Roberta's walk home from school was usually a long one, but she didn't care, it gave her some time to think to herself, as she walked. As she walked, she thought about her newfound friendship with Jeanette, as she didn't think she'd ever find anybody who loves to read as much as she does. On top of all that, Jeanette is such a great girl. Kind, friendly, smart. Cute. Roberta couldn't remember a time when making a new friend was so easy. She also still thought about how Alvin tried to flirt with her, much like several others boys have done in the past at other schools. It made her sick. Roberta made it home for the day, surprised to find her older brother, Derrick, waiting for you.
"What took you so long?" Derrick asked, jokingly.
"What are you doing here?" Roberta asked. "Don't you have to work today?"
"I gave myself the day off..." Derrick said, as he stretched out on the couch, "boy it has been wonderful not having Allan here this week..." Allan, of course, being Derrick's employer at the gas station Derrick works at, and leaving him in charge while he's on vacation.
"You lazy." Roberta said.
"I know," Derrick said, "but I like it that way. So how was school today?"
"You're not my mother." Roberta said.
"Just curious." Derrick said.
Roberta dropped her bookbag, and got up on the other end of the couch. "I think..." she began, "I think... I think Jeanette's the one..."
Derrick looked up. "Really?"
"Yeah," Roberta said, "she's really smart, and really friendly."
"Does she know about your little secret?" Derrick asked.
"Are you kidding?" Roberta asked. "There's a reason they're called 'secrets' you know."
Derrick shrugged. "Are you going to tell her?"
"I don't think I will." Roberta said, as Derrick shrugged it off, and headed into the kitchen. "I'm happy with being just friends... for right now..."
Dave was hard at work in his study, trying to write a new song for the boys, yet having a bit of a mental block. He decided to take a break, and wait for the boys to return home from school to see what they think about what their new song should be, so saying, he got up his piano, and headed for the den to read the paper, when the phone rang.
"Hello?" Dave answered.
"David," the other end said, "are your boys home yet?"
"No, I don't believe they are, why?" Dave asked.
"Because the girls aren't home yet, either," Miss Miller said, "something fishy is going on here..."
"Well, Miss Miller," Dave continued, "some days the kids take a little longer to get home, than others, I'm sure it's nothing to be overly concerned about..."
"It is when it involves nearly fifty thousand dollars!" Miss Miller said.
"Did you say... fifty thousand dollars...?" Dave asked.
"Just about," Miss Miller said, while she went through the money in the box she found, "I found it in a box on my basement."
"Oh my," Dave said, "fifty thousand dollars, that sure is a lot of money, how do you suppose it got in your basement?"
"I don't know," Miss Miller said, "but the only ones who spend any time in the basement are my girls."
"Now, Miss Miller, I'm sure the girls wouldn't..."
"I'm not accusing them of anything, David, but I have a feeling they know something about it... and I'm wondering if the boys might know anything about it too."
"I honestly don't know," Dave said, "if they did, I'm sure they would've said something to me by now..."
"Oh, I don't know what to think, David, I'd hate to think that one of my girls might have stolen this, or found it somewhere and decided not to give it back to whoever lost it."
"Now, aren't you jumping to conclusions a bit?"
"Like I said, David, only four people have access to the basement, myself, Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor. I came down to look for my old preserving jars, and stumble upon this box full of money I have no idea what it's doing down there... that only leaves the girls, so I'm waiting on them to come home, hoping I can get an explanation from them."
"Well, if it'll make you feel better, I'll talk to the boys when they get home, and see if they might know anything about it." Dave offered.
"Thank you, David," Miss Miller said, "I'll just wait on the girls then."
Miss Miller was in for a long wait, however, the kids were all held hostage in the back of the waiting SUV, along with the original hostage, the accomplice keeping his pistol pointed at them at all times. The second of the two crooks awaited in the passenger seat, when the first of the two got back into the vehicle.
"Well?" The second crook asked.
"Nothing!" The first crook said. "All I was able to find was some of this old jewelry..."
Miss Miller's old jewelry, the girls realized, after the crook decided to ransack the cellar, looking for where ever the money might be hiding, and swiping anything of value he can get his hands on as collateral.
"Wonder what happened to our money?!" The second crook asked.
"We'll find out..." the first crook said, in a sinister tone, as he started the vehicle, "we'll find out soon enough."
The SUV tore through the neighborhood, and began it's long, tiring journey from the suburbs, out to a remote location in the desert, where the crooks were using at their secret hiding spot. Under the cover of darkness, the kids, and the original hostage were led into a room that was to serve as a holding cell for them.
"We not through here!" The second of the crooks said to everybody.
"And you..." the first crook said, point out Jeanette, "you better be ready to answer some questions..."
Without anymore to say, the hostages were locked in the room.
"I knew I wasn't going to get away with this." The hostage sighed.
"Get away with what?" Alvin asked.
"Yes," Simon added, "what is going on here?"
"It's a long story, kids," the hostage said, "a painfully long story."
"Who are those two guys, anyway?" Eleanor asked.
The hostage sighed once again. "Just two of the most notorious drug dealers in all of California."
A hush fell over the room.
"You mean to say we've gotten involved in the ever-raging drug war?!" Simon asked.
"Afraid so." The hostage said.
"So that money..." Alvin began, "that money... was drug money?!"
"Yep, and they want it back." The hostage said.
"Back?" Simon asked.
"Well..." the hostage began, "I became a middle man for buying and selling of drugs... and, well, actual, brand name drugs are sky-rocketing in price these days, so the best I could do with the money they were offering was to get the cheaper, generics of them, hoping they wouldn't be able to tell the difference... boy, was I wrong."
"Why did you leave the money on our doorstep?" Simon asked.
"How much money was in the box?" Alvin asked.
"Who do I answer?" The hostage asked.
"It doesn't matter!" Simon barked.
"Well..." the hostage began, "when I heard they found out the drugs I sold them weren't the real thing... I paniced... I mean... I didn't know what they were going to do to me if they came for a refund... meanwhile... I didn't want to just hand the money back over to them... I figured if I got rid of the money, and acted like I didn't know what happened to it, I'd be in the clear..."
At that moment, the other kids glared at Alvin, now that they realize that's probably the reason why he gave the money to Jeanette to keep.
"Is that what you were thinking when you gave the money to Jeanette?" Simon asked.
"Well... kinda..." Alvin mumbled.
"What do you mean 'kinda'?!" Brittany snapped.
"Well," Alvin began, "since Theodore blabbed about me having the money, I didn't want anybody coming to me for loans and handouts... so I talked Jeanette into hiding the money for me, and had her act like she didn't know anything because I know she's stupid enough to do it!"
The others couldn't believe what Alvin just said.
"I... I thought you said it was because you trusted me..." Jeanette said.
"I said what I said to get you to do it for me!" Alvin admitted.
Jeanette felt a tear come to her eye. "I'm not stupid..."
Alvin grew uncomfortable with the other kids staring him down the way they did.
"You really did it now, Alvin." Brittany said.
"You've gotten us into deep trouble before," Simon said, "but now, we're probably in the worst trouble, ever!"
"And there's no telling what those guys will do if they don't get that money back!" The hostage said.
"How much money was it?" Theodore asked.
"Fifty thousand dollars, exactly." The hostage said.
"One hundred and one of which is already gone." Simon remarked, glaring at Alvin.
"Oh, you didn't..." the hostage said, looking at Alvin.
"Well..." Alvin began, "finder's keepers?"
Simon sighed. "What are we going to do now?"
Just then, the door swung open, as the crooks and their accomplice entered the room. The first crook reached down, grabbed Jeanette by the collar of her shirt, and lifted her off the ground.
"The time has come..." he said, as he started out of the room with her.
"Now, wait just a minute," Brittany said, jumping up, "listen, I don't care who you guys think you are, you can't just come in here threatening my sister like that!"
"Who's gonna stop us?" He asked.
"I am!" Brittany said, as she started to charge towards the villians, until the accomplice whipped out his pistol, and pointed it right between Brittany's eyes, causing her to stop dead in her tracks, helplessly.
"Who's gonna stop us?" The crook asked again, in a more amused tone.
Brittany stood there with her little fists clinched, gritting her teeth, while the crooks walked out of the room with Jeanette, locking the door behind them, while Brittany yelled through the keyhole.
"If you jerks didn't have that gun, I'd show you!" Brittany yelled, before swiftly turning towards Alvin. "Boy, if those guys hurt Jeanette..." Brittany inched ever closer to Alvin, fighting the urge to beat him up, "if those guys do anything to hurt my sister... you're gonna wish you were never born!"
Alvin gulped.
"Our only hope now is if that fifty thousand were to suddenly reappear," the hostage said, helplessly, "either that, or the real drugs they were looking to buy in the first place."
"I believe you just answered our own pradicament!" Alvin said, snapping his fingers.
"Uh oh," Simon moaned, "Alvin's got another idea..."
"Alvin, don't tell us you intend to reclaim the money you already spent, in addition to trying to find the rest of it to give to them!" Eleanor said.
"I'm not!" Alvin said, as the rest breathed sighs of relief. "We'll just get our hands on the drugs!"
"What?!" The others asked.
In the other room, Jeanette sweated uncontrolably, as she was being grilled about the money.
"You know," the first crook began, "my mother told me to never hit a woman... and to never hit a child..." without hesitation, the crook brought his fist upside Jeanette's jaw, "but I never listened to a damn thing my mother said, anyway!"
The other crook, and the accomplice chuckled, as Jeanette massaged her jaw, while tears rolled down her face.
"You know, you could make this easier on yourself, if you just told us where the money is." The second crook said.
"I'm telling you guys the truth," Jeanette cried, "Alvin asked me to guard the money for him, and asked me to put it in a spot where he could get at it... that's why I put it in our cellar..."
"I searched the whole cellar," the first crook reminded her, "and I didn't see that money anywhere... what did you do with it?!"
"I didn't do anything with it!" Jeanette pleaded.
"Then where the hell is it?!" The second crook asked.
"I don't know!" Jeanette cried.
"She lie." The second crook said.
"I'm not, I swear!" Jeanette cried. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, her underwear, as well as the armpits and neckline of her shirt were completely wet from sweating so much.
"You know, your story don't make too much sense." The first crook said.
"A box of loot don't just get up and walk away!" The second crook said.
"You're hiding something, aren't you?" The first crook asked.
"No!" Jeanette pleaded, as the crook grabbed the front of her shirt once more, lifting her out of the chair.
"I think you are..." the first crook said.
Jeanette began having an anxiety attack.
"Maybe she has a mental block." The second crook said, with a smirk.
"If she is, maybe we can help clear her mind..." the first crook suggested, also with a smirk.
The accomplice walked up, and shoved the barrel of his pistol up Jeanette's rectum.
"From the bottom up!" The first crook said, with a laugh, while the other two laughed as well, as Jeanette started kicking her feet in dispair.