by Doris Miller
PARTS OF HER BODY FROM AN UNKNOWN ATTACKER!: “Wow,” one of the men says. “That newspaper reporter Felix Green was shot! This article says he was shot with a high powered rifle! And this article says another female police officer was beaten up an left for dead! It says passerby spots female police officer laying on the side of isolated road near her patrol car. And now she's laying unconscious in the hospital suffering major blows to the head and other parts of her body from an unknown attacker. Who the hell would shoot a newspaper reporter and who the hell would want to hurt a police officer, especially a female officer?”
“I guess the same kind of person who shot at that newspaper reporter Felix Green before when they chased him on the highway and the same kind of person who had hurt the first two female officers that were beat up and left for dead,” a second man says.
“The woman is laying unconscious in the hospital. The police aren't able to get a statement from her until she comes out of her coma, if she ever comes out of it. What was her patrol car doing in an isolated area anyway?”
“I know. That is strange.”
“And this other article says the doctors don't know if that reporter Felix Green is gonna survive this shooting.”
“Oh no,” one of the women says. “Both of those incidents with this female police officer and Felix Green happened yesterday?”
“Yeah they both happened yesterday around the same time, just like the first time that reporter Felix Green was shot at and the first two female officers were beat up. Both of those incidents happened on the same evening around the same time. That's a strange coincidence.”
“It is,” the second man says. “You think there might be some kind of connection there?”
“I wonder, just like it was a connection before with the first incidents which Diane D's cousin Dana was behind. I wonder if she's behind these two recent incidents also.”
“I wonder that too.” The people continue to look at the headline and article.
The next day, men in the street are reading a newspaper article with a headline that reads: DIANE D'S COUSIN DANA GETS ARRESTED AND QUESTIONED FOR THE SHOOTING OF NEWSPAPER REPORTER FELIX GREEN! “My God,” one of the men says. “It says Diane D's cousin Dana got arrested and questioned for the shooting of that newspaper reporter Felix Green. The police questioned her for five hours. Then the police had to let her go for lack of evidence.”
“They couldn't find any evidence against her?” the second man asks.
“No, according to this article. She claimed she had nothing to do with the shooting of Felix Green.”
“Wow.” The men continue to read the article.
It is one week later. Diane D's family and relatives are at the organization reading another headline in the newspaper that reads: FEMALE POLICE OFFICER COMES OUT OF COMA AFTER SPENDING SIX DAYS. Nicolas says, “Did y'all read the article about the female police officer who was in the coma since last week?”
“Yeah,” Margarita says. “I read she just came out of the coma after being in it for six days.”
“She did. The doctors said this woman was near death! They said she suffered a fractured skull a busted ear drum, permanent vision impairment a broken jaw a broken arm and suffers from other injuries!”
“Yeah I read that too,” Barry says. “They said she lost some permanent hearing in her ear!”
“That's terrible,” Margarita says.
“It says her family never really wanted her to be a police officer, because they felt the job is too dangerous,” Nicolas says.
“It is a dangerous job,” Barry says. “Did this woman identify her attacker yet?”
“No not yet. The police are having a hard time communicating with her, being that she lost some of her hearing.” Barry sadly looks at Nicolas.
The next day at the organization, Diane D is walking holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a newsletter in the other hand as she looks at the newsletter. She takes a sip of coffee. Kory approaches Diane D as he holds a newspaper. Diane D stops and looks at Kory as he says to her, “Boy Diane. You sure can't keep your name out of the headlines, can't you?”
“Keep my name out of the headlines?” Diane D asks. “What the hell are you talking about Kory?”
“Read this!” Kory shows Diane D the newspaper and points to a headline.
Diane D looks at the headline that reads: FEMALE POLICE OFFICER IDENTIFIES DIANE D'S COUSIN AS HER ATTACKER! Diane D becomes hysterical and shouts, “What! What the hell is this?! What do they mean this woman identifies my cousin as her attacker?!”
“This female officer is saying the same cousin of yours who beat up the other two female police officers beat her up! I'm sure we all know which cousin of yours this officer is talking about!”
Diane D angrily looks at Kory.
“Yeah Diane! It says right here that this officer identified the same cousin of yours who was arrested with you on the drunk driving and weapons possession charges!”
“Oh my God! Does my family know about this?!”
“Yeah, they all know about it! They're all downstairs reading the article in another newspaper right now! They're very shocked and devastated by this! They're shocked to find out that your cousin Dana was this woman's attacker too and left her for dead also!” Kory and Diane D suddenly hear a lot of noise approaching them. Diane D and Kory turn their heads to look. They see Diane D's entire family, relatives and other people in the organization hysterically hurrying to them!
Diane D's family, relatives and other people approach Diane D and Kory as Mary asks, “Diane did you see the paper yet?!”
“Yeah,” Diane D says. “Kory just showed it to me.”
“My God! We got to call up Christine and David!”
“They're not gonna be happy to hear about this Mom.”
“I know, but we got to tell them! We can't keep it from them!”
“They said the time and date this attack happened, which was last Sunday!” Barry shouts. He then turns to Gracy and says, “Ma, wasn't Dana home with you that whole day?”
“No,” Gracy says. “That's the day she had went out to the store and came back later!”
“Oh no!” everyone shouts.
“What time did she leave to go to the store that day?” Barry asks. “How long was she gone for?”
“She walked out the house and got into her car around two o'clock last Sunday afternoon while we were fixing the garden!” Gracy shouts. “It was around five o'clock when she came back home, so she was gone for around a few hours!”
“And it says right here, this female officer stated that the attack on her happened around three or four o'clock on that same day, the time while Dana was gone from the house!”
“Ma,” Aunt Celeste says. “Did Dana say anything or doing anything strange when she came back home that day? How was she behaving?”
“She was behaving the way she always behave,” Gracy says. “Mean and grumpy!”
“What about her cane?” Barry asks. “Did Dana have the cane when she came back home?”
“Yeah she had the cane when she came back home. She was still using it.”
“Yeah I saw her with the cane too when she came back home,” Uncle Willie says.
“I know Charlotte and I saw Dana with the cane that Sunday night in the bedroom,” Diane D says. “I know when Dana went to bed that night, Charlotte and I saw her put the cane right on the side of the night stand then she fell asleep.”
“Is that the same cane she left the house with earlier that day?” Barry asks. “Because this female officer stated right here that Dana whacked her across the head with the cane twice! And when Dana whacked her across the head the second time, she said Dana whacked her so hard that the cane broke in two!” Everyone shockingly looks at Barry. He then says, “She said she felt and saw the cane break in two, then Dana started beating her all in the face and head just before she blacked out! Now if you all saw Dana come back home with the c
ane, then it can't be the same cane she left out the house with! I don’t think anybody can take two broken pieces of a cane and make it whole again!”
“They sure can’t,” Margarita says. “Obviously she must have hurried somewhere and purchased the exact same kind of cane so nobody could notice the difference!”
“Well I think Charlotte noticed the difference that night,” Diane D says.
Everyone looks at Diane D stunned as Margarita asks, “Charlotte noticed the difference that night? What do you mean she noticed the difference?”
“Well after Dana fell asleep that night, Charlotte and I still kept the light on. We stayed up all night talking. Later on while Dana was tossing in her sleep, the blanket fell off her on the floor so Charlotte went to fix the blanket and put it back on Dana. While Charlotte was fixing the blanket, she noticed the cane, then she asked me how many canes does Dana have.”
“How many canes does Dana have?” Mary says. “Why did she asked that?”
“I asked Charlotte why did she asked me that. She told me because she thinks it's a different cane.”
“What?” everyone says.
“I told her no it's not a different cane, why would it be a different cane. She said she notice two scratch marks that was on the cane before weren't there anymore and the bottom of the cane looked a little different.”
“What?”
“I told Charlotte she's just imagining things that it IS the same cane. Then I asked her what's the big deal if the two small scratch marks disappeared. They probably just faded away. She told me she guess I'm right. Then Charlotte and I went to bed and never thought anything else about the cane. Then we both fell asleep.”
“Oh my God,” Gracy says.
“Diane, did Dana say anything to you about this incident?” Mary asks.
“No,” Diane D says. “She never said a word to me about it. Just like she never said a word to me about the rifles she hid inside the trunk or about chasing Felix Green down the highway shooting at him three times, nor did she say anything about beating up the first two female police officers.”
“You know Dana,” Barry says. “When she does stuff like this, she is very secretive about it.”
“I know,” Mary says. Mary turns to Gracy and asks, “Ma, is Dana home now?”
“Yeah,” Gracy says. “She's home with Grandpa and the rest of them.”
“Well I think we all better hurry and get there. Now that the police know about this, they're gonna be at the house any minute to pick up and arrest her.”
“Yeah that's true,” Barry says. “Let's go.” Barry and the rest of them all turn around and hurry towards the staircase.
The female police officer is in the doctor’s office with her husband, a white male around his early 40's. The female officer’s eyes and face are still swollen and bruised. She has a white bandage wrapped around her head and her arm in a cast and sling as her husband speaks to a doctor, a stocky male white around his late 50's. “Will she ever get the hearing in her ear back Doctor?” the female officer’s husband asks.
“I'm afraid not,” the doctor says. “There's permanent damage to that inner ear. I don't think she'll ever hear out of that ear again.” The woman starts to cry on her husband's shoulder. “I'm sorry,” the doctor says. “I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I would be lying if I did. You say the other doctors told you the exact same thing, right?”
“Yeah they did,” the husband cries. “They also told us some of her vision might be permanently damage, because she almost lost her eye from this attack! She's seeing double vision all the time!”
“I know. That's terrible.”
“It is! See Doctor, I never really wanted my wife to be a police officer, neither did her parents, because we all know how stressful and dangerous the job can be, but she wanted to become an officer! So her parents and I supported her anyway! Now this happens!”
“Yeah, I know. When is her trial case?”
“The trial is in two days! We were hoping she would get some of her hearing back in that ear by the time the trial comes! We were afraid she won't be able to hear or answer any of the questions when she gets on the witness stand and testifies against her attacker!”
“Her attacker is the one who's related to Diane D, right?”
“Yeah! The attacker is Diane D's cousin Dana!”
“My God. Is she still in jail?”
“No! Her grandparents bailed her out yesterday!”
“She came out?”
“Yeah! I hear that woman's grandparents are always bailing her out of trouble!”
“Yeah I think I read something like that in the paper too. I hear her grandparents are very wealthy. I hear that her grandfather was born rich. I hear that he is an heir to some fortune worth multimillions of dollars that was started and left from his white paternal grandfather.”
“I heard that also. Well obviously most of their fortune is all going towards constantly getting their granddaughter Dana out of trouble!”
“Obviously it is. They should use that fortune to keep her in a mental institution because she is crazy.”
“She is!”
“Well I hope everything goes well for you guys at the trial.”
“I hope so too. Well thanks anyway doctor.”
“You're welcome. I wish I could do more.”
“You did your best. Thanks.”
“Take care.”
“You too.”
The woman limps away as she and her husband sadly leave out of the doctor's office.
The woman and her husband are walking on the sidewalk. They approach a parked car as she cries and weeps on her husband’s shoulder. Her husband unlocks the passenger door and opens it. The woman gets inside the car. Her husband closes the door behind her. He walks in the street around to the driver's side. He starts up the engine and is about to pull off. A stray bullet suddenly hits the passenger side of the car! The passenger window and the windshield window both shatter into pieces and fall onto the woman as the woman screams and keel over to her husband. The husband becomes frightened and screams! He quickly speeds off into the distance!
Around an hour later at the hospital, the woman's husband is all hysterical as several police officers surround him! “Someone just shot at our car!” the female officer’s husband shouts.
“Do know where the bullet came from?!” a male white police officer shouts.
“No, I have no idea! All I know is that our car was parked right near a big park and trees!”
“You say the bullet entered your car through the passenger window?!”
“Yes!”
“Did the passenger side of the car face the park?”
“Yes it did! If you came out the passenger side of the car, you would have been facing the park!”
“You know who would want to target you or your wife?”
“No! Obviously somebody that doesn't want us to appear in trial the day after tomorrow! Whoever did this don't want my wife to appear in court! She was left for dead when she was attacked! And now I think whoever left her for dead wants to finish the job!”
“Well we have police and detectives over the area your car was parked at right now.”
A white male doctor approaches the husband. The husband looks at the doctor and asks, “How's my wife doctor?!”
“She's alright right now,” the doctor says. “She suffered a lot of cuts and bruises from the broken glass, but the bullet didn't hit her.”
“Thank God for that!”
“Are her parents or other family members coming here?”
“Yeah, her parents are on their way over here. They're bringing our two kids.”
“Okay. You can go up and see her now.”
“Thanks.”
“You're welcome.” The husband hurries away with the officers.
The next morning, two people in the street read several newspaper articles with headlines the
read: FEMALE POLICE OFFICER GETS SKINNED BY STRAY BULLET FROM A HIGH POWERED RIFLE AS SHE IS ABOUT TO TAKE OFF IN CAR WITH HUSBAND: - FEMALE POLICE OFFICER GETS SKINNED BY STRAY BULLET FROM A HIGH POWERED RIFLE THE DAY AFTER DIANE D'S COUSIN DANA IS BAILED OUT OF JAIL: - FEMALE POLICE OFFICER GETS SKINNED BY STRAY BULLET FROM A HIGH POWERED RIFLE TWO DAYS BEFORE THE TRIAL OF DIANE D'S COUSIN DANA:
Diane D's uncle Willie sits in the subway. He looks around and sees four different adult passengers reading different newspapers. He suddenly spots the front page headline on one of the paper that reads: FEMALE POLICE OFFICER GETS SKINNED BY STRAY BULLET FROM A HIGH POWERED RIFLE THE DAY AFTER DIANE D'S COUSIN DANA IS BAILED OUT OF JAIL: Uncle Willie starts to panic. He looks at the front page headline of the other passenger's paper that reads: POLICE FEAR DIANE D'S COUSIN IS ON THE ATTACK AGAIN!: - Uncle Willie panics again! He looks at the front page headline of the other passenger's paper that reads: POLICE PREPARE TO QUESTION DIANE D'S COUSIN: He looks at the front page headline of the other passenger's paper that reads: POLICE FEAR DIANE D'S COUSIN DANA MAY HAVE STOLEN ANOTHER RIFLE: Uncle Willie jumps out of his seat! He rushes to the exit doors! He impatiently waits for the train to stop! The train finally stops. The exit doors open. Uncle Willie dashes out the subway car!
An hour later, Diane D's family and relatives are all hysterical as they follow Uncle Willie to his bedroom closet! “I hurried here as soon as I spotted those headlines on those passengers' newspapers who were reading them on the subway!” Uncle Willie shouts as he hysterically unlocks the combination.
“Hurry Willie!” Barry shouts.
“I am! I hope these rifles are still here!”
“Yeah we all hope so!” Gracy says.
Uncle Willie finally unlocks the combination and opens the door. They all look inside. They see both of his rifles inside the closet. They all become relieved. “My God,” Mary says. “That was a scare. Good thing these rifles are still in here!”
“Unless someone could have stolen them and put them back,” Barry says.
“Let's hope not because nobody knows the new combination to this lock but me!” Uncle Willie says.
“That's good. So far this is good news.”
“It is.” Uncle Willie closes his closet door and locks it. He turns to everybody. They all give a sigh of relief. Uncle Willie then says, “Come on everybody. Let's get back downstairs.” They all turn and walk towards the door, talking and breathing a sigh of relief.
The next day, a man and woman in the street are reading a newspaper article with a headline that reads: DIANE D'S COUSIN DANA GETS ARRESTED FOR BEING SUSPECTED OF BEING BEHIND STRAY BULLET ATTACK ON FEMALE OFFICER! FEMALE POLICE OFFICER'S TRIAL DATE CANCELED AND POSTPONED, DUE TO HER ALMOST GETTING HIT WITH STRAY BULLET! “This article says Diane D's cousin Dana got arrested yesterday!” the man says. “The police arrested Dana and questioned her for five hours about the stray bullet on that female officer! She claimed she had nothing to do with the incident! Then it says the police couldn't find any possible evidence against her in either case, so they let her go!”
“What!” the woman says. “They let her back out on the streets again?”
“Yeah, according to this article. They're also postponing her trial for another three weeks.” The man and woman look at each other. They then look at the article again.
At the organization the next day, Diane D, her family, relatives and Michael read a newspaper with a headline that reads: NEWSPAPER REPORTER FELIX GREEN'S CONDITION IMPROVES! DOCTOR'S SAY HE'LL SURVIVE SHOOTING BUT MAY SUFFER PERMANENT DAMAGE TO HIS INSIDE ORGANS! “Oh wow,” Nicolas says. “This article says that Felix Green is making a pretty good recovery from the shooting!”
“Oh thank God for that,” Diane D’s family say.
“But may suffer permanent damage to his inside organs!”
“Oh no!”
“Nicolas, does that article say what permanent damages Felix Green is suffering?” Margarita asks.
“Well he's gonna have to wear a catheter and a waste bag on his side for the rest of his life!” Nicolas says.
“What!” Diane D’s family shout. “A catheter and a waste bag?!”
“Yeah! A waste bag to collect his waste! They said his insides and intestines were so damaged from that shooting that he's not gonna be able to go to the bathroom the normal way anymore!”
“Not go to the bathroom the normal way?!” Mary shouts.
“Oh my God!” Margarita shouts.
“Whenever Felix Green recovers, he's not gonna be able to work anymore!” Nicolas shouts. “He's gonna have to be on permanent disability, just like those three female police officers!”
“Permanent disability?!”
“Yeah!”
“Sorry to hear he might have to be on permanent disability, but thank God he's still alive! The most important thing is, the doctors saved his life!”
“What’s so good about the doctors saving his life Grandma?!”
“What’s so good about it?”
“What do you mean ‘what’s so good about it’ Nicolas?!” Barry asks.
“It's not gonna make a difference that the doctors saved Felix Green’s life if he's thinking about killing himself?” Nicolas shouts.
“What!” the family and relatives shout. “Killing himself?!”
“Yeah! It says right here that Felix Green is so upset about his condition that he's thinking suicide!”
“Suicide?!” Margarita shouts. “Oh no!”
“He's on a suicide watch! He doesn't want to live with that condition and I don't blame him!” Nicolas and the rest of the family look at each other stunned.
It is three weeks later. Diane D’s family and relatives are inside the courtroom looking on anxiously as Diane D, Michael and Tony come down the aisle then turn and walk inside the rows to take a seat.
Prosecutor Jacob Blair is outside the courtroom in the hallway yelling at David and Christine shouting, “This is the third female police officer your daughter Dana beat up and attacked! What is her problem?! She seems to be having a field day on female police officers! First she caused Officer Janice Cooper to lose her unborn child! Second, she injured Officer Janice Cooper so bad that Officer Janice Cooper might not ever be able to have any children at all in the future! Third, she literally threw Officer Liz Martinez right into harm’s way of a live bullet that was meant for her, using Officer Liz Martinez as a human shield, causing her to get shot in the spine making her crippled for life! Number four, she broke this last female officer's jaw and caused her to have permanent hearing loss in one ear and some permanent vision impairment! All three of these female officers wind up having to leave the police force! They all became so devastated by what happened to them! Now they all have to get permanent disability because of the permanent injuries they sustained while on the job, they can't even work anymore, all because of your daughter Dana! She attacked police officers when two of her sisters were fighting inside that church, causing three male police officers to lay in the hospital suffering from injuries put on them! What the hell is wrong with your daughter Dana?! She doesn’t seem to have any regard for authority figures or for human life at all! Why did your daughter Dana do all that?!”
“We all asked Dana why did she go crazy and attacked these female officers!” Christine shouts. “All she kept telling us is that those officers putted their hands on her!”
“We keep telling her those female officers putted their hands on her because they needed to frisk her because they felt she was armed and dangerous!” David says. “We told her those female officers were only doing their job!”
“Now newspaper reporter Felix Green has to be on permanent disability too!” Jacob Blair shouts. “He’s suffering permanent injuries to his intestines because he was shot with a high powered rifle! He was shot around forty-five minutes before that last female officer was found beaten up and left for dead! I think your daughter Dana shot
Felix Green! I'm gonna make sure she do some real hard time for these crimes because she is a danger to society!” Jacob Blair angrily walks away as Christine and David anxiously follow him.
The next day, two men and a woman in the street are reading an article in the paper with a headline that reads: DIANE D'S COUSIN DANA GETS ACQUITTED IN THE SHOOTING CASE OF NEWSPAPER REPORTER FELIX GREEN AND STRAY BULLET OF FEMALE OFFICER! NO EVIDENCE COULD BE FOUND AGAINST HER, BUT SHE WILL GET SENT TO PRISON FOR BEATING FEMALE OFFICER! “Did y'all read this article?” one of the men says. “Diane D's cousin Dana got acquitted in the shooting case of that newspaper reporter Felix Green and the stray bullet of that female police officer when the female police officer was getting into the car with her husband! No evidence could be found against Dana, but she's gonna spend a year in prison and a year of probation for attacking this last female officer!”
“What!” the woman says. “No evidence could be found against her?!”
“No! They can't find the weapon or anything! But still, Dana is being sent to prison again!”
“Yeah I heard,” the second man says. “She's only gonna get a year in prison and a year probation! That's nothing compared to all she did!”
“I know. Her grandparents keep hiring these good lawyers for her!” The people continue to look at and read the article.
It is eight months later. Teresa is inside her apartment. She is about to walk out her front door. The telephone rings. Teresa turns and goes to the telephone. She picks up the telephone receiver. She speaks into it and says, “Hello?”
“Hey Teresa,” Diane D says from the other end of the phone.
“Hey Diane! What's going on?!”
“I have good news again!”
“You do?”
“Yeah.”
“Well what is it? Lay it on me.”
“They're releasing Dana from prison next week!”
“They are?!”
“Yeah!”
“No kidding! A year didn't pass yet! Dana's only been in jail for eight months! Why are they letting her out early?”
“Good behavior again!”
“Good behavior?!”
“Yeah! My family is gonna meet her next week when the authorities bring her down to the city!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“That's good!”
“It is. Well I gotta go Teresa. I just wanted to tell you the news real quick. I'll see you when I come by your place tonight.”
“Okay Diane! I'll be here!” Teresa excitingly hang up the phone.
It is two weeks later. Diane D's entire family and relatives are inside Margarita and Tomas’ mini-mansion. They sadly and tearfully look at a newspaper headline that reads: NEWSPAPER REPORTER FELIX GREEN HAS COMMITTED SUICIDE! HIS BODY WAS FOUND HANGED IN HIS FAMILY'S BATHROOM! The doorbell rings. Marilyn turns and goes to the front door. She looks through the peephole then opens the door. Teresa sadly and worriedly comes inside the house. Marilyn closes the door behind Teresa. Teresa slowly and nervously walks into the living room. She approaches everyone and says, “Hey everybody.” Teresa sees everyone looking at the headline. She then says, “I guess you all read about what happened to that newspaper reporter Felix Green huh?”
“Well he succeeded in killing himself Teresa,” Nicolas says.
“Yeah,” Margarita tearfully says. “It's so sad.”
“Are you all sure it was suicide?” Teresa asks.
“According to his family it was,” Barry says. “It says right here that Felix Green was home with his family in their apartment when it happened. His family stated that he told them he was going to the bathroom. So when Felix Green went to the bathroom, his family noticed that he hasn't come back out the bathroom for a long time. They became worried and went to check on him. They knocked on the bathroom door, but he didn't answer. When they opened the bathroom door, to their horror they found his body hanging from a clothe line in the bathroom!”
“Yeah I read that too. Is his family sure it wasn't murder?”
“No one else was in the bathroom with Felix Green Teresa,” Michael says. “There was no one else in the apartment but Felix Green and his family.”
“That's right,” Nicolas says. “The bathroom didn't have any windows where anybody could come in or go out of, but Felix Green stated that ever since he came out of surgery from being shot, that he did not want to live with the condition his body was in! He was put on a suicide watch for several months. After that, everything seemed to be going normal with his state of mind. No one thought he was still having suicidal thoughts. Obviously he was still thinking about killing himself without letting anyone on to it.”
“That's terrible,” Teresa sadly says. “Where's Diane?”
“She's upstairs lying on the bed,” Mary says.
“She is? Can I go see her?”
“Yeah, I guess you can Teresa,” Margarita says. “Come on. I'll walk you up.”
“Okay.”
Margarita leads Teresa away towards the staircase.
Diane D is in the bedroom lying face down on the bed fully dressed in a shirt and pants with her legs spread apart, hands beneath her head as she faces away from the door, firmly staring at the window out into space. There is a knock at the door. Diane D does not answer. She ignores the knock as she stares at the window into space. There is another knock at the door.
Outside the bedroom door, Margarita and Teresa are standing there facing the door. Margarita turns the door knob and opens the bedroom door. She looks into the room at Diane D. She goes into the room as Teresa follows her in.
Margarita walks towards the bed. She comes around the side of the bed to where Diane D is facing. She sees Diane D‘s eyes open staring at the window and says, “Hey Diane. Are you okay baby?”
Diane D looks at Margarita and says, “I’m alright Grandma.”
“Okay. I just want to let you know Teresa is here.”
Teresa comes around the side of the bed and waves to Diane D a little. Diane D looks and sees Teresa. She rolls her eyes and stares into space again.
Margarita turns to Teresa and says, “I‘ll let you two be.”
“Okay Miss Margarita.”
Margarita goes back around the other side of the bed. She goes towards the doorway. She leaves the room and closes the door behind herself.
Teresa nervously looks at Diane D and says, “Hey Diane. You mind if I sit down?” Diane D does not respond. Teresa slowly sits down on the bed beside Diane D. She nervously looks at Diane D. Then she turns her head and looks out the window. She turns her head back towards Diane D and asks, “Are you okay Diane? I heard and read about Felix Green's suicide.” Teresa tearfully says, “It's so sad what happened. Diane, I know what Felix Green did was wrong when he threatened to expose you and Dana in the newspaper, then calling you that horrible name then your family wind up attacking him for it, but you and your family put that all behind y'all, didn't y'all?”
Diane D turns her body over. She slowly sits up on the bed, firmly faces Teresa and says, “No we didn't put that behind us Teresa. Why would we put that behind us?”
“Well I thought y'all did. Diane can I ask you something? Do you think Dana had anything to do with shooting Felix Green?”
“I don't know Teresa.”
“Well a lot of people think she did?”
“Felix Green admitted that he's slammed other people in his newspaper before. Maybe one of those people shot him.”
“But Diane, Felix Green claimed Dana tried to shoot at him before when she chased him down the highway. He had told police since Dana tried to shoot him before, she can probably do it again. Not only that. I heard that the last female officer who was beat up had stated in court, that while she was sitting in her patrol car, she saw Dana's car speeding away from the distance she heard the gun shots coming from, which is close to where Felix Green worked and which is ar
ound the time he was shot. The female officer claimed that's when she chased after Dana's vehicle and pulled Dana's car over. That's when Dana came out of her car then winds up beating the female officer. Diane, does Dana know about Felix Green's suicide? Did she see the article yet?”
“Of course she saw the article. My Grandma Gracy and Grandpa Mike said they showed the article to Dana earlier.”
“Oh yeah? How did she react?”
“I don't know, I wasn't there. All I heard, is that Dana said my family and I should all be glad that Felix Green's not around anymore.”
“What? She said you all should be glad that Felix Green's not around anymore?”
“That's what my other grandparents told us she said.”
“Is Dana still at your other grandparents' house now?”
“Yeah, so far she still is.”
“Diane, it wasn't right what Felix Green said about you and said what he was gonna write about you and Dana, but your family was gonna try to reason with him and keep it from Dana. Your family didn't want Dana to even know about this at all, right?”
“No they didn't. But Mickey felt Dana had the right to know about it and told her about it anyway.”
“So Dana winds up finding out about that whole thing and this seems to be the entire result. A newspaper reporter gets chased down the highway and gets his vehicle shot at three times, three female officers beat up, one of them gets a miscarriage, loses her unborn baby and will never be able to get pregnant again which means she will never have children, the other female officer gets shot in the back and winds up paralyzed and is confined to a wheel chair for the rest of her life, they both wind up having to leave the police force then be on permanent disability, the third female officer’s vision and hearing is damaged for life, she winds up having to leave the police force then be on permanent disability also, the newspaper reporter gets shot, his inside organs gets ruined for life, he winds up committing suicide because of it. All of these people had permanent injuries Diane!” Teresa cries. “Diane, when Dana came out of prison for beating up the first two female officers, I overheard someone in your family said, that Dana approached Mickey and asked him, if he knew Felix Green's home address or business address on the day she came out of prison! It was like she didn't waste anytime trying to look for him! It sounds like she was thinking about Felix Green the whole entire time she was in prison! I heard that Mickey told Dana that he doesn't know Felix Green's home or business address and that he asked Dana ‘why she wanted to know‘. I heard that Dana told Mickey that she wanted to send Felix Green something. What in the world would she want to send to Felix Green?”
“I don't know Teresa, but I’m sure it wasn't a Christmas card.”
“I'm sure it wasn't either. I heard that when Mickey asked Dana what she wanted to send to Felix Green, I heard that she told him never mind, then she just turned around and walked away. Did you or your family ever found out what Dana wanted to send Felix Green?”
“Yeah. She told my family she just wanted to send Felix Green a letter of apology.”
“A letter of apology? That's what she said? Y'all didn't believe her did y'all?”
“Of course we didn't believe her Teresa. We didn't know what Dana really wanted to send Felix Green. All we know, is that someone sent him a bullet to the stomach.”
“My God Diane. I heard being the fact that Felix Green killed himself because of what the shooter did to him, the authorities want to charge the shooter with murder.”
“No one knows who shot Felix Green Teresa.”
“Diane, that last female officer saw Dana's car fleeing from the scene where the gunshots were coming from!”
“They still couldn't prove it at the trial that Dana did it! They couldn't find the shooting weapon! No evidence could be found against her, that's why she winds up being acquitted!”
“I know. I hear they're supposed to have Felix Green's funeral and wake Friday morning. Are you or your family going to it?”
“I don't know whether my family is gonna go to it or not. I know I'm not going to be there.”
“You're not?”
“No.”
“Diane, it kind of sounds like you haven't forgiven Felix Green either for what he said and threatened to write about you and Dana.”
“No Teresa, I guess I haven't.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, I would like to be there at the funeral and show Felix Greens' family some moral support.”
“Teresa, you might not be able to show Felix Green's family any moral support at all because I heard most of his family isn't even going to be at the funeral.”
“His family isn't going to be at the funeral? Well why not?”
“They're the ones who found his body hanging! I heard they were so shocked by the horror that three of them had to be committed!”
“Three of them had to be committed?!”
“Yeah. I heard their state of mind is not right. None of them can make it to the funeral.”
Teresa frighteningly looks at Diane D as Diane D frustratingly lays back down on the bed then turns face down with her arms and hands beneath her head as she faces away from Teresa. Teresa sadly stares at Diane D.
Three days later at the funeral, the Diaz-Davidson Choir sings 'Praise Him'. Hundreds of people and reporters walk crying with eyes full of tears, looking down at Felix Green's body as it lays in a casket.
The following day, Diane D's family, relatives and a whole lot of other people are at a church function. There are around a hundred people there. A lot of them are reading newspaper articles with the headline that reads: NEWSPAPER REPORTER FELIX GREEN LAYS TO REST! They all sadly look at the article.
Chapter 22
Lost In The Woods
