The Child Claim [Fiction]

The temperature had dropped a little at about 6.30 pm and it was freezing. The sun was setting, the sky a mixture of light colours, pink, blue, and a dash of orange, like it mourned for us.

I felt pity for Sarah George as she blew her nose repeatedly into her handkerchief, her eyes red-rimmed. She was inconsolable when the doctors revealed the result of the medical test.

Thirty-six hours before....

I glanced at my wristwatch noting that I had about ten minutes more to commence my one-hour break which I spend every working day picking up my adopted daughter, Crystal, from school, dropping her off at my mom's store before returning to the office.

Once the clock struck 2, I waved at my colleague, Tom, to draw his attention. He raised his head from his desktop pc to frown at me. I grinned. "I'm off, okay? See you in one hour?"

He smirked, tapping his wrist. "One hour, young lady. Not a minute late or you'll owe me a sandwich, yea?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Just say you want a sandwich from Sprinkles!"

"You got it," he clicked his tongue and winked at me. I narrowed my eyes at him as I walked out of the office. He chuckled and turned his attention back to his screen.

In the parking lot, I was going to get into my car when a blue salon car raced out, the tires screeching. I glimpsed in a flash a lady in the driver's seat, her head full of curly honey-blond hair. I thought her hair was lovely but I couldn't see her face.

Then I noticed something odd about my tires. I stooped down to get a good look and saw the two front tires were flat. Strange. I never get two flats at the same time. Then I noticed the knife slashes on them. Oh no! This means I would have to buy new ones but who would do something so mean and I was already late to pick up Crystal?

I called Tom. "I said one hour…," he started to say but I interrupted him.

"Listen to me Tom. Someone slashed my tires."

"What? Talk to the security."

"I will. C-can you give me a ride to pick up Crystal? Please. I'm late as it is. I'll owe you."

Tom did not think twice about it. After reporting the incident to the security, he drove me to school. Getting there, I was informed by the receptionist me that my sister had picked Crystal up. I got into an argument with them. I did not have a sister, being the only child of my mother.

A seven-year-old girl, one of Crystal's classmates, described 'my sister' as a fine blond lady with a bunch of curly hair. A light bulb went off in my head. I told Tom I remember a blue salon car driving off after I got to the parking lot and the driver was a blond lady. Her hair was very curly.

I was in tears by the time the police arrived at the school. I had called my mother who locked up her store and was on her way to meet me. After about an hour of giving the police all relevant information about my daughter, the detective in charge assured me they would do their best to find my daughter.

Just then a police officer came into the principal's office to inform the detective that a woman matching the suspect's description attempted to run a red light when she was stopped. She had been arrested and taken to the station. She had a seven-year-old girl with her.

"Oh my God! Is my baby okay?" I gripped the officer and shook him for answers. He frowned, asking me to calm down. I couldn't breathe properly. I hyperventilated for a while as my mother rubbed my back, instructing me to take deep breaths.

When we arrived at the station, Crystal screamed in relief and ran into my arms. That was when I became myself again. I held my seven-year-old daughter to myself and did not let her go.

Then this unbelievable anger rose like steam from within me against Sarah George, the woman who took my daughter. Who was she? How did she know about Crystal? Why pretend to be family and pick her up from school?

To be continued….

^{Also posted here}