Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter twenty-nine of "Turnaround." I will go without a stalking incident for a time. I want to show the Spengler family and their friends at peace before the stalking starts up again. Stay tuned for chapter thirty.

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Chapter 29: Crazy Ranting/Returning Home

Janine sat at her desk at the Firehouse. She was talking on the phone to a customer. She had it balanced on her shoulder. She jotted down notes on a notepad. Phoebe watched her closely while sitting in a chair before the desk. She folded her hands and laid them in her lap. Janine took hold of the phone while nodding slowly.

"I will let the Ghostbusters know about your situation when they get back. I don't know how long that will be as they are dealing with a haunting right now," Janine said calmly. She rolled her eyes when the caller started yelling. "Just don't go in the basement. Leave the ghost alone. Try to have some patience. We have been dealing with a number of hauntings over the past year. Thank you."

Janine hung up the phone and grabbed her forehead. She let out an annoyed groan. Phoebe leaned forward somewhat. She raised her eyebrows when her friend looked at her.

"It astounds me how impatient people have become now," Janine said while throwing up her hands. "They want everything done right away. When that doesn't happen, they accuse you of bringing bad customer service."

"Mom, Dad, Trevor, and I recall many times when the intercom called for customer assistance twice in just five minutes at the Summerville Walmart," Phoebe said and scoffed. "A few times had only two minutes pass in between announcements."

"That is crazy. Retail workers can't be expected to run to meet the customer needing help. They could accidentally knock over other customers and make them mad," Janine explained.

"Those customers don't care. They want help at that very moment," Phoebe said and mumbled obscenities in Spanish. "It is as if they say 'Screw everyone else. I am more important!' They are pathetic."

"You got that right, darling," Janine agreed. "People with such an attitude are destined for loneliness."

"Like Dino and Mina," Phoebe said bluntly.

"Exactly," Janine agreed, giving a sharp nod. "He had no right calling this place demanding to speak to his ex-wife."

"He and Mina followed Podcast and me around. Either one of them did the same to Trevor and Lucky. This was all on the same day," Phoebe said, disgust showing in her voice. "I never thought this would happen to us."

"No one does," Janine admitted and smacked her lips. "Celebrity stalkers are the worst. They can be quite possessive of their targets. If the celebrities won't give them a chance, they may resort to the 'If I can't have them, then no one can' attitude and try to kill them."

"They are so dangerous that it makes my head spin," Phoebe said, shuddering in fear.

The phone started ringing. Janine and Phoebe looked at it and swallowed hard. They felt their bodies shake a little bit. Janie moved her hand toward it. She picked it up in the middle of the second ring. She put it to her ear.

"Ghostbusters," Janine said.

"Oh, it's you again," Dino snapped.

"What in the hell are you doing calling the Firehouse for the second time this morning?" Janine yelled in much anger.

"I was hoping Callie would be the one to answer," Dino responded fiercely. "It had to be you."

She gritted her teeth. "I have news for you. Callie is not here. She is handling a ghostbust with her husband and two friends. I am not telling you when she will be back."

"You should because I want to talk to her right now," Dino demanded and let out a loud snort.

"I am not," Janine responded in defiance. She flared her nostrils while tapping her foot fast. "The landline has never been for personal calls. It has always been for ghostbusting emergencies."

"It should be free for personal calls," Dino insisted.

"It can't be because someone who is dealing with a ghost can't reach us. That is what you are doing right now," Janine shouted and curled her hand into a fist. "You are so selfish that you can't see the forest for the trees."

"Callie is the selfish one. She destroyed my bond with my son," Dino retorted with a snarl.

"That was your fault, not hers!" Janine yelled.

He hissed. "You better tell me where—"

Phoebe grunted frustratingly and reached over. She snatched the phone out of Janine's hand. She placed it to her ear. She tightened her grip on it, her breathing hard and heavy.

"Hello, Daddy," Phoebe said mockingly. "This is Phoebe, your little girl."

"Phoebe, I had no idea you were there," Dino responded in surprise.

"Yep. I am here," Phoebe commented and clenched her teeth. "You can forget about talking to Mom. She is not interested in anything you have to say."

"You really need to stop being so rude," Dino snapped angrily.

"You're the one who is being rude by holding up the ghostbusting line!" Phoebe yelled and slammed her fist on the arm of her chair. "You don't even care someone could be trying to reach us."

"Then hang up the phone. Allow the call to come through," Dino said sarcastically.

"Nice use of sarcasm," Phoebe retorted and clicked her tongue. "I bet you got that from your parents."

"Yes, I did," Dino admitted.

"I will tell you this right now," Phoebe demanded in much ferocity. She curled her lips into a snarl. "You need to—"

"Since when are in the position to make demands? You're just a kid," Dino leered in a malicious way.

"Fuck that, you bastard," Phoebe shouted and clenched her teeth. "Stop calling the Firehouse! You will be very sorry if you don't!"

Phoebe slammed the phone on its base. Janine jumped in some fright and emitted a quite shudder. Phoebe grabbed her hair and let out a frustrated yell.

"You shouldn't have talked to that jerk. You just gave him more ammo to come after your family," Janine said seriously.

"I know, but I couldn't take it anymore. I had to do something," Phoebe responded, sighing heavily.

"I understand, but you need to be careful. Who knows what that bastard and his bitch are capable of?" Janine asked with a fearful shudder.

"I don't think I want to know," Phoebe commented and cleared her throat. "One thing is clear. We have to tell my parents about this."

Janine cringed. "They won't be happy."

Phoebe exhaled. "I know, but they need to know."

Phoebe rubbed the back of her neck with both hands. She twirled her ankles several times while yawning.

00000

Gary drove Ecto-1 up to the Firehouse around late morning. He brought it to a stop very close to the doors. Oscar and Ronnie undid their seatbelts. They got out to approach them. They opened them, the insides banging against the walls somewhat loudly. They waved their hands toward the inside. Gary took the vehicle inside, bringing to a stop once he was a good distance from the doors. He turned off the engine.

Oscar and Ronnie closed the doors. This sent a loud bang throughout the garage. Gary and Callie undid their seatbelts. They got out and stretched their arms above their heads. Oscar went to the back and opened it. He grabbed the trap before closing it with a loud slam. He laughed in great delight as his sister crossed his arms. She tapped her foot three times. She dug the heel of her white tennis shoe into the floor.

"We had so much fun catching this ghost," Oscar said cheerfully.

"Yes, we did. We may have caused some damage, but it wasn't bad," Ronnie responded.

"We did a lot of cleaning up trash and picking up knocked-over trashcans," Oscar whispered, cringing somewhat. "Some of the trash stunk a bit."

"It saved the residents from having to deal with the aftermath," Gary pointed out as he and Callie came over to the siblings.

"Most of the trash was concentrated on two streets," Callie added and placed her hands on her sides. "The ghost seemed to enjoy terrorizing them the most."

"I imagine Mayor Peck will be laughing his head off when he sees the story about this ghost in the media," Ronnie suggested and snickered under her breath. "He told us the prank-pulling ghosts were funny during my first meeting with him. Of course, he did point out they eventually made life difficult for their targets."

"Like him," Oscar replied and raised his eyebrows.

"Exactly," Gary agreed. "Remember Poltergeist. The ghosts that invaded the Freeling home seemed harmless at first. Then their presence began to intensify. They eventually kidnapped Carole Anne."

"Tangina said there was no death, only a transition to a different sphere of consciousness. Some people actually believe this," Callie explained.

"People will believe the craziest things, Mom," a female voice said.

Gary, Callie, Oscar, and Ronnie spotted Phoebe and Janine standing a short distance away from them. They approached the duo, their hearts skipping a beat or two.

"How long have you and Janine been standing there, Pheebs?" Callie wondered.

"Long enough to hear you talk about Mayor Peck and prank-pulling ghosts," Phoebe admitted. "How did the ghostbust go?"

"It was a little wild. We got pelted with a bit of trash before we caught her," Gary admitted with a laugh. "We helped to clean up the mess."

Janine gave him the notepad. "I hate to tell you this, but you have another assignment. This one is on 556 Lowy Dr. A man named Dennis Hartman is having problems with a ghost in his basement. It keeps moving things around. He has become quite irritated."

Gary cupped his chin in his hand as he eyed Oscar coming to his side. "I see. Oscar, why don't you talk to Trevor and Jeanette about going on this assignment? Callie and I would like to sit this one out."

"Okay," Oscar said and nodded fast. He took the notepad from him before looking at Ronnie. "Come on, Ronnie. Let's go talk to our friend and sister. Before we do, let's get this sucker in the containment unit."

"Sure," Ronnie said excitedly.

Callie blinked. "Be careful when you go out."

Oscar nodded in agreement. He and Ronnie walked away while chatting amongst themselves. Gary, Callie, and Phoebe observed them going downstairs until they were out of sight. Phoebe groaned irritatingly, causing her parents look at her.

"What's wrong, Pheebs?" Gary asked.

"You won't believe what happened while you two were gone," Phoebe said, hints of anger lining her voice.

"What do you mean?" Callie wondered in confusion.

"Your darling ex-husband called the Firehouse demanding to talk to you again," Phoebe responded bitterly.

"What?" Callie yelled shockingly.

Phoebe chuckled humorlessly. "Yep. He kept demanding Janine tell him when you would be back, Mom."

"Phoebe got so angry that she snatched the phone out of my hand and yelled at him," Janine added.

"Phoebe, you shouldn't have done that. You have given him ammo to come after us!" Gary scolded.

"I know, Dad, but I couldn't take any more of his yelling at Janine. It was pissing me off," Phoebe answered, her hands curling into fists. "He makes me want to go over to his and Mina's apartment and punch their lights out."

Gary smirked. "That would be a great idea. Then again, you wouldn't want to face the possibility of jail. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes," Phoebe admitted with a nod.

"It's nice you stood up for Janine. You still shouldn't have talked to him," Callie commented in a stern way.

"I see what you are saying, Mom. It's times like this I wish we had the ability to leap into phones and end up at our rivals' residences to talk sense into them," Phoebe whispered. "We could also slap them silly for pestering us."

Callie laughed. "That'd be cool."

Janine smiled. "It sure would."

Phoebe suppressed a yawn. She tried again with another one, but she couldn't help herself. She rubbed the back of her neck with both hands. She clicked her tongue three times.

"I will tell you one thing. Phoebe scared me a little bit with her ranting. I had never seen her that angry while talking to someone before," Janine admitted and swallowed hard.

"What teen girl wouldn't be angry over her birth father causing trouble?" Gary wondered.

"An oblivious one. That's who," Callie responded and pointed her finger at her head. She moved it in circles. "Dino is definitely cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs."

"I like that cereal. Why don't we get some when we go to the grocery store tomorrow?" Gary asked with a smile.

"That's a good idea," Callie agreed and rubbed her nose. "Let's head upstairs and get some rest."

Phoebe and Janine watched Gary and Callie walk away hand-in-hand. They turned to each other. They started talking about the most recent prank call on the landline.