B (1:48)

Yeah.

A (1:48)

I got dropped off by the school bus and the mom basically sprinted out the door. She told me to call if I needed anything, then offered zero instructions on caring for an infant.

B (1:57)

An infant. Like they're very droppable, especially by 10.

A (2:02)

Year olds who are basically in third or fourth grade, I think.

B (2:05)

Right? Yeah. My nephew Joe is 10. I would not let him hold a baby.

A (2:10)

Right. Bye. We'll see you in three hours.

B (2:12)

Don't fucking kill the baby. Oh, fuck.

A (2:16)

Okay, in parentheses it says, I did not know how to put on a diaper. Who approved this plan?

B (2:21)

Seriously.

A (2:21)

About an hour in, I noticed the sky starting to turn green.

B (2:26)

Oh, my God.

A (2:26)

Anyone from tornado country knows that shade of green means bad. Then I realized the house didn't have a basement. Double shit. My 10 year old brain short circuited. I put both kids in the bathtub.

B (2:39)

Laid the fucking infant down in the bath. I know what you're supposed to do, but just like Shoving kids in the bathtub.

A (2:44)

Just the hardest area you can put them in. Yeah, I put both kids in the bathtub, covered them in cushions and panic. Called their mom from the landline. No answer, of course. Why would she answer when she had just entrusted her tiny children to a 10 year old in the middle of tornado weather?

B (2:58)

Jesus.

A (2:59)

I picked up the phone to call my own mom and boom. The electricity cut out. The landline was dead. At that moment, I looked out the window and saw the tornado touching down in the distance. Saw it.

B (3:12)

Have you ever seen. I would. That would be so incredible.

A (3:15)

I made my sister and Adrienne and my cousin Stevie and Kim were down visiting and I made everybody watch one of those. Like we have the video of the moment this crazy thing happened. An episode of that, which is. I wish I could remember the title. I have absolutely no idea. But one episode was dedicated to tornado stories and those kinds of things where it's like people yelling at each other to get inside or get downstairs while it hits.

B (3:40)

It's not even like. Yeah, it doesn't even like. I can't even picture that. That's why I'm like, this is like the first time I've thought, oh, that must be really fucking scary. Cause it doesn't even cross my mind.

A (3:49)

And the distance is like, it's moving at like what, 50 miles an hour, 20 miles an hour.

B (3:54)

And who knows which way it's going. It's like it follows. Like I've talked about like earthquakes. I love watching like tsunami flooding videos. But a tornado, they're so big. It's so far away from my mind. Okay, go.

A (4:07)

They're so big.

B (4:07)

They're so big.

A (4:08)

Okay. Saw the tornado touching down in the distance. Absolutely not. I refused to go out in a basementless house with two random children. Here's the thing. I knew the nearest neighbors. Half a mile away and they had a basement. My mom was friends with them. I'd been to their house. So my 10 year old logic decided the safest course was to all caps run through a soybean field with two children during a tornado as a 10 year old, they had to make a call. I scribbled a note for the mom, stuck it on the door, grabbed the infant, took the toddler's hand and started running. The wind was so strong, I genuinely thought we'd blow away. I could see the funnel cloud getting narrower in the distance. And I was positive we were all about to get sucked into the sky like wizard of Oz extras. After what felt like an eternity, we made It. I knocked on the door and the poor woman opened it to find me crying. The baby crying and the toddler crying.

B (5:05)

Oh yeah, everyone's fucking crying. Oh my God.

A (5:11)

I asked if we could use the basement.

B (5:14)

Hi, can we use the basement?

A (5:15)

She let us in, wrapped us in blankets, and I curled up with the kids on the floor of their basement, fully believing I'd just saved all of our lives. The power came back. She called the kid's mom and told her to get home. Once the storm passed, we walked back across the field and I realized the tornado had actually touched down a couple miles away, not even close to the house.

B (5:35)

We don't care. Nope. It doesn't matter where it touched down.

A (5:38)

Visible, yes. Is closed. Yes. These Midwesterners, they are made of different material. All that dramatic sprinting for nothing. No, it wasn't.

B (5:48)

No, because. Mm. Mm.

A (5:50)

Anyway, the mom came home, handed me $15 and asked if I could babysit again next week. I immediately said yes. I'm now a career nanny and can confidently change a diaper. So I guess this experience didn't traumatize me that much.

B (6:04)

I guess.

A (6:05)

Stay sexy and answer your phone.

B (6:06)

S. Holy shit. I think my mom would have been like, that's not happening. Like, she would have come in and been like, you can't babysit a fucking infant.

A (6:14)

Yes.

B (6:15)

Like maybe a 3 year old. Cuz that's what it was like back then in the 80s. But like not an infant. Not an infant.

A (6:20)

They're so new, they're so brand new.

B (6:22)

And their head's so soft, squishy.

A (6:25)

Like they do stuff and then you don't know what to do. And then you try doing things and like.

B (6:29)

And they shit their pants. And then you're like, I don't know how to change your pants, diapers, whatever. Okay.

A (6:35)

You're slacks, you're slack. Okay. I think S made the perfect decision.

B (6:40)

Yeah, I agree. You were right. Okay. Hi, gals. Thought you would enjoy the story from 1979. I wanted to share an event that happened on New Year's Eve, 1979. My older sister Mary Beth and I were both in college at the University of Arkansas at the time. The Arkansas football team was in the Sugar bowl on New Year's Day 1980 against Alabama. And as outgoing, partying, fun loving people do, Mary Beth and her roommate Jane went out to Bourbon street to ring in the new year. The night was going well. Thousands of college kids were wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder on Bourbon street, partying with the until around midnight when Mary Beth was knocked to the ground. Sounds like a fucking nightmare.

A (7:20)

Yeah.

B (7:20)

Mary Beth was a little stunned from suddenly finding herself on her behind, but started to laugh it off. People filled the balconies surrounding Bourbon street, drinking and throwing things, enjoying the brand new year. Mary Beth assumed she'd been hit by a bottle, giving her a nasty cut on her head. She tried to shrug it off and keep the night going. However, a persistent headache and learning that her head was indeed bleeding soon ended Mary Beth's night as she and Jane turned to a local police officer for assistance. The officer drove the women to Charity Hospital, which was typically busy given the festivities and influx of tourists in town for the football game set to start in a few hours. Back home in Arkansas. Around 2am, as my brother and I were getting home from our own night of activities, the phone rings, the old landline. My mother got a call from Jane to get Mary Beth's health insurance information for the hospital since she was being admitted for the night. I cannot imagine my mother's sheer terror. Hearing about Mary Beth's injury. My mother packed us up and started the drive down to New Orleans to make sure that Mary Beth was really all right. This was before cell phone sustain and contact was much more difficult. The rest of the early morning was a whirlwind as my mother gathered my brother and myself up and drove us seven hours straight to New Orleans.

A (8:33)

Wow.

B (8:34)

When we finally arrived at the hospital, we found Mary Beth sitting up in the hospital bed with her head all wrapped up from surgery, happy to be alive but fuming. The bottle that had struck Mary beth was actually a.45 caliber bullet.

A (8:48)

Fuck.

B (8:49)

Apparently fired into the air during the celebrations of the new decade.

A (8:54)

So it goes up and comes down into her head?

B (8:56)

Yeah. You can't shoot guns in the air.

A (8:58)

You can't, not over a crowd of people.

B (9:00)

I mean, not at all. That happens like every year. I feel like.

A (9:03)

Yeah, it does.

B (9:04)

The bullet had caused a 3 inch diameter fragmentation in Mary Beth's skull, but miraculously had not penetrated her brain.

A (9:11)

That's a huge hole.

B (9:12)

But how did it not penetrate her brain with that size of that hole?

A (9:15)

Maybe it was like came and did it.

B (9:17)

Oh my God. According to Jane, after the call, around 2am, the doctors had performed an X ray of Marybeth's head, revealing the bullets still lodged in her scalp. Mary Beth had apparently gotten rather upset at the revelation since it now required surgery, quote, ruining her good time.

A (9:34)

She thought she was going to get out of there with a band aid.

B (9:36)

And be like, woo, bottle hit me. Since she was not allowed to attend the game in person as planned. That night, there were six other gunshot victims brought into the charity hospital's emergency room. And of the seven, only Mary Beth was shot in the head. And only Mary Beth walked into the ER under her own power. Wow. She was discharged after a few days of observation. Mary Beth went on to live another two decades before. She passed in 1999 at age 40 from something unrelated. But she never forgot the time she survived being shot in the head. So stay sexy and don't let a little old bullet ruin your New Year's Eve celebration. A beloved fan of you both, Becky. P.S. so many more Mary Beth isms to share. Maybe in the future. She was a unique and awe inspiring girl that I got to call my big sister. I've missed her every day for the past 25 years, but boy, was I lucky to have her.

A (10:28)

I'd love a series of Mary Beth stories.

B (10:31)

Let's get more Mary Beth stories.

A (10:33)

Please just put in the subject line. Another Mary Beth story for you.

B (10:36)

Hey, it's Becky. Here's the Mary Beth story. Yeah.

A (10:38)

Cause God, she got hit in the.

B (10:40)

Fucking head with a bullet.

A (10:41)

It would change your life dramatically and your decision making. If you're like, I survived basically being shot in the head.

B (10:47)

Sure, yeah.

A (10:51)

This email. I'm not gonna read you the subject line. This email starts hey Aunties in all caps and then in parentheses it says Karen. Is this an acceptable greeting? Yes, it is. I've written in a few times, but I was recently listening to a minisode where you called for more stories of storming off drunk. And while this isn't exactly that I thought it my time to shine. Back in 2016, I was a 22 year old fresh out of college and working my first big girl job as a research assistant in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Think mit Harvard. Lots of big brain living in my shitty sublet away from my hometown and all my friends. I turned to the apps to chat and find cute boys to buy me a beer. Most nights I would grab a box of wine and swipe till my thumbs hurt. I would have some interesting conversations and occasionally make tentative date plans that I would solidify in the morning once I sobered up. Well, this Friday night, I was feeling especially bold. A young suitor invited me to a house party in Dorchester. Dorchester, Dorchester, Dorchester. Another city surrounding Boston and connected to Cambridge via the Red Line subway. Despite the fact that it was close to midnight, I quickly got dressed and ordered my Uber. The car picked me up and brought me to my destination. Or so I Thought it certainly was Dorchester. A residential area. Multifamily homes of every color lined the street. The sidewalks were illuminated by copious street lamps, but that was the only light in sight. It was quiet. Dead quiet. No parties. Just roommates and families fast asleep, lights off, curtains drawn. Suddenly, I began to sober up. Either I mistook the address in my drunken state, or something much more sinister was afoot. I pulled my phone out to call back the Uber, but as quickly as it unlocked, it died.

B (12:33)

No.

A (12:34)

I truly had been swiping all night and failed to notice my dwindling battery. In a panic, I looked around and spotted a sign for the red line. If I could just get back to Cambrid, I'd be able to walk. But it was too late. The red line had already shut down. Still, I knew I needed to get away. I began walking until I found an open sign. An Irish pub. My people. I screamed as. As a 1/4 Irish new Englander. Surely I was safe now. I stumbled in, begging for a charger or help, calling a cab, but I was turned away. To this day, I wish I knew what the bar was, because I would like to give them a stern lecture about not helping a drunk girl wandering around by herself. What the. Yeah, that'. Although. How drunk was she? Where did she walk in? Like, what's the point though?

B (13:21)

They kicked her. They kicked someone out who couldn't function. They. You know what I mean. Like, you kind of have a. Like an obligation then to make sure she doesn't just wander away.

A (13:29)

Well, do you?

B (13:30)

Yeah.

A (13:31)

I mean, I mean, societally you do. One would hope, yes. But.

B (13:35)

Yeah, who knows what the rules are?

A (13:37)

Yeah. Okay. Hopeless and ready to turn myself in for stupidity. And then in parentheses it says, can you actually get arrested for being drunk in public?

B (13:46)

Yes.

A (13:47)

I, by the grace of God, I do not believe in. There was one other establishment open, a Chinese food restaurant. I couldn't believe that they were open that late. But soon I realized that those were not patrons in the window, but the family that owned the place. And here I was, an obnoxious drunk girl interrupting their family meal. Desperate, I banged on the door anyway, they let me in, helped me charge my phone and get a ride home, all while they finished dinner.

B (14:14)

That's what you're supposed to do.

A (14:15)

That is what you're supposed to do.

B (14:16)

Especially if you're a bar. Like you should know that.

A (14:19)

Yeah, you're right. That family quite literally saved my life. And I always wish I could thank them for it. But I cannot emphasize enough. I was all caps Very drunk. Oh, God, I shudder to think what could have happened to me if I had stayed on that street looking for my Tinder dude or even asked the wrong person for help. Nine years later, I can proudly say I'm over one year alcohol free. Thanks in no small part to my sweet baby angle husband. Where did I meet such an amazing man, you ask? Bumble, of course. Thank you for the pod. I've been listening since day five. Ish.

B (14:51)

Wow.

A (14:51)

Wow. I promise the advice about not wandering off drunk and the dangers of alcohol abuse finally sunk in. Stay sexy and just stay home. Especially when you're inebriated. Cali P. S. If this gets read on the podcast, I'd like to say, fuck Trump. Fuck ice. Immigrants make America great.

B (15:09)

Hell yeah.

A (15:10)

Good girl, Cali. That's right.

B (15:13)

That's just the thing about, like, we just did another story about a girl who did the exact same thing and got murdered. Like, that's what, like, true crime feels like. So fascinating to, like, think women especially, because that's what we do and that's what happens. Like, those are the consequences of what happens to us sometimes. And it just fucking sucks. And it's not fair. And it's so random and like.

A (15:37)

And you're right.

B (15:38)

By the grace of fucking God, it didn't happen to us.

A (15:40)

Right, Exactly. And also, you're so right. It's like there is a social contract to look out for each other. That somewhere along the line we got started to get told, well, you made that decision, so it's your fault. Cause you're drunk. And that's like me carrying on that idea where it's like, no, no, no. It doesn't matter how the person got there. Charge their phone, help them get home, be a part of it. Because that's how people get roofied at these fucking bars and wander off and no one sees them again.

B (16:08)

Exactly.

A (16:08)

That kind of thing where it's. Yeah. People just being like, oh, well, I guess you're morally bad if you drank alcohol.

B (16:15)

Right. Because we've all been there.

A (16:16)

Yeah.

B (16:17)

And we're just fucking lucky.

A (16:18)

Yeah.

B (16:21)

Okay. This one doesn't have a subject. Dear Karen in Georgia, longtime listener, first time writing in. Let's get started. Not too long ago, you requested stories of crazy coincidences, and I have one for you. When I was four years old, I started preschool and instantly became best friends with a little girl named Angelina. We ended up going to the same elementary school and continued to be best friends for years, doing all the normal BFF activities, sleepovers, riding around the neighborhood Watching movies that were too mature for us, et cetera. When we were maybe around 10 years old, her big sister, who was a freshman in college, developed leukemia. It was devastating. She was a smart and accomplished young woman with so much life ahead of her. But the disease progressed rapidly and she passed away not long after her diagnosis. I remember going to the funeral. My first experience of grief and loss up close. Did I ever tell you that there was like, the boy I had a crush on in fourth grade died of leukemia in fourth grade, like during the school year. I always think about that we had.

A (17:16)

A little girl with cystic fibrosis who died and that she was dying the whole time we were in grammar school. And then she find it was just the saddest kind of reality.

B (17:26)

Yeah. Just weeks after this horrific loss, Angelina's family packed up and moved several hours away. They left quickly and quietly, likely in an effort to remove from some of the grief. Because of this move, I never saw Angelina again. I think we spoke on the phone a few times, but this was years before social media and cell phones and we completely lost touch. It left me feeling a little empty for a long time. No closure, no natural end of the friendship. Just one day here and the next day gone. That is until 14 years later when I sit down at my boyfriend's now ex husband, lol. Boyfriend's brother's college graduation. I look to the person sitting on my right and my heart stops. Angelina, I say. We recognized each other instantly and finally had the chance to hear from each other after more than a decade. We sat there in disbelief, talking about our lives in the beginning of our careers. She was there for her boyfriend's graduation. Somehow we ended up in the same place at the same time, sitting next to each other.

A (18:24)

That's wild.

B (18:25)

Probably not even the same. I don't know if the same state, probably not the same city even.

A (18:29)

Yeah.

B (18:30)

I still can't understand how we ended up next to one another when we could have gone to any of the hundreds of available seats. I think it was God or the universe or whatever energy you believe moves through this world to push us towards our fate. Deep down, my inner child needed that resolution to know where she had been and what had become of her after that tragic loss. Anyways, this has nothing to do with murder, but it was something I will never forget. An amazing moment of kismet. I love you guys and all that you do. With love. Emily.

A (19:00)

That's crazy.

B (19:01)

Right next to her. Not even like at a party or something.

A (19:03)

Yeah. Just like, oh, what's your ticket. Say, here's my ticket.

B (19:07)

Yeah.

A (19:10)

Okay. Here's my last one. I'm not gonna read you the subject line. It says, hello, MFM crew. So I didn't start listening from day one, but in 2019, I did start all the way back with episode one. Not sure what category that puts me in, but I've had the best six years with U2 in my ears.

B (19:26)

Wow.

A (19:27)

I was catching up on minisodes recently, and I heard you ask for trash kid stories, and I figured this was the perfect time to tell you about how I grew up to be the exact opposite of a trash kid. It's a bragging email. I've always had a very black and white sense of right and wrong, to the point where I once made my college boyfriend sleep in his car in my driveway while my parents were out of town because I didn't want to get in trouble. Wow. I credit a lot of that extreme honesty to something my parents invented called the lie dot. According to them, the lie dot was a special mark on your forehead that only grownups could see, and it appeared when you were lying. I have such a vivid memory of sneaking an extra cookie, my parents asking to check my forehead, and me immediately bursting into tears and confessing everything. From that day on, I was honest to the core. Basically, the dictionary definition of a goody two shoes. Just so you know, my mom does this exact same thing to me, and I can still remember when she told me.

B (20:23)

Yeah, yeah, you talked about that.

A (20:24)

We were like, in front of the refrigerator, and then she was like. Like she was gonna break it to me, like, okay, I know when you're lying. I can see it. I can see it in your face when you're lying. And I'm like, really? How?

B (20:37)

I can just imagine going like, no, Mom, I didn't do it. And then that, like, covering your forehead to be like, that didn't happen, the whole thing. And that's how I know it's so.

A (20:44)

Easy to manipulate children.

B (20:46)

Children are so stupid.

A (20:47)

So it says. Eventually, they told me the truth. There was no magical dot. They could just tell when the kid was lying. To this day, I can't decide if that was an incredible parenting hack or a mild case of trash parenting. Either way, I truly lucked out with the best parents in the world. My mom, Christie, left my biological dad when she was 23 with one year old me while pregnant with my sister. About two years later, she met the man I call dad John. And they've been the cool parents ever since. Even now, they Are fan favorites of all of my friends and have gotten invited to several of my friends weddings. That is a great sign of great parents.

B (21:22)

Totally.

A (21:23)

Stay sexy and don't lie to your parents. Hayden.

B (21:27)

A dot on the forehead. What's the biggest lie you've said to your children or that your parents have said to you? Yeah, I want those.

A (21:35)

Yeah. Like Adrian saying to her kids like she was scared, Be careful. The man's gonna see you.

B (21:40)

That's right.

A (21:41)

When they were misbehaving in public.

B (21:42)

The man's gonna see you.

A (21:44)

The man's gonna see you. Not. Not technically a lie.

B (21:47)

No. There is the man and he is going to see you.

A (21:50)

That's right.

B (21:50)

Okay, here's my last one. I'm not going to read you the subject. What up bitches? Let's do this, Al. Easy. Let's do this. About five years ago, I went to a friend's place for a lesbian poker night because the girls love to gamble and gossip.

A (22:03)

When they say let's do this, they mean let's do this.

B (22:06)

When I arrived, I knew everyone except for one woman, Kelly, a friend of the host from down the block. The host excitedly greeted me and said, for the game. I sat you next to Kelly because she doesn't know anyone and you are a yak mouth who can talk to a brick wall. That would never happen to me. That being totally true, I felt lovingly seen and sat down for the game. Couple hands in. I had lost plenty of money but was really enjoying chatting it up with Kelly. Midway through the night, she leans over to me and says, so I don't want to freak you out, but I'm a medium and your grandmother Mary has been bugging me all night. She is a very persistent woman.

A (22:42)

Holy shit.

B (22:43)

I grew up with a lot of Italian superstition. Woo woo. Catholic hocus pocus. But am a pragmatist at the end of the day. So I was cautiously intrigued. Kelly continued, she wants you to know she is with your grandpa Joe. They are together and happy, so you don't need to worry about them. But your grandmother is very worried about your brother's heart because of the way Grandpa Joe passed. So he needs to go to the doctor.

A (23:05)

Holy shit.

B (23:05)

I would have just punched her in the face and run like I don't even care if it wasn't true. Just like, just freaking out. Yeah. My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. How the fuck did this woman know my grandparents had both passed their names, My grandfather's cardiac issue and that I had a brother? Yeah.

A (23:23)

All of it.

B (23:23)

All of it. The next day, I called my brother, who was 28 at the time, and recounted the story. He said, well, I'll be honest, I didn't think this was how the call was going to go when I picked up the phone, but I guess I'll make the appointment.

A (23:34)

Please.

B (23:34)

My brother got a full run up, and it was discovered his blood pressure was dangerously high, especially for being so young. The doctor put him on medication and instructed him to have a blood pressure monitor in his home so they could keep an eye on it. The doctor said, we need to get this addressed immediately. So it's a really good thing you came in today. We typically don't get people your age coming in for this. So out of curiosity, what made you come in? He simply shrugged and said, my grandma told me to see you at your 11:15 Brooklyn show. Stay sexy and listen to your grandma, even if it's from beyond the grave.

A (24:06)

Jen, that was amazing. You know, my aunt Kathleen did that. My sister Adrienne's family got a psychic for, like, a holiday.

B (24:13)

Yeah, yeah.

A (24:14)

And there was, like, one of them had to drop out. So Adrian's like, do you want to come?

B (24:19)

Yeah.

A (24:19)

And the first thing he does is like, kathleen. Who knows? Kathleen? And my aunt Kathleen had just died. So everyone's like, it's Laura. And she's like that. She's like, your aunt Kathleen needs you to be careful of gluten.

B (24:31)

Right?

A (24:31)

And all she talked about was gluten.

B (24:33)

And such a random thing to pull. Like, if you were making it up, it's such a random thing to make up.

A (24:38)

And then it turns out Nora has celiacs. And they find out, like, three or four years later, which is just like. You can say what you want, but I'm like, yeah, if it's a person who actually has the gift, yeah, we should do.

B (24:50)

We should make. Like. We should get a psychic in to talk to us, to sit there and hold our hands and read to us. Read off our.

A (24:58)

That's a good idea.

B (24:59)

Read us our tarot. I don't know how it works.

A (25:01)

I mean, well, it was to be like, a psychic would be like, what they're seeing and feeling about us.

B (25:07)

Yeah, I guess. At the same time, though, we've said every single thing about ourselves on this podcast. Like, every single fucking thing. They'd be like, it's your dead ex boyfriend. I'm like, I wrote that in the book. So you fucking knew that.

A (25:16)

You're like, karen's told this celiac psychic story literally four times. So if you don't know it. You're not a real listener.

B (25:23)

That's right. Oh, no, that. We know that one.

A (25:24)

No, no, no.

B (25:25)

What's next?

A (25:25)

We'd have to get somebody that's, like, from a foreign country, that doesn't. I don't know.

B (25:30)

People from foreign countries listen to this podcast. Do you know that?

A (25:33)

Oh, that's true.

B (25:34)

Not a lot.

A (25:35)

We went to Sweden once.

B (25:37)

We did. Well, thanks for listening. Happy 2026, everyone.

A (25:41)

Yeah, congratulations, you're here. It's the lesbian poker night. Get used to it. And stay sexy.

B (25:47)

And don't get murdered. Goodbye, Elvis. Do you want a cookie?

A (26:00)

This has been an exactly right production.

B (26:02)

Our senior producer is Molly Smith and our associate producer is Tessa Hughes.

A (26:05)

Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

B (26:07)

This episode was mixed by Liana Squillacci.

A (26:10)

Email your hometowns to my favorite murdermail dot com.

B (26:12)

Follow the show on Instagram at My favorite murder.

A (26:15)

Listen to my favorite murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

B (26:19)

Get your podcasts or Watch us on YouTube. Search for my favorite murder and then like and subscribe. Goodbye.