Dangerous Dana (A Suspense Thriller)

by Doris Miller

That same morning, Missy is at the school. She is a nervous wreck. She walks around with her body all trembling and shaking. She goes into the school office and pours some coffee into her mug at the coffee machine. She then sits there in the office chair, holding the mug of coffee as it trembles in her hand. She takes a few sips of coffee. All of a sudden, the coffee mug slips out of Missy's hand and crashes to the floor, spilling coffee and glass everywhere! The school staff looks at Missy. They all can see that something is terribly wrong with her. Missy is about to pass out and fall on to the floor when someone in the staff quickly catches her in time! Missy is out of it. She is not her normal self. The rest of the school staff hurries to her! They all ask, "Missy what's wrong?"

  Maurice, a male black around his mid 40's says, "You've been a nervous wreck all morning Missy! What's the matter?"

  Missy does not respond. The school staff decides to bring Missy into the back room to let her rest her mind for a while. They bring her into the back room where a resting couch is. They all tell Missy that she needs to lie down and rest for a while. They all help Missy to lay down on the resting couch. Missy's body is still trembling and shaking. She is sweating. Puzzled, the school staff stares at her. As Missy lays down, the staff stays by her side for a short while.

  After a while, Missy's nerves are a little more relaxed and calm. The staff tells Missy that they're going to start heading back to the front of the office. They tell Missy to stay there in the back room a little while longer. They tell her that they'll be back in a little while to check up on her. The staff then leaves the back room and closes the door behind themselves. They leave Missy in the room alone.

  Two of the staff members stand outside the door and start to talk to one another! Helen, a white female with dark hair asks, "Maurice, what do you think is wrong with Missy?"

  "I don't know. She sure has been acting kind of nervous and tense. She's been acting kind of nervous and tense since Raymond's girlfriend Kathy was found murdered. Missy seems to be taking that murder pretty hard."

  "Yeah I noticed that. Maybe she feels kind of guilty, being that her and Raymond were close friends, and Missy did had a problem with Kathy in the past."

  "Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe Missy will feel a lot better after she lets her mind rest."

  "Yeah I sure hope so."

  Maurice looks at Helen and says, "Come on Helen, let's go back to the front." Helen and Maurice both look back towards the door as they walk away.

  Missy is in the back room alone. She lays on the resting couch still trembling. She turns her head towards the side away from the door and stares nervously into space. She starts to daydream. She starts to get flashbacks and memories of her childhood. Her mind goes back to when she was a child of age 6, growing up in Jamaica, West Indies. She is having flashbacks and memories of herself, the triplets, Dana and their mother Christine. They are all at a mineral bath in an isolated country side, down in Jamaica. They are there with a big crowd of people.

  It is around the end of the day at the mineral bath. The mineral bath is about over and all the children and parents are about to get back on four buses. Missy, who is dressed in a short thin shirt and a short skirt with hair styled in two long thick braids, one braid hanging from each side of her head, walks towards the buses with a small group of children. All of a sudden, she hears her mother Christine calling out, "COME ON MISSY! LET'S GO!" Missy turns away from the small group of children. She waves goodbye to them all and starts to leave. Missy hurries to her mother and two of the triplets, 4-year old Landa and 4-year old Linda, who are also dressed in short thin shirts and short skirts with hair styled in two long thick braids, one hanging from each side of their heads. Landa and Linda are both feuding with each other, kicking at each other as Christine holds each of their hands. Christine angrily pulls both Landa and Linda apart, trying to keep them from fighting and kicking at each other. Landa and Linda both start to cry as Missy walks behind them and their mother.

  Christine, Missy and the two triplets soon approach a waiting cab. Christine then turns around and calls out, "COME ON DANA! LET'S GO!"

  8-year old Dana, who is also dressed in a short thin shirt and a short skirt with two long thick braids, one hanging from each side of her head, walks towards her mother with two other children, an 8-year old girl hugging her on one side and a 9-year old boy hugging Dana on the other side. The boy and girl are both smiling as they look at Dana. Dana does not smile back at them. She just looks at the boy and the girl. The boy and girl then smile at each other. They then say "Goodbye," to Dana as they leave and run towards their bus! Dana watches them as she continues to walk towards her mother.

  After the boy and girl get on one of the buses with their parents, all four buses pull off and leave. All the people that were at the mineral bath are practically gone now. They are all heading for home.

  It is kind of isolated at the mineral bath now. Christine and the girls are about to get into the cab that is still waiting for them. As Landa and Linda are about to get into the cab, all of a sudden, Christine pulls them both back out the cab. She looks at them both. She notices that only two of the triplets are around! She looks at Missy and Dana. She then turns her head around, but does not see the third triplet! Londa, one of the triplets is missing! Christine looks her head around for Londa! She does not see Londa around anywhere! Christine becomes frightened! She gets hysterical! She anxiously asks, "Where's Londa Dana? Wasn't she with you?"

  "No, she wasn't with me! I thought she was with you!"

  "No she wasn't with me!" Christine frighteningly tells the cab driver, "Londa is missing! Have you seen her?"

  The cab driver, a stocky male black around his early 40's wearing short dreadlocks tells Christine, "No I haven't!"

  Christine quickly tells Dana and Missy to hop into the cab and wait inside the cab with Landa and Linda! She tells them all to wait inside the cab and lock the doors while she and the cab driver go to look for Londa, but Dana refuses to get into the cab! She wants to look for Londa! Christine struggles with Dana, trying to get Dana into the cab, but Dana still refuses to get into the cab! Dana desperately wants to find Londa! Christine pulls on Dana as Dana tries to pull away from her! Christine continues to struggle with 8-year old Dana! Christine then becomes frustrated! She angrily pulls Dana and shouts to her, "NOW LOOK YOUNG LADY....I'LL LOOK FOR LONDA ALRIGHT! JUST GET INTO THE CAB! GET INTO THE CAB DANA AND STAY PUT! I'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITHLONDA! JUST GET INTO THE CAB!" Christine angrily shoves Dana towards the inside of the cab! Dana angrily gives in as her mother shoves her! She gets into the cab with her sisters! They all go into the back seat! Christine locks and closes the cab doors behind the girls! She and the cab driver both start to run off hysterically to look for Londa! Christine runs off in one direction as the cab driver runs off in another direction! Dana, Missy, Landa and Linda are all inside the cab. They all look out the cab window, watching and waiting anxiously.

  After a while, Dana becomes impatient. She gets very frustrated. She wants to go out and look for Londa, the missing triplet. She angrily opens up the cab door and hops outside of it, ignoring her mother's orders. She angrily pulls Missy, Landa and Linda out of the cab and takes them all to go and look for Londa. Dana has Landa and Linda on each side of her, holding tightly on to each of their hands as they all hurry towards the mineral bath place to search for Londa. Missy hurries behind them. They all go through the tropical weeds, grass, bushes and trees of the isolated area.

  Dana and her sisters soon reach the mineral bath place. It is empty with people. Everyone had left and gone home on the four buses. No one is left at the place. Dana and her sisters walk around through the mineral bath place, desperately looking for Londa. Dana is very frustrated. She is worried about her baby sister and wants to find her. She and her small sisters call out, "LONDA! LONDA!" as they search for Londa.

  As Dana and her sisters continue to search through the mineral bath place, looking for Londa, they suddenly hear a scream of a small chi
ld! They all turn their heads around to look! They hear the scream of a child again! It is coming from a small building not too far from the mineral bath place! Dana and her sisters rush towards the building! Dana continues to hold tightly on to Landa's and Linda's hands as they all run towards the building! Dana and her sisters quietly stop at the door of the building! Dana quietly opens the door and looks inside the building. When she and her sisters look inside the building, they are shocked and horrified to see a maintenance man, a male black around his late 30's, grabbing and pulling on to a screaming 4-year old Londa inside a large room as Londa desperately tries to get away! They see the man trying to hold his hand over Londa's mouth as Londa desperately tries to scream and get away! Dana lets go of Landa's and Linda's hands and quickly rushes inside the room to get Londa as her sisters rush behind her! The maintenance man sees Dana and her little sisters rushing in! He quickly lets go of Londa and rushes out the back door! Dana goes and grabs a crying and screaming Londa and holds on to her very tightly! Londa is all crying and hysterical! Dana quickly lets go of Londa and rushes towards the back door where the maintenance man had ran off to! She is about to look for the maintenance man! Then she changes her mind and quickly decides to go back to her sisters! Missy, Landa and Linda are all surrounding and holding on to Londa as Londa continues to cry and scream! Dana approaches her sisters and bends down to pick up a crying and screaming Londa! She carries Londa and quickly takes all her sisters back towards the cab where their mother Christine might be back, waiting for them! They go through the tropical weeds, grass, bushes and trees again!

  Dana and her sisters soon reach the cab. They do not see their mother Christine around anywhere yet, so they all rush to look for her. Dana continues to carry a crying and screaming Londa as they look for their mother.

  After a while, Dana and her sisters finally spot their mother Christine. They see her shouting with the cab driver. They see her crying and very hysterical. Dana and her sisters all rush to their mother. Christine looks and sees her daughters approaching. She gets very excited and happy to see three triplets now. She rushes to her daughters and sees that Londa has been found. Christine sees a crying and screaming Londa and grabs on to her. She takes Londa out of Dana's arms and picks her up. She hugs and holds tightly onto Londa as Londa continues to cry and scream. Christine is out of breath as she anxiously asks Londa, "Oh Londa, where have you been?"

  Londa does not respond. She continues to cry and scream. Dana then cuts in and says, "We found her inside the bathroom Mommy! She was locked inside!"

  Christine becomes shocked. Missy, Landa and Linda shockingly look at Dana as they hear Dana lying to their mother. Dana gives them all a glare. They nervously look away from Dana as Christine asks Londa, "You got stuck inside the bathroom Londa? Oh Londa you shouldn't have went off to the bathroom all by yourself! You should've had somebody with you!"

  Londa continues to cry and scream. Christine smiles and hugs on to Londa again as the cab driver looks on, out of breath. Christine is happy that Londa is found safely. She carries Londa and takes all her girls back to the cab telling them, "Stay close to one another now," as they all walk back towards the cab with the cab driver.

  They all soon reach the cab and open the cab doors. Christine leads her daughters inside the cab. When all the girls hop inside the cab, Christine notices that Dana didn't get into the cab. She looks her head around for Dana. She does not see Dana around anywhere. Dana is now missing! Christine becomes frightened and hysterical again! Her mind becomes confused! She anxiously asks the cab driver, "Where's Dana?"

  "I don't know, she was just here!"

  "WELL WHERE COULD SHE BE? WHERE COULD SHE HAD JUST DISAPPEARED TO? OH MY GOD!" Christine looks her head around and shouts, "DANA! DANA!" Christine calls out to Dana again shouting, "DANA! DANA! DANA!" Dana does not appear around anywhere. Christine hysterically tells Missy and the triplets, "Listen girls, stay inside the cab and keep the doors lock while we go and look for Dana, alright?" Christine locks and closes the cab doors as she and the cab driver both run off hysterically to look for Dana! Christine runs off in one direction as the cab driver goes off into another direction! Missy and the triplets sit around in the cab all scared! They look out the window and wait anxiously! They look hysterically outside the cab windows!

  A short while has passed! Missy and the triplets continue to sit and wait anxiously inside the cab! As Missy and the triplets continue to sit and wait, all of a sudden, they see Dana running in the distance going the opposite direction! They see her running through the tropical weeds, grass, bushes and trees of the isolated country side area! Missy and the triplets become excited! They start to call out, "DANA! DANA!" Missy and the triplets then see Dana disappear into the weeds! Missy and the triplets decide to get out of the cab and follow Dana! They all run to the spot where they saw Dana! They run through the tropical weeds, grass, bushes and trees! When they reach the spot, they do not see Dana around anywhere! They look their heads around! They suddenly see Dana again, in another far distance, still running through the tropical weeds, grass, bushes and trees! Missy and the triplets become excited again! They start to call out, "DANA! DANA!" Dana does not see or hear them! Missy and the triplets then see Dana disappear into the weeds again! They run towards the spot where they last saw Dana! They run through the tropical weeds, grass, bushes and trees again! When they reach that spot, they do not see Dana around anywhere again! They then hear music playing. They see the gate of the mineral bath place. It is halfway open. Missy and the triplets go to the gate. They peak inside of it. When they peak inside, they see the maintenance man, way in the distance! They see him cleaning around the mineral bath with a plugged in radio nearby, playing reggae music! Missy and the triplets become frightened! They try to keep quiet so the maintenance man would not see or notice them! They start to back up! As they back up, they suddenly spot Dana inside the mineral bath place! They spot her way in the distance, standing several feet behind the maintenance man! They see Dana quietly standing behind the maintenance man as he cleans around the mineral bath! They see Dana angrily staring at the maintenance man! The maintenance man does not see or notice Dana! He does not know that she is standing there, several feet behind him, angrily watching him! His radio is playing a few feet away from Dana! Therefore, he does not hear Dana or know that she is standing there angrily staring at him! As the maintenance man continues to clean around the mineral bath, Dana suddenly picks up a big rag that is on the floor! She takes the rag and grabs the big radio with it! She picks up the loud radio and starts to run straight towards the maintenance man with the radio in her hands! She angrily shoves the radio hard into the maintenance man and pushes him right into the mineral bath as he begins to shout! Dana continues to hold on to the radio as she catches her balance! The maintenance man makes a big splash as he goes down under the water! Then an angry Dana holds the radio high up in the air and throws the plugged in radio right into the water right on top of the man! The radio hits the water and starts to spark up and smoke heavily! The maintenance man begins to scream and yell in pain! He is being electrocuted! Missy and the triplets watch frighteningly from the gate entrance! The radio continues to spark up in the water as the maintenance man's body jerks and shakes! He continues to yell and scream as blood comes from out of his eyes, nose and mouth! Then his screaming stops! His body then becomes still and lifeless! He is dead! His body lays in the water as the heavy electric sparks continue to come from the radio! Missy and the triplets watch horrified from the gate entrance as Dana angrily stands over the edge of the mineral bath, glaring at the maintenance man's dead body! Missy and the triplets see the maintenance man's body floating! They see his eyes wide open! A frightened Missy starts to scream! Dana quickly turns her head around and sees Missy and the triplets standing frighteningly at the gate entrance, looking on! Dana angrily rushes towards them! Missy and the triplets frighteningly turn around and run out of the place! Dana angrily chases after all of them! She catches up
to her sisters outside and angrily grabs them all! She jerks and pulls on her sisters as she shouts, "WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING OUT OF THE CAB?" Missy and the triplets are all scared as they frighteningly stare at Dana! They cannot believe what she had just done! They do not know what to do or say! Dana looks back towards the mineral bath place! Then she takes each of her sisters by the hand and quickly walks away with them! They start to go through the tropical weeds, grass, bushes and trees again!

  After a while, Dana and her sisters walk towards the cab. They see their mother Christine standing around being very hysterical as she shouts at the cab driver again! Dana then calls out, "MOM!"

  Christine turns her head around! She sees all her girls coming at once! She gets excited with joy! She quickly rushes to her girls! She reaches her girls and bends down to hug them all! Then she hugs Dana individually and starts to lift her up, holding tightly on to Dana! Christine then puts Dana back down. She is out of breath as she yells at Dana, shouting, "WE'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER THE PLACE FOR YOU DANA! WHERE'VE YOU BEEN?"

  "I went to the bathroom Mommy!"

  Christine, puzzled, looks at Dana and asks, "Now come on Dana, don't tell me you got locked inside the bathroom too?"

  "Yeah Mommy, I did!"

  "Well Dana why didn't you tell me that you had to go to the bathroom? You didn't say anything! You just went off and disappeared! You had me worrying crazy!" Christine then turns to the cab driver and says, "You know this place is going to have to do something about their stuck bathrooms! It doesn't make sense that two of my girls got stuck and locked inside the bathroom and couldn't get out!" The cab driver, out of breath, looks at Christine and nods his head in agreement. Christine then gives all her daughters a big loving hug again. She then gives Dana another separate big hug, with her back facing her other daughters as she says to Dana, "Oh boy Dana, you had me so worried!" As Christine hugs and holds tightly on to Dana, Missy and the triplets frighteningly look at Dana! Dana secretly gives them all a cold stare as to keep quiet! Missy and the triplets frighteningly look away from Dana! They do not say a word to their mother or the cab driver about what had just happened or what they had all just seen! They do not say a word to their mother or anybody else about the maintenance man being killed by Dana, or about the maintenance man grabbing and holding on to Londa, trying to attack her! Christine then quickly gets all her girls into the cab at once before there'll be anymore disappearances!

  After all the girls hop into the cab, Christine looks into the backseat of the cab. She counts each of the girls. She sees that all five of her girls are safely inside the cab. Christine then gets into the cab herself as the cab driver goes around to the driver's seat. The cab driver gets into the cab and starts up the engine. The cab then pulls off and leaves the isolated area.

  It is late at night now. Everyone in Christine's house hold is in bed, sleeping. The moon is shining brightly against the dark sky. The beat of reggae music plays outside in the darkness.

  It is soon sunrise. Christine is taking all her girls back to the mineral bath out in the country side. They ride back in the cab again with the same cab driver. As the cab approaches the site, Christine, her children and the cab driver are all stunned to see the police and ambulances all around the site! They see a heavy crowd of people there! They see other parents and children looking on! Christine, her children and the cab driver all get out of the cab! They walk towards the crowd of people! Christine holds on to Landa's and Londa's hands as Dana holds on to Missy's and Linda's hands! Christine goes to one of the parents and asks, "What's going on around here? What happened?"

  One of the parents, a father of two, tells Christine, "Leonard the maintenance man was found dead inside the mineral bath this morning!"

  "WHAT!" Christine shockingly shouts!

  "Yeah! He was found electrocuted inside the water with his radio! His radio was still plugged into an outlet!"

  "OH MY GOD!"

  "The police don't know whether Leonard had tripped, slipped or fell into the mineral bath! They think he might have tripped over his radio and fell into the water! But the police don't understand why Leonard had his radio so close to the mineral bath! The police think that Leonard might have tripped and fell over his radio as it was sitting on the ground near the mineral bath!"

  Dana, Missy and the triplets suspiciously look at the father of two, but do not say a word.

  After a while, the paramedics come from out the back area. They bring a stretcher out to the front area with a body wrapped in a plastic bag on it. The crowd looks on and starts to gasp in disbelief. The police tell the crowd to step back. The paramedics then put the stretcher with the body in it into a waiting ambulance.

  Soon, the head of the mineral bath starts to make an announcement to all the parents and children, saying, "I'M SORRY PEOPLE, BUT THERE HAS BEEN A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY HERE! LEONARD THE MAINTENANCE MAN WAS FOUND DEAD INSIDE THE MINERAL BATH THIS MORNING! THE POLICE DON'T KNOW THE EXACT CAUSE OF DEATH BUT THEY THINK THAT LEAONARD MIGHT HAVE TRIPPED AND FELL OVER HIS RADIO, BECAUSE HIS RADIO WAS ALSO FOUND INSIDE THE WATER! IT WAS STILL PLUGGED INTO AN OUTLET! THE POLICE THINK THAT LEONARD MIGHT HAVE TRIPPED OVER HIS RADIO, FELL INTO THE WATER WITH THE RADIO AND THE RADIO ELECTROCUTED HIM! THE POLICE HAVE TO MAKE AN INVESTIGATION AND NEED THE PLACE TO BE CLOSED FROM THE PUBLIC FOR A WHILE! THE MINERAL BATH IS GOING TO BE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! SO PLEASE EVERYBODY, GO BACK HOME!"

  All the parents and children are turned away. They have to leave and head back home. Everyone is all sad. They are all sad and upset about the tragedy that happened at the mineral bath. They are all sad about the tragedy that happened to Leonard, the maintenance man.

  Christine and her daughters go back to the cab. They reach the cab and get inside. They start to head back home. Christine sits in the middle of the back seat, holding Londa on her lap. Dana sits on one side of Christine, holding Landa as Missy sits on the other side of Christine holding Linda. As the cab driver is driving, he turns around to Christine and says, "Wow, what a horrible tragedy that was to hear, wasn't it?"

  "Yeah, it sure was!" Christine then says to all her daughters, "Well I guess there won't be any mineral baths for a while girls."

  Dana looks up at her mother and says, "Can't we just find another mineral bath to go to, Mommy?"

  "Yeah, I guess we can try to find one." Christine tearfully puts her arms around Dana and Missy. Dana then lays her head against her mother and closes her eyes. Missy and the triplets look at Dana. They then look at each other. Missy and the triplets are scared and frightened. They are scared and frightened to have witnessed then-own sister commit a murder.

  Later on that evening, Missy and the triplets are home inside the kitchen, sitting at the table eating dinner. They have their little dollies on the kitchen table next to them as they eat their food. A radio is nearby on the kitchen counter, playing reggae music. Missy sits at the table, being sad and nervous. She barely touches her food. She just sits there at the table with her head down, holding her fork. The triplets soon get up from the table. They start to run into another room as Missy stays at the table. Christine soon comes to the kitchen table and asks, "What's wrong Missy? You barely touched your food! Is everything alright?"

  "Yeah Mommy. Everything's okay."

  "Are you sure? Because you didn't touch your food last night either."

  "I'm okay Mommy. I'm alright."

  "Okay then. Hurry up and finish your food so I can clean up the table okay?" Christine then walks away. Missy picks up her cup of milk. It starts to tremble in her hand as the radio on the counter continues to play reggae music. Londa comes running back into the kitchen. She stands on the side of Missy as she grabs her dolly from off the table. Puzzled, she looks at the cup of milk as it trembles and shakes in Missy's hand. She then looks at Missy. Missy nervously looks back at Londa. They do not say a word to each other. Soon, the back door which leads into the kitchen opens up. Dana and her two older brothers, Sammy and Thomas walk into the kitchen doo
rway with their father David coming in behind them. They all come and stand inside the kitchen doorway with Dana and David each carrying a whole bunch of fishes, hanging from a hook. They had all just came from fishing. Missy and Londa look at Dana and their brothers as Dana and their brothers stand inside the kitchen with their father David.

  Soon, Christine and her parents Winston and Marie walk into the kitchen as Marie holds 1-year old Robert. Christine asks David and the children, "Well what have we got here? We see you all caught a lot of fishes, huh?"

  11-year old Sammy annoyingly says, "Well Dana caught most of the fishes!"

  10-year old Thomas annoyingly says, "Yeah! That's not fair! She's a girl and yet she caught most of the fishes!"

  Christine and her parents laugh as Christine says, "Well we need somebody to catch a lot of fishes for us!" Winston and Marie continue to laugh as Dana stands between her two brothers, holding the bunch of fishes while her two brothers stand there empty handed.

  Marie then hands 1-year old Robert over to Christine. She goes and takes the fishes away from Dana and David, telling them, "You two are going to mess up the kitchen floor with these wet fishes!" Marie walks away with the fishes and goes through the hallway as Winston follows behind her. David goes to Christine and puts his arm around her shoulders as Christine continues to hold Robert. David and Christine then follow behind Winston and Marie into the hallway. Sammy and Thomas annoyingly look at Dana, then walk away from her as she sadly looks at them. Sammy and Thomas pass by Missy and Londa as they go to follow behind their parents and grandparents into the hallway. Missy's hand is still trembling with the cup of milk. Dana sees the cup of milk trembling in Missy's hand. Puzzled, she looks at the cup of milk. Then she looks at Missy and gives Missy a cold stare. Missy and Londa nervously look at Dana. Then Missy nervously looks away from Dana and starts to drink the cup of milk. Dana starts to walk away as she continues to stare at Missy. Then she looks down at Londa and gently touches Londa on the head and shoulders as she walks pass her. Londa turns her head around towards Dana as Dana goes by her.

  Soon, Landa and Linda come running and stomping back into the kitchen. They both run right into Dana. They look up and see their older sister. They both put their arms up to Dana so she can pick them both up. Dana tries to pick them both up, but instead, she gently takes each of their hands and walks away with them both into the hallway. Landa and Linda jump and skip along each side of Dana as Dana walks away with them. Missy and Londa stare at Dana, Landa and Linda as Dana, Landa and Linda follow their brothers, parents and grandparents way down the hallway. Londa then runs and follows behind Dana, leaving Missy all alone. As Missy stares at them, she sees Dana turning around towards Londa, gently taking Londa's hand also. Missy stares at them as they all continue to walk way down the hallway and disappear into the next room. Missy then faces her head forward. She continues to sit there in the kitchen all alone. She nervously starts to drink her milk again. Then she stops drinking her milk and stares nervously into the air. She frighteningly stares at the radio on the kitchen counter as it continues to play reggae music. She frighteningly starts to think about the maintenance man! She is haunted by his screams echoing in her mind! She is then interrupted by someone tapping her on the opposite shoulder. Missy frighteningly turns around to look! She sees Helen, one of the school staff members, calling out, "Missy! Missy!" Helen has just snapped Missy back into the present. She snaps Missy out of her trance of flashbacks of herself as a small child down in Jamaica with her family. Missy is her adult self again. Helen taps Missy on the shoulder as Missy still lays resting on the couch inside the back of the school office. Missy continues to frighteningly look at Helen as Helen, puzzled, asks, "Missy are you alright? You were just laying here out of it! Is everything okay? You're trembling! You look like you're in a daze Missy! Is everything alright?"

  Missy continually stares at Helen. Then she nervously says, "I'm alright Helen. I'll be okay."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yeah. I'll be fine. Thanks." Missy starts to sit up. She then says, "Listen Helen, I think I'm gonna take the rest of the day off and go home. I just don't feel right today."

  "Okay, no problem Missy. I'll walk with you to the front."

  "Okay." Missy then gets up from the couch and starts to walk out the room with Helen. Helen hugs on to Missy. She and Missy leave the room and close the back room door behind themselves.

  The next day, Kathy has a funeral. Her mother Julie and Raymond are there at the funeral crying uncontrollably, as they stand beside Kathy's casket. They start to leave the casket. As Raymond and Julie leave the casket, Missy and her siblings stand aside. They are all at the funeral. All of Missy's siblings are there at the funeral, except for Dana. They are all in tears. They hear the sad music of Kirk Franklin playing in the background. Missy then approaches Kathy's casket. She looks at Kathy's body and sees Kathy's neck covered up. She nervously and shakily lifts the lining off of Kathy's neck. She sees Kathy's neck badly butchered! She becomes horrified as her siblings stand aside horrified, looking on at Kathy's neck! Missy quickly and nervously places the lining back on Kathy's neck as her siblings remain shocked and horrified! Missy then looks at Kathy's sad lifeless face and cries to her, "I'm sorry Kathy! I'm so sorry," as she weeps uncontrollably. Sammy and Thomas approach Missy. They wrap their arms around Missy's shoulders as they horrifyingly look towards Kathy's neck. Then they lead Missy away from the casket as Robert and the triplets remain aside, still shocked and horrified as they stare at Kathy's body! Missy, Sammy and Thomas then approach Raymond. They give their condolences to Raymond and Julie. Missy tries to comfort Raymond. She sees how sad and deeply hurt he is about Kathy's murder. She puts her arms around Raymond and hugs him tightly as Raymond puts his arms back around her. They both cry uncontrollably as they hold tightly on to each other. Sammy and Thomas then give Raymond a gentle pat on his shoulders showing him their sorrow and grief. They also come to Julie, showing her their sympathy also.

  After the funeral, Missy and her siblings sadly walk back to then-van. They all get inside the van, then drive off. Sammy sits behind the wheel driving as Robert sits on the passenger side next to him. The triplets sit in the second back seat as Missy and Thomas sit in the third back seat. They are all sad, upset and in tears. Thomas turns to Missy and says, "You know Missy, we saw Kathy's neck butchered up when you had lifted that lining off of her. It was a horrible sight! That's why they had her neck covered up! They said that Kathy's body was butchered so badly, she was about to have a closed casket funeral! But they changed their minds and decided to have her casket opened." Missy sadly looks at Thomas. Then she sadly starts to think of Kathy. She gets flashbacks and memories of Kathy calling her name out, approaching her in the school hallway. She gets flashbacks and memories of Kathy fearing for her life, begging Missy to seek Dana's forgiveness for her. Missy starts to cry her eyes out very silently. She is very sad for what happened to Kathy and sorry that she couldn't be of any help. Thomas looks at Missy and puts his arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her. Missy then lays her head down on Thomas' lap and starts to weep silently. The triplets have their heads turned around, sadly staring at Missy as Missy weeps silently.

  Chapter 16

  Dana's Court Appearance