by Ey Wade
"All right, Mom. Just hurry and go. Aunt Cat probably needs you badly."
Five minutes later, Phalene was enclosed in the driver's seat of the car and raising the window after kissing Frank good-bye. She watched as he ran barefoot back up the cold path to the front door and waved good-bye just before the door shut. As she drove through the freezing streets, she thanked God for Frank and the comfort he always supplied her and the support that would definitely be needed now more than ever in her life. Phalene had married Frank when she was twenty years old and after three years of taking care of a rebellious Catrine on her own; Phalene had practically fallen into Frank's loving arms. It wasn't that Catrine was street wild but she had begun acting as if she was heading in that direction. The child had just been entering the teen phase and the fact that a real parent was not around to chastise her; Catrine was quickly getting out of hand.
Then Frank came along. He was a big obstacle in Catrine's headlong rush into destruction. Big because he was a twenty-seven year old, six-eight, muscle bound Sergeant in the Army and would not tolerate any disobedience. The then fifteen-year old Catrine fell into order and Phalene fell in love. After a year of dating, she and Frank married and for the next few years until his orders shipped him out of the country, Frank had been the father Catrine never knew and the husband Phalene needed.
Frank's support gave her the freedom to indulge in the grief she had kept buried deep inside at the death of her mother and only parent. Grief she had hidden away from young Catrine. The pain of losing a parent and the idea of her sister being placed in foster care had weighed heavily on her mind. The process of fighting against that outcome had sustained her. What would she do now to help Catrine? Catrine may be twenty-four but she still seemed a kid to Phalene. She had been totally responsible for Catrine for over ten years. Solved all of her problems, what could she possibly tell the girl to ease her mind about her missing baby?
Belatedly, concentrating on the traffic when she was forced to reduce her speed, Phalene stopped to tap her nails on the steering wheel in irritation when she realized that she had blindly driven into a traffic jam. If she had been paying attention, she would have been able to take an alternate route. Looking as far ahead as possible, she visually measured the number of car lights to the nearest exit from the highway. There was no way of telling how long she would be sitting. Leaning her head on the steering wheel, and closing her eyes, Phalene prayed that Catrine would be able to hold on until she arrived.
*****
Catrine disconnected the line with Phalene and quickly dialed Linda's home number. After explaining the situation to Synthia Brason, the girl's mother and getting a negative response about Brhin being there, Catrine burst into tears. "Catrine, Catrine girl calm down. Do you want me to come over?"
"No. I'll be all right."
"Are you sure? I can call over a couple of the sisters from my church and we can get a prayer chain going."
"I appreciate the thought, Synthia but I'm going to call my Pastor and talk to him."
"Don't get me wrong girl, but I think you would get better results if you let us come over."
"Why? What's the difference? Prayer is prayer if it's done in the right spirit."
"True. Not to be funny 'cause you know I don't hold anything back, but your Pastor is White. At a time like this, you need to be in a Black church. We need to be taking care of our own. Pastor was talking about it the other Sunday. It's in the Bible somewhere in Job. I can't remember the scripture, but…"
"Whoa, wait a minute Synthia. What difference does the color make? Do you think God picks and chooses the people He helps by using a color chart? At a time like this, I just need the righteous Word. We've had this conversation before. I just don't feel up to having it again right now. I'll call later. When Brhin is back home."
Slowly replacing the receiver, Catrine staggered from her bedroom into the living room. Finding her way by dragging her fingers along the wall to guide her through her veil of tears and the pain in her head, she found and sat on the corner of the large desk that was pressed against one of the walls. Flipping through the cards on the Rolodex until she came to the number of the P.S. Center's director, Catrine activated the cordless phone that sat on the desk.
"Hello, may I speak to Mrs. Wall, please?" Catrine questioned the answering voice.
"This is she," Mrs. Wall answered briskly. "May I ask who this is?"
"Yes, I'm Catrine Teddi, Brhin-Kristoffer's mother."
"Christopher who? Does this child attend my center?" Mrs. Wall questioned vaguely.
"Of course he does." Catrine ran her fingers through her hair in exasperation."He has been doing so for the past five months. Brhin is a three year old, almost four."
"Oh, oh yes. Now I remember," She answered slowly. "Are you calling to let me know that he will be absent on tomorrow?" The woman sounded stilted and on edge. Hesitation seeped through her tones with every word she uttered. "Is Brhin ill? The policy for The Perfect Solution Child Care Center is for each parent to call there on the morning the child will not attend and report the absence. I do not accept business calls at my home. Now, will you excuse...."
"Wait." Catrine shouted in the receiver to deter the woman's attempt to hang up. "My son is missing. He was not at The P. S. Center when my sister went to get him and I wondered if you had any idea of who may have gotten him."
"I believe it was your sister. She was driving away from The P. S. Center when I was turning into the driveway. Shouldn't you check with her before you report him to be missing?"
"I've already talked to her. He's not there. My sister has no idea where he is. He wasn't at the center when my sister went to get him. No one had any idea who took him. Do you?"
"No, I don't. Do you really have to call the police?"
"Of course," Cat snapped irritably and pushed the Rolodex into its place on the desk with unnecessary force. The woman was really starting to get on her nerves. "If I would have known earlier, I would have called long before now. I have been waiting here all evening for my sister to bring Brhin home and she had been sitting home believing that I had already gotten him."
"So you're going call the police and report him missing?"
"Yes, I am as soon as I finish speaking to you. I called you because I was hoping that maybe you or your staff would have an idea who may have gotten him. I also thought that we could go to The P. S. Center and look in the book where the parents sign the children in and out and maybe by some off chance, the person that took him, signed Brhin out."
"I guess we can do that. I really have no choice, do I? I'll call my staff and have them meet us there and we can question them together. Hold off on calling the police. Someone should know something. Lord. This is the worst publicity a daycare center could get."
Catrine slapped her opened palm on the desk. The burning sensation that ran through her hand matched the burning anger that she felt deep in her chest. She stood and paced the room.
"What in God's name is wrong with you? I care only about my child. Do you honestly think I care one iota about your center's reputation? You lost a child, my child. You and your people did not take care of him. All of you let him go with a total stranger and anything could be happening to him at this very moment you idiot. That’s what you should be worried about."
Slamming the receiver in the woman's ears, Catrine angrily paced the room while punching out the numbers to the home of the pastor of her church. Peace was what she needed more than anything and she knew that just a few words from either Pastor or his wife would be very comforting and empowering.
"This is Catrine Teddi. How are you?” She asked the Pastor’s wife. “I know it's late to be calling you at home, but something awful has happened and I need to talk to you or Pastor."
"No problem Catrine. What happened?"
"Brhin is missing. Someone went to his childcare center and the teacher just handed him over. No one knows where he is."
“The very first thing we ne
ed to do right now is think positive. Speak only what we want to happen. We are going to believe that Brhin will be returned to you and to us in a timely manner and definitely safe. Let me get Pastor and he can get on the other phone so that we can all pray. Micah. Will you get the other phone? Hold on a minute I don't think he heard."
Catrine brushed stray strands of hair from her forehead and swiped at her nose with a fresh Kleenex from the desk while she waited.
"Okay, Catrine.” The Pastor’s wife returned to the line. “Pastor will be on the line in a second. I explained to him what has happened."
Pastor Hickory cleared his throat as he clicked into the line.
"Catrine, my wife has explained everything to me. First I want to know if you have called the child’s father.”
“Why are people asking me that? No I haven’t and I’m not going to.”
“Maybe the question keeps coming up because it’s something you need to face. Let's pray on this matter."
After praying and absorbing the words of comfort, Catrine felt much calmer as she hung up on the Pastors and dialed the number of the police department. Tapping her acrylic nail on the row of her bottom teeth, she waited for an answer to her ring.
"Police department," drawled a deep male voice.
"I want to report a kidnapped child."
"Okay, Ma'am, and how do you know the child has been kidnapped and is not just a run away?"
"I know because the child is mine, he is only three years old and someone took him from his daycare center."
"Hold on a second."
She listened to the officer's heavy breathing and the noises of shuffling papers in frustration.
"How long did you say the child was missing?"
"He's been gone between four and six hours."
"And how old did you say the child is?"
"He’s three and a half."
"Lord, have mercy. You say the child is your own? Why have you waited so long before reporting him missing?"
"I just found out. I have been ill and had asked my sister to get Brhin from his daycare center. I was under the impression that she was keeping him at her house with her for a while and come…" Taking a deep breath to ease the pressure of the unshed tears gathering behind her eyes and the sob building in her throat, she continued talking. "Come to find out, my baby is not with my sister. Someone had taken him from The P. S. Center and my sister Phalene had not called me because she was angry with me and mistakenly thinking that I had sent her on a wild goose chase."
No longer able to hold back the tears, Catrine began to cry in earnest.
"Ma'am calm down. Is there anyone there with you that can talk clearly? Maybe your husband is around?"
"No one, I'm not married."
"Hmm, have you and the father had any arguments lately? Been arguing about child support or anything? Maybe he has the child with him."
"No. The father and I do not communicate."
"Have you ever done this sort of thing before?"
"What sort of thing?" she felt herself putting up a mental battle shield. "What are you trying to suggest?"
"I'm not trying to suggest anything. What I want to know is, whether you have ever mistakenly sent more than one person to get your child from daycare."
"No. I have never done anything like that. I am usually the one that gets him, but on occasion, I do ask my sister. As I said before, I have been ill and had asked my sister to get him and she said that the people at The P. S. Center told her that they let someone else take him away."
"They told her this?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure? You say that your sister was 'pissed off'. Does she get angry with you often?"
"What kind of questions are you asking me? Why are you asking me this? My sister and I do not argue. This has nothing to do with 'us'. Put someone else on the telephone. I want to report my child missing, not sit here and take the third degree. Is there anyone else that I can speak with? Should I come up there and make this report?"
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. These are just the basic standard questions. You would be surprised at the number of missing child reports we get daily and they turn out to be domestic disputes. Okay, you say you are ill, have you taken any drugs….anything for your illness?" He added quickly when he heard her sharply drawn breath.
"I’ve only taken the over the counter kind of meds.”
"What is your name and address?"
"My name is Catrine Teddi. My address is 804 Washington Avenue."
"What is the boy's name?"
"My baby's name is Brhin-Kristoffer Teddi. He's...." Catrine blew her nose and tried to calm herself.
"Will you spell that for me?"
"Yes, of course." She did so before continuing with the description. "Brhin is approximately thirty-six inches tall and weighs thirty pounds. We are of the Black race, but Brhin is very light skinned," She cleared her throat. "His hair is reddish-brown and curly and cut close to his head. It forms a 'v' in the back and at the tip of the 'v' he has a plait that hangs just below the baseline of his neck. I couldn’t get him to cut all of his hair off the other day. He has a long scar on his chin where he fell...." She paused to dab at her nose and to clear her throat. "From the top of the kitchen table and hit his chin on the corner of a cabinet door. He had to get ten stitches for that."
"Are you able to tell me what he was wearing today?"
"He has on black and white Jordan tennis shoes, black socks, black faded jeans and an oversized, long sleeved black T-shirt with a large picture of Batman on the back. He should also have on a black leather bombers jacket. Brhin is very smart. He already knows his home address and phone number. He also knows how to dial the operator and 911. I am positive that he wouldn't have left The P. S. Center with someone he did not know. I talk to him about the dangers of strangers all of the time."
"Like I said, maybe his father has him."
"No way, that man would be a stranger to Brhin. I can't make myself believe that Austin would do such a thing. Besides, he doesn't even know that Brhin exists."
"Humph, you never know. What center does your son attend?"
"It's called The Perfect Solution Daycare Center."
Catrine heard the officer click his tongue in disgust and immediately questioned him.
"What?" She asked. "Is it a bad center? I had heard nothing but good things about it before I enrolled Brhin."
"It isn't a good child care center in practice. I thought that the place had been closed down. You kept saying The P.S. Center and it never dawned on me that it was that particular center."
"Do you know this center? Why do you say it isn't a good place?"
"I really don't think you should think about this."
"I want to know."
"Okay." The officer started his narrative slowly. "Well, last year my sister had her little girl enrolled at that particular center and she had a lot of complaints. About the meals, supervision, little things she was hearing. She removed Sabrina from there when they forgot the child in the park."
"My God, how could a center do such a thing? That's totally irresponsible."
"And yet they remain open. The school had taken the children to this large playground just built in town and when they returned to The Center, my niece had been forgotten. The poor little thing had just recently made two years old and couldn't talk very well. Those ignorant people didn't even have a nametag on her. It was darn near three hours before they noticed that she was missing from the center, and by then my niece was at home. If it hadn't been for a concerned mother leaving the park with her own children noticing Sabrina and bringing her here, no telling what would have happened. Thank God I was on duty. I was so shocked when I walked in from my lunch break and saw everyone gathered around this tiny crying child, and was more flabbergasted when I realized it was Sabrina. My sister was going to sue The Center but she let a few of her girl friends talk her out of the idea. She just let the matter drop. After my niece was taken from the center,
we began hearing a lot of rumors of different abuses and neglect going on there."
"Really, that's strange. I called The Child Care Licensing Bureau and received no negative reports. As a matter of fact the center had no violations posted on the bureau's website either."
"Maybe no one ever reported any incidents. If no one tells about a problem, no one will know about it. It’s like petty theft; people tend to just let it go thinking it no big deal so things continue to happen. As for violations, those are easy to get around. Most centers know when inspections are coming up and prepare the center for them.
"I called the director just before I called you and she and her staff will meet me at The P. S. Center. They may know who took my son."
"That sounds good, but I think it would be better if you remained at home."
“I can't. I have to go. I have to find my son. If I sit around here I will go crazy. The answering machine is on. Brhin and I have a system. We practice it all the time. He'll know what to do if he calls and I am not here. He knows my cell phone number.
"I can't force you to stay there, but I will give all of this information to a unit, an Amber Alert will be enacted and a unit will meet you at the childcare center. Is there anyone to stay at your home while you are gone?"
"No."
"I'm asking this because someone may try to call you for a ransom or something."
"Brhin was taken from his day care center, the person would not know my address or number now would they?"
"I can't agree with that. I suggest you hurry to the center and get back as soon as possible."
"Will they put a search out?"
"More than likely after the police check in. They may have a description of the suspect or the car driven. Bring the most recent picture that you have of your son. We will also get in touch with the Bureau of Missing and Exploited Children. I'll get the news to all of the local television stations. The more information we can get out the better."