September 20th, 2005
It was unbelievable. Kim couldn't believe she found strength to get up every morning, change diapers, and feed her children. It felt so incomplete without Kylie here. It felt weird to celebrate Carlos' birthday without that little girl there.
"I'm going to go out and hang some signs." Kim said putting a cardigan on. "Do you need anything?"
"Maybe you should stay here." Catherine said, "Melanie will be by later." Kim shook her head.
"I can't sit here. I need to go out and do something." Kim said to her mother, "I appreciate you doing what your doing, Ma."
"Whenever you need me, Kim. I will be here. I hope you know that." Catherine said. A soft smile spread across Kim's face.
"I know." She said stepping outside. The sun was shining bright. It was hard to imagine that her daughter was out there somewhere possibly dead.
Kim stared at a few posters of Kylie hanging on the light pole across her street. She shook her head. She didn't think Kylie was still in New York. She didn't think she was even on this sea board.
"Excuse me?" An older woman, probably around fifty years old, walked up to Kim, "Are you Mrs. Nieto?" Kim nodded.
"Yes, I am." She said, "Do I know you?"
"No." She said, "I saw your story one nightline last night, about your daughter. Has anything changed?"
"No." Kim tried to push out a smile.
"I'm so sorry." The woman whispered, "I'm Felicia Lord. I would like to help you some how. I have three children and I would need all the help I could get if one of them went missing."
"That won't be necessary." Kim said.
"Sure it is." Felicia said, "I have family in California. I can fax them over a flyer for them to pass out of there. My college room mate lives in Alberta, I can do that same for her." Kim stared at the woman and then nodded.
"Thank you." She said handing her a flyer.
"Is there anything else I can do? I work at Wal-Mart." Felicia said, "Maybe I could see if all Wal-Mart's can have some flyers of her. How does that sound?" Kim nodded.
"Thank you." She said. "I appreciate it."
"No problem." Felicia said handing her a card, "My number is on there if you need anything. Don't' hesitate to call."
"Thank you." Kim smiled watching the woman walk away.
Carlos stared out the window as he sat in the firehouse. He watched the crowds beneath him. He hoped he'd see his daughter among them. Holly walked up behind him.
"Carlos?" She said softly, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He mumbled. Holly sighed. She didn't want to push him.
"No you're not." Holly said as she sat next to him. "You can talk to me, Carlos. If there's something you need to get off your chest that you can't talk to Kim about?"
"There's plenty I can't talk to Kim about. She's devastated,. I don't want to upset her more." Carlos looked at her. He has been crying, Holly said in her head. "I just…I need my baby back."
"I know." Holly whispered. Carlos put his face in his hands and cried. Holly stared at him. She couldn't imagine the pain that he was feeling.
"Ah…excuse me." Faith walked up the stairs.
"Go away." Carlos said. Holly smiled weakly at Faith.
"What do you want?" She asked. She saw the look upon Faith's face.
"I um…I got a call from the morgue." She said. Carlos stood up and stared at her.
"Wh-What?" He cried. He felt bile rise up in his throat.
"They have a body you need to look at." Faith said. Carlos grew pale. He leaned over into the sink and began to throw up. That was what he never wanted to hear. "If you want to wait, Carlos, I can call them." Carlos shook his head.
"I want to get this over with." He straightened up, "Take me."
Carlos wasn't sure if he could do this. There was a little girl laying dead in that room. If it wasn't Kylie, it was someone else's little girl. It couldn't be Kylie though. God just wouldn't do that to them. He wouldn't take Kylie. She had been through too much already. He wouldn't do it to he again. Carlos was in such a daze. He didn't even remember getting to the morgue, but all of a sudden he was standing in a room, in front of a window.
"Are you all right?" Faith asked. She hated this. She had been here before, showing people dead bodies of children.
"Show me her." Carlos said.
"Okay." Faith knocked on the window. Everything happened in slow motion. The curtains slowly opened and Carlos stared at the little girl that laid on the table. It wasn't Kylie. Relief washed over Carlos.
"It's not her." He said staring at the little girl. "Do you think Kylie is dead?" faith sighed deeply.
"I don't know, Carlos, to be honest with you." She said, "There are no new leads, but everyone is looking for her. We will continue to look for her."
"Whether she's dead or alive." Carlos whispered. Faith nodded.
"Yes." She said. Carlos turned away from the window and looked at her.
"I just want to know that she's okay." He said as he walked out of the room. Faith couldn't imagine the feelings Carlos was experiencing. She would be devastated if something like this happened to her kids. She wouldn't rest until kylie was back.
September 23rd, 2005
It was strange to watch Rebecca and Sierra. They were happy. They laughed. They cooed. They bounced. They had no idea what was going on around them. Kim envied them.
"Momma!" Sierra squealed as Kim picked her up.
"I know. I'm here." Kim said walking outside. She put Sierra in the double stroller behind Rebecca.
"Does the leaves change colour here?" Orlando asked. Kim nodded.
"Yeah they do. In a couple of weeks it'll be beautiful here." Kim said. She wished Kylie was here to experience it.
"Mrs. Nieto?" Det. Warner walked up behind her. Kim took in a deep breath.
"If you had found her dead or alive you would have come with your partner." She said as she turned around, "Am I right?"
"Yes you are." Det. Warner said. Kim bit her lip, "You know the chances of us finding her-"
"Not in front of my children, Det. Warner." Kim said, "Kylie will return to us."
"Can I ask you more questions?" he asked her.
"I don't know what you could ask me that you haven't asked already." She said with a slight attitude. Det. Warner shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know either, but we have nothing Mrs. Nieto. No leads of any kinds. We need to get somewhere with this case." He said.
"You're telling me!" Kim snapped, "My daughter is out there probably cold and hungry. It's hard. It's hard to know she's out there somewhere, you just don't know if she's alive…or…It's just hard. She could be crying right now."
Kylie opened her eyes. She hoped all of this was a very bad dream, but she saw the darkness she saw every day. She stood up and dusted the dirt off of her overalls. She pushed her curls off her face. She wanted to get home to her mommy and daddy. She walked over to the stairs and went up to the door. She peered underneath it. She didn't see any feet so she turned the knob. The door opened up and she stepped out.
She looked around. She was in someone's house. She didn't recognize it. Maybe it was a friend of her daddy's. She didn't meet a lot of his friends. She shuffled to the fridge and opened it up. She was starving. She pulled out an apple and began to eat it. She walked over to the door and saw a woman sitting in front of the television.
"Hi." Kylie said. The woman turned around and smiled.
"Good morning, Kylie." She said.
"I'm eating your apple okay?" She told the woman. She nodded.
"That's fine. Robert isn't here." She said, "I'm Connie."
"Are you a friend of My daddy?" Kylie asked.
"No your Mommy." Connie took Kylie's hand and pulled her to the couch. Kylie sat on her lap, "Your mommy was upset with you so she gave you to me."
"Why did she do that?" Kylie frowned.
"Well, sometimes Mommies stop loving their babies and then they give their babies to other mommies to love." Connie told the child, "It'll happen to Sierra and Rebecca sooner or later."
"Are they gonna come here cause I miss them and I have no one to play with." Kylie asked.
"No no. Only one child here…for now anyway." Connie said. Kylie sighed deeply as she thought.
"My momma always said she would love me forever and ever." She said.
"Well, Mommies lie sometimes." Connie said looking out the window. "Robert is back. Go downstairs. Quickly. Or you will get spanked." Kylie's eyes widened. She had been spanked once by the man and she didn't like it. She slid off of Connie's lap and ran back downstairs into the darkness, which she loathed. At least Connie was nice, kylie thought as she slid beneath the pipe she liked to hid beneath. She hid the rest of her apple behind her. Maybe she could save it for later when Robert forgot to feed her.
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