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I nodded my head then I went into the kitchen where Kassidy and China were and gave my baby one final hug before I left.
8:30 P.M
It was pretty busy in my store tonight and I hadn’t sat my ass down since I stepped foot in there. I knew Jaquan would let my ass have it if he saw the way I was in here working like a dog. He felt that since I was the boss, that I wasn’t supposed to get my hands dirty. He expected me to just walk around and give out orders, but I just couldn’t. I had to be somewhere in the mix. I was in the front of the store, changing the outfits on one of the mannequins when I heard someone call my name from behind me. I turned around and it was one of the little girls from China’s class and her mother.
“Hey, Charlie girl. Working hard, huh?” Chelsea asked me. Her daughter’s name was Blaire, and she and China were pretty tight.
“Yeah, you know me. If you’re purchasing something, let one of my cashiers know that I said to give you a ten percent discount. Hey Blaire,” I said.
She smiled shyly and gave me a wave.
“Thanks, Charlie, I appreciate it. How’s China?” she asked me.
“She’s good, I just dropped her off at Kassidy’s house tonight for a sleepover,” I told them.
“A sleepover? Kassidy is my best friend and she didn’t invite me!” Blaire cut in, not being shy anymore.
“Wait, Charlie, you took China all the way to Lincoln Field for a sleepover?” Chelsea asked me, referring to one of the most dangerous areas in Miami.
“Wait, are we talking about the same Kassidy? I just dropped China off to the new condos out in Miramar,” I said.
“Charlie, it’s only one Kassidy in their class. Her mom’s name is Nita, right?”
All of a sudden, I started to feel real dizzy. “And Kassidy didn’t say anything to you about a sleepover? Are you sure?” I asked Blaire.
“I’m sure. We sit right next to each other in class. She would have told me,” she said.
I nodded my head and ran back to my office to retrieve my purse. I ran out of the mall like a crazy woman. I got into my car and drove like a bat out of hell, all the while calling the cell phone that I’d given China back to back. It was going straight to voicemail, which I thought was strange because it was fully charged when we left.
“Come on, China, baby, pick up for mommy!” I said, getting scared now.
I continued to call her while I drove back to the condos. Luckily, traffic had cleared up and I was able to get there in under thirty minutes. I didn’t even care, I parked the car in the resident’s section and jumped out of the car. I ran up the stairs and found Nita’s alleged address and banged on the door with my fist. I put my ear to the door and I didn’t hear any movement coming from inside. The more I banged on the door and the fact that no one was coming made me panic even more. I pulled out my phone and called Jaquan. He answered on the second ring.
“What’s good, baby?” he answered.
I could tell that he was high as hell at the moment.
“Jaquan, baby. I don’t know where our baby is!” I cried into the phone.
“Fuck you mean you don’t know where China is? Where the fuck are you, Charlie?” he barked into the phone.
I could hear a lot of shuffling around like he was moving.
“I dropped her off to a sleepover and no one is here at the house, baby. I don’t know! Something isn’t right,” I panicked.
“Excuse me! Are you looking for someone? Why are you standing in front of my door?” a middle-aged woman asked me, coming up the stairs.
“I just dropped my daughter off over here for a sleepover. Do you know Nita and Kassidy?” I asked her with tears running down my face.
“Nita is my daughter, but I haven’t spoken to her ass in years. I don’t know why she would tell you anything about a sleepover and then have the shit at my house either,” the woman fussed.
“Charlie, stop fuckin’ talking! Hold on, someone is calling me from a private number,” Jaquan said.
He clicked over. I anxiously waited for him to come back to the phone.
“They set your dumb ass up, Charlie! Someone took China and they asking for a million dollars to them by tomorrow night or they threatening to kill her,” Jaquan said when he came back on the line.
I fell back and tumbled down the flights of stairs. Then everything turned black.
