Which is why I’m outside. Tending to Deion’s garden, I’m raking up the soil so it’s less harsh on the flowers and bushes. He’s got a lot of wild plants in his garden too, but I’ll clean it up. Back at my apartment, I used to have a few potted plants I could take care of, but there was never enough room for anything more. But here … I could do loads of things to this garden to spice it up.
I pluck some weeds out of the ground and throw them in a bucket. That’s when a car drives by at a snail’s pace, and a man wearing sunglasses and a black suit stares at me from a rolled-down window. In an instant, our eyes connect, and I’m frozen to the ground. I don’t recognize him, but the look in his eyes predicts no good.
When he drives off, I’m left with shaky fingers and a palpitating heart. I pick up the bucket and go inside, slamming the door shut behind me. It hasn’t happened in days, yet the moment it does, I’m tilted off my axis. Why does this keep happening? Someone must be watching me. There’s no other explanation, but it doesn’t make any sense either. Who would drive by and gawk while doing nothing? If they want me, shouldn’t they come and get me?
I don’t understand any of this, but I do need to cool off, so I grab a glass and fill it with water, chugging it down in one go. As I set the glass down, my hand brushes past a stack of papers, and one of them falls out and drops to the floor. I pick it up, but my hands won’t stop shaking.
It’s one of Ashanti’s many drawings, but this one stands out among all the others.
She drew herself with vibrant, curly hair and all of her classmates are there too, playing on the school yard surrounded by a fence. But outside that fence, she drew a picture of a man in a black suit with sunglasses on.
It’s him. The man who’s been watching me has been watching her too all along.
My eyes widen.
No.
It can’t be.
They wouldn’t, would they?
Fuck. I can’t let it happen.
I immediately grab my coat and run outside to steal Deion’s bike. I’ve only learned how to ride this thing yesterday, but I hope I can get there in time … Before they take her too.
I ride as fast as I can, as fast as my legs will take me, through rough wind and big crowds, smashing the bell as often as I can in the hopes that they’ll let me pass. It’s almost time for the kids to leave the school, and Deion asked me to pick her up today. God, I hope I can get there in time.
The moment I arrive, I jump off my bike. Many kids are on the playground, but none of them look like Ashanti.
Where is she? Oh God, please let me find her, please.
I look for her everywhere, in the school yard, the bike stand area, and even the back entrance.
A sudden scream makes me turn my head and jump back on the bike.
“Ashanti! I’m coming!” I yell, biking as fast as I can toward the sound, across a narrow path through a tiny forest of trees until a street appears on the other side.
Where I watch as Ashanti is dragged into a van.
No!
The door slams shut. By the time I get there, the van’s driving off at a high speed.
I ride so fast, a car swerves so it doesn’t hit me, and the driver hits the horn. I almost got hit by upcoming traffic, but it doesn’t even faze me as I try to chase them through the streets.
But no matter how hard I bike, the van eventually disappears from my view, and I’m left with a gaping hole in my guilt-ridden heart.
This little girl was kidnapped because of me …
Because I didn’t trust my own judgment.
Because I couldn’t see the warning signs.
Because I failed to see they could use my love for this little girl and her father against me.
And now I have to tell Deion too.
Chapter 9
Charlotte
How do you tell a man his prized possession is gone? How do you tell a father his loving daughter has been taken?
It’s an impossible task, and one I’m facing right now as I trudge back toward Deion’s house with the bike in my hand. I couldn’t ride the bike, even if I wanted to. My body refuses to listen to my commands, and I keep falling down when I try. The only way back home was on foot. A fitting punishment for the girl who should’ve known this was going to happen. Who could’ve stopped it in time but didn’t because she was foolish enough to believe they wouldn’t come for her. That girl who valued her freedom more than the safety of others.