The Perfect Solution-A Suspense of Choices by Ey Wade

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