Chapter 6
August had arrived, and Jan couldn't have been happier. After two weeks of what felt almost like torture, Jan was again allowed to use the computer. Such a device was so amazing that it could do anything and everything. The middle child felt quite distressed by going so long without using the computer. How in the world did she even manage to live without it?
While the other Brady kids engaged in various activities both inside and outside the house, Jan spent most of her time lying in bed with the lights off in her room. From time to time, Jan watched her siblings playing sports outside or board games inside. While once entertaining, those things now paled in comparison to the entertainment the computer provided, so Jan rarely did much besides staying in her room and listening to various songs – including "Killing Me Softly with His Song," "Mission Bell," "Cool Water," "Sleep Walk," and "Sunday Will Never Be the Same."
Jan, of course, got bored and restless and did occasionally leave her room to play with the Brady kids. However, her heart just wasn't into it, and the others could tell. They were all concerned because she acted so sad and sluggish, and it wasn't much fun playing with her when she was in such a mood. Oddly enough, everyone's mood perked up when Jan's punishment ended – even though there was the chance that Jan's computer usage could become problematic again.
In the morning, after waking up, Jan excitedly rushed downstairs. She was at long last going to use the computer again. There were so many things that she wanted to do that it took her a while to decide.
"I think I'll finish reading that Partridge Family story on ," Jan said after sitting in front of the computer for a few minutes. She turned on the computer and waited for it to finish loading Windows 95. When the operating system loaded, Jan felt overjoyed. Jan opened all sorts of programs – even ones that she normally didn't use. She was just thrilled to be reunited with the computer again.
Jan spent an hour reading Partridge Family stories on before deciding to get back to her favorite computer activity: Warcraft II. Jan looked through the stack of CD-ROMs but began to worry when she couldn't find the Warcraft II disk. Jan then looked around the family room but couldn't find the disk. She looked around in the kitchen – and then in the living room but still couldn't find the disk.
Carol then came downstairs and saw that Jan looked frantic. "Jan, dear, are you okay?" Carol asked.
"Mom, have you seen my Warcraft II disk?" Jan asked.
Carol shook her head. "I don't think so."
Jan then looked as if she had an epiphany. "I know – I'll ask Alice! Where is she?"
"Upstairs," Carol answered.
Wasting no time, Jan ran upstairs and found Alice in the bathroom shared by the boys' and girls' bedrooms. "Alice! Alice! Alice!" Jan cried.
"What? What? What?" Alice repeated in the same manner.
"Have you seen my Warcraft II disk?" Jan asked.
Alice looked sympathetically at Jan and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jan," she said. "Not that I'm aware of. I don't know what the darn thing looks like."
Jan started to describe the disk appearance when she abruptly stopped and scowled. "WAIT! I think I know what happened to it!" She then stormed out of the bathroom and shouted, "GREG! MARCIA! PETER! BOBBY! CINDY! OLIVER! Where are you guys?"
Running downstairs, Jan encountered her mother again. "Jan, what is going on?" Carol demanded.
"My rotten brothers and sisters did something with my CD!" Jan yelled.
"Now, wait a minute, Jan, what makes you think that?" Carol asked – following Jan into the family room.
As Jan and Carol entered the living room, Greg, Marcia, and Cindy followed them. "What is it now, Jan?" groaned Greg.
"You stole my CD to keep me from playing my game, didn't you?" accused Jan.
"What, are you crazy? Of course not!" Greg replied. "But now that you mention it, I wish that you'd given us the idea sooner!"
"Oh, please!" Jan snapped. "I KNOW you must have done something with it!"
"Really, Jan, we didn't do anything with your CD," Cindy said.
"I can't believe a word you say!" Jan cried. "Not only have you been trying to keep me away from the computer, but you've also tried to deceive me multiple times! I know that this has just got to be another one of your schemes!"
"But Jan – " Marcia started.
"I don't want to hear it, Marcia!" snapped Jan. "All I want is my CD back and an apology from whoever took it!"
As Jan was berating her siblings, Bobby and Peter stumbled backwards through the sliding glass doors into the living room. Bobby landed in the middle of the family room floor while Peter stumbled back a few more feet – bumping into the desk hard enough to knock the computer onto the floor with a loud "CLANG!" Almost simultaneously, as Bobby and Peter stumbled into the living room, a small, green water balloon followed them inside – sailing through the air. Only a millisecond after Peter knocked the computer off the desk, the water balloon landed on the fallen computer with a loud "POP!" That was soon followed by black smoke, sparks, and crackling noises coming from inside the computer. Suddenly, the computer exploded with a loud "BANG!"
For several seconds, the family room was filled with so much black smoke that nobody could see a thing. The family could hear only the crackling of flames. After most of the smoke cleared, it became obvious just how much damage the explosion caused. Most of the family room walls and floor were now charred black, and little flames were burning in different places throughout the room. Charred metal shards were strewn all over. The computer itself still mostly retained its rectangular shape – but was disfigured and had jagged edges. The case, once beige, was now mostly black. From inside, a flame was burning, and a few sparks continued to fly.
Carol coughed and then looked around. "Is everyone okay?" she asked loudly.
"I'm fine, Mom," Bobby said. The other Brady kids in the room indicated that they were okay – although a few coughed from the smoke that lingered in the room.
Just then, Alice appeared in the kitchen and looked into the family room. Her eyes bulged in shock. "Oh my stars, what happened?" she cried.
At that moment, Oliver slowly walked through the sliding glass doors into the family room. His eyes popped open at the disaster before him, and the other Bradys turned their attention to him. He grinned sheepishly. "Did I do that?"
About half an hour later, the Bradys had put out the flames in the living room and had unplugged the computer. Mike also arrived home from work to assess the damage. Carol had called him earlier to let him know what happened.
"Is everyone okay?" Mike asked in concern.
"We're okay, Dad," Marcia said.
"The computer blew up after Oliver threw a water balloon at it!" Bobby said – grinning widely in excitement.
"So I heard," Mike said. "I also heard that you, Peter, and Oliver weren't playing with water balloons where you were supposed to. Hasn't Mom always said to never to play ball in the house?"
"Well, Mike, I've never actually said that," Carol pointed out.
"Still, it was an accident, Dad – honest," Peter said. "The doorway was open, and we stumbled inside while trying to catch the balloon."
"Well…okay," Mike said. "In any event, the most important thing is that everyone is okay." He then turned his attention to the middle child. "By the way, Jan, I happened to find this in my briefcase." Mike held up the Warcraft II CD-ROM, and Jan's jaw dropped. "Apparently, I took this to work instead of the blueprint program by mistake. I'm sorry if it caused you any inconvenience." Mike handed the CD-ROM to Jan.
"Thanks, Dad," Jan said softly. She stared at the disk and then at the charred remains of the computer. Her eyes started to water. She then turned to her cousin. "Oliver…is there any possible way the computer can be fixed?" Jan asked.
Oliver stared glumly at the computer. "Well, the case might be salvageable, but you'd need a new power supply, motherboard, processor, hard drive, floppy drive – pretty much everything. At this point, you might as well get a new computer." Jan moaned and stared sadly down.
"Well, I don't think we really need another one," Mike said. "I think that it's clear from this experience that the Bradys are just not ready for a computer." The other Bradys looked glum – especially Jan, who was starting to cry. "But hey, despite the problems, we still had some fun with the computer, huh, gang?" The Bradys perked up a little and voiced their agreement.
"Everybody…" Jan spoke, "I'm sorry that I acted like such a jerk. I should have been more considerate of you. I'm also sorry that I accused you of stealing the game."
"It's okay, Jan," Greg said, "but I guess I can understand why you thought we did. Maybe we shouldn't have done those underhanded tricks to try to get you off the computer."
"Thanks, guys," Jan said. With that, the Bradys all gave her a group hug.