of the staff members came up to me.
Her eyes were full of grief. “Which child is yours?”
My eyes scanned the rows of kids. I didn’t see Kylie.
“I don’t see her,” I said.
The woman swallowed. “Was her name Kylie Brown?”
“Her name
“Your child is missing.”
CHAPTER 12
I called Rodrick to find out if he picked Kylie up. When he told me he didn’t even know where the daycare was, the reality of my daughter being kidnapped became very real. My chest felt tight, skin started to perspire, and I felt dizzy all of a sudden.
I had to sit down. But as soon as the police officer pulled out a chair for me, I shot back to my feet. “Find my daughter now!”
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” said the officer, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Calm down. Is there anybody else who could’ve picked her up?”
My mind raced. And then a surge of hope went through me. Why didn’t I think of her sooner? I called my mother fast and asked her did she have Kylie.
“No,” my mother said, and my heart sank. “Am I supposed to?”
“These people at this daycare can’t find her. Momma, I’ma loose it here in about ten seconds!”
“Have you called Rodrick yet?” she asked with panic in her voice.
“I just talked to him. He didn’t even know where the fuckin’ daycare was. Momma, what am I supposed to do?!”
“She’s probably just hiding somewhere. You know she likes to hide. It’s her first day at that daycare. Maybe she went off by herself and got lost.”
I watched a parent walk past with two of her kids, straight out the door. The rest of the kids were still sitting on the floor. They looked restless, probably would rather be playing. Tears started to come down my cheeks.
“Momma, I’ma call you back.”
“I’m on my way. Keep it together, Tyesha.”
I put the phone in my pocket and threw my hands up helplessly. “I don’t know where she is. I need to find her.
I collapsed into the seat and started sobbing into my hands.
The cop said, “Are you sure no one else could have picked her up?”
“No!” I shouted. “What kind of place would let anybody come get her? There are only three people that are allowed to pick her up—myself, Velma Fenty, and Rodrick Brown. None of them have her!”
The same daycare staff member that told me my child was missing came over after the cop called her. He asked her a couple questions about the safety precautions they used to make sure kids didn’t fall into the wrong hands. According to policy, anybody coming to pick up a child had to sign off. Nobody signed for Kylie.
Then the lady told us some news that stirred me to the core.
“One of the children mentioned that they saw Kylie leave out the back with a man. I’m not sure how accurate a 5-year-old can be, but I don’t want to leave it out if it helps.”
I instantly responded, “What did the man look like?”
“He said the man had a light skin color and was tall. But to a 5-year-old, everybody’s tall, right?”
The cop started to open his mouth to ask her a question but I cut him off. “Where is the boy?” I asked hurriedly.
She led us to the back of the seated children and pointed to a Black boy with a stylish design in his head, fingering for him to come over. He got up and walked over in a casual pace. He blinked at us all, just an innocent child. But to me he could possibly be my daughter’s savior.
“What complexion was he, baby?” I questioned. “Was he light like this woman here?” I asked, touching the staff member’s arm next to me, a white woman with a pasty skin tone. “Or was his complexion more like mine?”
The boy scrunched his face, thinking hard as his eyes jumped between us both.
Me and the staff member’s skin color were close. I hadn’t had much sun lately, other than the pool party, so my hue was on the lighter side. But clearly our tones were different. I still had color, more of a warm yellow. The staff member had almost no color, nearly pure white. And up her forearms her skin was dotted with tiny sun spots, which made her skin look even whiter.
The boy pointed to me.
“Okay, I have another question,” I said. “What did his hair look like? Was it black and cut low?”
“I don’t know. He had on a hat,” the boy said.
I breathed out my nose. “You said he was tall. Was he my height, or a lot taller like this officer here.”
The cop straightened up to his full height of 5’11”. I was four inches shorter than him.
The boy’s eyebrows dipped in concentration, then he turned and said, “That tall,” pointing to Gideon, who had just walked in the room with Rodrick.
Gideon was maybe 6’3”.
Around the same height as Ladykiller.
I squatted down and grabbed the boy by his arms, looking deeply into his eyes. I had one more question that would tell me if Ladykiller took my child.
“When you saw the man and my daughter leaving out the back door, was he carrying her? Did she scream?”
“No,” the boy replied, shaking his head. “She was smiling. She was holding the man’s hand.”
-
Tyesha816 shared a photo
Tyesha816: My daughter is missing and the police won’t report it until 24 hours!!!! Fuck the KCPD!! Please, if you see this little girl, inbox me!!! Please!!!
August 18th, 9:06 p.m.
CHAPTER 13
“I didn’t say we wouldn’t look for your daughter,” said Detective Rosan, as we stood outside the daycare center near his black Dodge Charger, the red strobe on his dash spinning round and round. He had a kind, honest face and clean white teeth—though one at the bottom was chipped. The black leather bomber jacket he wore gave me the impression that he was about business. “I just said we won’t report it until another 24 hours. We don’t want to get everybody worked up for nothing. She might be at a family member’s house, or a friend’s house. We can’t rule that out yet.”
“The hell we can’t!” I yelled. “I called everybody before you got here. Nobody I know has her. I’m trying to tell you who took my daughter. It was Ladykiller! Go arrest him!”
