“Oh I’m definitely coming down to the station! I don’t believe this kid is changing his story now! Is he changing his story so my family and I can drop the lawsuit against his family?!”
“Marcus and his family claim they’re not doing this so your family can drop the lawsuit against them Miss Margarita. They said it’s something that you and your family really need to know about and it’s something that you and your family really need to hear and you all need to hear it directly from Marcus himself!”
“Okay, I will get my family down there!”
“Okay Miss Margarita. And Miss Margarita, please do me a favor?”
“A favor? What favor?”
“You don’t have to bring Diane D to the station with you.”
“I don’t have to bring Diane to the station? Why not? It’s about her isn‘t it?”
“I know it’s about her, but Marcus claims he’s afraid of Diane D!”
“What! What do you mean ‘Marcus is afraid of Diane‘?!”
“He claims after that terrifying ordeal he went through with Diane D up in that third floor school hallway that night, he says he doesn’t ever want to see Diane D or be near her again!”
“He doesn’t ever want to see Diane or be near her again?!”
“That’s what he’s saying!”
“Now he’s making her look bad by claiming that he’s afraid of her!”
“No Miss Margarita I don’t think Marcus is trying to make your granddaughter Diane D look bad! He has his reasons why he is afraid of her! That’s why you and your family need to come to the station so you and your family can hear it directly from Marcus himself why he’s afraid of Diane D!”
“Okay Officer Martell, I’ll bring my family to the station and leave Diane home. See you in a little while.” Margarita hangs up the telephone receiver. She quickly gets up from her chair and hurries towards the doorway.
A few hours later, Jessica, Vanessa, Principal Cole and Officer Martell are standing aside in the back room of the police station as Margarita, Mary, Barry, Tomas, Tonio, Marilyn, Nicolas and Michael shockingly surround Marcus in disbelief as Marcus sits nervously in a chair holding his crutches. Marcus had just finished telling Mary, Margarita, Barry, Tomas, Tonio, Marilyn, Nicolas and Michael his terrifying ordeal between himself and Diane D as Mary shouts to him, “My God I don’t believe this! You’re saying that Diane attacked you on that third floor school hallway that night?!”
“Yes Ma’am,” Marcus nervously says.
“And you’re saying that it was your blood that we all saw on the walls and on the floor in the school hallway?!” Margarita shouts.
“Yes that was my blood up on that third floor school hallway!”
“Oh my God.”
“And you’re saying that Diane refused to let you come back towards Principal Cole’s office and held you hostage in that third floor hallway!” Mary shouts, “that’s why she never came back to Principal Cole’s office?”
“Yes that’s why she never came back!” Marcus cries and shouts. “That‘s why she never answered her cell phone when it was ringing, because she was busy holding me hostage! That‘s why I never answered my cell phone when my mom and my grandma were calling it, because Diane D refused to let me retrieve my cell phone when she kung-fu kicked it right out of my hand!”
“And you threw those objects that we all saw laying on that third floor school hallway at Diane to snap her out of some trance you said she was in?!” Barry shouts. “That’s why she wind up with those bruises on her body, because of you?!”
“Yes sir.”
“And you said Diane refuse to let you go when you were trying to get away from her?” Tonio asks.
“Yes sir.”
“And you said when you finally got far away from Diane, she ran down the hallway after you then you ran into the back stairwell?” Michael asks.
“Yes sir.”
“Then when you got halfway down the second flight of steps, you heard Diane’s footsteps jumping and charging down the staircase after you?!”
“Yes, I heard her footsteps jumping and charging down the staircase right after me! Then I reached the first floor and ran right out the stairwell then ran into the first floor hallway! That’s when I ran into the security guards!”
“My God this is so unbelievable!”
“How do we know you’re not making this story up young man?!” Tomas shouts. “You already made up the story about the little boy who has leukemia! You might be telling us this story so we can drop the lawsuit against you guys!”
“We’re not telling you this so you can drop the lawsuit sir,” Vanessa cries. “We figure you all would think that, but it’s not true! We’re telling you this because you all need to know what Diane D did! From what we heard, Diane D doesn’t even know or remember how she got those bruises on her body!”
“No she doesn’t!”
“Then it has to make you all wonder, if Diane D doesn’t know or remember how she got those bruises on her own body, and if she doesn’t remember kicking and banging the school lobby door wide open, bursting into the school lobby yelling at Marcus acting like she was about to attack Marcus right there while he was laying on the stretcher and she doesn‘t remember pounding her fist right into the dashboard of your van and wind up breaking it, then what else doesn’t she remember that night?! Maybe it’s a possibility that Diane D could have done something herself on that third floor school hallway that night and not know or remember it! And if it’s true that she attacked Marcus and not remember it, we think maybe she should get professional help before she hurts someone else and not remember it!”
“My God this is crazy, I don’t believe this!” Michael shouts. “So you’re saying that Diane has no idea, that the bruises on her body came from your grandson!”
“Yes that’s exactly what I’m saying!”
“Principal Cole, are there any video or surveillance cameras in that school’s hallways?” Tonio asks. “Were the video or surveillance cameras on in the school hallway that night?”
“No,” Principal Cole says. “The surveillance cameras weren‘t on that night.”
“So there’s no way for this kid to prove that Diane attacked him?” Marilyn asks.
“I’m afraid not. Right now, we can only go by Marcus’ word. Too bad we can’t go by Diane D’s word because she remembers nothing about attacking him.”
“Officer Martell?” Nicolas says. “Is there anyway this kid can take a lie detector test?”
“Take a lie detector test?” Officer Martell says. “You want this kid to take a lie detector test?”
“Yes I do!”
“Why? You don’t believe him?”
“It’s not the point whether or not I believe him. The point is, he’s accusing my sister of assault! That‘s a serious offense he‘s putting on my sister!”
“But your sister did assault me Mister,” Marcus tearfully says. “I’m not lying about it.”
“But my sister would never harm a child!”
“She did harm and attack me!”
“Then how come she doesn’t remember it?!”
“Because like I said, she was in some sort of trance! She seemed like she might have been asleep!”
“Asleep?” Barry shouts. “You mean sleepwalking?!”
“Yes sleepwalking! That’s why I don’t think she remembers attacking me!”
“Listen young man, my family and I have caught Diane sleepwalking several times in her life.”
“You have?”
“Yes we have. But whether Diane’s sleepwalking or not, she would never stoop to something like that, kung-fu kicking a child! Diane loves children. That’s why she wanted to and insisted on coming to your school in the first place when she read your false letter about this little boy who has leukemia!”
“That’s right!” Nicolas shouts. “But let me tell you something kid. If any of you are thinking about pressing charges against my sister, then we’re going to press charges against you, because you just admitted to all of us, that you threw those heavy objects at my sister, that’s how she got those bruises on herself!”
“We weren’t thinking about pressing charges against Diane D sir,” Jessica cries.
“I sure hope you weren‘t thinking about it Miss because this whole thing is both of your sons‘ fault! They‘re the ones who sent my family’s organization the phony letter about some little boy who has leukemia. We all saw the letter. We read the letter right along with Diane. Now it‘s going to be hard to believe anything your sons say! It‘s like the boy who cried wolf!”
“I understand that! But this horrible incident that happened between Marcus and your sister is something we feel is necessary for you all to know about!”
“Well now that we all know about it, we have to let Diane herself know about it!” Margarita says. “We have to let her know what this kid just told us and see if she can get any memory of what happened on that third floor school hallway that night and see if she remembers anything about attacking Marcus!”
“How is Diane D by the way?” Principal Cole asks. “Does she still have the bruises on her body?”
“Most of the bruises has faded away. She still has a little bit and some scars on her face.”
“She does?”
“Yes she does. She‘s still going through therapy to get some strength back into her feet.”
“She is?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry all that happened to her.”
“Thanks. And we’re sorry for what this kid has gone through too.”
“Thank you,” Jessica says.
Barry looks down at Marcus and says, “Young man, we’re going to try to get to the bottom of this and speak to Diane and see if she remembers anything about attacking you, okay?”
“Okay Mister,” Marcus says.
Barry turns to his family and says, “Come everybody, we have to go home and talk to Diane because this is crazy.”
“It sure is,” Mary says as she, Margarita, Tomas, Tonio, Marilyn, Nicolas and Michael turn towards the door.
Barry turns to Vanessa and Jessica and says, “We’ll be back in touch once we get some information from Diane.”
“Okay, thank you sir,” Vanessa says.
Margarita turns to Officer Martell and says, “We’ll call you Officer Martell and Principal Cole.”
“Okay Miss Margarita,” Officer Martell and Principal Cole says as they, Marcus, Vanessa and Jessica sadly watch Margarita, Mary, Barry, Tomas, Tonio, Marilyn, Nicolas and Michael head to the doorway and leave the backroom.
The next day, Margarita, Mary, Barry, Tomas, Tonio, Marilyn, Nicolas and Michael are in the back room of the police station again partially surrounding Jessica, Vanessa, Principal Cole, Officer Martell and Marcus, who is sitting on a chair holding his crutches again as Mary says, “Yesterday, we all spoke to Diane about what Marcus told us!”
“Y‘all spoke to Diane D about it?” Principal Cole says.
“Yes we did.”
“What did she say?”
“She was shocked and furious!”
“She was?”
“Of course she was! Diane said she don’t know what the hell Marcus is talking about! She said she never attacked Marcus on that third floor school hallway!”
“What!” Marcus, Vanessa and Jessica shout.
“She said she never attacked him?!” Officer Martell asks.
“Yes she said that!”
“Diane told us all the same thing she told us that night, that she would never in her life attack or harm a child and wants to know why the hell is Marcus lying about her attacking him!” Barry shouts.
“What!” Marcus, Vanessa and Jessica shout.
“She wants to know why I’m lying about her attacking me?” Marcus tearfully says. He turns to Officer Martell, Principal Cole, Vanessa and Jessica and cries, “See? She doesn’t remember!”
“No she doesn’t remember attacking you young man!” Tomas shouts. “Diane got very upset when she heard that you accused her of attacking you by giving you a kung-fu kick and thinks that you’re lying about it! She said how dare you accuse her of something so brutal like that!”
“That’s right!” Margarita shouts. “Diane said even though she was furious when she learned that you and your brother send us a phony letter about the little boy who has leukemia just to get her to come to your school, she said she would never go that far and wind up hurting you or any kid!”
“Oh my Lord, she doesn’t remember!” Marcus cries.
“Listen young man!” Barry says. “Yesterday Diane told all of us that she remembers you confessing to her on the third floor school hallway that night, telling her, that there is no little boy in the school who has leukemia, that he was made up by you and your brother, then she remembers becoming shocked at the news that the little boy who has leukemia doesn’t exist, then she remembers backing away from you! Then she told us she remembers becoming sad while she was backing away from you, then remembers crying while she was backing away from you because she realized that she and all of us were played by you and your brother and realized that she would never see or meet the little boy who has leukemia, then she remembers standing at the edge of the hallway still crying, then she remembers becoming angry at you! She said she remembers angrily staring at you while you were still down the middle of the hallway, then the next thing she remembers is waking up riding in the van with us and having terrible pains all over her body and face! She claims she doesn’t even remember getting into the van with us and she’s still claiming that she doesn’t remember kicking the school lobby door, bursting into the school lobby yelling at you then trying to attack you while you were laying in the stretcher! She said she never saw you in a stretcher!”
“She never saw me in a stretcher?!”
“That’s what she said. When we told Diane how she got the bruises on her body because you confessed to all of us that you threw those buckets, pails, garbage cans and paint cans at her, she was shocked! She says she doesn’t even remember you throwing those objects at her!”
“She doesn’t remember me throwing those objects at her?”
“No! She said she doesn’t remember you throwing anything at her and wants to know why you threw those objects at her, if you did throw those objects at her!”
“If I did throw those objects at her? I did throw those objects at her! I had to throw those objects at her to snap her out of her trance and defend myself from her because she was attacking me and she refused to let me go when I tried to get away from her!”
“Diane said she doesn’t know what you’re talking about by saying she was in a trance and refuse to let you go,” Michael shouts. “She said she was never in any kind of trance up in that school hallway!
“Yes she was! I saw it first hand! She was in a trance! You all said it yourself yesterday that she sleepwalks! How come she didn‘t seem to see or feel the blows when I threw those heavy objects at her and they landed right on her feet?! She never once moved or blinked when I threw those objects at her! Anybody else would have ducked from the objects and screamed in pain if those objects would have hit them and fell on their feet, but not Diane D! She just stood there like she was a mannequin, not moving! Those objects did not affect her at all while she was standing there! It might have affected her later on when she woke up inside your van, but it sure didn‘t affect her while she was standing there on the third floor school hallway that night!” Marcus cries. Everyone sadly looks at Marcus.
“I don’t know what else to do about this whole thing,” Margarita says. “Right now young man, it’s your word against Diane’s word. The only way to get to the bottom of this whole thing is, we’re gonna have to bring Diane here and have you two talk about this face to face!”
“What!” Marcus shouts. “My God please don’t have Diane D come here! I’m afraid of her! That was a very frightened and scary experience I had with her on that third floor school hallway! I still get nightmares about it!”
That’s right!” Vanessa says. “Ever since that night, he be waking up in cold sweats screaming and shouting that Diane D is coming to get him, Diane D is coming to get him! It’s not easy to see him going through that!”
“Well who’s fault is that Mrs. Whitley?!” Nicolas shouts. “Your grandsons asked for this by sending that phony letter to our organization!”
“We know Marcus and his brother sent your organization that phony letter, but they’ve learned from it! And Marcus is also paying a terrible price for it too! Look at the physical pain he‘s still going through, from what Diane D did to him!”
“And look at the physical pain DIANE is still going through, from what your grandson did to HER!”
“We’re so sorry that this happened to Diane D!”
“And we’re sorry that this happened to your grandson Mrs. Whitley,” Margarita says. “We really are.”
Principal Cole then says, “Marcus, if you don’t want Diane D to come here so you and her can talk this whole thing out face to face, then how are we going to get to the bottom of this?”
“I don’t know!” Marcus cries and shouts. “All I know is that I don’t want to be near Diane D! I don’t want to be in the same room with her! I don’t even want to be in the same building with her, I’m afraid she might go into a state of trance again and attack me again!”
“Young man!” Barry shouts. “Diane is not going to attack you if we bring her here to talk with you!”
“She might! I’m afraid that entity might just come back and take over her body again and attack me again!”
“No entity is going to take over Diane young man!”
“Yes it is!”
“Listen kid, we must have you and Diane talk with each other!”
“No I don’t want to talk to her! I don’t want to see her! I don’t want her to attack me again!”
“I’m telling you kid, Diane is not going to attack you! Would you feel better seeing and talking to Diane if there was a thick window glass between you two?!”
“A thick window glass?! That’s not going to make a difference, I would still see her! She and I would still be in the same room! Please, I don’t ever want to see Diane D at all! If I ever lay eyes on Diane D again, it’s going to bring back bad memories for me! Please don’t make me see her, please don‘t!”
“You need to tell Diane face to face what you said she did!” Nicolas shouts, “since you’re the one making these assault accusations against her!”
“They’re not accusations sir, she did attack me! She just doesn’t remember any of it!”
“Okay, since you’re so afraid of Diane and don’t want to see her at all, why don’t we just call her up on the telephone right now and have you two talk with each other over the phone.”
“No! I don’t even want to hear her voice! If you call her up on the telephone right now, I swear I’m going to run right out of here!”
“Run out of here?! Listen, you can’t be afraid of Diane forever!”
“Oh yes I can! From the experience I had with her, I believe there was a monster or beast inside your sister!”
“A monster or beast inside my sister. You really think so.”
“I know so!”
“I see. So obviously, you still believe in monsters, don’t you kid!”
“Sir I am not making this up, I am telling you the truth! There was an entity inside your sister! I felt the presence of that entity!”
“You felt the presence of an entity?” Michael asks. “What entity?”
“I don’t know! All I know, is that I felt and sensed the presence of an evil soul or evil spirit up in that third floor school hallway! It’s hard to describe that feeling, because it‘s a feeling that cannot be explained, but I know what I felt and I felt and sensed that evil soul or evil spirit inside of Diane D‘s body and that evil soul or spirit was not from this world!”
“Okay young man, calm down,” Barry calmly says. “If you’re that afraid of Diane, you don’t have to see her or talk to her on the phone. We won’t bring her here or call her up.”
“Oh thank you sir, thank you so much.”
“But I’m going to ask you again. Are you sure and positive, that Diane attacked you on that third floor school hallway that night, that’s how you got these injuries?!”
“Yes sir she attacked me, that‘s how I got these injuries! I‘m willing to take a lie detector test to prove it!”
Barry and the rest of Diane D’s family sadly look at Marcus.
“Listen everybody,” Officer Martell says. “There’s only one thing left to do about this whole thing!”
“And what’s that Officer Martell?” Barry sighs.
“We have to have an investigation about this case because Marcus is saying one thing, and Diane D is saying another. We have to investigate to find out what really happened on that third floor school hallway that night. We‘re going to get started on the investigation right away.”
“Okay Officer Martell.”
“Well since none of us really know the truth about what happened on that third floor school hallway that night,” Margarita says, “we might have to temporary ban Diane from performing at the next concert.”
“What!” Nicolas, Michael and Marcus shout.
“You’re going to ban Diane from performing at the next concert Grandma?!” Nicolas asks.
“For right now,” Margarita says, “pending the investigation.”
“But Grandma, Diane said she never attacked this kid!”
“And he says she did.”
“So you’re going to believe this kid over Diane?!”
“It’s not that I believe this kid over Diane, Nicolas. We don’t really know the truth right now! Most likely, Marcus and Diane could both be telling the truth!”
“Grandma, how can they both be telling the truth if they’re both saying different things?!”
“Well in Diane’s mind, she probably thinks she’s telling the truth. It can be a possibility that Diane did attack Marcus and not remember it!