Mother's Day Weekend

Friday, before dawn, at Witch's Cove Campground.

Lorina: Stop trying to talk me into staying longer.  I want to spend Mother's Day with my daughter and grandson.  

Albus (making puppy-dog eyes): Well, if you must...  

Lorina (laughing): I must.  It's been fun, Albus, but all good things must end. 

Albus: Bummer, right? 

******

Friday,early evening, at The Overlook.

Jason: I'm sorry I didn't have time to take you home, kiddo.  But I'm sure Pocahontas won't mind if you explore the beach down there.  

Moana: I'll be the best dressed beachcomber this town has ever seen.  

Jason:  Sorry if I'm late.  We went to the graveyard so Moana could put some flowers on her mom's grave and got caught in traffic on the way back.  It is okay for her to go down there, right?

Pocahontas: That's what those steps are for.  I was just telling the others that this month's flowers had a Mother's Day card in it.  I'm not even ten years older than Nakoma! 

Jason: Maybe he knows you've generously given them maternal care even though they aren't your children.  I'd hate to think this guys doesn't know you're their sister if he's courting you.

Pocahontas:  Courting me?  I guess that term works as well as any, if a little dated.  

Nova: Mariko and I are going to do an on-line chat with her mom, and then we're taking mine out to lunch.  What do you guys have planned?

Becky:  Nothing.  The kids are totally bummed - this is their first year without theirs, and my parents expect us to fly across the country just for the day.  With Ron and Ginny's money, you know. 

Ben: Claudia wants to go see our mom, but the prison doesn't have visiting hours on Sunday, so we're going tomorrow. I'd just as soon not do it, but the social worker says I need to let Claudia work things out for herself. 

Nova:  Wait, your parents are in jail? 

Ben: Just mom.  Dad is in the cemetery.  I don't want to talk about it. 

******

Sunday morning, the Pike house.

Rose-Grace:  This might be the most unusual breakfast in bed I've ever seen. 

Fred: Taylor said you'd want boring ole bacon and eggs and I said no way.  Step Mommy likes pizza!

Taylor: He was... um... quite insistent.  

Rose-Grace:  Well, he isn't wrong.  I do like pizza, bear claws, and cappachino.  

Fred: Now eat up!  We got lots of fun on the Jenda for today! 

Rose-Grace:  I hope you aren't forgetting Candy.  She did give birth to half of you.

Tanner: She's still on assignment.  We'll have a belated one for her when she gets back.  

Fred: She likes raw fishies, so we can take her to the ornamental buffet.

The Investigation: Part Three

WDLL News interrupts the evening's programming with breaking news.

Anchor: Shock waves ripple through Doll County as Detective Glimma Spiro, is arrested for the recent arson in and around Barbieville.  Federal Agent Lorina Dahl and Barbieville Police Chief Becky Lynch took her into custody about an hour ago.   

Barbieville Mayor Rose-Grace Pike and Chief Lynch speak to the press in a live broadcast.

Rose-Grace:  We were as surprised as anyone at what the investigator found.  We can't speak to the particulars, obviously, but several past arson convictions are now in question.  We can't thank Agent Dahl enough for her assistance.

Reporter: Your department couldn't solve this on their own? 

Lynch: The sheriff's office claimed jurisdiction, as the county agency, and refused to work with us. It wasn't until the mayor requested assistance from a federal agency that we had access to much of the information.  

Another Reporter: Was the sheriff in on it? 

Rose-Grace: There's no reason to believe he's guilty of anything more than being blinded by the detective's stellar reputation.   

*****

Early the next morning, Albus bumps into Lorina in the park.

Albus: There she is, the heroine of Barbieville.  You busted the case wide open in less than a week. 

Lorina: It really was just a matter of getting the evidence to a lab.  The county lab just wasn't equipped to handle it.  Or maybe Spiro was lying about that.  I don't know, but my lab made short work of it.

Albus: I heard the arsonist's hair turned out to be from a wig?

Lorina: Where did you hear that?  (leans closer and whispers) It was from a dog.  

Lorina: I'm going to be in town a couple more days.  Are you busy? 

Albus: Besides work?  No.  What did you have in mind? 

Lorina: Well, I seem to recall you poorly hiding some marijuana... 

Albus:  You're a Fed! 

Lorina: Nope.  I've been retired, again, for about twelve hours.  Besides, the stuff is legal here.  (Albus starts to say something about federal laws.)  Don't make me quote the Tenth Amendment at you.  I promise not to cuff you unless you want me to. 

*****

While Albus is getting better acquainted with Lorina, Rose-Grace sits her boys down for a talk.

Rose-Grace: I understand why you feel as you do about Ryan.  I agree that his discovering an African ancestor is poetic justice, but you need to be careful how you express it.  You say it serves him right, like it's a bad thing. 

Finnick: Well, for him it is.  

Tanner: Is this about setting an example for the younger kids? 

Rose-Grace:  That, too. I'd really hate to see your futures suffer because of out-of-context remark.  To those who don't know you, your reaction to the news looks like you have a problem with blacks.  I just read a news story about a woman who got fired for something akin to this.  

Finnick: Pocahontas isn't going to fire us over this.  She probably agrees. 

Tanner: She won't have a lot of choice if a lot of people boycott Witch's Cove.  And colleges could turn us away.  Albus can only teach us so much, man. 

Rose-Grace: Just be more careful how you express yourself publicly.  

Albus goes to the office for the day's work order.  

Albus: These are lovely.  Who sent them?

Pocahontas: I have no idea.  I've gotten flowers about once a month since Valentine's Day. 

Albus: It's not John? 

Pocahontas: He swears it isn't.  And Ben Kishi said I'm not his type.  

Albus: Well, it isn't me.  You'd feel too much like incest.  

Pocahontas: Gross.  (Prints up the work order and gives it to him.)  I'm not worried about my secret admirer and you shouldn't be, either.  You aren't my daddy.  

Albus: More of a daddy to you than Johnny Appleseed. 

Pocahontas: Yeah, he's too busy planting his seed all over the country.  I've heard it a million times.

Claudia, Moana, and Nikki hang out in the cafeteria before school

Moana: I can't wait to show Jason the thing in our science book about uncles and cousins.

Nikki: What about them?

Moana: Uncles are second degree relatives and cousins are third degree relatives.  If the DNA test says what degree we are, then we'll know which he is to me.  We know he's one or the other, but none of the men in the family will admit to being with Mom. 

Draco: What kind of a slut is your mom? 

Moana: She might have been a slut, but at least she taught me not to eavesdrop and butt in on other people's conversations.

And last but not least, Spiro is being transferred into Doll County Jail. 

Spiro: You know I didn't do this.  

Lynch: I know you're the height and weight of the perp in the footage, you have no alibi for any of the fires, and your entire career is built on arson investigations.   In every one of those cases, the one convicted was the town pariah.  

Spiro:  Do you know what those criminals are gonna do to me?

Lynch: Yeah, but I don't care. 

Spring Has Sprung

The last nine weeks of school begins with a new student coming to Barbieville Middle School.

Claudia and Moana wait for the bus outside Lake Shore Townhomes.

Claudia: I guess it's kind of like any public school.  Some good teachers, some bad ones.  Same with the kids.  

Moana: Thanks for offering to help me out.  Jason promised me we won't move.  Well, I won't have to change schools.  Obviously, when he gets a job, we might have to move out of this complex. 

Claudia: Ben wouldn't qualify to live here if it wasn't for me.  Kids are expensive. 

Ron: Watch out for Draco, though.  He don't like you poor folk and those of us who slum with you.

Moana: Us poor folk?  Dude, you live here, too. 

Ginny: We're independently wealthy, or will be when we're old enough to get our trust funds.  I guess we are technically poor right now...

Ron: Our cousin is the manager here and she's got custody of us.  We picked her because she was the only one who cared more about us than the money.

Ginny: Took a while to convince the courts, though. 

*****

At the high school, McG begins a long-term substitute position in the Language Arts classroom.  

Raven: That's the twins' grandma?  

Tris: Four says she's really strict but otherwise cool.  Hey, did I tell you Zenobia and I decided to find a bigger apartment?  Where should we look?

Raven: How would I know?

Tris: Aren't you and your mom looking for a place?

Raven: Oh, that.  She's been seeing Dean, like, forever.  They decided to get married.  Just a mayor's office thing, though, since Mom isn't Jewish.  I get to share a room with his thirteen year old. 

McG:  Miss Prior, Miss Baxter.  Would you like to share with the class, since your subject matter is clearly more important than mine?  (waits a moment)  As I was saying, Miss Jones left me with instructions regarding your course of study.  It appears that the final exam is to be a stage production of one of the books reviewed this term.  

Raven (whispering):  Please let it be Gone With The Wind.

McG: Given the subject matter, some things have to be changed for a school production, but Miss Jones had a script nearly finished at the time of her accident.  Please consider what roles you'd like to audition for on Friday.

  

Raven (whispering):  Gone With The Wind  please please please

McG: I'm sorry, Miss Baxter, but it will be Jane Eyre.  

*****

After school, at the hospital. 

Tanner:  You aren't Whitney, but you're a lot prettier than Frodo.

Nakoma: Thanks, I think.  The Language Arts play this year is Jane Eyre.  Want me to put you down for any roles? 

Tanner: There's only one guy in that whole book!

Nakoma: You must not have been paying much attention when we read it. And you should be out of the hospital in plenty of time.

Rose-Grace: Marcus was just here.  Tanner is going home tomorrow.

Nakoma:  That's great!  I can't wait to tell the gang! 

Rose-Grace: And I think you should put him down to play Mason.  

****

That evening, KAP (Kin As Parents) welcomes a new member to the support group.

Becky: Guys, this is Jason Fly.  He just moved here, has custody of a seventh-grader, and is looking for work.  

Jason: Anything will do.  I hate being unemployed but don't have much by way of qualifications.

Nova: You're in good company, then.  Both Ben and I work at places that are almost always hiring and Pocahontas owns the amusement park.  We'll see what we can do for you.  

Ben: Jason has quite a story about his charge.  He doesn't even know how she's kin.

Jason: It's kind of a long one, but here goes.  I was DNA matched with Moana.  I have several brothers and uncles who might be the father.  So Moana is either my cousin or my niece. 

Pocahontas: Wow. 

Jason: Moana's mom died in a car accident and the foster care system has just implemented a system of DNA matching.  They contacted all of us and I was the only one willing to take in the child.

Pocahontas: Can't they tell how closely related you are?  Or is cousin and niece the same degree of relation?  

Jason: I'm not sure.  All I know is, she's my blood and she needed me.  

Ben: Maybe Pocahontas should do that.  See how many more Anakins are out there. 

Pocahontas: I wouldn't dare.  Anakin already thinks I don't believe he's really my brother.  

I've Been Shopping

NAKED DOLLS AHEAD

GO AWAY NOW 

Trader's World is one of those huge flea markets a person could spend an entire day in.  We went there before Christmas but, since I was shopping for Santa, I couldn't take advantage of the excellent deals I saw on dolls.  I've wanted to go back since, but it's nearly a two hour drive and I'm possibly the most nervous driver in Ohio.  Maybe even in America. 

I got my chance today!  The bargains weren't as plentiful this time of year, but I think I did all right. 

Becky Lynch.  She was new in box, so she's ready to play right now!  

I have a Becky, so she's going to go by Lynch. Pike does it, so can she!  I already did a review of these WWE Superstars (aka Wrestler Ladies) so y'all know I love the body mold.  Her hair's more orange than Morgan's (formerly Eva Marie) and I really like those steampunk britches.

Special Air Service GI Joe.  He's got a Union Jack on one sleeve and #13 on his back. The shirt is molded on, but at least it's a black T and not something hard to work with.  He was in a bin and badly needs a bath.  His noggin's skin doesn't quite match the rest of him, but I'm not sure if that's the plastic aging or if he's had a head transplant at some point.   

Topless Moana.  She was also in a bin and her hair is a mess.  Bath time for her.

This dude is wearing in this picture exactly what he had on in the box. I've been reading The Drawing of The Three and the scene where Eddie goes into battle stark naked was fresh in my mind.  Care to guess what I've decided his name is?

Since he's obviously not new in box, he'll be getting a bath before play.

When I took him out of the box, I found his uniform inside the bottom flap.  BONUS!  

Soapy bubbles and a scrub later, the men are ready for the dish doll washer.  Moana's hair rescued her from that little adventure.  It was here that I realized Lynch and both these guys are redheads.

Hand-washed and ready for the laundry basket.  Well... not the boots, gun, necklace and helmet.

Before making a decision on Moana, I compared her skin tone to Courtney Montez.  Not close enough for my comfort.  Courtney will get a new friend instead of working elbows and knees.  Moana's shorter than Skipper size dolls, but taller than Stacie size.  But she has breasts, so she'll be one of my middle school students.  She'll just be short, like Frodo. 

Moana, after a bath and hair styling, joins Lynch in waiting for the guys.  They're both glad they couldn't join the guys in that noisy machine.

All clean and ready for play.  Now to figure out what roles they will be playing in Barbieville.  Oh, yeah, and a name for #13.