by Deja King
When Maya and I pulled up to the gates, they were wide open. As I drove up to the entrance, we both noticed multiple police vehicles parked in front of the circular driveway. I couldn't get out the car fast enough, and sprinted to the front door. Maya was a step behind me when we entered the foyer. I zoomed in on the two middle-aged white detectives leaning against the keystone columns. I brushed past them, wanting to find Supreme so he could tell me what the hell was going on. I found him in his two-story office having an intense conversation with another detective who was writing down notes on a pad. "Supreme, what happened? Did someone break in and rob us?" "Officer, this is my wife, Precious." The officer reached out his hand to shake mine but my head was spinning into too many directions to care about formalities. "Supreme, would you please tell me what the hell is going on?" "Why don't you come sit down?" "I don't want to sit down. I want you to tell me what the fuck is up," I said, becoming impatient. "Mrs. Mills, it's concerning your daughter," the detective revealed calmly, unwilling to wait around for Supreme to build up the nerve to tell me. "What about Aaliyah?" "Your daughter's been kidnapped." At that moment, time completely stopped. A painful chill infested every bone in my body, and my legs buckled. But before I lost my balance and fell, I grabbed onto the mahogany desk for support. Supreme put his hand on my shoulder, but I jerked it away. I ran out the room and I heard Supreme and Maya calling my name, but I ignored them. I had to find the person who could give me real answers instead of listening to someone ask me a million questions. As the stiletto heels of my Jimmy Choo shoes clicked against the marble floor and echoed through our twelve thousand square foot domain, I found who I was looking for, sitting on a chair in the kitchen, with an ice pack on the back of her head. "What happened to Aaliyah?" I demanded to know from Anna. "Detective, this is Mrs. Mills, Aaliyah's mother." "Hello, I'm Detective Moore. I'm sorry about your daughter. I was going over with your nanny exactly..." But before he could continue with his bullshit apology, I was in spitting range of Anna's face. "What did you do to my baby?" "Mrs. Mills, I didn't do anything. I turned around for less than a second, and then someone hit me on the back of the head. I blanked out for a few minutes, and when I came to, someone had grabbed Aaliyah from her stroller. I'm so sorry, Mrs. Mills." As if on auto pilot, my hands found there way around Anna's thick neck and I couldn't let go. My grip was secure, and the fear in Anna's almond brown eyes made them bulge. "Tell me what you did to my daughter!" I kept repeating, not caring that I was committing murder right in front of a police detective. I watched as the color drained from her olive colored skin. I knew at that moment Anna wished that she'd kept her ass in Washington Heights with her family instead of following me to California, and so did I. "Precious, let her go!" I heard Supreme bark. The detective's hands were latched onto my arms trying to break my grip on Anna, but my anger had given me superhero strength. It took the detective, a police officer and Supreme to pry me away from Anna. When she was finally free from my clutches, she fell to the floor gasping for air, but I didn't give a fuck. Unless she could miraculously bring my daughter home to me at that very moment, she could choke on the floor and die for all I cared. "We're going to have to place your wife under arrest," the police officer said, holding my hands behind my back. "Please don't. My wife's in shock," Supreme pleaded. "Officer, I don't want to press any charges against Mrs. Mills," Anna begged, coughing between words. The detective brought her some water as she sat back down on the chair finally catching her breath. "I understand you're upset, Mrs. Mills, but this is a tragedy and it's nobody's fault except for the person who kidnapped your daughter. Resorting to violence against the nanny isn't going to make things better. If anything, it will make it worse, especially for you. Under the circumstances, I won't place you under arrest, but you have to get a hold of yourself. The only thing we all should be focusing on is bringing your daughter home safely." I heard what the officer was saying, but it meant nothing. I felt as if the walls were closing in on me and I was suffocating. This was worse than any dream I had the past couple of weeks. This was a nightmare that I would sacrifice my own life to get out of, if doing so would guarantee that Aaliyah would be safe and live a long and prosperous life. "What do we do next?" I finally asked, needing to believe that some sort of plan was being put in place to bring my daughter home alive. "We have a couple of witnesses that saw a woman running, carrying a baby in her hands, and then driving off in a black four-door sedan. One of the witnesses was able to get a partial license plate number and we are doing our best to track the car down. We're also installing a device to your home phones because we believe the kidnappers will be calling demanding a ransom. Your husband is a very high-profile celebrity, and more than likely someone is looking for a quick payday. Whoever did this has probably been watching your family for some time now. From what I understand, Anna would take your daughter to this park frequently. They probably knew she would be alone and vulnerable." "Did anybody get a good look at the woman who was running off with Aaliyah?" I asked. "She was wearing a dark baseball cap, and either was a Hispanic or a light-skinned medium-built Black woman. It's not much, but it gives us something to go on." "Do you believe she was acting alone or had help?" Supreme questioned, wrapping his arms around me, doing his best to make me feel safe. "None of the witnesses mentioned seeing anybody else in the car, but normally with kidnappings, the perpetrator is not acting alone. So I wouldn't be surprised if someone else is involved." While Supreme continued to talk with the detective, I freed myself from his clutches, making my exit. I walked outside and sat down on a chair by the pool, gazing into the tranquil clear water. The sun was setting and a glimmer of light was hitting the sculpted water fountain in front of the gazebo. Who would ever believe that in this majestic estate of glamour and opulence a dark cloud would come over and suck all the life right out? "Precious, I promise it will be okay," I heard Maya say, intruding on my space. "Maya, I really want to be alone." "I know that's what your mind is telling you, but if you listen to your heart it's saying something else." "Yeah, it is. It's saying that when I find out who had the fucking balls to snatch my daughter, I'm going to take pleasure in slowly cutting out their heart and watching them bleed to death. But until then, I want to be alone." "I'll let you be, for now, but if you need me, call me. I'll be back tomorrow to check on you." As Maya turned to leave, Supreme came walking up, and I put my head down not wanting to speak with him either. "Baby, it's getting late, let's go inside." "Supreme, just like I told Maya, I want to be alone. So just go." "Don't shut me out. I'm your husband and Aaliyah is my daughter too. I'm hurting just like you are. We have to be there for each other." "Then why weren't you there for Aaliyah?" "Precious, I know you're not blaming me for this. First Anna, now me." "You knew I couldn't fucking stand for Anna and Aaliyah to be at the park alone." "They weren't alone, it's a fucking public park. Lots of other kids and their parents were there too." "That's not the point. Those other people don't live our lives. Would it have been so difficult for you to have one of your bodyguards be with Anna when she would go out with Aaliyah? Fuck... shit... damn!" I repeated, holding my head down and fighting back the tears that were moistening my fingertips. "If only you had listened to me, Aaliyah would be here right now. I would be holding her, feeding her, getting her ready for bed. Instead, I'm sitting here disgusted with you." "Don't do this. Don't let that fucking sick monster, who took our baby destroy us too. We better than that, Precious." "I don't know. If I don't get my daughter back, I don't know what's going to happen to me, or what's going to happen to us." "We will get her back. You have to believe that. I put that on my life," Supreme said, pounding his fist into the palm of his hand. "I have no choice but to believe you, because honestly, that's the only thing keeping me sane right now." I left Supreme sitting by the pool and went upstairs to take a shower. Being near him was too painful. I didn't want to, but part of me did blame Supreme and the other part blamed Anna. Deep down inside I knew it wasn't either one of their faults, but I had to blame somebody in
order to stop myself from going crazy. I stripped out of my clothes ready to baptize my body in the hot water when I heard my cell ringing. I realized my phone was in my purse, and when I reached in to get it a blocked number came across the screen. "Hello." "I missed hearing your voice." "Who is this?" "You know who it is. Have you missed me as much as I missed you?" I swallowed hard, feeling as if I was about to vomit up blood. I remained silent, unable to speak. "Precious, it's extremely impolite to ignore my question. You can't be surprised to hear from me." I still couldn't speak. "Well, I have to be going, but before I do, someone wants to say hello." There was a pause and then the male voice said, "Say hello to your mommy," and I heard the cries of a baby-my baby. That bastard had stolen my child. "You sonofabitch, bring my daughter home or I swear I going to cut your fucking dick off!" "Some things never change. You still have that lethal mouth. But that's one of the many things I find so irresistible about you. But listen, I must be going. I think it's only fair I make up for the many months I lost and start spending some quality time with my daughter. She really is a beauty. I'll be in touch." I dropped the phone, as I stood in the middle of the room butt naked with my mouth wide open, still in shock. "Precious, who was that on the phone?" Supreme asked, standing in the doorway. "He has her. He has Aaliyah," I revealed in a monotone voice. "Who?" Supreme demanded, coming towards me. He grabbed my arms and asked again, trying to shake me out of my hypnotic state. "Who has our daughter? Tell me!" "Mike." "Who?" he asked again, not registering what I was saying. "Pretty Boy Mike is back, and he has my baby!" DELUSIONAL
"Mike is locked up, he's in jail. Stop with this bullshit!" Supreme yelled, while grabbing my cell phone. "Fucking blocked number," he said, scanning my call history. "I'ma see if the cops can put a trace on this." "I know Mike's voice and I know the sound of my own child. That sick fuck has Aaliyah, and I'm getting her back. I don't give a damn what you think." I picked up the jeans and shirt I just threw off and started putting them back on. "This is bananas. I'm going to prove to you that there is no way Mike has Aaliyah." "And how do you plan to do that?" "I'm going to have the detective call the prison and verify that Mike is still locked up. When that's done, I want you to stop this obsession with Mike." "So what, you think I'm crazy and I just made up the whole conversation I had with Mike?" "I'm saying that you're under a lot of stress right now, which is understandable. It's probably leaked out that our daughter has been kidnapped and some loco is fucking with your head." "You can't be serious with that lame-ass excuse. Talk about reaching; the only part of your explanation that's correct is some fucking loco is playing with my head, but his name is Mike." "If the detective can get a hundred percent verification that Mike is still locked up at the Clinton Correctional Facility will you let it go?" I knew I wasn't crazy, but I also knew that it was humanly impossible for someone to be two different places at the same time. If it was proven that Mike was locked down, then I had to get over it and focus my energy on finding the real culprit. "Yes, if Mike is still at Clinton, then I'll let it go." With that, I followed Supreme downstairs to speak with the lead detective on the case. The crowd had dispersed and only a few officers were still lingering around. "We haven't gotten any new leads," Detective Moore said before we even had a chance to get out one word. "Well, I have a lead. I know exactly who took my daughter. His name is Mike Owens." Supreme eyeballed me with a mixture of annoyance and anger in his eyes but I could care less. I knew I was right and didn't need him to co-sign. "Who is Mike Owens, and where can we locate him?" Detective Moore asked, and grabbed a pen out of his pocket, anxious to take down the new information. "He's at the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York," Supreme was quick to make clear. "Excuse me, I'm confused." The detective flipped his pen on his pad waiting for clarification. "See, Mike is a madman..." "I got this, Precious," Supreme interrupted, putting his hand up to let me know to chill. I didn't appreciate his attitude and wanted to knock him upside the head, but decided to let him give his two cents. The sooner the detective could prove that Mike had somehow been released or escaped from prison, the faster everyone would believe he was the one who hadAaliyah kidnapped. I waited impatiently as Supreme gave the detective the spill of our past dealings with Mike up until now. "So Mrs. Mills, you claim this Mike character called you a little while ago?" "Yes, it was from a block number, but I'm hoping you can still have the phone company put a trace on the call." "That shouldn't be a problem. I'll just need your phone number and the carrier. What did the caller say?" "Mike asked ifI missed him, and said someone wanted to say hello. That's when I heard Aaliyah's voice." "That could've been any baby's voice." "Supreme, like I told you before, I know the sound of my own child's voice." It was taking all my strength not to lash out at my husband, but Supreme was wearing down my last nerve by not believing me. I could see if I was some delusional crackhead off the corner that he didn't know from Adam, but I was his fucking wife. That should've been enough proof right there. "Mrs. Mills, did Mike say anything else?" "Only that he had my daughter and he would be in touch." I decided there was no point in mentioning that Mike believed he was Aaliyah's father. To me, at this point it was irrelevant and wouldn't help the police track down Mike any sooner. Plus, all it would do was cause even more tension between me and Supreme and I couldn't deal with that right now. "Okay, well I'm going to make a few phone calls and find out if this Mike Owens guy is still locked up. I'm also going to put a trace on that call you received." "Trust me, Detective, you'll see Mike is no longer at Clinton. He has Aaliyah and you need to get your men on it immediately. He might still be in California." "I understand your concern and frustration. We've already issued an Amber Alert. I promise if Mike Owens is our man, we will bring that bastard down. Now let me make these calls." I turned and walked towards the living room and sat down on the couch. I was anxious for the detective and Supreme to realize I was right. Time wasn't on our side, and the sooner everyone acknowledged Mike was buried deep in this shit, they could focus their energy on him. I buried my head in my hands replaying my conversation with Mike over and over again. From the corner of my eye I could see Supreme walking towards me. He sat down next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Precious, I know you believe that Mike is the one that has Aaliyah. But when the detective comes back and tells you he's still locked up, you have to promise me you'll stop. This isn't healthy for you and it's not going to help bring back our daughter." "I have no problem making you that promise because I know I'm right. You'll see the detective is going to find out that Mike is free. And then maybe you'll apologize for not believing me." Supreme and I sat in silence for at least an hour waiting for Detective Moore to give us an update. I was becoming so restless that I began pacing the floor. I needed a drink but decided against it, wanting my mind to stay clear and centered. I practically jumped across the room when I noticed the detective coming in our direction. I stepped forward in front of Supreme, wanting to be vindicated. "I was right, wasn't I? Mike is out." I rolled my eyes at Supreme, pissed at his ass for not believing me. "Actually, Mrs. Mills, Mike Owens is still locked up at the Clinton Correctional Facility and has been there since being found guilty of attempted murder against your husband and raping you." "There has to be a mistake. Mike called me and he had my daughter." "It just isn't possible. The warden even went so far as to have a guard go to his jail cell to guarantee he was physically there. The phone company is still tracing the number that called you, but I believe your husband is probably right and some disturbed creep thought he'd get a kick out of playing a sick joke on you. It happens. I'm sorry, but at least we can cross Mike off our list and move on to other possible suspects." "I appreciate you getting to the bottom of this, Detective Moore." Supreme stood up shaking the detective's hand. "Please keep us informed of any new developments. I'll also have my people working on any leads." "I will be in touch, and again, we will do everything possible to bring your daughter home." I watched in shock and confusion as the detective and the other officers left our house. My mouth remaine
d open, and in my head I was screaming like a mad woman but nothing was coming out. "How could I have been so wrong?" I finally said. "Baby, it's not your fault. You're vulnerable right now and someone is playing with your emotions. Whoever it was will be shut down, but right now we have to concentrate on finding who kidnapped our daughter. And Precious," Supreme paused and lifted up my chin so our eyes locked. "We have to remain strong and remember that we love each other. Nothing can change that. In the course of our relationship, we've been through so much bullshit and made it with chins up, and we'll do the same with this shit too. But you have to trust me and listen to me. If I have to shut down every fucking state, I will bring our daughter home." Supreme wrapped his arms around me and his embrace did make me feel secure, but it didn't shake the lump in the pit of my stomach. That night I watched as Supreme fell into a deep sleep. Unlike him, I kept tossing and turning replaying the conversation I had with the would-be Mike imposter. The thing was, in my mind it wasn't an imposter. The tone, word selection and vibe all spelled out Pretty Boy Mike to me, and nothing or no one could convince me otherwise. I glanced at the clock and it was two o'clock in the morning. I then looked back at Supreme and realized that I could either follow my husband's lead and live with the possibility that I would never see my daughter again, or I could follow my gut and handle it my way. FULLY LOADED