by Doris Miller
PARTIES FOR DANA IN THE FUTURE JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE PREPARED THIS TIME OR YOU GONNA KEEP GETTING PREPARED, ARE YOU?"
"No of course not Mom! We're not gonna put Dana through that! I'm gonna try to make sure that this will be the last surprise party for her! If we ever have any more parties for Dana in the future, we're gonna let her know about it up front! Then we'll let her decide from there if she still wants to have a party or not!"
"YOU BETTER!"
"It's just that this was all Tony and Grandma's idea in the first place Mom! They didn't know about what happened back in Jamaica until we all told Grandma about it later on! Tony still doesn't know about it though!"
"No?"
"No."
"Well for everybody's sake in the future, no more surprise parties for Dana, alright?"
"Alright Mom."
"Okay Sammy, I'm gonna get ready to go. Tell Dana I'll call her later."
"Okay Mom, I will. And please forgive me Mom? I'm sorry if I disappointed you!"
"Alright Sammy, I forgive you. Just as long as no one got hurt."
"No, no one got hurt Mom. The only tragedy that happened was Dana's car breaking down on her late last night, forcing her to walk home."
"Yeah Tony had just told me about it when I spoke to him a few minutes ago."
"He did?"
"Yeah. Make sure Dana gets that car fixed Sammy! I don't want her walking alone from the highway any time of night!"
"We were all gonna help Dana with her car this morning Mom, but she got up very early this morning and somehow snuck out of the apartment before we all woke up and realized that she was gone! Grandma said that while she was cleaning up the kitchen, Dana had come in there and told her that she was going to get her car taking care of! Grandma said that Dana told her not to disturb any of us! So far we don't know where Dana is at the moment!"
"No?"
"No."
"Well whenever Dana comes back home, or whenever you see her again, tell her that I called and I want to speak to her, okay?"
"Okay Mom. I will."
"Good. Okay Sammy. I'll call you all tomorrow."
"Okay Mom."
"Bye now. I love you."
"I love you too Mom. Bye." Sammy hangs up the telephone.
During the meantime, Dana is across town. She is at her cousin Nancy's house, dressed in a short blue blazer, white blouse and blue pants. She is about to walk out of Nancy's front door. Nancy, who is around 34-years old, walks behind Dana and worriedly asks, "Do I have to say all of that Dana?"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"JUST DO IT NANCY!" Dana angrily shouts as she turns around towards Nancy! "IF ANYBODY CALLS OR COMES TO YOU AND ASKS YOU ANYTHING ABOUT MY WHEREABOUTS, JUST TELL THEM I WAS WITH YOU LAST NIGHT, ALRIGHT?"
"Alright Dana."
"GOOD! Now, do you remember everything I told you to say?"
"Yeah, I remember everything you told me to say!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure!"
"Good! But before I go, let me just hear one more time what you're going to say if anybody asks you anything about my whereabouts last night."
"If anybody asks me where was Dana Brown Friday night, I'm going to tell them that Dana was with me Friday night. She came to visit me because I was very depressed. Dana arrived at my house around 4:30 in the afternoon. We stayed up and watched television most of the night. Then Dana fell asleep on the couch. She woke up later on and did not leave my house until around 12:30 after midnight. I'll keep rehearsing this in my head."
"Good. That's what I want to hear. Okay Nancy, I have to get back now. I have to get back home before Tony wakes up."
"Before Tony wakes up? Why?"
"Because if he wakes up and finds me gone, he'll call all over the world looking for me! And when he catches up with me, I'm never gonna hear the end of it! That's why I have to hurry up and get back!"
"Oh. Okay."
Dana turns back around and opens the front door. She quickly leaves out of the house with Nancy standing behind in the doorway. Dana goes to her car which is parked in the street. Once she gets into her vehicle, she starts up the engine and pulls off very fast! Nancy continues to stand in the doorway as she watches Dana's car speed away!
The following Monday morning, Teresa is inside her apartment. The telephone rings. Teresa goes to pick it up and says, "Hello?"
"Hello Teresa?"
"Speaking!"
"Hi Teresa! This is Anne from the stockroom!"
"Oh hi Anne! I didn't expect to hear from you! What's happening?"
"Oh Teresa, I got some bad news for you!"
"Bad news? What bad news Anne? What is it?"
"Wallace the head boss' family had called up the job this morning! They said that Wallace won't be coming to work back here anymore because he got hit and ran over by a car!"
"WHAT!"
"Yes Teresa! Wallace's family had called up and said that Wallace got hit and ran over by a taxi cab as he was crossing the street, right in front of his house last Friday evening!"
"WHAT! HE GOT HIT AND RAN OVER BY A TAXI?"
"Yeah! This all happened when he got home right after he left the job!"
"OH NO!"
"Yeah! Wallace's family said that the taxi cab had hit and ran over Wallace and just kept on going! It was a hit-and-run! After that, Wallace was rushed right to the hospital! He died later on at the hospital Teresa!"
"WHAT! HE'S DEAD?"
"Yes he's dead Teresa! Wallace is dead! The doctors couldn't save him!"
"OH MY GOD ANNE! WELL DID THE POLICE EVER CATCH THE CAB OR THE CAB DRIVER?"
"No they didn't! It was a manhunt and a lookout for the cab and the cab driver, but the cab or the driver was never found!"
"OH NO ANNE! I'M REALLY SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT THIS!"
"So are we Teresa! I feel real bad for Wallace's family!"
"Yeah me too!"
"I think they're supposed to have Wallace's funeral tomorrow morning."
"His funeral? Are you gonna go to the funeral Anne?"
"Yeah I think I'll go. So are some of the other employees."
"They are?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I'm sorry that this bad incident had to happen to Wallace!"
"Yeah me too. So how have you been by the way Teresa? We all miss you at the stockroom!"
"You do?"
"Of course we do!"
"Yeah I miss you guys too!"
"Well how is Dana doing by the way?"
"Oh she's doing okay! We had a surprise birthday party for her last Friday night!"
"Oh you did?"
"Yeah!"
"Where?"
"Right inside her apartment! Her boyfriend Tony, his family and Dana's whole family planned the big celebration for her to help her with the depression of us both being fired and everything!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh that was nice of everybody! So how did Dana take the surprise party?"
"Oh she was in a state of shock! She didn't expect any of that, but it all turned out okay."
"It did?"
"Yeah! A short while later, I think Dana had gotten sick!"
"She got sick?"
"Yeah!"
"Why? What happened?"
"Well Dana's grandparents had told everyone at the party that Dana had ate something that didn't agree with her. They said Dana all of a sudden got sick and wasn't feeling well and that everyone had to leave."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. So everyone at the party left. So did I. Dana doesn't eat too much sweets anyway. She probably got sick off the slice of cake she had eaten."
"She probably did. Her body probably isn't used to it."
"No, I don't think it is."
"So what was Dana doing as you and everybody else were leaving her apartment? Did she look sick?"
"I don't know Anne! We couldn't really see Dana too well! Her father and her two older brothers were surrounding her way in th
e back of the kitchen! She probably was about to throw up or something! I don't know, but her grandparents and one of her aunts had gotten everybody out of the apartment! But the whole party turned out okay. Everyone had a good time."
"That's good Teresa. I'm glad everyone had a good time. So what have you and Dana been doing with yourselves since the last time we all saw you two?"
"Oh we've been doing some job hunting and everything, but we haven't found anything yet."
"Well hopefully you two will find something soon."
"Yeah, I sure hope so Anne. Listen Anne, I'm gonna try to call up Dana and tell her the bad news of what happened to Wallace!"
"Okay Teresa."
"And thanks for letting me know about what happened! I'm very sorry that it happened to him!"
"Yeah me too! Okay, I'll talk to you later Teresa!"
"Okay Anne! By now!" Teresa hangs up the telephone. She tries to call up Dana and Tony's apartment, but there is no answer. She then calls up Dana's family. She tells them all the bad news of what happened to her and Dana's ex-boss Wallace! She tells them that Wallace had been hit and ran over by a car Friday evening! Dana's family becomes shocked and stunned by the bad news!
Around 6:00 that evening, Diane D shows up at her grandparents' house. She gets the bad news from the family about Wallace's death. They all talk about the incident! Teresa then shows up at Gracy and Mike's house. She starts to talk with Diane D and everybody else about the incident. Soon, everyone learns of the news about Dana and Teresa's ex-boss Wallace. They are all saying how sad it is of what happened to Wallace. They are all frightened, wondering who could have ran Wallace over and kept on going! Someone then asks Teresa, "What kind of car was it that ran over your boss?"
"A taxi cab."
"A taxi cab?" everyone, stunned, ask.
"Yeah. Anne said it was a taxi cab that ran over Wallace Friday evening."
Everyone is surprised. When they all realize that it was a taxi that ran over Wallace, they all become relieved. Thomas then asks, "Why is everyone so relieved that it was a taxi that ran over Wallace?" Everyone looks at Thomas. They then look at each other. No one knows what to say. They look back at Thomas. Thomas then leaves the living room.
Diane D and Teresa look at each other. They then go outside the house and close the front door behind themselves. They sit down on the front steps. Teresa looks at Diane D and asks, "Diane, were you thinking what I and everybody else was probably thinking?"
Diane D looks at Teresa and replies, "I don't know. What were you and everybody else thinking, Teresa?"
"I don't know. I thought that maybe Dana might have had something to do with that accident of Wallace. But when Anne told me that it was a taxi cab that ran over Wallace, I was a little relieved myself. Dana doesn't drive or take a taxi. She has her own car."
"You know Teresa, I was kind of thinking the exact same thing myself, that it could have been Dana who had ran your boss over and killed him. But when I realized that it was a taxi cab, I was relieved also."
"You were?"
"Yeah."
Around an hour later, David gets ready to leave out of the house. He kisses his mother Gracy and says, "I'll see you later Mom."
"Okay David."
The telephone then rings. Gracy goes to answer it. She picks up the phone and says, "Hello?"
"YEAH GRANDMA?"
"Yeah!"
"IT'S ME TONY! I JUST CALLED TO TELL YOU THAT DANA HAD JUST BEEN PICKED UP BY THE POLICE!"
"WHAT!"
"YEAH! SHE WAS PICKED UP BY THE POLICE AT OUR APARTMENT AROUND AN HOUR AGO FOR QUESTIONING!"
"WHAT! FOR QUESTIONING? OH NO! WAIT! HOLD ON TONY! LET ME TELL DAVID!" David is about to walk out of the front door as Gracy quickly calls out, "DAVID! DAVID!"
David turns around and rushes back to his mother, asking, "What's the matter Mom? What is it?"
"TONY JUST CALLED ME AND TOLD ME THAT DANA WAS PICKED UP BY THE POLICE!"
"WHAT!"
"YES! HE TOLD ME THAT THE POLICE HAD PICKED UP DANA AT THEIR APARTMENT AROUND AN HOUR AGO FOR QUESTIONING!"
"QUESTIONING? ABOUT WHAT?"
"I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA!"
David grabs the phone receiver and hysterically shouts, "TONY?"
"YEAH DAD? DANA WAS JUST PICKED UP BY THE POLICE AT OUR A