The Anderson Girls had, of course, freaked out upon hearing the firing of the gun. But once they found out that neither of their parents were the victims, they were perfectly fine.625Please respect copyright.PENANA4VuggI6uNO
The girls were all sitting in a spare bedroom talking about their usual subjects. At that moment, it was clothes. Or, more specifically, dresses.
“The dress that I’m wearing right now has to be in my top five,” Dory said. “It exemplifies everything that makes a dress gorgeous.”625Please respect copyright.PENANAXhcic0P2V9
Dory lay on the bed while all the other girls sat on the floor. Because she was the oldest (Callie was only younger than her by two weeks), Dory was considered the leader of the girls. As the leader, Dory felt that she had more privileges.625Please respect copyright.PENANA9LP9ByqeLp
“My dress isn’t as good,” Callie said. “I like the color, but I don’t like the style.”625Please respect copyright.PENANAOwAJn7hoK7
“I told you to wear the dress that you wore on Monday,” Dory said. “It was much prettier.”
“But it wasn’t pink. And everyone else was wearing a pink dress, today.”
“But it was pretty. And every woman knows that the prettiness of a dress is what matters, not the color.”
“Not every woman,” Elsie said. “Don’t you remember that woman at the restaurant yesterday? Her dress was hideous as hell.”
“That’s because she was an old lady,” Heidi said.
“Yeah,” Elsie said. “I don’t understand why old ladies have to wear those ugly dresses. It totally grosses me out.”
“Do you know what grosses me out?” Poppy asked. “Seeing women wearing pants. That makes me want to vomit my vital organs out.”625Please respect copyright.PENANAuYfBu0azA3
“Ugh, I know!” Callie said. “That freaking pisses me off! And so many women do it!”
“Dresses were made for women, pants were made for men,” Dory said. “Those women need get that through their stupid noggins.”625Please respect copyright.PENANABv2VxRheZA
“At least Mommy is smarter than those broads,” Callie said. “I’ve never seen her wear pants."625Please respect copyright.PENANAbAwquMX85h
"And what about skirts?" Lily asked. "They're just as bad, right?"625Please respect copyright.PENANAeGc4e1x462
“Yep, skirts are just as bad,” Dory said. “In my opinion, if a female is not wearing a dress, then she is a stupid ass.”625Please respect copyright.PENANAHNSQOh4hKd
Every girl, including Molly, nodded in agreement.
“I once saw this beautiful dress on sale at the store,” Callie said. “And it was pink. Next time we go shopping, I’ll make Daddy buy it for me.”
“You should,” Dory said. “You know that Daddy just loves buying dresses for us.”
All the girls laughed.
After they calmed down, Callie said: “It sure sucks that we have to stay here.”
“It’s because that Freeman dude was killed,” Robbie said. “Nobody even liked that guy.”
“Carter sure did,” Dory said. “And he’s keeping people hostage in the basement for it? That’s crap. Carter is the biggest psycho in the world.”
“He’s a psycho for even having been friends with that douchebag Freeman,” Elsie said.625Please respect copyright.PENANArLwfKBU9cn
“I hope Daddy is okay,” Lily said.
“Daddy will be fine,” Dory said. “Carter may be an idiot, but he’s not going to kill anybody. He just, supposedly, wants to find out who killed Freeman.”
“How on earth is he going to do that?” asked Heidi.
“He’s not,” Dory answered. “He never will. He isn’t a detective. Eventually, he’ll give up, let everybody go, and let the police do their jobs.”
“I hope so,” Lily said.
Dory leaned up and stretched her arms a bit. She then kicked off her high heels. 625Please respect copyright.PENANA7WnCNcJKcK
"Elsie, rub my feet will you?" She said.625Please respect copyright.PENANAw8ScVFaAWS
Elsie groaned. "Can't somebody else do it?"625Please respect copyright.PENANA6J6hMjclXF
Dory pointed to a pink ribbon that was tied in her hair. 625Please respect copyright.PENANAatMVgxwvCD
"What does this mean?" She asked.625Please respect copyright.PENANAxC2pz8zLSB
"You're the leader," Elsie said, sighing.625Please respect copyright.PENANAKAdfWZxqim
"That's right. Now get your ass over here and rub my feet."625Please respect copyright.PENANA9Sl6LTZZ2o
Elsie sighed again. She stood up and walked over to Dory, who laid back down and held up her leg.625Please respect copyright.PENANAPKKsKojz5F
Callie grunted under her breath. She hated it when Dory brought up the ribbon in her hair. Or, at least she hated it when Dory brought it up to prove her "leadership."625Please respect copyright.PENANAgeSptkZaFP
Two years earlier, the girls had all gotten the pink ribbon as one of their Christmas presents (along with the hundreds of new clothes, jewelry, and toys.) The ribbon had belonged to their grandmother, who had died many years before they were born. It had been a very important possession to her and was therefore an important possession to their family as a whole.625Please respect copyright.PENANAQuh1UMqzvP
"Your grandma used to wear this ribbon in her hair when she was a little girl," Their father had told them when the girls were given the ribbon. "She loved it so much. So take very good care of it."625Please respect copyright.PENANANum8gZ4Rbm
After the girls had received the ribbon, Callie suggested that because it was such a special belonging, they should keep it stored in a safe place rather than wear it. The other girls agreed that this was a good idea. That is, every girl except Dory (and Molly, who at the time was only a year old and had no idea what was going on). Almost immediately after the girls decided to keep the ribbon stored safely, Dory grabbed the ribbon and tied it in her hair.625Please respect copyright.PENANASjN7CcOiWW
"What are you doing?" Callie asked, angrily.625Please respect copyright.PENANAuhvjkUynkJ
Dory didn't answer. Instead, she pointed at the ribbon and said: "From now on this ribbon will be here to show that I am the leader. Now don't you forget that."625Please respect copyright.PENANAYgK3WHyeXs
Callie was furious. "That's Grandma's ribbon!"625Please respect copyright.PENANAxnxBEJ6ZCJ
"Well, it's my ribbon now." Even at four years of age, Dory's very snobby attitude remained the same.625Please respect copyright.PENANAerVDQYxh2C
"But it was given to all of us!" Callie shouted in anger.625Please respect copyright.PENANAl9rM4QmtMe
"Yeah!" the other girls shouted.625Please respect copyright.PENANABS6sh6hmlh
"I'm the leader, so I decide what we do with it. And I'm deciding to wear it in my hair to show that I'm the leader."625Please respect copyright.PENANAPElZbT2wgg
"No, you're not!" Callie shouted, reaching towards Dory's hair to grab the ribbon. Dory slapped Callie's hand and snorted in fury.625Please respect copyright.PENANAkVYaO9PhSz
"Have you girls forgotten who I am?" Dory, replied in a very harsh tone of voice. "HAVE YOU?!"625Please respect copyright.PENANAc77nzBplvz
The girls all jumped in fear. 625Please respect copyright.PENANAXhvfDHw7Ae
"I am your leader, and you will respect that! Or else there will be hell to pay! DO YOU GOT THAT?!"625Please respect copyright.PENANAeSgnTQfclB
The rest of the girls all nodded in silence.625Please respect copyright.PENANAnRga6gqPw4
"Good," Dory replied, grinning. She then walked away to try on all of her new dresses.625Please respect copyright.PENANAJ6uyDdkbU2
To that very day, Dory never took the ribbon out of her hair, not even when she slept. She would always point to the ribbon anytime she wanted to remind the others that she was the leader. Every time she did so, Callie would become irate. She always had half a mind to wait until Dory was sleeping and then cut the ribbon out with scissors. She could then hide the ribbon somewhere where Dory couldn't find it and the ribbon would be kept safe forever. However, because she feared trouble from her parents (and Dory's wrath) Callie never did this.625Please respect copyright.PENANAHjYshN3Gfo
"Hey, not so hard!" Dory shouted at Elsie after she began rubbing her feet. "You're supposed to be making my feet feel better! Not worse, you idiot!" 625Please respect copyright.PENANAAQ2P6f2pOa
Elsie muttered something angrily under her breath. 625Please respect copyright.PENANAG7cJARn2sZ
“Now then,” Dory said. “Out of all of us, whose dress is the prettiest? If you say it isn’t mine, I should kill you.”625Please respect copyright.PENANA96zX2RNIhP