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Authors: Cheri Gillard
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hope she didn’t lose those. Or get lip gloss all over them.
Chapter 9
The next day work was quieter. Every single pregnant woman on the West Side must have had her baby the day before. There was no one left to deliver.
While I minded my own business at lunch break, chipping away the crusty edge of the Chef’s Surprise looking for something I could recognize and eat with some confidence, Dr. Schroeder materialized in a chair next to me.
“Hello?” My voice sounded steady, even though my insides had just revved up to ten-thousand RPMs.
His voice was low. “You lied to me.”
Guess we were going to skip any pretense of pleasantries.
“Lied?” All innocence. I couldn’t let him know how he affected me.
“That baby was not black.”
“The mother told me.” If Nikki said so, who was I to argue?
“I saw pictures,” he said.
Sheila. I swear, I am going to out your boob job!
“Tell me where she is.”
“Tell you where who is?” I couldn’t believe Sheila had stolen those pictures. When I’d switched back the jackets at the start of shift, I hadn’t even checked the pockets.
“Don’t mess with me. Tell me who has the baby.” That blood vessel in the middle of his forehead bulged. It looked like a throbbing purple rope.
“I can’t do that. It was a private adoption.”
He inhaled deeply, gaining some control of himself. The purple rope looked like it could blow any second. “Her mother was my patient and there were some genetic irregularities. I need to follow up. Make certain proper counseling is provided.”
Uh-huh, sure. Thought you knew the grandfather. Get your stories straight . “Put together what you’ve got and I’ll see that her lawyer gets it.”
“I need to talk to her myself.”
“Can’t help you.”
“You’re impertinent.”
“My mother told me that a few times.”
The purple rope twitched like there were miniature monsters inside pounding to get out.
“Who is the lawyer? I’ll talk to him directly.”
“No you won’t.” Couldn’t believe I actually said that.
He shoved out his chair so hard it hit another behind him and tipped over. I jumped at the sudden movement and noise. He left but made sure I saw his final nasty glare before he did.
Yikes. I was going to sleep with the nightlight on tonight.
I realized he and Sheila had to have a connection. What a pair. They must be getting it on or something. That would explain why I caught it when I sent her home from work.
I wondered if Sheila knew he’d had a baby with Nikki. At least that’s what it seemed like from the way he was acting. I figured it was time to talk to Nikki and see what was going on.
Chapter 10
I didn’t have to work hard to track down Nikki.
After I got home, I took some trash out to the Dumpster in the alley behind my building. Lo and behold, Nikki sat on the cement block that held up the giant power line tower. She was propped against the huge steel monster taking shallow puffs off a cigarette and coughing after each draw. Her inhaler lay in her lap. In addition to her face metal and spiked blue ’do, she wore a fuzzy orange bathrobe and gigantic pig slippers. She must have resumed her street drug intake, because even I would have to be on crack to wear that get-up.
She still looked very peaked. Maybe she was febrile, delirious, and totally unaware of her fashion faux pas .
“Hey, Nikki.”
She jumped and looked at me like she was angry. Maybe she was confused. Or maybe she’d changed her mind and wanted her baby back.
“What’re you doing here? Are you looking for me?” I asked.
She answered me with a crass word then looked away. Who knows? Maybe that was the current slang for Glad to see you .
She leaned back onto her metal backrest and resumed her smoke. She wasn’t acting like she had been looking for me.
For a minute we stayed there in silence, me standing, her sitting and sucking on her cigarette between coughs and wheezes. We listened to the
Chapter 9
The next day work was quieter. Every single pregnant woman on the West Side must have had her baby the day before. There was no one left to deliver.
While I minded my own business at lunch break, chipping away the crusty edge of the Chef’s Surprise looking for something I could recognize and eat with some confidence, Dr. Schroeder materialized in a chair next to me.
“Hello?” My voice sounded steady, even though my insides had just revved up to ten-thousand RPMs.
His voice was low. “You lied to me.”
Guess we were going to skip any pretense of pleasantries.
“Lied?” All innocence. I couldn’t let him know how he affected me.
“That baby was not black.”
“The mother told me.” If Nikki said so, who was I to argue?
“I saw pictures,” he said.
Sheila. I swear, I am going to out your boob job!
“Tell me where she is.”
“Tell you where who is?” I couldn’t believe Sheila had stolen those pictures. When I’d switched back the jackets at the start of shift, I hadn’t even checked the pockets.
“Don’t mess with me. Tell me who has the baby.” That blood vessel in the middle of his forehead bulged. It looked like a throbbing purple rope.
“I can’t do that. It was a private adoption.”
He inhaled deeply, gaining some control of himself. The purple rope looked like it could blow any second. “Her mother was my patient and there were some genetic irregularities. I need to follow up. Make certain proper counseling is provided.”
Uh-huh, sure. Thought you knew the grandfather. Get your stories straight . “Put together what you’ve got and I’ll see that her lawyer gets it.”
“I need to talk to her myself.”
“Can’t help you.”
“You’re impertinent.”
“My mother told me that a few times.”
The purple rope twitched like there were miniature monsters inside pounding to get out.
“Who is the lawyer? I’ll talk to him directly.”
“No you won’t.” Couldn’t believe I actually said that.
He shoved out his chair so hard it hit another behind him and tipped over. I jumped at the sudden movement and noise. He left but made sure I saw his final nasty glare before he did.
Yikes. I was going to sleep with the nightlight on tonight.
I realized he and Sheila had to have a connection. What a pair. They must be getting it on or something. That would explain why I caught it when I sent her home from work.
I wondered if Sheila knew he’d had a baby with Nikki. At least that’s what it seemed like from the way he was acting. I figured it was time to talk to Nikki and see what was going on.
Chapter 10
I didn’t have to work hard to track down Nikki.
After I got home, I took some trash out to the Dumpster in the alley behind my building. Lo and behold, Nikki sat on the cement block that held up the giant power line tower. She was propped against the huge steel monster taking shallow puffs off a cigarette and coughing after each draw. Her inhaler lay in her lap. In addition to her face metal and spiked blue ’do, she wore a fuzzy orange bathrobe and gigantic pig slippers. She must have resumed her street drug intake, because even I would have to be on crack to wear that get-up.
She still looked very peaked. Maybe she was febrile, delirious, and totally unaware of her fashion faux pas .
“Hey, Nikki.”
She jumped and looked at me like she was angry. Maybe she was confused. Or maybe she’d changed her mind and wanted her baby back.
“What’re you doing here? Are you looking for me?” I asked.
She answered me with a crass word then looked away. Who knows? Maybe that was the current slang for Glad to see you .
She leaned back onto her metal backrest and resumed her smoke. She wasn’t acting like she had been looking for me.
For a minute we stayed there in silence, me standing, her sitting and sucking on her cigarette between coughs and wheezes. We listened to the
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