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(Note: This tape was transcribed by Nicole Bissett. The editors gratefully acknowledge her invaluable assistance.)
(Phone rings twice)
Girl 1: Hello?
(Baby sounds in background)
Harriet Sarah Tropp: Hello, is uh, Mrs. Carnella Truss in?
Girl 2: Huh?
Girl 1: Virginia, stop. Get off of the telephone.
Girl 2: Huh?
Harriet: Hi, is Carnella Tru–
(Girl 2 cuts in with inaudible sounds, followed by laughter)
Girl 1: I got the telephone.
Harriet: Hello, is Carnella Truss there?
Girl 1: Cornelia?
Harriet: Carnella, yeah.
Girl 1: Who– Who, um, who is this?
Harriet: Well, you can tell–
Girl 2: Who is this?
Harriet: Well, is your– is your mom there? Is Carnella Truss there? I need to–
(Both girls answer)
Girl 2: No.
Girl 1: No one here– no one here name is Carnella Truss. They moved, I guess.
Harriet: They– they moved?
Girl 2: Goodbye.
Girl 1: Um, all I know is we got Cornelius–
Girl 2: Yeah.
(Tape edit)
(Phone rings once)
Carnella Truss: Hello?
Harriet: Hello, is this Carnella Truss?
Carnella: Yes.
Harriet: Hi, my name is Harriet Tropp, and I’m over in the legal staff at the church and Emmett [Griffith]– I was talking to Emmett just the other day briefly and uh, he mentioned there was– that you– there was some problem, um, that you were having with Dana [Truss], about Dana taking a trip with Mary [Griffith]. And I wanted to see if I could help you out in any way. Something that I– we could do to try to– you know, see what’s uh, what’s happening.
Carnella: (Cautious) What kind of problem?
Harriet: Well, Emmett said something that– that you were upset that– that Mary took uh, Dana on a trip, and, I– I think they’re en route now, but I could see if we could, you know, try to get a hold of them and have ‘em give you a buzz, ‘cause I’m sure–
Carnella: Nah, I just– I just asked ‘em yesterday, I asked them where was Momma and Dana at.
Harriet: Umm-hmm [Yes]. Well, as far as I know, they’re en route, they’re gonna be taking like a tour of Barbados, and like an educational trip for at least– well, couple of– um, maybe about six weeks, two months. But, um, if there was any problem and you wanted Dana back, I’m sure I, you know– that wouldn’t be a problem.
Carnella: But I didn’t say nothin’ about gettin’ her back.
Harriet: Umm-hmm, umm-hmm [Yes]. Well, I see– I– Stories get mixed up, you know how that goes, and, um, what I understood it was that– that you were upset that Mary took Dana on a trip and that you wanted Dana to come back, and I didn’t know if that was the case, and I just wanted to see what– anything we could do to, you know, help it out, help out the situation, ‘cause, I can understand–
Carnella: No, I was just askin’ where he was, where– where they was at. He wouldn’t tell me.
Harriet: Oh! Well, that’s a whole– Oh, well, that’s– see, that’s not how I got it from him so– no wonder, no wonder, that mixes anything up. Well, I could– From what I understand, they’re traveling right now through um– towards Miami. But, um, I can try to get a, you know, find out, where they are exactly – I don’t know personally – and have ‘em give you a buzz. Would that be– would that be good?
Carnella: Um-hmm [Yes].
Harriet: Because I can understand, if you don’t know where they are, that you’d be upset, that– I mean I appreciate that fact, that’s– you know, it’s uh, being uncertain like that is not good. Um, but fine, if you’d like I’ll, you know, just try to get a hold of ‘em somehow and, you know, track it down and then get ‘em– have ‘em give you a call and see what’s happening, okay?
Carnella: Okay.
Harriet: Because I– you know, I can understand if– if you didn’t know where they were, you’d be a little worried, you know.
Carnella: Mm-hmm [Yes].
Harriet: Um, but the way we– I got the story was that you wanted Dana to come back and I– I– that wouldn’t have been a problem either, if– if that was the case. But um, if that, you know– if you just want to see– see how she’s doing, that’s fine. I mean, I’ll try to have her get a hold of you. Um, from what I understand, what they’re gonna be doing is taking uh, like a tour of the uh, Caribbean and, going to like– going into– you know, going to South America for maybe six weeks or, you know, two months, something like that, to do um– uh, or to the mission project for the denomination for a little while, but, you know, traveling around in Barbados, also in the Caribbean, it’d be kind of a nice thing for– for Dana, you know, uh, you know, kind of a little educational thing, you know?
Carnella: Oh.
Harriet: Uh– But I don’t know how you feel about it. I mean– I– I was concerned that you were, you know, that you didn’t want her to go take a trip (Unintelligible word). Like I say, obviously that was– Obviously, that’s the wrong story, I mean, and I got it all mixed up, so– But um, if you’d like, I– what I’ll do is I’ll try to get a hold of her, and have her give you a call. Is that cool?
Carnella: Okay.
Harriet: Okay, good. I’m glad I got I got straightened around, ‘cause the story got all (Unintelligible word under movement). The way I heard it, it was just– it was just of proportion, you know, it was completely wrong. Um– Okay– okay. But if, you know, if– if you had not wanted– if you had wanted Dana to come back, that wouldn’t be a problem either, you know. (inaudible under Carnella)
Carnella: No, I gave her– I gave her to her.
Harriet: Mm-hmm [Yes]. Okay, good. Well, I’ll have her give you a call as soon as I can find out exactly where she is. (Unintelligible word) She’s en route I think between um, part– like part of Florida to– going toward Miami, so that’s the last thing that Emmett told me. So I’ll see if we can locate her exactly, so she can give you a call, okay?
Carnella: Okay.
Harriet: Thanks a lot.
Carnella: Okay.
Harriet: Bye now.
End of tape.
Tape originally posted March 2010