I paired by Q's side, looking throughout the home. The first place we looked at, in the living room. Q lifted up the loft areas as I glanced in the small cabinets. Sure the searching was far fetched, but we had no room for error. While Noah glanced around the front bathroom, Isaiah, Stacey, and Asha searched upstairs. One by one, they rummaged and looked throughout each room.
Little did we know, they were sitting under the carpet in a cellar. But glancing at it, we had no clue that they were under there.
"Aye, y'all find any sign of them?" Carlos asked, glancing upstairs as he kept the shotgun on Abel's chest.
"Nah!" Q chanted from upstairs. "We still lookin', though."
Carlos kept the gun on Abel, letting us look for another 10 minutes. At this point, we'd been looking for damn near 35 minutes. We rummaged through every room, looking in all of the places that the kids would be.
However, there was no sign of the kids.
"We ain't find them." Isaiah sighed, stepping into the kitchen. "It ain't no sign that they was even here."
"Alright." Carlos groaned, lowering his gun. "Let's bounce."
"You stupid Americans." Abel growled in Arabic.
"Excuse me?" Noah scowled back.
"Simmer down, nerd boy." Q laughed, glancing at Noah. "You ain't gone do shit."
"HEY! We ain't starting this shit today, alright?" Carlos barked at the two of them. "We 'bout to search for these kids and leave it at that! Cut the bullshit and let's go!"
As we left, we searched one more time around the home before leaving for good. After spending 5 minutes doing so, we boarded our van and left. Afterwards, Abel clicked in on his walkie-talkie and nodded his head.
"Alright." Abel nodded. "The Americans are gone."
Not finding the kids there, we drove back to the city and started posting posters throughout the whole city. While driving, we received 30 calls of sightings of the kids. We looked and went to every sighting, and none of the kids were in sight. The worst part is that some of the kids we went to see looked nothing like Kayson, Lily, or Madilyn. As for Iyana, we were out of luck. She was almost a month old, and she would unrecognizable at this point.
After searching until midnight, we had to call it a night and head back to the hotel.
"Shit....." Isaiah groaned, tossing his gun aside and plopping down onto the couch.
Noah sat beside Isaiah, rubbing his shoulder.
"I know, man." Noah groaned. "I thought we would been find them by now....."
"We ain't gone quit on you, 'Saiah." I chanted as I stood in front of him. "We gone bring your kids back. Promise."
While we talked, Asha sat in her room alone. She glanced down at a picture of Lily, wondering if she would ever see her baby girl again. But with the odds against her, she was starting to lose hope.
"Hey Ash." Q smiled.
"Hey....." Asha mumbled.
Q sat down in front of her, watching her glance down at the bed.
"You alright?"
"No..." Asha sighed.
Asha wiggled her fingers, shaking her head.
"I just want my baby girl back." Asha said in a shaky tone, trying not to cry. "I'm worried that someone is hurting her and that someone might've harmed her. I can barely focus with all of these worries on my mind."
Q kept a blank stare on his face, then smiled at her.
"You know what, you need a rush." Q nodded. "You need to have some fun. Come on."
"Where we goin'?" Asha asked, lifting up in the bed.
"I'm gonna go purchase our tickets on Stacey's laptop." Q smiled.
Asha followed Q out into the main hall where we sat. As he opened Stacey's laptop, he pulled up Google and typed in "Theme Parks in Saudi Arabia". The first and closest one that popped up, was the Al Shallal theme park. As Asha glanced over his shoulder, he pulled up the directions and looked back up at her.
"Wanna go?" Q asked.
"I'm terrified of roller coasters.." Asha stuttered, chuckling a little.
"Which is why we need to go!"
"Where y'all hoes goin'?" Stacey asked as he munched on his sandwich, turning away from the TV.
"I'm takin' Ash to an amusement park." Q nodded. "Somethin' to cheer her up a lil."
"And y'all asses ain't tell us?" Isaiah snarled. "Aight then!"
"Cause I ain't want y'all asses comin!" Q scowled. "Shieeettt."
Noah glanced at the two from the far side of the room. He knew that Q was taking Asha under his wing, and he didn't like it.
"Ash, can I talk to you really quick?" Noah asked, standing up.
"No." Asha growled.
"I ain't gone put my hands on you again, Ash." Noah growled.
Asha glanced down at Q, watching him give her a serious look.
"Sure." Asha groaned. "Whatever."
"Leave that door open in case he does somethin' to you again, Ash."
"Mind your fucking business, Q!" Noah barked at him. "Must you say something every time I say something to her? Damn!"
"Oh lord." Isaiah groaned.
"You better lower yo' fuckin' tone before I whoop yo' ass again, boy." Q chuckled. "Real shit."
Noah shook his head, stepping inside of the room with Asha. She folded her arms, giving him a blank look as he sat in front of her.
"I just, wanted to apologize for telling Q about your abortion." Noah sighed. "I know that that was wrong of m-"
"Yeah, alright." Asha scoffed, turning her head.
Noah scrunched his eyebrows at her, giving her a vile look.
"I'm trying to apologize here, Asha!" Noah scowled. "You could at least be sentimental for a few sec-"
"Oh Noah, how dumb do you think I am?" Asha scowled back, giving him an angry look. "You're only apologizing because you see me and Q still have our close bond."
And that was the exact reason why Noah was apologizing. More because he felt bad, but mainly he could see that their bond wasn't soiled.
"You really thought that you could tear apart the bond me and Q have because of an abortion I had 7 years ago?" Asha whispered, smiling at him. "You're a funny son of a bitch."
"I don't......I don't want him taking you.." Noah sighed with his eyes closed. "This is why I'm trying to rekindle our relationship."
"What relationship?"
Noah gave her a stunned look, watching Asha smile at him.
"There isn't a relationship between us, Noah. Not anymore." Asha said, shaking her head. "I made that clear after you blurt out my secret yesterday."
"What?" Noah scoffed. "I apologized, Asha!"
"And you've apologized while I was with Antoine, you've apologized after I left Antoine, and now you're apologizing now." Asha laughed. "I left Antoine to be with someone like you. The funny part is, Antoine was a minimum wager and I was happier with him than I am with you, our big house, and that $100,000 check you receive every year for being a pathetic doctor."
"But......"
"Your apologies don't mean SHIT to me anymore, Noah. It's worth just as much as your damn word. You're a liar!" Asha barked at him. "You apologize and treat me like shit and I'm dumb enough to keep running back to your ass!"
"I mean it this time, Ash-"
"Well the answer is no, Noah. NO." Asha barked. "The answer is no! I don't want you at all anymore. You're a dirty dog and a poor excuse for a man, let alone a boyfriend."
"How the hell am I a poor excuse for a boyfriend when you were cheating with Q with me in the next room?"
"You air out my abortion, abused me physically and emotionally, talk about how much I'm not worth shit because I don't have a job, and refer to me as nothing as a damn prostitute when you're angry!" Asha shouted. "Then you wanna get upset when I bring up your poor dick skills and how much of an asshole you've became since you've had cancer!"
"So how are you gonna explain this to Lily if we find her?" Noah asked in a disappointed tone. "What then?"
"I'll explain it to her like I did when you weren't there." Asha growled. "We're over, Noah."
"No. No!" Noah barked. "It's not over until I say it's over!"
"Please, Noah." Asha laughed as she walked into the area we were in. "Go to bed."
"I got our tickets, Ash." Q nodded as he stood up. "You ready to ride?"
"Of course."
Asha grabbed Q's hand, watching his eyes widen as they walked out.
"Ah shit, girl." Q smiled as he shut the door.
Noah watched the two walk out in embarrassment. Even though he felt that we all were paying attention to their drama, we weren't. We didn't care. Still, it was pretty embarrassing to have your girlfriend leave in front of people. When Asha and Q arrived at the park a half an hour later, Asha glanced up at the large roller coaster. People passed by as the green and blue light shined on her, watching Q walk ahead.
"Come on, Ash!" Q chanted as he walked ahead. "Let's go!"
"Wait wait wait, were not getting on that, are we?" Asha asked.
"Ash, you fuck random niggas every night and you scared to get on a damn roller coaster?" Q laughed. "You betta bring ya' ass over here!"
"Psh. I ain't afraid of damn coaster!"
But when they got in line for the ride...
"Hey, do people fall off of these rides?" Asha panted, tapping the person next to her.
"No?" The woman laughed.
Asha glanced behind and in front of them, looking at the long line.
"Shit..." Asha panted again in a nervous tone.
"Step in and secure yourselves in the seats." The woman over the intercom announced as they sat down in their seats.
Asha, Q, and 2 people each sat in 8 rows of two seaters. As they lowered their seat belts onto their shoulders, they buckled their seatbelts in as Asha grabbed onto the seat, taking a deep breath.
"Lord lord lord." Asha whispered.
Q watched tears run down Asha's eyes, giving her a stunned look.
"Are you crying, Ash?" Q laughed.
"I'm just.......I'm terrified of roller coasters." Asha sniffed. "I hope we're safe!"
"Come on, Ash."
Q held his hand out beside her, allowing her to grip onto his hand. She squeezed, panting up and down as the people who were in charge of the roller-coasters checked their safety.
"Please make sure that all important items are left inside of the bin next to the exit of the ride." The lady announced. "All lost items and possessions will be held responsible at your own will."
Seconds later, everyone on the ride started moving forward and up the large ramp on the ride. Asha wailed out and squinted her eyes shut, grinning a little to avoid glancing down at the large heights below.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." Asha whispered.
"Look up, Ash!"
When Asha opened her eyes, they were up on the hill of the ride. Suddenly, they dipped down the steep hill of the ride. The sounds of screams from everyone on the ride erupted as they twisted by the hill, going upside down before they flew up the next small hill, dipping down and going upside down. Asha screamed and squealed as they flew throughout the ride, letting out the adrenaline rush that'd been locked in her body for the longest. After the 3 minute ride, they pulled back into the entry way of the ride and finished there. Once the ride stopped, Q glanced over at Asha, watching her pant heavily and laugh at the same time.
"Shit......" Asha laughed, leaning her head back.
"You have fun?" Q panted.
"Yes..." Asha panted. "That was fun as hell!"
When they got off of the ride, Asha placed all of her poofy and curly hair into her ponytail, heading to the pictures that came with the ride. When they picked theirs up, it showed Asha's eyes squinted shut and screaming while Q had his hands up, eyes closed, and mouth opened.
"Ah shit!" Q laughed as they both stumbled out of the picture place.
Next to the picture place, was a bunch of kids playing together. It was a Nigerian kid, an Indian kid, and a white kid.
The white girl, was Madilyn.
"Yay!" Madilyn squealed. "I got it!"
"Come on, kids." An older woman said in a low tone. "It's time to go home. Dad's waiting."
As the older Indian woman walked back with the kids, they accidentally bumped into Asha and Q. They stepped back, smiling at the woman.
"I'm sorry." The woman smiled.
"Nah." Q smiled. "It's alright!"
Madilyn and the other little girl had a Hijab on their heads like the older woman, so you couldn't tell that it was Madilyn by quick glance. Not only that, but Q and Asha didn't pay much attention to her. All they were really worried about was Lily, Iyana, and Kayson.
And them not paying attention to Madilyn, became a crucial mistake.
The next day, we received a call around 6:30am about a sighting of Madilyn at the grocery store. We all got up and made our way to a lowkey market, taking a look at the girl who was stranded when we arrived there 20 minutes later. However, the girl didn't look anything like Madilyn. She had red hair, but her face was a little more paler than Madilyn's. Not only that, but Madilyn had faded freckles on her face. This little girl did not. After leaving the grocery store, we followed 4 of the sightings that were called in within the hour and a half that we were driving.
Still, we kept hitting dead end after dead in.
As the middle of the day breached, Isaiah drove to a location of a sighting of Kayson. This time, it was in a suburban area in Saudi Arabia. When we pulled into the neighborhood, Isaiah and Noah got out of the car.
"We'll be back." They chanted.
When they shut the door, Carlos sighed and leaned back. When I looked at everyone in the car, all of us were exhausted. Stacey was asleep, Q was slumped against the window, I was slumped in my seat, and Asha kept on yawning. Finally, Carlos came out with a small confession that he'd been keeping to himself.
"Aye y'all, I'ma tell y'all somethin' but y'all can't say shit to Isaiah or Noah." Carlos said. "Especially you, Josh."
"Yeah." We all nodded. "Of course."
If it was really serious, I was telling Isaiah and Noah regardless. If it was minor, I was going to keep my mouth shut.
"Do any of y'all think that we wastin' our time and money?" Carlos asked.
"I've been thinkin' that shit too, but I ain't wanna say shit." Q shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Asha asked.
Carlos took a deep breath, shaking his head and looking out of the window.
"Ash, I don't think that that was Kays and Lily that Isaiah was talking to on the phone." Carlos said, shaking his head. "I just think that Isaiah was fathoming some shit."
Even though I was siding with Isaiah, Carlos statement was starting to make some sense. I mean, all of these leads in Saudi Arabia was getting us nowhere. People were calling us and leading us to children who looked absolutely nothing like Madilyn, Kayson, Iyana, or Lily.
We were all starting to think that we should call this trip off and go home.