The Perfect Solution-A Suspense of Choices by Ey Wade

pensively. She noticed the way he clutched his jacket tightly in front of him and she stepped back from the chair.
    "You don't have to be afraid of me. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. I have been waiting to have you here for a long time. When I come back I want to show you all of the things I have gotten for you. You will love them. What I wanted to say was I am just about to run to Mc Donald's across the street and get you nuggets. You can stay here if you like."
    Brhin looked around the room again. It was dirty. Old papers and McDonald's cartons and paraphernalia were scattered everywhere. A nasty pile of roaches crawled around eating crumbs of food sitting near the clothes on the sofa.
    "You gonna leave me by myself?"
    "Yes. It is cold outside. Oh, wait a minute. I have something for you." She left the room and came back holding a small stuffed brown bear.
    "Hey, how'd you get my bear?" Brhin sat up in the large chair and leaned forward, excitedly reaching for the toy. "I take JoJo everywhere. He can't go with me to school though." Forgetting his anxiety, Brhin buried his face in the bear's fur. "This is not really my bear."
    "It is your bear, Son."
    "It doesn't smell like my teddy." He sniffed the fluffy fake fur on the stuffed bear's body.
    "No, I just washed it. He was really dirty. Your momma gave him to me."
    Puzzled, Brhin looked from the bear to the woman.
    Shrugging his shoulders, he hugged the stuffed animal closer and leaned back in his chair. At home, whenever his momma was too busy, he would watch television with JoJo. It made him feel less lonely. He figured this stuffed bear would be just as good.
    "Okay, but I still don't wanna stay here by myself. Momma never leaves me. That's bad."
    The woman stopped in her act of putting on her coat and gave Brhin a considering look.
    "You're right. Something could happen while you're here alone. Come on, put on your coat. We'll run over and right back. I can't afford to let you get sick."
    While they were standing on the porch, Brhin studied the house as the lady locked the door. He recognized the color of the house to be yellow and a zero and a four were in the address but couldn’t recognize the other numbers. He thought to himself.
    "Lady, what are those numbers on your house?" He asked aloud.
    "Don't let them worry you, Son. And remember this, I want you to stop calling me 'lady' and call me 'mom', all right?"
    She tugged him down the steps.
    "Yes."
    Acknowledging her request absently, Brhin repeated the numbers of the house over and over in his mind, almost forgetting them when he stopped to the edge of the sidewalk. Standing near the woman on the sidewalk next to the curb, Brhin looked around in amazement.
    “I know this street.” Brhin spoke low and excitedly. “I go to that McDonald's every cartoon day for breakfast with my momma. If I go that way, he looked to his right I go to the daycare center. I don't want to go there. If I turn that way,” He looked to his left. “I can go home. I wanna go home.”
    He tried to pull his hand out of the lady's grip, but she tightened her fingers. Erroneously interpreting his tug, the lady gave his arm a sharp jerk.
    "Be still. Do you want to fall into the street? As soon as the car passes, we will go."
    "When can I go home?" Brhin asked as they crossed the street.
    "When we come back from McDonald's you’ll go home."
    Brhin looked around McDonald's interior for a familiar face. This was the place where he spent his every Saturday morning. He knew none of these people. He knew all of the people that worked on Saturday mornings by name and they knew him. These workers smiled when they took his order, but he still didn't know them. Oh well, I will be home soon. He thought to himself and smiled again. He was still smiling on the return walk to the lady's house. His joy at the anticipated trip to his mother had him bubbling over and causing him to sing a tiny tune. His smile abruptly disappeared when they entered the