Danger in Dallas! A Floyd Sisters Mystery, Page 3
Sinda Cheri Floyd
CHAPTER 3
"Look at all the people!" Sinda tugged repeatedly on Lynda's blouse sleeve displaying no obvious sign of a headache. "I hope Miriam’s class is coming today." Miriam was Sinda's best friend who lived in the house behind them.
"I don't think so," said Lynda.
"I hope not," muttered Cheri. Sinda knew that Cheri didn’t like Miriam. Both of them loved to get on her nerves by doing fun things to her, although Cheri didn’t think they were so funny. One time they hid the mouse from her computer and told Cheri that Ti-Ling the cat must have eaten it. Boy, was that neat! Cheri screamed and screamed. It’s too bad Mother made them give the computer mouse back.
High Tech Electronics employees wearing special name badges with their pictures on them started helping the visitors who began arriving for Career Day. Demonstrations began at various computer workstations and building tours started. Everyone seemed energized; creativity and imagination will do that.
A group of teachers and students gathered in Jean’s office so she started to demonstrate her new VR game system. Lynda’s science class was in front. There was Allison standing with her mother. They seemed to be whispering and glancing at the girls standing off to the side. Allison always wore designer clothes that her mother insisted she wear.
Lynda was hoping that the grape juice accident didn’t get Mother in trouble with her new boss. She was very proud to introduce her mother to her classmates. Mother was tall, about 5’10” and Lynda thought she looked very professional in the navy blue suit purchased two months before at Dillard’s, a local department store. What a wild shopping trip that had been! Lynda smiled at the memory.
One Saturday after running errands, the girls begged Mother to window-shop at Collin Creek Mall in nearby Plano. Mother hated to shop but the girls insisted. Cheri holed up in a computer store and refused to look for any clothes at all. She insisted that she had all the slacks and shirts that she needed and wouldn’t budge. So Mother, Lynda and Sinda, promising to pick Cheri up in an hour, continued down the mall.
Mother didn’t care much for clothes shopping herself. She preferred her casual tie-dye and jeans outfits which seemed to Lynda to be woefully inadequate for work in an office. Mother was a wonderful person but she sure had trouble putting together a contemporary wardrobe.
Mother’s last office manager in California couldn’t have cared less what she wore, but this was a new company. The women employees wore more suits and dresses and definitely no jeans. It took Lynda forever to get her mother to even consider shopping for a suit.
After Lynda dragged Mother into the ladies suit section in Dillard’s, she turned around to find Sinda gone. Not wanting to distract Mother from looking through the suit racks, Lynda decided to look for Sinda herself. Last time this happened, Sinda was found running happily up and down the escalator. This time Lynda found her little sister hiding in the children’s section, crouching down under the racks of clothes, and then springing up like a jack-in-box whenever a little kid came by. She was achieving her desired effect. Each child she spooked started to screech and their mothers were getting very annoyed!
Lynda rescued Sinda just as a security guard was bearing down on her. He looked as if he had handcuffs ready, just her size. They ran as fast as they could and hid in the ladies restroom.
By the time, Mother purchased a suit, Cheri paid for a new computer magazine, and they found the car, Lynda was exhausted.
Lynda was jolted out of her memories by Mother’s voice as she excitedly continued,
“My middle daughter Cheri is now piloting her roller coaster up Mount Everest along the border of Nepal and Tibet. With that special Opti-Tracker, she sees the Mountain and its faces and ridges. Please look at my computer screen--this is what she is seeing. Watch as she must look out for avalanches and snowstorms as she ascends. But in reality, she is using the glove and thinks she is holding on to this directional bar.”
Mother was happily in her element. Cheri then took off the Opti Tracker and glove and gave them to Allison to try on. She walked over and stood with Lynda.
"I sure hope nothing goes wrong with the demonstration," Lynda whispered to Cheri. "This means a lot to Mother."
"Yeah," Cheri agreed.
A group of high school boys had gathered close to Mother. Several of them asked Jean specific questions about the VR software. Since the product hadn't been patented yet, she could not answer some of the questions. A woman joined the group and seemed very upset that her questions went unanswered. She continued to ask the same questions and started to argue with Mother.
"What's her problem?" Cheri asked Lynda.
"I don't know. Have you seen Sinda?"
"Geez, is she gone again?" fumed Cheri.
"Oh, there she is. Oh no!! She's by the water cooler. I better get over there and make sure she doesn't knock it over." Lynda walked briskly over to check on Sinda.
Sinda smiled at her older sister. "Hi! How's mother doing? I got kinda thirsty because my juice is all gone. This water is sure cold. When is lunch? I haven't seen Miriam, have you?" The water cooler was still upright.
It was hard for Lynda to imagine how a girl with this angelic face could be so klutzy.
"Come on. Mother's almost finished with this group and we'll be going to lunch soon." Lynda took Sinda by the hand and led her back to Mother’s area.
For lunch, Mother decided to try out the new vegetarian cafe down the street. Mother had been a vegetarian since the 1970s but now everybody wanted to be one. The sisters all ordered spaghetti with marinara sauce with lots and lots of bread sticks. Mother had the salad bar with beans, sprouts, greens, and fruits. The meals were surprisingly good. When Jean began to relax, she started reminiscing about her early days in California when she first became a vegetarian.
The girls knew all of Mother’s stories by heart. How she moved away from Grandma and Pop in Tempe, Arizona, after graduating from college. How she moved into a big house in San Francisco with a bunch of girls and shared expenses. How she met Dad, who was a policeman at that time, when he came to the house while investigating a burglary next door. How they got married in the backyard with flowers in her hair. How she tried to get him to eat only vegetables but Dad didn’t change.
The girls liked some of her meatless dishes but they were glad too when it had been Dad’s turn to cook. He was a steak and potatoes man, another source of friction between Mother and him. At the time of the divorce, the girls had discussed what to do about meals when they moved to Texas. Even Mother had seemed relieved when the girls unanimously decided they would all help with the cooking, insuring an occasional hamburger or hot dog would be on the menu.
They got back to the office early for the afternoon's demonstration. Walking in, Mother looked across the room and her eyes stopped at the file cabinet. The top drawer was pulled open. She had left the drawer locked before they went for lunch because the new demonstration CD and Opti Tracker were in there.
"They’re gone!" Mother shrieked. Cheri saw that Mother’s eyes had gotten very large and her face was very white. She looked ill.
"Look at all the people!" Sinda tugged repeatedly on Lynda's blouse sleeve displaying no obvious sign of a headache. "I hope Miriam’s class is coming today." Miriam was Sinda's best friend who lived in the house behind them.
"I don't think so," said Lynda.
"I hope not," muttered Cheri. Sinda knew that Cheri didn’t like Miriam. Both of them loved to get on her nerves by doing fun things to her, although Cheri didn’t think they were so funny. One time they hid the mouse from her computer and told Cheri that Ti-Ling the cat must have eaten it. Boy, was that neat! Cheri screamed and screamed. It’s too bad Mother made them give the computer mouse back.
High Tech Electronics employees wearing special name badges with their pictures on them started helping the visitors who began arriving for Career Day. Demonstrations began at various computer workstations and building tours started. Everyone seemed energized; creativity and imagination will do that.
A group of teachers and students gathered in Jean’s office so she started to demonstrate her new VR game system. Lynda’s science class was in front. There was Allison standing with her mother. They seemed to be whispering and glancing at the girls standing off to the side. Allison always wore designer clothes that her mother insisted she wear.
Lynda was hoping that the grape juice accident didn’t get Mother in trouble with her new boss. She was very proud to introduce her mother to her classmates. Mother was tall, about 5’10” and Lynda thought she looked very professional in the navy blue suit purchased two months before at Dillard’s, a local department store. What a wild shopping trip that had been! Lynda smiled at the memory.
One Saturday after running errands, the girls begged Mother to window-shop at Collin Creek Mall in nearby Plano. Mother hated to shop but the girls insisted. Cheri holed up in a computer store and refused to look for any clothes at all. She insisted that she had all the slacks and shirts that she needed and wouldn’t budge. So Mother, Lynda and Sinda, promising to pick Cheri up in an hour, continued down the mall.
Mother didn’t care much for clothes shopping herself. She preferred her casual tie-dye and jeans outfits which seemed to Lynda to be woefully inadequate for work in an office. Mother was a wonderful person but she sure had trouble putting together a contemporary wardrobe.
Mother’s last office manager in California couldn’t have cared less what she wore, but this was a new company. The women employees wore more suits and dresses and definitely no jeans. It took Lynda forever to get her mother to even consider shopping for a suit.
After Lynda dragged Mother into the ladies suit section in Dillard’s, she turned around to find Sinda gone. Not wanting to distract Mother from looking through the suit racks, Lynda decided to look for Sinda herself. Last time this happened, Sinda was found running happily up and down the escalator. This time Lynda found her little sister hiding in the children’s section, crouching down under the racks of clothes, and then springing up like a jack-in-box whenever a little kid came by. She was achieving her desired effect. Each child she spooked started to screech and their mothers were getting very annoyed!
Lynda rescued Sinda just as a security guard was bearing down on her. He looked as if he had handcuffs ready, just her size. They ran as fast as they could and hid in the ladies restroom.
By the time, Mother purchased a suit, Cheri paid for a new computer magazine, and they found the car, Lynda was exhausted.
Lynda was jolted out of her memories by Mother’s voice as she excitedly continued,
“My middle daughter Cheri is now piloting her roller coaster up Mount Everest along the border of Nepal and Tibet. With that special Opti-Tracker, she sees the Mountain and its faces and ridges. Please look at my computer screen--this is what she is seeing. Watch as she must look out for avalanches and snowstorms as she ascends. But in reality, she is using the glove and thinks she is holding on to this directional bar.”
Mother was happily in her element. Cheri then took off the Opti Tracker and glove and gave them to Allison to try on. She walked over and stood with Lynda.
"I sure hope nothing goes wrong with the demonstration," Lynda whispered to Cheri. "This means a lot to Mother."
"Yeah," Cheri agreed.
A group of high school boys had gathered close to Mother. Several of them asked Jean specific questions about the VR software. Since the product hadn't been patented yet, she could not answer some of the questions. A woman joined the group and seemed very upset that her questions went unanswered. She continued to ask the same questions and started to argue with Mother.
"What's her problem?" Cheri asked Lynda.
"I don't know. Have you seen Sinda?"
"Geez, is she gone again?" fumed Cheri.
"Oh, there she is. Oh no!! She's by the water cooler. I better get over there and make sure she doesn't knock it over." Lynda walked briskly over to check on Sinda.
Sinda smiled at her older sister. "Hi! How's mother doing? I got kinda thirsty because my juice is all gone. This water is sure cold. When is lunch? I haven't seen Miriam, have you?" The water cooler was still upright.
It was hard for Lynda to imagine how a girl with this angelic face could be so klutzy.
"Come on. Mother's almost finished with this group and we'll be going to lunch soon." Lynda took Sinda by the hand and led her back to Mother’s area.
For lunch, Mother decided to try out the new vegetarian cafe down the street. Mother had been a vegetarian since the 1970s but now everybody wanted to be one. The sisters all ordered spaghetti with marinara sauce with lots and lots of bread sticks. Mother had the salad bar with beans, sprouts, greens, and fruits. The meals were surprisingly good. When Jean began to relax, she started reminiscing about her early days in California when she first became a vegetarian.
The girls knew all of Mother’s stories by heart. How she moved away from Grandma and Pop in Tempe, Arizona, after graduating from college. How she moved into a big house in San Francisco with a bunch of girls and shared expenses. How she met Dad, who was a policeman at that time, when he came to the house while investigating a burglary next door. How they got married in the backyard with flowers in her hair. How she tried to get him to eat only vegetables but Dad didn’t change.
The girls liked some of her meatless dishes but they were glad too when it had been Dad’s turn to cook. He was a steak and potatoes man, another source of friction between Mother and him. At the time of the divorce, the girls had discussed what to do about meals when they moved to Texas. Even Mother had seemed relieved when the girls unanimously decided they would all help with the cooking, insuring an occasional hamburger or hot dog would be on the menu.
They got back to the office early for the afternoon's demonstration. Walking in, Mother looked across the room and her eyes stopped at the file cabinet. The top drawer was pulled open. She had left the drawer locked before they went for lunch because the new demonstration CD and Opti Tracker were in there.
"They’re gone!" Mother shrieked. Cheri saw that Mother’s eyes had gotten very large and her face was very white. She looked ill.
