Post by Lynette Scavo on May 26, 2006 18:43:54 GMT -5
This is a semi-true story. Everything that happens to Gracie Jo, before she dies, is something that really happened to one of my family members. Except that person didn't really die. Anything that happens to or between any one of the other characters probably isn't a true event. All characters are real people, which changed names of course.
This is MY account of what would've happen to 'Gracie Jo' if she wouldn't have moved in with my Grams.
-chapter 1-
“…And we must thank god that we could have the 13 years we did with her. She was a good kid, and we all loved her so much. May her soul fly free and be safe within the confines of Heaven. Blessed Be, Gracie Jo.”
The eulogist stepped down from the podium, and sniffles were heard from the crowd. My uncle stepped up to say a few words, with his wife at his side. She looked none too happy to be there. I glared at her. She glared back. The whole world seemed to shift into slow-mo, my uncle’s voice droning in the background.
It was no secret in our family. I didn’t like her. And surprise, surprise. She didn’t like me either. It’s a mystery as to why my cousin died. It was ruled a suicide, but I knew better. She would never…I knew her better than anybody. I can honestly say, I think she was murdered. In my mind, Katie Stark was the culprit.
And I’m gonna prove it, I thought.
-chapter 2-
“Dana Jo!” I spun around at the sound of my name.
“Hi, Miss Brown.” I said. We were in the middle of the local Sugarbay market, and this bottle-blonde, skinny woman with these bright blue worried eyes stepped up to us.
“Oh, Dana Jo I heard about your cousin from Tracie Zykes, who heard from Nani Burrows, who heard from Jan Dumberger, who heard from Elaine Lodge. I’m so sorry.”
My eyebrows went up, and my eyes landed on my 15 year-old cousin, Rhett. He looked confused. I shook my head to let him know not to pay any attention to the weird woman talking to us, and he nodded.
She pointed to Rhett. “Is that your brother?”
“No. He’s uh, he’s another cousin. From my other uncle. Thanks for your condolences, Miss Brown, but--“
“Oh come here, honeys!”
She pulled Rhett and me into a bear hug, and held us there for a few awkward moments. Finally letting us free after what seemed to be forever, she sighed. My fists clenched and my jaw was set.
“How are you holding up?” she asked. I didn’t hear her. I was too busy glaring at the woman who had just walked in the door.
“Dana Jo?” she asked. I started across the store.
“Crap!” Rhett had seen her. “Dana Jo, don’t do anything!” Rhett called after me.
“What on God’s green earth is she going for?” she turned around. “That woman picking up a grocery basket?”
“Yes, and if we don’t stop her, she’ll try to kill that woman!” said Rhett.
“Why, who is she?”
“That’s our dead cousin’s stepmother, Katie. And where Katie goes, Bertha is bound to follow.”
I was half way across the huge store now, and quickly going at Katie.
“Why would she try to kill her? Who’s Bertha?”
“Stop her now, and ask questions later!” he told Miss Brown, and started running after me. Right as I went into a full run, Rhett tackled me to the ground, and a shriek from Miss Brown could be heard. I grunted.
“Get off of me! She’s getting away!” I tried to push Rhett off of me, but it was no use. Even though he was a year younger than me, he was taller and stronger than I was.
“Dana Jo, what has gotten into you?!” Miss Brown screeched as she caught up with us.
“Tomorrow at school.”
We had made a scene. The manager was coming over, and a few of girls I went to school with were saying “Oh my god, wait until tomorrow at school! This’ll be everywhere.” “Oh I know!” “You think they’ll send her to the counselor’s office?” “Probably, I mean she just lost her cousin.”
I shot them a dirty look, and their eyes widened. They scurried off, and the manager escorted the three of us out.
“I’m sorry I got you kicked out, Miss Brown.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I was just killing time anyway. I take it you’ll be in class tomorrow?” I nodded. “Okay. Nice meeting you, Rhett!” she waved, and was off.
Rhett waved, and turned me towards the street. We walked back to our grandmother’s house, where we both lived, in silence.
-chapter 3-
“So did you guys walk to the store today?” our grams asked us later that night. We hadn’t talked about what we’d tell her.
“No.” I blurted out. “We were gonna, but--“
“We got tied up in a football game instead.” Rhett finished.
“That’s right. I’m really getting into it.”
“I don’t know why, but Dana Jo likes the Ravens.”
“Try because that’s the first place I lived in America?”
I was born in London, and lived there for about two years. My parents, who were never married, were Americans. They had taken a 1 year anniversary trip to England. While they were there, my mother had told my father that she was pregnant. My dad didn’t want to be a dad yet, and he went back the next day. My mom liked it there, so she stayed for a few years. We moved to the USA when her mother begged her to move back.
“Oh, yeah.” He said. “That’s right. I forgot.”
“I swear, you guys are more like brother and sister than you are cousins.” Grams told us. She smiled, and the two of us knew she had completely bought our story. “Why don’t you wash up, guys? Because Rhett your dad and Amy are coming. And Dana Jo, your dad, sister, and Polly will be here too. I invited them for dinner." Our responses were simple.
Rhett: “Okay, Grandma.”
Me: “Jesus God.”
Grams: “Dana Jo!”
Me: “Who’s that?”
I smirked, pulled my red hair back, and washed my hands.
-chapter 4-
Coming into the classroom, the place went silent. Cue everyone turning to look at me. Including Miss Brown.
“Are you all looking at me because you heard about yesterday, or because I slammed the door?” I asked, in one of my moods I’ve had since the accident. The mood I’m in after I have an encounter, or a near one, with Katie.
“Well, kinda both.” Miss Brown said. “And Dana Jo, I’d like you to stay after class, if you don’t mind.”
“I mind.”
“You don’t have a choice, sit down.”
I did. Elaine Lodge sat next to me, and wrote me a note. I wrote back. We talked the whole class period through notes.
“what’s going on? I can tell it’s something big. -Lane."
“i saw her again this morning. -Dana Jo.”
“you mentioned something about yesterday...? -Lane.”
“i was in the store with my cousin rhett and we ran into miss brown. i saw katie, and i flipped. rhett tackled me, and because miss brown came running up to us, we all three got kicked out. -Dana Jo.”
“wow. what a life you lead. -Lane.”
“you’re telling me. -Dana Jo.”
Class passed quickly, and soon Miss Brown and I were alone in the room.
“What happened yesterday?” she asked me.
“That woman killed my cousin.”
“No, sweetie you’re cousin wasn’t killed, she--“
“Don’t tell me what did or didn’t happen to my cousin. Please. Katie Stark killed my cousin and I am gonna prove it.”
“Okay. Well, start with explaining your theory to the principal. On your way.” She waved me out the door
I left the room, and I never made it to the principal’s office. Instead, I took a nice walk down to the corner store. Then I got out my cell phone and called my friend Alyssa Delfino for a ride. She was leaving for F.K.Junkett Technical Center, anyway.
-chapter 5-
“Heard your cousin committed the unforgivable. That true?” one of his friends asked Rhett from the outside of the fence around the yard.
“Maybe.” He replied.
Rhett wasn’t quick to put up his defense like Gracie Jo and I were.
“Maybe? This is a yes or no question, Rhett. No in the middle answers are taken.”
“Well that’s what you’ll have to take, Aaron.”
“What did the police report say?”
“That she did. But I don’t believe that.”
“Yeah, and people don’t believe that Michael Jackson is guilty. But he is. Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, man.” Aaron told him.
“Why don’t you leave or leave me alone about it and play some ball?” Rhett asked, with a bit of anger in his voice.
A door slammed. The door of a black truck, and a short round woman waddled up to the teenage boys wearing an animal control uniform.
“Hey boys.” She smiled.
Grams completely denied that Gracie Jo existed. When you mentioned her, she completely clammed up and made up an excuse of her having to leave.
“Rhett, did you finish your homework?” Grams asked.
“No, not yet.”
“Okay. Well no ball until then.” She went inside.
“I don’t feel much like playing today anyway.” He turned away from Aaron, and yelled over his shoulder. “Later, Ron.”
Alyssa spun the tires of her Mustang around the corner of Tree Street, and stopped four houses down on the left. I gave my thanks, and went inside.
-chapter 6-
“I’m home.” I announced.
“Hey hey baby doll!” Grams yelled from the kitchen.
“Hi Grams. Something smells good. Whatcha makin’?”
“Lemon butter chicken. Your mom’s old specialty.” She told me.
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
I smiled and came around to the other side of the bar, to watch her make it. I didn’t know much about my mother. Neither did Rhett. Our moms died at the same time. Our moms died together. They were riding together to go to lunch, and some drunk driver T-Boned them, sending them spinning and into a few other cars and a telephone pole. Rhett’s mom was driving. He was 5; I was 6. Rhett’s little sister Ophie was 1. None of us understood that our respective Mommy wasn’t coming home.
I frowned. It still sucked, but I had gotten over it, mostly. We both had. Since then our dad’s had gotten married. Well, Uncle Woody remarried a nice lady, Amy, who’s middle-aged and she had three kids. The oldest two lived in North Carolina, and the youngest lived with her. They have a three year old together. Rhett lives with Grams instead of them because they aren’t zoned for the school he wants to go to. Central High, home of the Bears. He’s a freshman.
My dad married a horrible person, who he had been married to since I was one. Polly. It means ‘bitter’. And that she is. She’s old, and has an adopted daughter, who’s 29 now, who lives in North Carolina, with her four kids and her husband. I live with Grams instead of them because Mom apparently knew how manipulative Polly was, and wrote in her living will that if anything were to happen to her, that her “daughter, Dana Josephine Brooks, is to be placed in her grandmother Jan Banks’ care” until I’m 18. I don’t go to school with Rhett. I go to Clearwater High, home of the Tornadoes. I’m a junior.
Grams turned around, smiling and nodding. “Yeah, it was. She gave me the recipe when you guys first moved down to Florida. Now your Aunt Deena could make a mean pumpkin pie. She gave me that recipe, but I can’t make it like she could.”
“Mom made pumpkin pie?” Rhett popped into the kitchen, asking.
“Every chance she got.”
Rhett and I smiled. We really were more like siblings than cousins. We had been through everything together. Broken bones, deaths, birthdays, teachers, and drink phases. One summer, we drank nothing but Dr. Pepper for twp months straight. Those days gone now, having realized both our tastes have changed. We had a taste for sleuthing, and because my dad would play those Nancy Drew computer games with us, we were damn good. We knew where to look for the information we wanted. That was back when Dad stopped by for a few hours to play. In the past few years, he just kinda…stopped caring.
And speaking of Dad, cue the perfect grandmother-grandchildren moment crasher to walk in the door.
-chapter 7-
“Hello! You guys’ favorite four people are here!” Polly’s voice rang through the house, and I cringed. Grams started to walk towards the living room.
“Be nice, you two.” She whispered as she passed us.
She set the table, while Rhett and I served.
“So Rhett, how’s school?” Uncle Woody asked. “It’s been a while since you’ve said anything about it.”
“It’s okay, I guess. There’s nothing about it to say.”
“What about you, Deejie?” Dad asked me. I hated when he called me that. I remember enough about Mom to know that ‘Deejie’ was her special name for me. “How’s school for you?”
“Dad, could you not call me that? My name is Dana Jo. And to answer your question, it’s perfect!” I said in a perky manner. “Last week, I got detention for toilet-papering the girls’ washroom, a referral for tripping the gym teacher, and today I was sent to Mr. Gretch’s office. But instead of going, I called Alyssa Delfino and we went to the mall. Oh yeah, and I’m failing 5 classes, too.” I looked around the table at everybody, smiling like I had just got lead in the school play. Really, only Rhett knew that almost all of that was false. I just love to make Dad feel bad for not being more involved, and I do it every time we’re all together like this.
“Oh…” he was speechless.
“Don’t you ask questions in class, Dana?” Polly asked.
“May I be excused?” Rhett asked. He was about to burst. He could hold in his laughs any longer. Grams nodded.
“No, that doesn’t occur to me until the beginning of the summer.” I told her. “And For the last time, it’s Dana Jo. There’s a ‘Jo’ on the end of my name.”
“I know. But I like ‘Dana’ better.”
“Well I don’t. You’re not my mom, you didn’t name me. My mother named me Dana Jo because she wanted me to be called Dana Jo and not Dana without the Jo!”
“Dana Jo!” Grams said. Rhett came back.
“Well it’s true.” I said harshly. There was a silence so tense, for a minute I thought we were back in the hospital waiting room.
“So Rhett, Dana Jo. Are there any concerts you two are planning on going to?” Amy was the only one brave enough to break the silence. That’s why I liked her. She had guts.
We nodded. “Dana Jo said she’d go to the Wild 98.7 show with me if I went to the 97X Summer Rock Show with her.”
“Really? Dana Jo you hate rap.” Amy said.
“And Rhett hates rock. But we swore that we’d go to at least two concerts together.”
“Aww, well that’s sweet.” Everyone nodded in agreement, the adults too afraid to speak out of fear that I would snap on them just like I had on Polly.
Soon dinner was cleaned up, and we were all sitting around the living room watching ‘Bringing Down The House,” and Queen Latifah’s character had just beat the crap out of Steve Martin’s character’s ex-sister-in-law.
”And I don’t EVA wanna have this conversation whichu again!”
We all laughed.
Only Rhett seemed to know how real that scenario could become.
MORE TO COME
This is MY account of what would've happen to 'Gracie Jo' if she wouldn't have moved in with my Grams.
-chapter 1-
“…And we must thank god that we could have the 13 years we did with her. She was a good kid, and we all loved her so much. May her soul fly free and be safe within the confines of Heaven. Blessed Be, Gracie Jo.”
The eulogist stepped down from the podium, and sniffles were heard from the crowd. My uncle stepped up to say a few words, with his wife at his side. She looked none too happy to be there. I glared at her. She glared back. The whole world seemed to shift into slow-mo, my uncle’s voice droning in the background.
It was no secret in our family. I didn’t like her. And surprise, surprise. She didn’t like me either. It’s a mystery as to why my cousin died. It was ruled a suicide, but I knew better. She would never…I knew her better than anybody. I can honestly say, I think she was murdered. In my mind, Katie Stark was the culprit.
And I’m gonna prove it, I thought.
-chapter 2-
“Dana Jo!” I spun around at the sound of my name.
“Hi, Miss Brown.” I said. We were in the middle of the local Sugarbay market, and this bottle-blonde, skinny woman with these bright blue worried eyes stepped up to us.
“Oh, Dana Jo I heard about your cousin from Tracie Zykes, who heard from Nani Burrows, who heard from Jan Dumberger, who heard from Elaine Lodge. I’m so sorry.”
My eyebrows went up, and my eyes landed on my 15 year-old cousin, Rhett. He looked confused. I shook my head to let him know not to pay any attention to the weird woman talking to us, and he nodded.
She pointed to Rhett. “Is that your brother?”
“No. He’s uh, he’s another cousin. From my other uncle. Thanks for your condolences, Miss Brown, but--“
“Oh come here, honeys!”
She pulled Rhett and me into a bear hug, and held us there for a few awkward moments. Finally letting us free after what seemed to be forever, she sighed. My fists clenched and my jaw was set.
“How are you holding up?” she asked. I didn’t hear her. I was too busy glaring at the woman who had just walked in the door.
“Dana Jo?” she asked. I started across the store.
“Crap!” Rhett had seen her. “Dana Jo, don’t do anything!” Rhett called after me.
“What on God’s green earth is she going for?” she turned around. “That woman picking up a grocery basket?”
“Yes, and if we don’t stop her, she’ll try to kill that woman!” said Rhett.
“Why, who is she?”
“That’s our dead cousin’s stepmother, Katie. And where Katie goes, Bertha is bound to follow.”
I was half way across the huge store now, and quickly going at Katie.
“Why would she try to kill her? Who’s Bertha?”
“Stop her now, and ask questions later!” he told Miss Brown, and started running after me. Right as I went into a full run, Rhett tackled me to the ground, and a shriek from Miss Brown could be heard. I grunted.
“Get off of me! She’s getting away!” I tried to push Rhett off of me, but it was no use. Even though he was a year younger than me, he was taller and stronger than I was.
“Dana Jo, what has gotten into you?!” Miss Brown screeched as she caught up with us.
“Tomorrow at school.”
We had made a scene. The manager was coming over, and a few of girls I went to school with were saying “Oh my god, wait until tomorrow at school! This’ll be everywhere.” “Oh I know!” “You think they’ll send her to the counselor’s office?” “Probably, I mean she just lost her cousin.”
I shot them a dirty look, and their eyes widened. They scurried off, and the manager escorted the three of us out.
“I’m sorry I got you kicked out, Miss Brown.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I was just killing time anyway. I take it you’ll be in class tomorrow?” I nodded. “Okay. Nice meeting you, Rhett!” she waved, and was off.
Rhett waved, and turned me towards the street. We walked back to our grandmother’s house, where we both lived, in silence.
-chapter 3-
“So did you guys walk to the store today?” our grams asked us later that night. We hadn’t talked about what we’d tell her.
“No.” I blurted out. “We were gonna, but--“
“We got tied up in a football game instead.” Rhett finished.
“That’s right. I’m really getting into it.”
“I don’t know why, but Dana Jo likes the Ravens.”
“Try because that’s the first place I lived in America?”
I was born in London, and lived there for about two years. My parents, who were never married, were Americans. They had taken a 1 year anniversary trip to England. While they were there, my mother had told my father that she was pregnant. My dad didn’t want to be a dad yet, and he went back the next day. My mom liked it there, so she stayed for a few years. We moved to the USA when her mother begged her to move back.
“Oh, yeah.” He said. “That’s right. I forgot.”
“I swear, you guys are more like brother and sister than you are cousins.” Grams told us. She smiled, and the two of us knew she had completely bought our story. “Why don’t you wash up, guys? Because Rhett your dad and Amy are coming. And Dana Jo, your dad, sister, and Polly will be here too. I invited them for dinner." Our responses were simple.
Rhett: “Okay, Grandma.”
Me: “Jesus God.”
Grams: “Dana Jo!”
Me: “Who’s that?”
I smirked, pulled my red hair back, and washed my hands.
-chapter 4-
Coming into the classroom, the place went silent. Cue everyone turning to look at me. Including Miss Brown.
“Are you all looking at me because you heard about yesterday, or because I slammed the door?” I asked, in one of my moods I’ve had since the accident. The mood I’m in after I have an encounter, or a near one, with Katie.
“Well, kinda both.” Miss Brown said. “And Dana Jo, I’d like you to stay after class, if you don’t mind.”
“I mind.”
“You don’t have a choice, sit down.”
I did. Elaine Lodge sat next to me, and wrote me a note. I wrote back. We talked the whole class period through notes.
“what’s going on? I can tell it’s something big. -Lane."
“i saw her again this morning. -Dana Jo.”
“you mentioned something about yesterday...? -Lane.”
“i was in the store with my cousin rhett and we ran into miss brown. i saw katie, and i flipped. rhett tackled me, and because miss brown came running up to us, we all three got kicked out. -Dana Jo.”
“wow. what a life you lead. -Lane.”
“you’re telling me. -Dana Jo.”
Class passed quickly, and soon Miss Brown and I were alone in the room.
“What happened yesterday?” she asked me.
“That woman killed my cousin.”
“No, sweetie you’re cousin wasn’t killed, she--“
“Don’t tell me what did or didn’t happen to my cousin. Please. Katie Stark killed my cousin and I am gonna prove it.”
“Okay. Well, start with explaining your theory to the principal. On your way.” She waved me out the door
I left the room, and I never made it to the principal’s office. Instead, I took a nice walk down to the corner store. Then I got out my cell phone and called my friend Alyssa Delfino for a ride. She was leaving for F.K.Junkett Technical Center, anyway.
-chapter 5-
“Heard your cousin committed the unforgivable. That true?” one of his friends asked Rhett from the outside of the fence around the yard.
“Maybe.” He replied.
Rhett wasn’t quick to put up his defense like Gracie Jo and I were.
“Maybe? This is a yes or no question, Rhett. No in the middle answers are taken.”
“Well that’s what you’ll have to take, Aaron.”
“What did the police report say?”
“That she did. But I don’t believe that.”
“Yeah, and people don’t believe that Michael Jackson is guilty. But he is. Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, man.” Aaron told him.
“Why don’t you leave or leave me alone about it and play some ball?” Rhett asked, with a bit of anger in his voice.
A door slammed. The door of a black truck, and a short round woman waddled up to the teenage boys wearing an animal control uniform.
“Hey boys.” She smiled.
Grams completely denied that Gracie Jo existed. When you mentioned her, she completely clammed up and made up an excuse of her having to leave.
“Rhett, did you finish your homework?” Grams asked.
“No, not yet.”
“Okay. Well no ball until then.” She went inside.
“I don’t feel much like playing today anyway.” He turned away from Aaron, and yelled over his shoulder. “Later, Ron.”
Alyssa spun the tires of her Mustang around the corner of Tree Street, and stopped four houses down on the left. I gave my thanks, and went inside.
-chapter 6-
“I’m home.” I announced.
“Hey hey baby doll!” Grams yelled from the kitchen.
“Hi Grams. Something smells good. Whatcha makin’?”
“Lemon butter chicken. Your mom’s old specialty.” She told me.
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
I smiled and came around to the other side of the bar, to watch her make it. I didn’t know much about my mother. Neither did Rhett. Our moms died at the same time. Our moms died together. They were riding together to go to lunch, and some drunk driver T-Boned them, sending them spinning and into a few other cars and a telephone pole. Rhett’s mom was driving. He was 5; I was 6. Rhett’s little sister Ophie was 1. None of us understood that our respective Mommy wasn’t coming home.
I frowned. It still sucked, but I had gotten over it, mostly. We both had. Since then our dad’s had gotten married. Well, Uncle Woody remarried a nice lady, Amy, who’s middle-aged and she had three kids. The oldest two lived in North Carolina, and the youngest lived with her. They have a three year old together. Rhett lives with Grams instead of them because they aren’t zoned for the school he wants to go to. Central High, home of the Bears. He’s a freshman.
My dad married a horrible person, who he had been married to since I was one. Polly. It means ‘bitter’. And that she is. She’s old, and has an adopted daughter, who’s 29 now, who lives in North Carolina, with her four kids and her husband. I live with Grams instead of them because Mom apparently knew how manipulative Polly was, and wrote in her living will that if anything were to happen to her, that her “daughter, Dana Josephine Brooks, is to be placed in her grandmother Jan Banks’ care” until I’m 18. I don’t go to school with Rhett. I go to Clearwater High, home of the Tornadoes. I’m a junior.
Grams turned around, smiling and nodding. “Yeah, it was. She gave me the recipe when you guys first moved down to Florida. Now your Aunt Deena could make a mean pumpkin pie. She gave me that recipe, but I can’t make it like she could.”
“Mom made pumpkin pie?” Rhett popped into the kitchen, asking.
“Every chance she got.”
Rhett and I smiled. We really were more like siblings than cousins. We had been through everything together. Broken bones, deaths, birthdays, teachers, and drink phases. One summer, we drank nothing but Dr. Pepper for twp months straight. Those days gone now, having realized both our tastes have changed. We had a taste for sleuthing, and because my dad would play those Nancy Drew computer games with us, we were damn good. We knew where to look for the information we wanted. That was back when Dad stopped by for a few hours to play. In the past few years, he just kinda…stopped caring.
And speaking of Dad, cue the perfect grandmother-grandchildren moment crasher to walk in the door.
-chapter 7-
“Hello! You guys’ favorite four people are here!” Polly’s voice rang through the house, and I cringed. Grams started to walk towards the living room.
“Be nice, you two.” She whispered as she passed us.
She set the table, while Rhett and I served.
“So Rhett, how’s school?” Uncle Woody asked. “It’s been a while since you’ve said anything about it.”
“It’s okay, I guess. There’s nothing about it to say.”
“What about you, Deejie?” Dad asked me. I hated when he called me that. I remember enough about Mom to know that ‘Deejie’ was her special name for me. “How’s school for you?”
“Dad, could you not call me that? My name is Dana Jo. And to answer your question, it’s perfect!” I said in a perky manner. “Last week, I got detention for toilet-papering the girls’ washroom, a referral for tripping the gym teacher, and today I was sent to Mr. Gretch’s office. But instead of going, I called Alyssa Delfino and we went to the mall. Oh yeah, and I’m failing 5 classes, too.” I looked around the table at everybody, smiling like I had just got lead in the school play. Really, only Rhett knew that almost all of that was false. I just love to make Dad feel bad for not being more involved, and I do it every time we’re all together like this.
“Oh…” he was speechless.
“Don’t you ask questions in class, Dana?” Polly asked.
“May I be excused?” Rhett asked. He was about to burst. He could hold in his laughs any longer. Grams nodded.
“No, that doesn’t occur to me until the beginning of the summer.” I told her. “And For the last time, it’s Dana Jo. There’s a ‘Jo’ on the end of my name.”
“I know. But I like ‘Dana’ better.”
“Well I don’t. You’re not my mom, you didn’t name me. My mother named me Dana Jo because she wanted me to be called Dana Jo and not Dana without the Jo!”
“Dana Jo!” Grams said. Rhett came back.
“Well it’s true.” I said harshly. There was a silence so tense, for a minute I thought we were back in the hospital waiting room.
“So Rhett, Dana Jo. Are there any concerts you two are planning on going to?” Amy was the only one brave enough to break the silence. That’s why I liked her. She had guts.
We nodded. “Dana Jo said she’d go to the Wild 98.7 show with me if I went to the 97X Summer Rock Show with her.”
“Really? Dana Jo you hate rap.” Amy said.
“And Rhett hates rock. But we swore that we’d go to at least two concerts together.”
“Aww, well that’s sweet.” Everyone nodded in agreement, the adults too afraid to speak out of fear that I would snap on them just like I had on Polly.
Soon dinner was cleaned up, and we were all sitting around the living room watching ‘Bringing Down The House,” and Queen Latifah’s character had just beat the crap out of Steve Martin’s character’s ex-sister-in-law.
”And I don’t EVA wanna have this conversation whichu again!”
We all laughed.
Only Rhett seemed to know how real that scenario could become.
MORE TO COME
