Chapter 18

Family Meeting

I

"Hello all and welcome to today's edition of The Brewer/Thomas Family Meeting! Today's topic is "Karen and The Mysterious Club G Outfit!" Sam said in a gigundoly stupid impersonation of a talk show host.

Kristy and Charlie giggled at Sam's joke but Elizabeth snapped, "Sam, this is no joking matter."

Daddy clapped his hands loudly to get everyone's attention, "As you all know, Karen has somehow managed to obtain a Club G outfit despite being on punishment since the opening day of Club G when her mother said she did not buy Karen anything due to her atrocious behavior. Karen's mistreatment of the entire family during the past month and her fighting at school are also a problem."

I could feel everyone looking at me even though I kept staring at the floor. I felt like all of their eyes were burning through me and could see the truth about what I had done just by looking at me.

"Karen," Elizabeth said gently, "We need to know where you got the Club G items. We just want the truth."

I had to make up a lie fast so I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head, "Hannie and Nancy gave them to me. They felt gigundoly awful about me not getting anything at Club G so they pooled their money to buy me the outfit, bag and bear."

Daddy did not look like he believed me but he said, "I will go call Hannie and Nancy immediately. Everyone stay here."

Things were quiet in the room until Daddy came back in. He nodded at everyone then said, "Hannie is on her way over. Nancy cannot come but her mother said to call back when Hannie gets here. I am going to put Nancy on speaker phone."

A few minutes later, Hannie arrived since she is my neighbor and is not far away. Daddy went and got her and led her into the den. Charlie found a folding chair and set it up by the phone for Hannie to sit in.

Daddy dialed Nancy and a few minutes later he said, "I have Nancy on the line so we can begin. I will turn on the speaker. Alright Hannie?"

Hannie nodded, "Yes, Mr. Brewer."

Daddy cleared his throat, "Ok, Nancy can you hear me?"

Nancy's voice came crackling through the speaker, "Yes, I can hear you."

Daddy smiled, "Alright, Hannie and Nancy, I have a few questions for you. Did the two of you buy Karen anything at Club G the day you went to the store?"

"No sir," Hannie replied.

"No way," Nancy echoed.

Daddy continued, "Did your mothers buy Karen anything at Club G?"

Hannie shook her head, "My mommy did not buy Karen a thing."

"My mommy did not buy her anything either." Nancy added.

"Have you or anyone else from your families bought Karen anything from Club G or the catalog at any point in time?" Daddy asked.

"I have never ever bought Karen anything from Club G. She told us you bought her those things." Hannie sounded confused.

"Yes she said you bought it, Mr. Brewer because you felt sad for being mean to her," Nancy the snitch told him.

"Well girls, Karen told you a lie." Daddy informed them before turning to me, "Karen, where did you get those Club G things?"

I thought up another lie but I was starting to get very scared, "Mommy bought those things for me."

Daddy did not look like he believed me, "Nancy, I am going to hang up and call Karen's mommy. Thank you very much for your time."

Hannie did not move and Daddy did not say anything to her. Instead, he dialed the phone, "Hi Lisa? It is Watson."

I heard Mommy's voice over the speaker then, "Hi Watson. Is there anything wrong with Andrew?"

I was annoyed she did not ask if there was anything wrong with me but Daddy did not seem to care, "Andrew is fine."

Andrew piped in, "Hi Mommy!"

"Hi Andy-Pandy," Mommy said to him.

Andrew giggled happily that Mommy had heard him. What a baby brat!

Daddy went on, "It is Karen. She is in a lot of trouble. She has somehow managed to get a Club G outfit, bag and bear. We do not know how she managed to obtain these things since she keeps changing her story of how she did and covering her tracks with lies. She told Hannie and Nancy that I bought the things for her. Then she told me that Hannie and Nancy bought the things for her. Now we have determined that both of those explanations were lies. Karen's latest claim is that you bought the Club G items for her."
Mommy was quiet for a moment then replied, "But I have not purchased Karen any Club G items. Neither has Seth. As far as I know, Karen does not even own any Club G items. Watson, if she has anything from Club G, I really do not know how she could have gotten them."

Daddy sighed, "Do not worry, Lisa. I believe you. I will find out how Karen did this."

"Alright, I need to go now. Seth and I have plans. Call me when you find out what Karen did so we can think of a suitable punishment." Mommy responded before hanging up the phone.

Daddy refocused his anger on me, "Karen, it seems you are still lying about how you obtained those Club G items."

"Well Daddy, how do you know that maybe everyone else is lying to you because you are crazy and mean and they are afraid of you?" I was feeling gigundoly bold and brave.

"GO TO YOUR ROOM KAREN BREWER! JUST GO BEFORE I GET ANGRY. YOU WILL STAY THERE UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO CONFESS. AND I MEAN CONFESS THE TRUTH. NO MORE LIES AND STORIES." Daddy had officially gone insane if his screaming and bellowing was any indication.

I began to cry and ran upstairs to my bedroom without another word. This was turning out to be the most gigundoly unfair day of my life.