slow and I certainly wasn't going to go up to her and ask her why either!"
They all nervously look at each other. They continue to wait around for a while as they still hear the haunting sounds of the wind going through the building.
After a couple of minutes, they suddenly hear the squealing sound of the outer doors opening. They all stop and gasp! Peto whispers, "I just heard the outer doors opening!"
"So did I," Tony whispers.
They quietly listen for a few seconds. They then hear the buzzard sound. They all hurry into the elevator! The elevator door closes!
A minute later, the elevator reaches Tony's floor and stops! The door opens and they all come out of the elevator into the hallway! As the elevator door closes back, Peto and Towana head way back down the hallway towards the apartment, but Tony and Diane D remain and wait at the elevator door! The people at the party are at the apartment door, holding it wide open! Peto and Towana both enter inside the apartment, giving a sigh of relief as people at the party ask them, "Are you two alright?"
The people at the party continue to hold the door wide open, waiting for Tony and Diane D to come inside the apartment, but Tony and Diane D decide to stay way out near the elevator! Mike yells out across the long hallway, "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING? COME ON INSIDE!"
"WE WANT TO WATT NEAR THE ELEVATOR DOOR FOR A FEW MINUTES TO WATCH THE ELEVATOR SIGNAL!" Tony yells back!
"YEAH GRANDPA!" Diane D shouts! "WE WANT TO WATCH THE ELEVATOR SIGNAL SO WE CAN KNOW THE EXACT SECOND DANA GETS INTO THE ELEVATOR FROM DOWNSTAIRS!"
Tony and Diane D stand with their ears pinned against the elevator door, listening through the elevator shaft. Mike yells out, "WHAT DO YOU TWO SEE SO FAR ON THE ELEVATOR SIGNAL?"
Tony and Diane D look at the elevator signal. Diane D yells back, "WE DON'T SEE ANYTHING YET GRANDPA!" She and Tony pin their ears back against the elevator door.
As Tony and Diane D both stand with their ears pinned against the elevator door, they suddenly hear the sound of the elevator door open from the ground floor, through the elevator shaft. They nervously look at each other as Diane D says, "I just heard the elevator door opening from downstairs!"
"I heard it too," Tony says. He and Diane D continue to listen quietly with their ears pinned against the elevator door. As they continue to listen through the elevator shaft, they suddenly hear the sound of the elevator door close from the ground floor. Diane D says, "I just heard the elevator door close back!"
"So did I," Tony says. He and Diane D then look at the elevator signal. They see the floor numbers starting to come up! They quickly leave from the elevator door and hurry towards the apartment as Tony yells out to everybody, "THE ELEVATOR IS ON ITS WAY UP! SHE'S COMING!" Everyone inside the apartment quickly goes to hide! Tony and Diane D soon enter inside the apartment and shut the door!
As everyone inside the apartment tries to hide, they all try to hide far away from the front door as possible! No one wants to be near the front door when Dana enters it, so some nervously gather around together in a far corner while others go to hide in the kitchen! They all try to duck down! They are all soon ducked down!
As everyone
is nervously ducked down gathered around together, Gracy and Missy frighteningly and worriedly hold on to David, pulling on his arm! David tells them both, "It's gonna be alright!" David tries to break away from Gracy and Missy but they're both afraid to let him go! David tells them, "I have to be near the door! You want me to be prepared for any possible tragedies don't you?" Gracy and Missy worriedly let go of David's arm as he tells them, "It's gonna be alright!" David then leaves Gracy and Missy as they frighteningly and worriedly watch him! Gracy and Missy then gather close to the rest of the crowd and start to duck down.
As everyone is gathered around ducked together, Tony stands in the middle of the living room, making sure everybody is ducked down! Once he sees that everyone is ducked down, he turns around and hurries to the front door where David, Sammy and Thomas are gathered, with Thomas looking through the peephole and David pinning his ear to the door. Sammy tells Tony, "We're gonna hide right here Tony. I got the lights."
"Okay Sammy," Tony says. He then goes to duck down with everyone else.
David, Sammy and Thomas continue to gather near the front door, getting prepared! Gracy, Missy, Robert and the triplets are ducked down near everybody else as they and everyone else nervously watch David, Sammy and Thomas get prepared!
As David, Sammy and Thomas remain near the front door, David and Thomas suddenly turn away from the door! They quickly go to the side of the door where the hinges are and duck down near each other! They nod their heads to Sammy! Sammy is about to duck! Before he ducks, he whispers, "Is everybody ready?"
"Yes," everyone whispers. Sammy turns out the lights. He ducks down on the side of the door where the doorknob is and hides on the opposite side of David and Thomas.
It is very dark and silent inside the apartment. Everyone waits silently in the darkness. They hear the haunting sounds of the wind going through the walls and through the building.
After a couple of minutes, they hear the elevator door open from way down the hall. One voice whispers, "I just heard the elevator door open." They all then hear the elevator door shut! Another voice whispers, "I just heard the elevator door shut." Then they all start to hear slow heavy footsteps walking in the hallway. Another voice whispers, "I hear footsteps! It's coming this way!" They hear slow heavy footsteps coming closer and closer. The footsteps are getting louder and louder. Everyone remains silent. Sammy nervously looks through the darkness towards David and Thomas as they wait beside the door hinges. He could barely see them. David and Thomas nervously look through the darkness towards Sammy. They could barely see him! Everybody continues to hear slow heavy footsteps from the hallway approaching closer and closer. They hear footsteps approaching closer and closer towards the front door. They hear the footsteps reach the front door, then stop. They start to hear keys unlocking the front door. David, Thomas and Sammy nervously look at the door lock as they hear the keys unlocking the door. They then hear the keys stop. They nervously and anxiously look towards the doorknob. They hear the doorknob turning. They are all prepared! The door then opens. Everybody sees a dark eerie silhouette walking through the door. The door then closes. It is still dark and quiet inside the apartment. Everyone could hear deep heavy breathing. A large dark plastic bag and a shoulder bag are suddenly thrown right on the floor at Sammy's feet! Sammy looks towards the two bags as they hit his feet! The lights come on. Everybody sees Dana! They all jump up and shout, "SURPRISE! SURPRISE!" Dana jumps back! She is shocked! She is shocked and surprised by the ordeal! Everyone runs to her! They all start to hug and kiss on her! They all tell her, "Happy Birthday Dana! Happy Birthday!" Everyone surrounds Dana! Tony happily hugs Dana very tightly and gives her a big warm kiss! Dana looks around shocked and amazed! Everyone grabs her by the arm and pulls her to show her the decorations they had put up for her! They show her all the gifts that had been brought for her! Dana is very dumbfounded! She has no idea what is going on! She does not know what to do or what to say! The triplets pull Dana by the arms and point to the banners hanging all across the walls! They show Dana the banners with big words that read, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANA! WE ALL LOVE YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Dana is very shocked by the whole ordeal! She didn’t have a clue that this was happening for her! She is nervous! Diane D grabs both of Dana's arms, trying to loosen Dana up! Dana nervously looks at Diane D as Diane D holds her by the arms! Diane D and Aunt Celeste happily pull Dana by each arm as they happily lead her into the kitchen! Everyone else starts to follow! David, Sammy and Thomas walk behind the crowd as David turns to Sammy and Thomas and whispers, "Now guys, we still have to keep our eye on her! We have to keep our eye on her until everybody leaves out of here! We still don't know whether she might decide to get angry and do something later!"
"Okay Dad," Sammy and Thomas say. They then follow everyone else into the kitchen.
Everybody is showing Dana all the food that was prepared for her party! They show her the big long birthday cake Tony had bought for her! They continue to hug and kiss Dana, surrounding her with love!
After a short while, half of the crowd is in the living room, eating their plates of food. Tony enters into the living room while Dana remains in the kitchen with her family and relatives. As Joseph eats his plate of food, he asks, "Hey Tony! Did Dana finally crack a smile on her face yet?"
"No not yet Joseph! She's still in a state of shock right now!"
"So where has she been? What took her so long to come home?"
"Oh she said her car broke down! She said she had to get it towed!"
"Oh yeah? What caused her car to break down?"
"She says she doesn't know! She said she won't find out until tomorrow morning."
"So how did she get home?"
"She said she walked!"
"She walked? From where?"
"From the highway!"
"From the highway?"
"That's what she said!"
"Why did she have to walk all the way home from the highway? She could have called somebody to come pick her up!"
"Yeah I told her that she should have! I had just got on her case about it! I tell Dana time and time again to call me or somebody else whenever she gets a problem with her car! But the important thing is, that she is safe! We'll take care of her car tomorrow, but right now let's take care of her."
"You're right Tony," Teresa smiles and says. "We're here to celebrate!"
Tony goes back to the kitchen. Towana turns to Peto and happily says, "See Peto, I told you Dana's car probably broke down and she had to walk! That's why she was walking real slow when we saw her! She was tired! She was tired from all that walking! Didn't I tell you?"
"Yeah you told me alright," Peto says as he continues to eat his plate of food.
Everybody continues to celebrate. So far, everybody at the party is totally unaware of what Dana had just done. She had just murdered three people! She had murdered three different people within the last several hours! While all of Dana's family, relatives and friends were being very busy all evening and all night long, trying to prepare a nice big celebration for her, showing her their love, their care and their concern, waiting around all evening and all night for her to come home, she was across town murdering people! No one at the party has a clue to what Dana just did as they all continue to celebrate through the night.
It is Saturday morning now. Everybody at the party had gone home except for several of Dana's family members, who are still inside the apartment. Sleepy eyed Tony comes into the living room. He looks around and does not see Dana around anywhere. He looks into the kitchen and sees Gracy cleaning up. He asks her, "Where's Dana Grandma? She's not in the bedroom or the bathroom."
"Oh Dana had left early this morning Tony. She said she wanted to hurry up and take care of her car. She told me to tell you that she'll be right back."
"Oh yeah? Why didn't she wake me up to let me know that she was getting ready to leave and take care of her car? I would have gone with her!"
"Dana said that she didn't want to wake or disturb you or anybo
dy else. She told me not to disturb anybody. She said she figured that you and everybody else were all tired and decided not to bother any of you."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
The telephone is then heard ringing from the bedroom. Tony tells Gracy, "I'll be back." He leaves the kitchen entryway and hurries towards the bedroom. He enters the bedroom and answers the telephone, saying, "Hello?"
Christine, on the other end of the phone says, "Hello, Tony?"
"Hi Mom! How are you?"
"I'm feeling okay this morning Tony! How about yourself?"
"So far so good!"
"So how did everything go at the party last night?"
"Oh everything went okay! We all had a good time! Dana finally showed up. She came home late, but she finally showed up."
"Dana showed up? You mean people were still there at the party?"
"Yeah! Everyone was still here!"
"You mean everyone stayed until Dana arrived?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh I see. Well how did it go? How did Dana react? I bet she was real surprised, huh?"
"She sure was! She was real shocked! She didn't expect any of this!"
"I bet she didn't! Well where is Dana at now?"
"Well Grandma just told me that Dana had went out to take care of her car early this morning!"
"Oh yeah? What happened to her car?"
"Well after Dana came in late last night, we all questioned her about where was she all night and what happened to her! She told me and the rest of the family that her car broke down, that's why she came home so late! She said she had walked all the way from the highway!"
"WHAT! SHE WALKED ALL THE WAY FROM THE HIGHWAY?"
"Yeah!"
"THAT TIME OF NIGHT?"
"Yeah!"
"WELL HOW DID HER CAR BREAK DOWN? WHAT CAUSED IT TO BREAK DOWN?"
"Dana said she didn't know! She said that she was just driving on the highway when she hit a hard object on the highway! That's when her car conked out on her!"
"Oh Tony, the car didn't get a flat tire did it?"
"I don't think so! If it had been a flat tire, Dana would have changed the flat and fixed it herself! She has a good spare tire in the trunk. So I don't think it was a flat tire. She told everybody last night that she's gonna try to find out what's wrong with the car today."
"Well did she call anybody last night to let someone know that her car broke down on her?"
"No, she didn't call anybody! But that's what she does all the time, never calls anybody! Dana is a very independent person. She never wants to depend on anybody for help. She wants to do things all on her own."
"Yeah I know. That's just how she is, very independent. Where's Sammy Tony? Is he still there?"
"Yeah he's still here. He's laying down in the living room."
"Oh let me speak to him for a minute please?"
"Sure Ma. Hold on for a minute. I'll go get him." Tony puts the phone receiver down to the side. He then heads for the bedroom doorway and leaves the room.
Tony soon enters the living room. He walks over to Sammy who is lying on the couch and tells him, "Your mom is on the phone Sammy. She wants to speak to you."
"Okay," Sammy says as he gets up off the couch. He starts to head towards the bedroom. He goes into the bedroom, picks up the telephone receiver and says, "Hi Mom."
"SO YOU GOT EVERYBODY OUT OF THE APARTMENT LAST NIGHT, HUH SAMMY!" Christine angrily shouts! "TONY JUST TOLD ME THAT ALL THE PEOPLE WERE STILL INSIDE THE A