by Beth Bowland
Mr. Maxwell ignored her question and continued talking. “We want to invite you all to become financial partners with us. Now, we’ll need one hundred thousand from each of you in order to seal the partnership,” Mr. Maxwell said.
“S’cuse me?” Mom sputtered.
“What?” said Dr. Jackson.
“I said I will need one hundred thousand dollars from each of you in order for you to become partners with Keith and I. Was that clear enough?” Mr. Maxwell said.
There was a shifting of feet, and I could hear someone’s shoe tapping at a rapid pace. Although I was unable to see upstairs, I’d bet my allowance that foot belonged to my mother.
“Whoa, Saturn. Now you might just want to slow down,” Mr. Sanchez said.
“Just what makes you think we’d want to become partners with you and this mystery product?” Mrs. Sanchez asked, her accent becoming thicker with each word she spoke.
“What are you tryna pull, Saturn?” Mr. Istvan said.
“I’ve told you all that you need to know at this point. You are to become partners with me in my endeavor,” Mr. Maxwell said.
“Thanks for the offer, but I think I’m going to pass,” Dr. Jackson said.
“So are my wife and me,” Mr. Willene added.
Heavy footsteps clunked against the wood floor.
“What is this?” Mrs. Willene’s voice was shaky. “Who are these gentlemen?”
Veronica began crying again. “This is bad…very bad.”
“I’m afraid we have had a breakdown in communication. You haven’t a choice in the matter.” Mr. Maxwell’s words were slow and deliberate.
“Miklos, I’m ready to leave now,” Mrs. Istvan said to her husband.
Crash. The sound of a glass breaking against the floor made Veronica jump.
“Anna, are you okay?” Mr. Istvan said.
“No, I don’t think so. I feel out of sorts,” Mrs. Istvan said.
“Saturn, tell these men to move away from the door now, or else,” Mr. Sanchez said.
“Or else what? You don’t seem to understand that you’re not going anywhere until our partnership is sealed.”
“You’re crazy. We’re not giving you any money,” Mrs. Sanchez said.
“You might want to reconsider. I have a guaranteed insurance policy in the form of seven precious children that says you will pay,” Mr. Maxwell spat.
Crash.
Thud.
I heard the sounds of glasses dropping and people falling over. What was going on up there?
“Bryce, I’m feeling dizzy as well,” Mom said.
Thud.
“Haven!” Mrs. Sanchez screamed.
“The drinks…Maxwell, what’d you put in these drinks?” Mr. Istvan’s voice rumbled against the walls.
“No need to worry, you’ll all be in sleepy-land soon, and you’ll have plenty of time to think about your decision,” Mr. Maxwell said.
“Mom!” Kiara screamed into the vent.
The sounds of tables being broken, mad scuffles of feet across the floor, and screaming echoed through the vent. A fight had broken out.
I screamed, but stopped when Mr. Mohawk appeared in the doorway, waving a gun.
Chapter 24
MY VISION BLURRED from the tears that were now freely flowing. Feeling like a four-year-old in her room alone during a storm, I was scared and wanted my mother. We all clung to each other, and no one said anything.
After what seemed like an eternity, the noise through the vent faded. Soon the silence was broken by the sound of large objects being dragged down the stairs and placed in the room next door. I was sure the large objects were our family members.
My ears strained to hear something—anything from my mother. But I only heard the pounding of my heart in my ears and the muffled cries from my friends.
“All secure,” Mr. Keith said.
He was standing right outside our door.
“Good, good,” Mr. Maxwell said.
“We need to move the van before anyone else sees it,” Mr. Keith said.
“Well, go take care of that now. They’ll be knocked out for a while, but don’t stay away too long. There may be trouble once they awaken.”
“Ai’ight boss,” one of the Goons answered.
“Keith, you can help me clean up the disaster those folks made. Such violent people,” Mr. Maxwell said.
Mr. Keith laughed.
Then there was silence.
“Guys, we gotta find a way out of here,” I said. My eyes stung, feeling red and swollen, and my voice was dry and tight.
“I could try and pick the lock,” Chu suggested.
“It’s worth a try. We can’t just sit here,” Andre said.
“I think it’s too dangerous,” Veronica murmured.
Our conversation was halted by the sound of the doorbell. Once again we huddled around the vent.
“Oh,” Mr. Maxwell said hesitantly, a hint of surprise in his voice. “Won’t you come in?”
Light footsteps followed Mr. Maxwell directly above us.
“Grandma Thuy, you’ve met Keith, I presume,” Mr. Maxwell said.
We edged closer to the vent.
“Mmm, yes, I have,” Grandma Thuy said slowly.
“Madame, would you mind putting out your cigarette. I’m allergic to the smoke. Messes with my sinuses.” Mr. Maxwell coughed several times.
“Mmm…you do not say,” Grandma Thuy responded.
“Geez. Grandma Thuy is no-nonsense,” I whispered.
“Oh, boy. They don’t know who they’re dealing with,” Chu said.
“Where is everyone?” Grandma Thuy asked.
“Uh, they’re, uh, out back,” Mr. Keith stuttered. “I, uh…thought you weren’t feeling well.”
“Grandma Thuy, let me get you something to drink. Champagne?” Mr. Maxwell coughed again, and his voice sounded nasally.
So, obviously the Dragon Lady was being her stubborn self, continuing to smoke. I was glad.
“Alcohol is bad for you. I do not care for any,” Grandma Thuy responded. “You seem surprised to see me, Mr. Maxwell.”
“Why do you say that? I’m delighted to see you and was extremely concerned when I heard you weren’t feeling well.”
“Yes, I’m sure you were,” Grandma Thuy said. “You both seem somewhat agitated or nervous.”
“I assure you, dear lady—” Mr. Maxwell began.
Grandma Thuy cut him off. “Tell me, Mr. Maxwell, why do you lie to me?”
Silence.
Footsteps came toward the center of the room.
“Keith, I advise you to stay where you are,” Grandma Thuy said.
The footsteps stopped.
There was light tapping at the basement window. I couldn’t see out very well, but I could tell that someone was trying to peer in.
Andre climbed up on a box to look out.
“Find something with a sharp edge,” I whispered to the others. “Andre can scrape that black stuff off the window.”
“Shh, stay quiet,” Chu said. “I can’t hear what’s going on upstairs.”
I stayed with Chu near the vent, while everyone else searched frantically around the dimly lit room to find anything to use to scrape the window.
“Wha…what do you mean?” Mr. Maxwell asked.
“Need I repeat myself? It is a primary school question. When one does not tell the truth, he is thought to be a liar. Correct, Mr. Maxwell?” Grandma Thuy said all of this in an abnormally calm voice. “I can clearly see neither my family nor the others are in your backyard. Do you take me for a fool, Mr. Maxwell?”
“I found something,” Kiara said, handing Andre an old ice scraper.
Andre reached between the iron bars and began chipping away at the black stuff on the window. Something appeared in the small circle he’d scraped off. It looked like a dog’s snout.
“Twinkles!” Veronica yelped.
Sure enough, the dog was pawing at the window.
After a few more
scrapes we could see a human hand, followed by an arm, then a face.
“It’s Mrs. Maxwell,” Ivelisse said.
Mrs. Maxwell knelt down at the window and squinted her eyes so she could see. We waved at her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, lady, but you might want to shut up before you get hurt,” Mr. Keith said.
“I clearly see you were not taught to respect your elders, young man,” said Grandma Thuy. “I will not stand for that.”
Mrs. Maxwell motioned for Andre to move back. She removed a glass cutter from her purse and cut a small circle out of the window.
I left the vent, joined Andre on top of the box, and leaned close to the opening. “Your husband is holding us hostage. He’s drugged our parents and locked them in the room next door.”
“Yes, we know. I’ll explain later, but please remain calm. The police should be here shortly.”
Mrs. Maxwell disappeared from sight. Twinkles stayed and kept her snout near the window.
I returned to the vent next to Chu.
“My dear old lady, whatever you think you know, which I’m sure is absolutely nothing, you’re now in the right place at the wrong time. Grab her, Keith,” Mr. Maxwell barked.
Scuffling sounds came through the vent. Chu and I looked at each other. These were not the same sort of sounds as before. There was a sound of repeated slaps.
“Ooopfh! Ow!” Mr. Keith let out a painful sounding moan.
I was amazed when I heard a warrior yell come from Grandma Thuy. It was followed by more slaps and cries from Mr. Keith.
We all looked at each other, not sure whether to laugh or cry.
“Grandma Thuy is putting the smackdown on him,” Chu said, beaming with pride.
A final painful cry came from Mr. Keith followed by a thud above us.
“Whoa, lady. Step back.” Mr. Maxwell’s voice was quivering.
“Get him, Grandma Thuy! Get him!” we yelled through the vent, but the screeching sirens coming down the alleyway soon drowned out our voices.
“Hold on, kids. You’ll be out soon.” A man’s voice was calling through the window.
“Mr. Rosenthal?” Farkas said.
“Yes, it’s us, children,” Mrs. Rosenthal said.
I slumped down on the floor and wondered how they knew we were here. For the first time in my life, I was happy to hear the Rosenthals’ voice.
Chapter 25
POLICE CARS, FIRE TRUCKS, AND AMBULANCES lined the alleyway. Squawking radios filled the air as flashing lights bounced off gawking spectators’ faces. Camera flashbulbs were going off all around the Maxwell house. Several men wearing rubber gloves carried out the super-sized plants from the basement.
As they carried boxes and an assortment of bags, dozens of cats ran up to the men and attacked the bags. Soon it was total chaos as the firefighters tried to shoo the cats away. Several of the onlookers joined in chasing them.
Our parents finally woke up with the help of oxygen being pumped through the masks around their faces. Somewhat woozy but alive, my mom smiled weakly when she saw me.
We were lined up in the grass wrapped in blankets provided by the firefighters. Why? I don’t know, seeing as it was close to eighty degrees outside. But whatevs, we didn’t complain. We just sat quietly and wiped the sweat from our faces.
“Lady, you can’t go over there,” one of the cops said to someone in the crowd of spectators.
“That’s my daughter over there. Get out of my way!” Mrs. Remington screamed.
“Oh, boy…” Farkas said as Mrs. Remington stomped over to us, followed by a police officer.
“Porsche, where have you been? You’ve missed yet another opportunity to practice. I worked out something special with the band to have you sing, and you go missing again to hang out. What am I going to do with you?” Mrs. Remington yelled.
“That’s enough. If you’re her mother we’ll need information from you. Follow me.” An officer escorted Mrs. Remington away by the arm, but not before she glared at us one more time.
Porsche never said a word. She only hung her head.
“How are you feeling, kids?” Mrs. Maxwell asked.
Mr. and Mrs. Rosenthal walked over with her.
“We’re fine,” Kiara said.
“How’d you know we were down there?” I asked.
Mrs. Maxwell sat down on the grass in front of us. “Well, I came back to try to talk some sense into Saturn. I knew he was trying to get money from Veronica, but I had no idea he was planning on kidnapping you kids.”
She paused and glanced over at her husband sitting in the police car. “When I arrived at the house, I saw Grandma Thuy snooping around the fence. She told me of the party that was supposed to be going on, but said she felt something wasn’t quite right. I told her I needed to tell her some things, so we began walking back toward the Willene house. That’s when we ran into the Rosenthals.”
Mr. and Mrs. Rosenthal knelt down. “I’m afraid we owe you kids an apology. When Kim asked if we’d seen you kids, we accused you of being in our yard. When we didn’t see you, we checked the security tape from the camera.”
“What?” Kiara said.
“You have security cameras?” I asked.
“Yes. We had them installed to prove to your parents that you were digging in our yard.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Mrs. Rosenthal continued. “When we watched the tape, we saw the van and the men and everything that went on. We took it down to the police station while Kim and Grandma Thuy found out if you were still inside the house.”
“Wow!” I said.
“It’s hot in this blanket!” Farkas added, yanking it off.
“Dude, I still want to know what he was growing in the basement,” Chu said.
The police interrupted us and began their questioning. The strange vegetation was still a mystery.
Later that night after the questioning was finished and our parents returned from taking tests at the hospital, everyone gathered in our backyard. A strange family-like bond had formed among us. The only person missing was Porsche. Her mother was not convinced about everything, and somehow she still blamed us for dragging Porsche into it.
I looked over at Andre who sat and stared off in the distance. “You okay?”
“Just thinking about Porsche, hoping she’s okay.”
“You really like her, huh?”
“I asked her to be my girlfriend this morning.” He grinned bashfully.
My stomach sank. “Well, I hope she said yes.” I forced a smile.
He nodded.
I was devastated but surprisingly not as badly as I thought. I was only partially heartbroken.
When Grandma Thuy walked in, all us kids went over and gave her a big hug.
“Thanks for saving our lives,” I said.
Grandma Thuy touched my cheek. “In my country, there is a saying, ‘Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you.’” She then smiled and walked away.
“Huh?” She was seriously the coolest, most whacked old lady I’d ever known.
Veronica waved to get everyone’s attention. “I want to thank each and every one of you for what you did today. Grandma Thuy—what would we have done without you and your daring rescue?”
Grandma Thuy only nodded. I wondered how such a tiny lady could kick Keith’s butt.
Veronica walked around and hugged everyone. Farkas reached over and hugged Ivelisse really tight and kissed her on her cheek. The look on her face was priceless. That started a giant group hug.
“Guys, you rock!” Farkas said.
Our hugs were interrupted when Mrs. Maxwell walked in through the gate.
“Kim, how are you, sweetie?” Mom asked.
Mrs. Maxwell looked weary and about twenty years older. “I’m fine. I’m just going to take it one day at a time.” Tears formed in her eyes.
Mom gave her some tissue.
“I’m so, so sorry for all of this. I pray t
hat you find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Veronica put her arm around Mrs. Maxwell’s shoulder. “I don’t blame you. This was your husband’s idea and my boyfriend’s greed.”
“What are they doing to Saturn?” Mr. Willene asked.
Mrs. Maxwell chewed her bottom lip. “He’s being held without bond. I’m not sure when his trial date will be set.”
Porsche, her mother, and her grandmother walked into the backyard.
“I’m glad you decided to come over,” my mother said as she embraced each of them.
Mrs. Remington sighed. “I’m here to understand what happened.”
Mom walked her over to the other adults. Porsche sat down with us—or I should say next to Andre, who’d found his smile again.
“How are you, Porsche?” I asked.
“It’s been a crazy evening. My grandmother sat my mom and me down and made her listen to me. I told her that I needed a break from recording and the whole entertainment business for a while, until I knew that it was something I really wanted to do. She wasn’t happy about it, but she said that she was tired of us fighting about it all the time. My grandmother suggested that we spend some quality mother-daughter time together. So we’re going to drive to Florida and spend some time at the beach.”
“Nice,” Andre said.
“Andre, I’ll miss you while I’m gone, but I promise to bring you something back.” Porsche leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
I looked the other way.
Chu stood up waving his arms to get everyone’s attention. “Uh, I really hate to interrupt, but could someone please tell me what was going on with those gargantuan vegetables?”
All eyes turned to Mrs. Maxwell.
“Well, it all started out innocently enough. Saturn is a hydroponics gardener. He began his career as a professor at UC Berkeley. That’s where we met and eventually got married. I was so impressed with his desire to make the environment safe and his organic growing techniques that I began working with him. We were a team, committed to make Earth a greener, happier place.”
I had a feeling a but was forthcoming.
Mrs. Maxwell continued. “However, things changed when he was denied a grant for a project he’d been working on. The school accused him of using environmentally harmful chemicals in his research, which Saturn fiercely denied. Afterward, the school released him from his position. He vowed he’d make them wish he’d never been fired by creating a plant food that would out-produce any plant food in the world. So we relocated here and began experimenting. I was in charge of ordering materials, but then he said he’d found a new supply company, and he would take over the ordering. However, he never would tell me where the new products were coming from.”
