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“My Lost Child”
“Sometimes the things you’ve lost can be found again in unexpected places.” – Daniel Handler
For the last monthand a half, every time I left the clubhouse, I have had a weird feeling like I was being watched. I was very careful and made sure that I always had my strap on me. Regardless of being able to defend myself, I still had this uneasiness burning at the back of my brain. I learned over the years to listen to my instincts, especially after what happened with LaRue and her father. My quest to get to the bottom of the missing women in the area didn’t help settle my nerves. In fact, it was probably the reason I had the feeling at all. I was getting close to finding out who was at the head of this organized band of assholes. The ones who were stealing women and forcing them into a life they could never recover from.
Work had been my safe haven. Outside of my men, for whom I had fallen head over heels, twice over, it was the thing that kept me going. The girls were so much fun to teach, and I had grown to love each one like they were little sisters. Of course, my favorite girl was Quella. That child was my kindred spirit. Wild, free, a bad ass dancer and would say whatever popped in her head. The other instructors had an issue with her mouth, which could get lethal, but I enjoyed it. I felt it was a crime to stifle her true self. She just needed to work on her delivery a bit.
Today was the day I introduced the latest choreography that Mouse and I had been working on. It was competition season, and the girls were undefeated so far. We didn’t have a competition this coming weekend, which was rare. That gave us plenty of time to implement some new weapons to our arsenal. As captain, Quella was expected to get the steps down first, so she could help her peers, if they needed it. Sometimes the girls were more receptive to their friends and they could get through, where the instructors couldn’t.
“Hey, Mouse, how are you?” I greeted my boss, as I entered the dance studio.
“Hey, Sharon. Girl, are you ready for these new steps? I am so excited to show the girls.”
“Me too. I barely slept thinking about it.”
As we were discussing the choreo, I glanced at my watch and noticed that Quella was late. That never happened. She was always early.
“Have you heard from Quella? She should have been here by now.”
“No. That’s not like her. I bet she got held up at school.”
“I guess, but she would at least text if she thought she would be late. She knows how important today is. Something is wrong. I can feel it in my bones.”
Mouse came over to stand next to me, placing a comforting hand on my arm. The look on her face reflected exactly what I was feeling. Fear. I was just about to run out of the door to see if I could trace her normal path to the studio, when Mouse stopped me.
“Let’s take a look at the security footage. If we can’t find anything in our system, we’ll call Matrix. He can tap into cameras all over the city. We will find her. In the meantime, why don’t you text the group of girls in her class to see if maybe they know anything.”
After viewing all of the video recordings and texting the girls we were no further along than when we first started. It had been a couple of hours and time was a critical factor. The more time that ticked away meant the harder it would be to find her. Mouse called Ace and asked if he would have Matrix do his hacking thing that earned his nickname. Apparently, my man had skills so good with a computer that he could pull you out of the rabbit hole. No red or blue pills required. I had never seen him in action, but his reputation was stellar. Ace gave the go-ahead, and Matrix went to work.
“Sitting around this studio is driving me insane. I am going to go for a ride around the neighborhood. Maybe ride over to the school to see if anyone over there has seen her.”
“Okay, but please be careful. We don’t need you coming up missing too. I’ll stay here in case she shows up. Make sure your phone is charged. Check in with me in an hour just so I know you’re alright.”
“Will do. Be sure and call me if she shows up.”
Please, god, let her show up. I decided to go by her house to see if her mom, Jewel, knew anything, but with her it was hit or miss. Sometimes she was coherent and acted like a responsible adult. Other days she was so drunk on wine she could barely function. I turned off the ignition, engaged the kickstand and dismounted Maverick. I heard some fumbling around inside the house as I knocked on the door. Jewel opened the door looking like last week’s trash.
“Jewel, I am looking for Quella. Have you seen her?”
“Oh, hey, Miss Lady. Why you looking for my baby? She should be at school.”
“School let out at three. Jewel missed practice and that is not like her. I wanted to see if maybe she was sick and couldn’t call to let me know.”
“Let you know. Why would my child need to let you know she was sick? That’s not your business.”
“So, is she here? I’m a little worried because no one has heard from her.”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about mine! I got this. What you need to do is worry about yourself, and why after all this time, you just now start coming around to see about Quella.”
“Look, Jewel, can we talk about that later? We need to put our petty bullshit to the side. I need to know if she’s here. Is she safe? There was a man following her a few weeks back, and I am afraid something may have happened to her.”
“Naw, lil cuz. She ain’t here. If she’s not at school or that damn dance studio with you, I don’t know where she is.”
“Can you call my mama and daddy to see if maybe they picked her up for something? Maybe they forgot to remind you. I would call, but they won’t answer for me.”
“No, I can’t, Miss Prim and Proper. Your parents are out of town. I really hate that you are trying to come back into Quella’s life now.”
“You can’t fault me for this. I had no idea it was her when she first auditioned for the team. Yes, I thought she looked familiar, but I didn’t know it was her. I wasn’t trying to come back into her life and confuse things. It just happened. I took it as a sign from the universe. I am finally starting to get my life in order, and he sent her back to me, so I can stay motivated.
