Author's Note: I apologize to you guys for having to wait all weekend for the next chapter of this story to be released. Between being sick, and celebrating Father's Day, time just, sort of got away from me. Be thankful this is only on Fan Fiction, and I wasn't the writer to make this into an actual Rugrats episode, as seeing that it took 9 months to produce a single episode, and they needed to release somewhere between 13 to 26 or 30 episodes per season, I'm sure stories for the episodes had to be written up quickly, so work on the rest of it could get done, as I'm sure they had to work on several episodes at once. If I had taken this long on a television production team to get this story done, I probably would have been replaced by now with somebody else finishing up the story for the episode. Well, no worries, that's not the case here, so let's see to getting on, with the next chapter! And sorry, no Father's Day stories this year, but I do hope everybody had a Happy Father's Day, and if you need something Father's Day related, then check out what I wrote last year on Fan Fiction, titled, Fatherly Whereabouts, A Rugrats Father's Day Story. I promise, I didn't throw together 2 stories previously released by other author's on Fan Fiction, like the producers did with the TV series, sorry, but I'm sure we can all agree, that was just, lazy, but enough on that topic, as I've already gone into that speal with another Fan Fic user on here via PM's, if you wanna launch your complaints to me about what you thought of that, and what you think should have been done instead, we can talk via Reviews to PM's, or in PM's exclusively, but you guys don't wish to hear about the one thing I'd launch a complaint about to the creaters of Rugrats, you want the next chapter of this story, so, let's have it!
Chapter 5, The Memorials and a Sunken Sandwich!
The morning of August 9, 2014…
By this time, poor Tommy was feeling just, miserable! After hardly having a bite to eat or anything to drink over the last couple of days, and having to sleep on an uncomfortable pile of newspapers, by the previous night, leading into the morning of August 9, he couldn't take it anymore, and pulled a younger version of himself or Dil, crying all night, keeping Bob and Mike awake, not having much luck at getting the cranky two-year-old to calm down. Finally, at around sunrise, when there was enough light for them to see, Mike turned over the itinerary, which was blank on the back, and wrote a note with a pen he had in his pocket. The note read the following.
Dear Mr. Thump,
If you are by chance, touring the area, and wish to see your sweet baby Thump ever again, please bring two million dollars to the Library of Congress at thirteen-hundred hours on the afternoon of August 9, 2014. Leave it with security in the main lobby, they'll know who we are.
Signed,
Bob Soulsman and Mike Windkocky
"Hey Mikey, nice ransom note, but was it necessary to include our last names?" Bob asked.
"Of course it was, there's like, probably a ton of people around in this dang capital by the name, Bob and Mike, we kind of had to reveal who we were." Said Mike.
"Yeah, so where are we going to leave this ransom note then?" Bob asked.
"There's only one place to leave it. Our next stop on our little tour is the Jefferson Memorial. We'll just throw it into the reflecting pool out in front of the memorial building." Said Mike.
"Are you crazy? The note will get soggy and unreadable!" Bob griped.
"Not if I use this it won't." Said Mike, as he pulled out something from his back pocket, revealing a sandwich.
"That will make it worse! Give that to me." Bob hissed, as Mike handed him the sandwich.
But this sandwich was no ordinary sandwich. It was one of the newest gadgets to hit the International Spy Museum, that the Rugrats were looking at before Tommy went missing, and left on the ground. It was plastic, with hinges on one side, but how it worked, was one would open up the two pieces of bread, and slip inside, a piece of paper, folded in half. Then, after closing the sandwich, it looked as if the note made up the contents of the stuff that was in between the pieces of bread on the sandwich.
"Wow Mikey, you're a genius! This is perfect! Did you by chance, grab this at the International Spy Museum?" Bob asked.
"Of course I did you moron, where else would I have grabbed it?" Mike asked, as he folded up the piece of paper, and stuck it inside the fake sandwich.
Then, using Tommy as their messenger, they stuffed the sandwich into his shorts pocket, and headed off to the Jefferson Memorial, roughly two hours before it was due to be open for tours by the public. Upon getting to the grounds, where the reflecting pool overlooked the area, they crept over to the edge of the pool, where Bob placed Tommy on the ground.
"Ok little guy, wanna see your mommy and daddy again? Just drop this sandwich from your pocket into the pool, and daddy will get you a cookie!" Bob teasingly lied, as he pulled the sandwich out of Tommy's pocket, and placed it into his hand.
Tommy looked from Bob to the pool. He wasn't sure if this would really get him closer to his family, but he wasn't giving up yet, so he threw it into the water. No sooner had it made a splash into the pool, when Mike came up behind Bob, and turned his attention away from Tommy.
"Now's our chance. The Memorial Museum isn't open yet, but there's janniters inside cleaning. Let's sneak in and grab the cash while we have a chance." Whispered Mike into Bob's ear.
Completely forgetting about Tommy, the two criminals made a break for a side door for authorized personell only, that was propped open. Being sneaky, they looked around and saw that nobody was in sight, so they snuck in, and found janniters inside, cleaning up the place. Noticing how occupied they were, Bob and Mike split up, Bob headed for the Jefferson Memorial gift shop, while Mike headed for the main offices, and using their secret keys, they snuck in, and grabbed themselves a fair chunk of cash out of the safes at this particular location.
Meanwhile, feeling thirsty, Tommy did something he hardly ever does, but by this point, he didn't care, he was desperate! Acting like a dog, he knelt down, and started drinking out of the reflecting pool. Once he had had his share of some water at least, he figured that since Bob and Mike had deserted him once again, he wasn't sure what they were up to, but finding his family didn't seem to be top priority on their list, so the two-year-old went on a tour of the various memorials himself, unknowing to him that nobody had arrived yet, but in just a couple of hours, his friends and family would soon be amongst the tourests exploring the various memorials on that particular day.
Two hours later, the Rugrats and their families, along with Bobby Generic and his family, arrived at the grounds of the Jefferson Memorial, where they met up with a tour guide with brown hair by the name of Jen Epstein.
"Good morning everybody. My name is Jen Epstein and I'm going to be your guide today." Said Jen.
Didi walked up and shook her hand.
"Yes, I'm Didi Pickles. I booked this tour after reading about you in Lipchitz's latest newsletter." Said Didi, shaking Jen's hand.
"Oh yes, I know Dr. Lipchitz quite well, and let me assure you, we're gonna make today's tour fun and educational for your children. I also happen to see that King Peter Albany of the Confederacy is here, as well as Taffy and the Saltwaters, I know some of our staff are expecting you inside our main building, where the Jefferson Memorial is housed, and to any of you looking to buy soovineers, we have a gift shop inside as well. Are you ready to come inside?" Jen asked.
All of the adults nodded, and grabbing on to the back of the toddlers strollers, Jen led everybody inside of the Jefferson Memorial building, where they went upstairs, to the actual memorial, where they gathered around the base, and Jen presented some facts about Thomas Jefferson.
"You know boys and girls, Thomas Jefferson was our third President of the United States." Jen explained, before Angelica raised her hand.
"Yes little girl you have a question?" Jen asked.
"First of all mam, I'm not a little girl, my name's Angelica and I'm five-years-old. I'm gonna be starting kindergarten soon. And secondly, are you saying that as President of America, you can get a memorial and be turned into a statue after you die?" Angelica asked.
"Yes Angelica, many of our great presidents are featured as Memorials, so people today can remember all of the great things they were known for during their time as Presidency." Jen explained.
As she went on to talk more about Thomas Jefferson, and get everybody situated to take a group photo, before it was time for Taffy to hand out her tour flyers to the staff at the memorials, Angelica went off into her own little daydream, where she saw an Angelica Memorial, featuring a huge swimming pool in front, and the building looked like a giant castle. Inside, stood a huge statue made out of gold that looked like herself, surrounded by everything she loved, a giant replica of her Cynthia doll and a jar of cookies were amongst them.
"President Angelica, our forty-fifth President of the United States, absolutely loved cookies, and wouldn't eat anything else." Explained a tour guide to several imaginary people touring the Angelica Memorial in her daydream.
"Angelica? Angelica?" Angelica started to hear somebody say, as she was snapped out of her daydream, to find it was Jen trying to get her attention.
"Angelica, we need you to move over next to this little girl so we can take the picture." Said Jen, gently putting a hand on Angelica's shoulder and placing her next to Susie.
"Here Angelica, we're gonna put you next to…" Jen started to say, before she was cut off.
"Oh, hi, I'm Susie Carmichael." Said Susie.
"Nice to meet you Susie." Said Jen.
Of course, Angelica wasn't all that up to being next to Susie for this photo, but before she could complain, the other toddlers were placed down in front of them, and once everybody was situated for the picture, Jen took the photo with all of the cameras that people brought with them, either as separate cameras, or on their phones. After what seemed like the bazillionth picture, there was only one more that needed to be taken, the one with Peter's iPhone.
"Ok kids, one final picture." Said Jen, as she snapped the last picture with Peter's iPhone, then gave it back to him, and no sooner had Peter taken it from her, when all of the toddlers, Bobby, Susie and Angelica, started running around the room with the memorial in it.
"Stop it kids, stop it! The memorials here are very delicate, and we don't want anything to get broken. Come with me everybody down to our gift shop, where you can pick out soovineers, and where the people interested in meeting with Taffy and her band, should be waiting for us." Said Jen, as she jestured to the adults and toddlers to follow her back downstairs to the gift shop.
Once down at the gift shop, Kira picked up some more postcards, while Taffy went off to meet with the people she was scheduled to meet with. After everybody was done looking around the gift shop, they all headed outside, where Jen told them about some of the other memorials they could check out. While the adults congregated around one another, trying to decide who wanted to go to which memorials, Kimi, who was looking around in fascination from her stroller, spotted something in the reflecting pool.
"Guys, I see something in that rejecting pool over there." Said Kimi.
"Really? Come on everybody, let's go take a look at it." Said Zack, as he hopped out of his stroller, Bobby, Susie, and the other toddlers, following Zack and Kimi over to the reflecting pool.
Once at the reflecting pool, Zack reached in and pulled out the foreign object.
"Is this what you saw Kimi?" Zack asked, holding up the object.
"Yes, and it looks like a sandwich!" Kimi exclaimed.
"Oooh boy, a watery sandwich, mind if I have a taste?" Phil asked, as Zack handed it to him, only for Phil to be disappointed when he tried to bite into the sandwich, only to find it was made out of plastic.
"Wait a second you guys, this is no real sandwich, it's play food." Said Phil.
"But who would throw play food into the rejecting pool?" Chuckie asked.
"I don't know, let me take a look at that." Said Zack, just as Hazel and her family arrived at the grounds, and spotting Phil, Hazel rushed over to them.
"How's my Philly Willy today? Hazel asked, smiling and tapping Phil on the shoulder.
"Hey! You leave my brother alone!" Lil snapped.
"Snap out of it Lillian, your partner is Jesse, and he's right next to you." Said Phil.
"Well I don't wanna tour with Jesse no more. I want my brother back." Lil hissed.
"Oh come on Lil, you know you like me." Jesse said with a grin.
"No, I don't like you in that way." Said Lil.
A tear silently rolled down Jesse's cheek, as Zack studied the sandwich.
"Wait a minute, there's something inside here." Said Zack, as he pulled open the sandwich and found the note.
"What's it say Zack?" Kimi asked.
"Well, seeing that I'm the onliest twenty-two-months-old baby who can read, I'll read the note." Said Zack, as he unfolded the note, cleared his throat, and read the note out loud to the other toddlers.
"It says, Dear Mr. Thump,
If you are by chance, touring the area, and wish to see your sweet baby Thump ever again, please bring two million dollars to the Library of Congress at thirteen-hundred hours on the afternoon of August 9, 2014. Leave it with security in the main lobby, they'll know who we are.
Signed,
Bob Soulsman and Mike Windkocky." Read aloud Zack from the note.
"Sorry, but we don't know a Bob and a Mike." Said Chuckie.
"Yeah and we don't know nobody named Thump neither." Added Kimi.
"Wait a minute you guys, what if Baby Thump is really Tommy?" Bobby asked.
"Come on Bobby, there is no way Tommy would have turned into Baby Thump, that's just silly." Said Susie.
"Wait a second you guys, I think our leader detective is on to something here. Baby Thump is Tommy, because last I knew, Tommy hadn't learned how to say his real name to the growed ups yet, and this had to be written by a growed up. I can read, but I can't exactly write yet." Said Zack.
"So does this mean we've gots to bring two million dollars to that library we're going to this afternoon to get my brother back?" Dil asked.
"Yep, looks like it." Zack replied.
"Great, but there's one problem." Said Chuckie.
"What is it?" Zack asked.
"We don't got two million dollars!" Chuckie shouted.
"Well in that case, it's time for me to turn to my favoritest super hero of all times, Super Why, as he'll help us change the note and find something we can give to this Bob and Mike peoples to get Tommy back." Said Zack.
"Oh come on Zack, we don't gots two million dollars and all you wanna do is play Make Believe? Besides, Tommy likes Super Why even less than Space Deck Babies." Said Chuckie.
"I don't know about that. At least he lets me watch Super Why at his house and my place, without constantly complaining about it, making a comment about what he prefers to watch, except for that one time when he shut it off before the episode ended, all cuz he was still mad at me for breaking that promise to keep his trip to see Rosie a secret, but that's another story in itself. And don't I recall you telling me Chuckie, that the firstest time he slept over at your house, you two attempted to watch Space Deck Babies, and all he did was change the channel to Reptar and claim that he always watches that at his house?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, but what's that got to do with getting him back?" Chuckie asked.
"Nothing. Besides, I bet ya, if I pretend to be Super Why, and change this note, and in the end, we get Tommy back, maybe he'll change his mind about that show and start enjoying it more." Said Zack.
"I think your idea is a great one!" Kimi said with a smile.
"Thanks Kimi, though you always think my ideas are great." Said Zack, grinning at Kimi.
"Don't be too fooled by my sister Zack, she thinks every idea is a good one." Said Chuckie.
"The grown ups always ask me that stupid bridge question, about if your friend jumped off the broken bridge, would you do it too?" Bobby asked.
"Oh boy! Jumping off a bridge sounds like fun!" Said Kimi.
"See?" Chuckie asked.
"No worries Chuckie, me and Kimi aren't jumping off any bridges. Now, we've gots to figure out what we can give this Bob and Mike person instead of two million dollars in order to get Tommy back." Said Zack, as his fantasy began.
"With the power to read, I'm going to live up to the super powers of my most favoritest super hero ever, and change the ransom note so I can get Tommy back." Said Zack, now dressed as Super Why with blonde hair.
"So what are we gonna change in the note?" Kimi asked.
"Well, got any ideas?" Zack asked.
Kimi pulled her library card out of the pocket of her dress.
"How about my library card." Suggested Kimi.
"That's a great idea! How about it everybody, we all give our library cards over to Bob and Mike, and they give Tommy back to us in exchange." Said Zack.
"I don't know you guys, our library cards are our tickets to the world. Without them, won't we float away to outside space?" Chuckie asked.
"Maybe, but we'd at least have Tommy with us. And isn't our friend more aportant than some dumb old library cards?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, I guess so. All right, I'll do it." Said Chuckie, pulling his library card out of his pocket and holding it up.
"Me too." Said Dil, as he pulled his library card out of his diaper.
Everyone who had library cards held them up in the air, and bumped them together, as if they were making a toast, agreeing that they'd trade in their library cards once they got to the Library of Congress later on that same day. It was at this point when Zack's Super Why fantasy ended, returning him back to the reality of the Jefferson Memorial reflecting pool, appearing as his usual toddler self, opposed to a blond version of Super Why.
"So what do we do now?" Susie asked.
"For now, we enjoy the memories our families wanna see, we'll resume, Operation, Get Tommy Back, when we get to the library." Said Zack, as he placed the fake sandwich and ransom note into his shorts pocket for safe keeping, then went and found his aunt.
By the time everybody caught up with their families, everybody had decided on which memorials they were interested in visiting. Wanting to stay with their partners, except for Lil, who wasn't interested in sticking with Jesse anymore, only she was sad to learn she had no choice, when the Barrows, Devilles and Hazel's family all decided to take a look at the Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial, while the Finsters, Pickles, and Wehrenbergs all decided to go check out the George Mason Memorial, and everybody else, decided to go check out the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
Meanwhile, Tommy was growing hot and tired, as it was a very hot sunny day, and there wasn't a lot of shade at these memorials, so Tommy made himself comfortable behind a statue of George Mason at that particular exhibit, peaking out from behind it from time to time, to see if he spotted anybody he recognized. Of course, by this time, Bob and Mike were wandering all over the bulk of the memorials, trying to find Tommy, as upon leaving the Jefferson Memorial building, they saw that Tommy had left the reflecting pool, causing them to run after him.
"Well, at least come this afternoon, we won't have to fool with this kid no more." Mike muttered under his breath.
"That is, if they bring our two-million dollars." Bob muttered back at Mike, as they continued to stroll through the memorials, pretending to act as tourests, while in reality, they were frantically trying to find Tommy, before somebody else did, and possibly turned them in for kidnapping.
Over at the Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial, Jen had caught up with the crew over there, to see if anybody had any questions. She also explained to the kids a little bit about Franklin D Roosevelt.
"Franklin D Roosevelt was the thirty-second President of the United States, serving in office for four terms, this President oversaw such events in our nation's history, such as the Great Depression, and the second World War." Explained Jen to everybody touring this exhibit, as the Devilles, Barrows, and Hazel's family, looked around at the exhibits.
The toddlers were more or less, still traveling together, Jesse and Lil, giving one another the silent treatment at this point, while Phil and Hazel were striking up conversation from time to time. While wandering around the Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial, Hazel and Phil spotted a statue of Franklin sitting next to one of those old fashion radios from the 1930's.
"Wow! That's the biggest talking music box I ever sawed! Biggerer than Tommy's grandpa's!" Said Phil.
"Oh wow cool!" Said Hazel.
Phil turned to Hazel and nodded with a smile.
"Say Phil." Said Hazel.
"What." Phil said.
"Do you miss Tommy?" Hazel asked.
"Yeah, I think we all miss Tommy. But it's been nice getting to know a girl as sweet and as prettiful as you." Said Phil with a grin, as he gazed passionately into Hazel's eyes.
"Thanks, it's been nice getting to know you too. As for Tommy, I don't know him all that well. I only metted him briefly at Rosie's birthday party a few months back. Poor guy gotted sick on the cake and ice cream." Said Hazel.
"Yeah Tommy tolded us all about that." Said Phil.
"Yeah, I just hope Tommy is back with us by tonight. Rosie is spose to arrive today. She's my bestest friend, and she's always talking about how cute Tommy is and how she wants to marry him someday. I just hope they can do that, and it isn't too late." Said Hazel.
"I wouldn't worry Hazel, I'm sure we'll get Tommy back." Said Phil.
"I hope so, I don't wanna see my bestest friend Rosie cry. And just in case the library cards don't work, I've gots us a backup plan." Said Hazel with a smile.
"Oooh, what's your backup plan? Tell me! Tell me!" Jesse chanted while jumping up and down, overhearing their conversation, eager to hear what Hazel had in mind, if by chance, Bob and Mike didn't accept everybody's library cards.
"You know Jesse, it's rude to listen in on other peoples conversations." Said Lil.
"You're one to talk, you've been rude to me ever since we were paired up as partners. Why don't you just, leave me alone." Said Jesse, as he stuck his tongue out at Lil.
Lil just gave him an angry glare, as she too stuck her tongue out at him, then turned back to watch where she was going.
"Come on Lil, Jesse was only curious. Do you have to be mean to him like that?" Hazel asked.
"Yes, yes I did. And if you don't stop hanging around my brother, I'll start being mean to you too, so you'd better watch out." Snapped Lil, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Well I'm sorry Lil, but I like Phil, and Phil likes me, so just, get use to it. And as for you Jesse, sorry, that's for me to know, and for you to find out, should we need it." Said Hazel.
Jesse let out a small moan with a sigh, as he, Lil, Phil and Hazel continued to explore the Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial with their families, more or less, in silence at this point.
Over at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Bobby and Susie were exploring the exhibit together, when they caught up to Bobby's mom Martha, who was eyeing one of the plaques that had some information on it about Martin Luther King Jr. when she turned around, to see Bobby and Susie hanging together.
"Oh, there you two are. Enjoying this g golly exhibit now?" Martha asked.
"We sure are Mrs. Generic." Susie replied with a smile.
"You know, it's thanks to that Martin Luther King Jr. now that you two are able to play together." Explained Martha.
"It is?" Bobby asked.
"Oh yes. He had this dream, that black and white people, could live in harmony together, side by side don't ya know." Said Martha, as Bobby started to have a daydream about the whole thing.
In Bobby's daydream, he and Susie were in a huge room, complete with two televisions, two water fountains, and two tables filled with bowls of cerial. Bobby, curious about the purple cerial that was turning the milk in the bowl purple, approached that table.
"Hey! Mind if I have some of your cerial?" Bobby asked.
"Sorry, but this Reptar cerial is only for black people like me. Your cerial is over on the table to your left, it turns milk green." Said Susie, who pointed to a table filled with white kids, with an empty space for Bobby to go and sit, where his bowl of Reptar cerial sat, it being filled with the green cerial that everybody is familiar with.
"Oh wow, I didn't know there were two Reptars." Bobby said under his breath, as he took his seat at the table, where he ate his Reptar cerial.
Then, after he finished, he looked up to see two televisions. On the one closest to him, it showed the green Reptar, fighting some giant cockroaches, while on the TV over Susie's table, it was a purple Reptar with a blue tongue, as he was in some getto community, fighting some giant misquitos.
"I wanna watch Reptar vs. the Giant Miscitos!" Bobby exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, but that show is only for the black community." Said another kid at his table.
"Awe, you mean because we're white, we're stuck having to watch Reptar fight a bunch of giant cockroaches? Eeewww! Gross!" Bobby said, a look of disgust on his face.
The other kids at the table nodded, as they returned their attention to their television screen. Then, feeling thirsty, Bobby got out of his seat, and approached two water fountains on the other side of the room, one was black, while the other one was silver.
"Which one is mine?" Bobby asked.
"The silver one, Dweeb." He heard Derek say from somewhere behind him.
At this point, Bobby slammed his fist down on his water fountain, turned around, and now, dressed as Martin Luther King Jr. was when giving his famous speech, he cleared his throat, and made an announcement to everybody.
I have a dream. That's right people, I have a dream! A dream where black and white kids can play together. Share the same water fountain, eat the same Reptar cerial, and watch the same Reptar movies. I have a dream that Reptar will be green, not one green dinosaur and one purple dinosaur. I have a dream that we can all be friends, go to school together, and have fun together, no matter what color we are. Whether we're black, white, red or blue, you can be friends with me, and I can be friends with you. Let freedom ring people, let, freedom, ring." Said Bobby, as he concluded his speech, causing both, the white kids and Susie and the black kids, to clap and cheer for him.
At this point, Bobby came out of his daydream, returning him to the reality of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, as he continued to explore the exhibit with Susie.
"You know what Susie, I'm glad Martin Luther's dream came true and we get to be friends." Said Bobby.
"Me too Bobby, you're a lot of fun to play with, and it's been great being your next-door neighbor over the last year or so." Said Susie with a grin, as they continued to walk together, side by side, holding hands.
Over at the George Mason Memorial, Chuckie, Dil, Zack, Kimi and Angelica along with their families were exploring this exhibit, when Jen came over to explain a little bit about George Mason to the group. Of course, Dil and Chuckie were getting bored, so they took a walk around the small Memorial, as Dil proceeded to walk backwards, holding on to Chuckie's hand.
"Hey Chuckie, do you think this Bob and Mike person might just be aliums from outside space?" Dil asked.
"Dil, there's no such things as aliums." Said Chuckie.
"I think there are, I mean, who else would eat a plastic sandwich with paper inside?" Dil asked.
"Yeah, that's true. And do you really have to walk backwards? It's really starting to bug me." Said Chuckie.
"Yes I do C man." Said Dil.
"Why?" Chuckie asked.
"Cuz walking frontwards is just, too boring. Everybody does it. I like being different." Said Dil, as Chuckie spotted something out of the corner of his eye behind one of the statues of George Mason.
"Oh my gosh! It's Tommy! Hey Tommy." Chuckie called.
"Chuckie!" Tommy called from behind the statue.
"I heard it too, but where is he?" Dil asked.
"Well, maybe if you turndid around, you'd see where I was pointing." Said Chuckie, as he grabbed at Dil's shoulders, and spun him around, fixing his head on the statue where Tommy's head was poking out from behind it.
"We're coming Tommy." Chuckie called, but as he ran over towards the statue, he tripped on his untied shoelaces, falling to the ground.
"Outch." Chuckie cried.
"You ok?" Dil asked, as he came over and helped Chuckie up.
"Yeah, I guess so." Said Chuckie.
Unfortunately, no sooner had Tommy called Chuckie's name, when Bob and Mike, who were still searching for him, overheard his babbling of Chuckie's name, as Bob reached out from a plantern where he had perched himself near where Tommy was peaking out from behind the statue of George Mason.
"Quick! Grab him! Now!" Mike hissed softly into Bob's ear.
Bob grabbed up Tommy by his shirt collar, and the two criminals and Tommy were running out of the Memorials faster than a speeding bullet. Once they had reached the outskirts of the Jefferson Memorial, they stopped to catch their breath, after looking around to see that the area was currently deserted.
"So, where to now Mikey?" Bob asked.
"To the Library of Congress you idiot, let's go." Said Mike, as they headed off in the direction of the Library of Congress.
Back at the George Mason Memorial, once Chuckie had stood up and brushed himself off, he and Dil approached the statue where they heard Tommy's voice come from behind, and saw his head poke out from behind, only to find nobody there.
"I know this is where I saw Tommy." Said Chuckie.
"Yeah, me too, but he's not here." Said Dil.
They searched the rest of the Memorial, but no sign of Tommy anywhere.
Finally, Chuckie gave up, as he sat down on the hot pavement, as the sun was beating down hard, as it was nearly noon time, as he started to cry. Overhearing his cries, Zack and Kimi rushed over.
"Awe, what's wrong Chuckie?" Kimi asked, putting a hand on her brother's shoulder.
"Tommy's, not, here." Chuckie said through his sobs.
"Of course Tommy's not here." Said Angelica, as she passed by, overhearing what Chuckie said to Kimi.
"Uh, Yucky, me and Chubby sawed Tommy, but then, he mysteriously disappeardid. To where? I don't know." Said Dil.
"First of all, you're going to be two-years-old soon, so quit calling me Yucky. My name's Angelica. Secondly, whatever you two saw, was some dumb statue of some guy named George Mason, not Tommy." Angelica griped.
"But Angelica, we saw him." Chuckie cried.
"Yeah right. That's why you guys will always be nothing but dumb babies, cuz you can't even tell the difference between Tommy and a statue of some famous dead guy." Said Angelica, as she stomped off, no longer interested in playing this game with the babies.
"I did too see Tommy." Chuckie shouted, but Angelica had wandered off way too far for her to hear him.
"Don't listen to her Chuckie, after all, she doesn't even know how to spell her own name, let alone how to keep a promise. And Angelica thinks she's gonna become President? Ha, dream on." Said Zack, who had caught up to the group at this point.
"Well you believe me Zack and Kimi, don't you?" Chuckie asked.
"I believe you." Said Kimi.
"Well, I'd like to believe you, but I'd have an easier time believing you if I saw it." Said Zack.
"Why should I listen to you Zack? After all, you're the reason why Tommy went missing in the firstest place." Snapped Chuckie.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Said Zack.
"Yes you do. You convinced me to not go with Tommy into that dark, scary, high up airduct thing. Had I gone with him, we'd all still be together." Said Chuckie.
"I don't know Chuckie, it might be a good thing you didn't. Then two of you would be missing. And besides, you didn't have to listen to me, but you chose to listen to me instead of following after Tommy." Said Zack.
"Only cuz of your comment about us not being babies forever, and I shouldn't follow Tommy for the rest of my life. Let me tell you something Zack. You may be our friend now, but me and Tommy have a history that spans farther back than you'll ever know, and I'm not gonna let you ruin things for us. You nearly did over a year ago when he gotted that Gray Plague, and you showed up at my Birthday party and Tommy didn't, and later, at the Reptar show, when he lefted early, you tried to get me to think that The Gray Plague changes a person." Said Chuckie.
"And I was wrong about those things." Said Zack, before Chuckie cut him off.
"And now, here you are, doing it again. What is wrong with you anyway? You jealous of me and Tommy or something?" Chuckie asked, now sounding angry.
"I'm not jealous of nobody. If I wasn't mistaken, I'd think you're just mad that I'm spending more time with your sister now, and you don't like it, so you're using Tommy's missing as an excuse to yell at me." Said Zack.
"That's not true at all." Said Chuckie.
"Oh come on Chuckie. Just wait and see. Someday, should me and Kimi carve our initials into the wall of your garage, you're gonna see it, and go nuts." Said Zack.
"Well you're not gonna carve your initials into no wall of my garage, cuz for one, you can't write yet, and two, I'm not gonna let you. Come on Kimi." Said Chuckie, as he grabbed a firm hold of Kimi's arm, and drug her over to where their parents were eyeing another part of the George Mason Memorial, and thanking Jen for her time with the group, explaining things and taking them on a tour of the memorials.
"Come on Dil." Zack muttered, as he took Dil by the hand, and they caught up to his aunt, and Dil's parents, who had found a nearby bench, and were sitting down, drinking some water they had brought with them, to quench their thirst.
"I'm glad to not be around Chuckie no more. He keeps getting fed up with my weird ways of walking backwards and talking about aliums." Whispered Dil into Zack's ear.
"No offense Dil, but while I understand you're different, at times, you get on my nerves too. So please, just, do me a favor? Try to be normen for a bit? Please?" Zack begged into Dil's ear.
"No, I like being the way I am, and you're not gonna change me. And I'm sure Tommy wouldn't appreciate you putting me down." Argued Dil back at Zack.
"Yeah well Tommy's not here. But once he's back, you can have your brother all to yourself, cuz seems as nobody wants me to have any fun, and I'm only trying to help find Tommy and get him back, but the rest of you are too busy arguing about girls and boys, and stupid stuff, really, am I the only one with a rational head on their shoulders?" Zack shouted at the top of his lungs, as Bobby, Susie, and all of the other toddlers had caught up with him at this point, their parents, siblings, Peter, and Taffy and her band, all congregated with Celeste, Stu and Didi on the bench, trying to decide where to have their picnic lunch.
Of course, nobody answered Zack, they all just gave him some kind of look that said, you may be intelligent, but you're not trying hard enough.
"Fine, give me the silent treatment, and be annoyed that I'm spending too much time with Kimi and didn't give you back your sister sooner and take alium backwards boy off of your hands, but I think Kimi is cute, and nothing you say Chuckie, is gonna change that. So just, leave me alone!" Zack snapped, pointing a finger at Chuckie.
"Fine! I will." Chuckie snapped back, as he turned his back on Zack, and approached his mom, taking her by the hand.
"There you are Chuckie, ready to go get some lunch?" Kira asked.
Chuckie looked up at his mom, smiled and nodded, as he was starting to grow hungry.
"Really Zack? You think I'm cute?" Kimi asked.
"Yes Kimi, I do. Also, your bubbly attitude is helping me to stay sane on this trip, as I feel bad enough that Tommy went missing, but whenever I hear your chipper voice or see your smile, something just, tells me, that everything is going to be ok." Said Zack, as he smiled at Kimi.
"Awe, that is so sweet!" Said Kimi, as she ran up to Zack and gave him a hug.
"So Dil, ready to go?" Zack asked, as he turned to Dil, who now had his arms crossed, a hurt expression on his face.
"Yeah, but not with you." Said Dil.
"Why not?" Zack asked.
"Yeah don't you like us anymore?" Kimi asked.
"Kimi? Yes. Zack? No. Sorry, but what you said back there, calling me those names, well, it really hurt." Said Dil.
Before Zack could say anything, his aunt scooped him up and put him into his stroller, as Didi strapped Dil into his stroller, the other families with their kids strapped into strollers came along, as they all decided to find a picnicking spot between the Jefferson Memorial and the Library of Congress, to eat some lunch of sandwiches they had all made up that morning with stuff they bought to eat and make sandwiches with at the hotel, to save money on food a little bit, since they knew what they ordered at the baseball game and on the trip home might get expensive.
Well they found a spot with some shady trees, sat down, unpacked the sandwiches and water bottles they brought with them, and while all of the adults had a friendly conversation with one another, the kids more or less, ate in silence.
And this, ends chapter 5. So, what will happen at the Library of Congress? Will trading in their library cards get Tommy back? Will the gang speak to one another again? Or is it up to each one of them separately, to try to get Tommy back in their own way. We'll find out, in the next chapter, so please, do stay tuned!