Every forty seconds, a child goes missing in the United States.
By the time the sentence has been said aloud, it has already happened twice.
Eighty seconds ago, Bailey Ramirez was the person who went missing.
Looking back, I should have seen it co...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Monday, December 17, 2018
It was when they'd shown me the picture, that I'd given into Constantine and asked for a lawyer.
The photo had to be at least five years old. At first glance, I barely recognized the people in it. But I knew it was us. We were all smiling and laughing. It had been taken at the summer camp we'd all attended as children. There was nothing like the friendships that we'd formed over those years.
Christee and I stood with our arms wrapped around each other, smiles wide and matching ponytails high. We both wore matching yellow shirts with the words Camp Blackfoot sprawled across it. William stood behind us laughing as he pointed to the purple shirt he'd had on. His hair had been box cut and like me, he'd still had his braces on.
Then, there was Bailey.
He stood next to William with a smile so contagious that I couldn't help but to smile when looking at it. His hand rested on my shoulder as he used his free hand to point at the orange shirt he had on. It was the first summer that the four of us hadn't been a part of the same cabin. He and William had matching haircuts; the only difference was the curl pattern. We'd all joke that he was a black kid that looked Mexican just to piss him off. Nothing pissed Bailey off more than being called Mexican when he was Puerto Rican.
Constantine always told me that boys with brown eyes were dangerous.
Until I'd met Bailey, I didn't know how right Mama was.
The police station I had been dragged to was stuffed in between City Hall and the Fire Station. It even had the pleasure of coming with a fully equipped jail in its rear. If that wasn't enough, a daycare and a playground sat slightly next door. Constantine managed to get the Officer to not place handcuffs on me in respect of Liberty. He agreed, but that didn't stop them from grilling me about Bailey.
A knock came at the door followed by the sounds of heels and an all too familiar face.
Kara smiled at me as she walked over to the camera and turned it off. "Well, I'm glad I got to you before the public defender did."
"What are you doing here?" I raised an eyebrow. Kara shook her head as she locked the door behind her. She didn't even look surprised that I was there. "Isn't this a conflict of interest?"
"When your mother is the mayor and your stepfather is the District Attorney, is there ever a time when something isn't a conflict of interest?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "Good point."
"Now," she pulled the chair out from next to me. "Are you comfortable answering their questions now that I'm here?"
I nodded my head as she walked over and turned the camera back on.
"My client and I are ready." Kara stuck her head out of the door before sitting down again.
