Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 02 - Papoosed

by Patricia Rockwell

  Essie quickly motioned for Clara to take Antonio and go to her bedroom. Clara rose, grabbed the baby, and walked quickly into Essie’s back room. Essie then motioned Hubert to follow her. Hubert shook his head, but Essie nodded firmly, and Hubert shuffled rapidly behind Clara and disappeared. Essie then grabbed her walker and rolled to her door and opened it.

  “Miss Hendrickson!” she cried, flinging the door open with feigned enthusiasm. “How nice to see you here. It’s so boring just sitting here in my room all alone during this quarantine. It’s wonderful just to see another human being for a change!” Too thick, Essie thought.

  “Don’t try that with me, Essie,” replied Violet through her face mask. “I know you’re up to something. I can hear you half the way down the hallway.”

  “Oh, sorry, Miss Violet!” replied Essie. “That was probably my television again. My hearing’s not so good so I usually keep the volume pretty high. I’ll watch that. I will.”

  Violet looked over Essie’s head into her living room. Her eyes quickly scanned the area.

  “You don’t have any visitors?” she asked.

  “Oh, no!” replied Essie. “I’d be much too frightened to have anyone over. Not with this horrible bug going around! I surely don’t want to catch any virus!” She gave a nice fake cough in Violet’s direction and the Director backed up a few feet.

  “Humph!” responded Violet, “That’s a good attitude. Everyone should remain in their rooms until the doctors tell us it’s safe for residents to move about outside. It will protect us … I mean, you.”

  “Yes, indeed!” declared Essie, with a little fist pump. “I’m all for protecting us!”

  Violet peered once more over Essie’s head and apparently found her apartment satisfactorily empty. Then, turning abruptly on her heels, and without even a goodbye, she headed back down the hallway.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “A baby is born with a need to be loved–and never outgrows it.”

  –Frank A. Clark

  As soon as Violet had disappeared, Essie saw Santos quickly round the corner at the end of her hallway, his arms loaded with a large food tray and head in her direction. She held the door open for him as he entered and placed the heavy tray on Essie’s kitchen counter.

  “Miss Violet was here, Miss Essie?” he asked with trepidation.

  “She was here, Santos,” replied Essie, “but she didn’t come in. I managed to stall her.”

  “Is baby with Miss Clara?” asked Santos. As he asked, Clara wandered into the living room with Antonio over her shoulder, followed by Hubert Darby.

  “Madre de dios!” exclaimed Santos, “Senor Darby!”

  “It’s fine, Santos,” replied Essie, her hand on the young man’s shoulder, “Hubert is on our side … on Antonio’s side.”

  Santos looked flustered and then relaxed noticeably.

  “I am afraid all of Happy Haven soon know about Antonio, Miss Essie!” he said.

  “Don’t worry!” she replied. “He’s among friends. He’s in good hands.” Clara and Hubert smiled at Santos, and Hubert patted Antonio’s bottom with a chuckle.

  “Very nice baby,” he said. “I don’t know much about babies, but this is a nice baby.” He looked at Essie and then at the floor, immediately tongue-tied.

  “I bring you and Miss Clara your supper, Miss Essie,” said Santos, turning back to the tray and removing the lids from the various dishes. “I hope you like roast beef and carrots.”

  “That sounds delicious, Santos!” declared Clara, continuing to bounce Antonio. “Essie, what do you do about preparing those weird bottles for this little fellow?”

  “Oh, we have that all worked out, Clara!” she replied.

  “Si, Miss Clara,” added Santos. “Miss Essie is very clever lady.”

  Essie and Santos remained in the kitchen taking the plates out and pouring glasses of water.

  “Can I help?” asked Hubert, traipsing along behind Essie.

  “Hubert, you sit down and we’ll have you hold Antonio while Clara and I eat our dinners. Is that okay with you?” replied Essie.

  “Oh, yes, Miss Essie,” replied Hubert, shuffling over to the sofa and sitting on the end where he could rest his arm on the edge.

  “Here you go,” said Clara, rising and gently placing the baby in Hubert’s arms. Essie and Clara picked up their prepared plates from the kitchen and joined Hubert around Essie’s coffee table.

  “Senor Hubert,” said Santos, standing in front of the three of them, “do you want me to bring you dinner here too?”

  “Oh, I don’t want to impose on Essie,” Hubert replied, blushing.

  “Yes, Santos,” ordered Essie. “Bring Hubert a plate too.” Santos quickly headed out of the apartment, closing the door quietly behind him.

  “We’re all living dangerously,” noted Clara as she speared a carrot. “Essie, you were amazing in fending off Violet. I could hear you from your bedroom. If anyone knew that three Happy Haven residents were sitting in your apartment together having dinner … and without face masks …during a quarantine … they would freak out!”

  “Freak out! I like that!” repeated Hubert, nodding his head with a maniacal laugh, as he gently bounced Antonio in his lap.

  “We surely don’t want anyone freaking out!” added Essie, joining the laughter. At that, baby Antonio let out a loud cry. Essie held up her finger in a “shh” gesture to Hubert and Clara. “I’ll go change his diapers,” she said, rolling over to Hubert and grabbing the infant from Hubert’s lap and placing him in her basket.

  “Now I know what you’ve been hiding in that basket of yours, Miss Essie!” said Hubert merrily.

  “It’s very convenient,” replied Essie, zipping through her bedroom door.

  “Do you need help, Essie?” yelled Clara after her.

  “No!” called back Essie, “you two just relax. Maybe you can think of some other places we might look for Maria.”

  Essie fiddled around with baby Antonio, changing his diapers and powdering his little bottom with some of her body powder. Antonio cooed and seemed to giggle when she lifted his rear end. She made sure she had plenty of infant-sized diapers that Fay had created out of her Reliables. Luckily, there was still a large stack of them above her commode. After being changed and rocked a bit, Antonio fell quickly asleep and Essie laid him down on the center of her bed. Then she wheeled herself back into the living room and resumed sitting in her lounge chair.

  “So,” she said to her new friends, “I just got him to sleep. Any ideas about where to look for Antonio’s mother?”

  “I told Hubert everything you and your friends have done to try to track Maria down, Essie,” said Clara. “We both believe that someone needs to inform the police that she’s missing.”

  “Yes,” said Hubert. “Something bad may have happened to the baby’s mother. The police can find her.”

  “I agree,” said Essie, “but I don’t think we … I mean … me or you, Clara or Hubert … should be the ones to contact the police. I think it should be Santos if anyone contacts them. I mean, Santos is the person Maria originally entrusted with her baby. He knows her the best. He has the most information about her.”

  “And,” added Clara, “he can tell the police she’s missing without mentioning any of the residents here at Happy Haven.”

  “I was thinking that too,” said Essie. “If we report Maria to the police, they’re going to wonder how we got involved and eventually it will come out that we’ve been keeping him here at Happy Haven … and that won’t be good for any of us.”

  “Yes,” said Hubert, nodding wisely. “Santos should call the police.”

  As if he heard them talking about him, Santos peeked his head in Essie’s door and slipped in unannounced. He was holding a small food tray which he brought over to Hubert.

  “Here you go, Senor Darby,” he said. “Same as for ladies! You enjoy!” He removed the lid and Hubert dug into his supper enthusiastically. “Where is baby, Miss Essie
?” asked the young worker, looking around.

  “He’s napping, Santos,” replied Essie. “Don’t worry. Santos, we all agree that it’s time to report Maria missing. And we all agree that you should be the one to do it.”

  “Me?” replied Santos, backing up, a worried look on his face.

  “Yes,” she said. “We’ll talk you through it. But, Santos, it really needs to come from you. If a Happy Haven resident reports her, the police are going to wonder why it’s us. It makes sense that you would report her missing. You’re the closest to her, now that her husband is … gone. But, Santos, I’ve been thinking about this. I don’t know how you all feel about this, but I suggest that Santos only report Maria missing. I don’t think he should mention the baby, because if he does, the police will surely want to know where the baby is, and then …”

  “We’ll have to tell them,” said Hubert, finishing her statement. “That would not be good.”

  “They might take Antonio and put him in a … .” Clara began.

  “Foster home,” concluded Santos. “I do not want Antonio to go to foster home. Okay, Miss Essie. I call police, but I do not speak English so good …”

  “You speak excellent English,” said Essie.

  “Very good English,” added Clara.

  “I completely understand you,” concluded Hubert. Santos beamed as his three compatriots encouraged him and gave him the support he needed to make the important call. Essie picked up her telephone receiver and opened her directory to the page for local government offices. She quickly found the number again for the local police department and tapped in the numbers. When the operator answered, she handed the receiver to Santos.

  “Hello,” said Santos. “I have a friend who is missing. Can you help me find her?”

  “One moment,” replied the operator.

  “She says ‘one moment’ and I wait,” said Santos to the group. Soon, someone answered the call. Santos spoke.

  “I have a friend who is missing,” he said.

  Essie and her two neighbors listened to Santos’s end of the conversation. She was gratified that Santos built a good case for the police to begin searching for the young woman.

  “I worry maybe Maria is hurt,” Santos said to the officer. “Maria’s husband, Gerald, he is very bad man. He hurt Maria. Gerald is in car accident last night. He is killed. I worry Maria may be hurt too. Si, Gerald Compton.”

  Santos was silent as he waited and then spoke again evidently in response to some new information from the police.

  “Si, Senor,” said Santos. “I do not understand all about the marriage and the law, but Maria is wife of Gerald. She has green card. No, she not return to her country! I worry something bad happen to Maria. Maybe husband hurt Maria bad before he is in car accident.”

  Santos listened again and Essie could see his face become increasingly agitated.

  “No, Senor,” said Santos, “I am only friend. Maria’s relatives all in Mexico. No! It cannot be! Maria not leave here! Please help me find her!”

  “Tell him she didn’t have any money, so she couldn’t afford to go back to Mexico,” Essie whispered . “Tell him she couldn’t drive.”

  “She not have money! She cannot drive!” he yelled into the phone. “Please help, Senor!” Santos listened again and then looked a little panicked.

  “Me?” asked Santos. “A telephone number?” He looked around, confused.

  “Tell him to call Happy Haven,” said Essie.

  “I work at Happy Haven,” said Santos into the receiver. “You can call me here.” He gave the officer the Happy Haven main number which Essie quickly wrote for him on a small notepad on her end table. “Gracias, Senor,” said Santos, as the conversation concluded.

  “That was good,” said Essie. “Now maybe somebody will do something and find that poor young woman.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it,” added Clara from the sofa, “because in my experience there’s not much the police can do in most missing persons’ cases unless they find a body. And we aren’t hoping for that!”

  “Certainly not!” agreed Hubert next to her.

  “No, please! No bodies!” said Santos aghast. As it appeared all three residents had finished their meals, Santos quickly gathered their trays and the tray toppers he’d left on Essie’s kitchen counter and started to head out her door. Abruptly, he stepped back and slammed the door shut.

  “Miss Essie,” he whispered, “It’s Miss Lorena! She come from room down in the hallway. She is on way to your room, Miss Essie!” He clutched the three dinner trays in apparent uncertainty as to what to do next.

  “Loads of toads!” cried Essie, “Will we never get a moment of calm? Santos, you go on back to the kitchen. If Lorena asks you about all the trays, just say I was very hungry tonight. Hubert and Clara, go to the bedroom, you two! I never thought I’d make that suggestion to a couple here at Happy Haven!” Everyone jumped to their appointed locations and Essie reclined in her rocker and tried to adopt a relaxed posture.

  Shortly, Lorena’s friendly face appeared in her doorway.

  “Miss Essie!” Lorena said in her slow, pleasant voice, “Now what mischief are you up to tonight?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.”

  –Carl Sandburg

  “Lorena!” said Essie in a friendly greeting. She gave a little fake yawn as if she’d been dozing in her rocker.

  “Sorry, honey,” said Lorena, moving inside and closing the door. She immediately hustled over to the kitchen and removed the pill box from the cupboard above the sink. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “No, no!” replied Essie. “Just taking a little snooze. You know, to pep myself up!”

  “You sure need a lot of pep for all that party plannin’ you been doin’, Miss Essie,” said Lorena, gathering Essie’s night time pills and filling her water glass. “How is that surprise comin’ along?”

  “Oh, just fine!” Essie lied. She had to search her brain to remember what sort of fanciful tale she had told Lorena last night. Oh, yes, she remembered. She’d told her she was planning a Christmas surprise party … or present … or something. It was a good thing she was so old and could always use her advanced age as an excuse for any memory problem she might have.

  Lorena moved to Essie’s chair.

  “Here you go!” She handed her the handful of pills and then the glass of water. Essie downed the pills as quickly as she was capable of swallowing. “My Lord, you are whizzin’ through them pills lately, Miss Essie! You used to hate takin’ those big ones!”

  “There’s no sense in procrastinating,” said Essie, attempting to move things along.

  “Then, I’d best be gettin’ your nightie so you don’t procrastinate your bed time,” said Lorena, heading for the bedroom.

  “Oh, Lorena, no!” cried Essie, grabbing the aide’s elbow. “I … I … I’ve decided not to get my pajamas on just yet.”

  “Lordy, Miss Essie,” said Lorena, shaking her head and peering at Essie more carefully. “You been nippin’ at the sherry?”

  “The what?” cried Essie. “No! Of course not, Lorena. I just … I just thought I might take a walk a bit later. I can get my pajamas on myself. You don’t need to come back.”

  “A walk?” exclaimed the rotund nurse. “You know HH is smack dab in the middle of a quar-an-tine, don’t you? Just where’s you planning on walkin’? You’re not allowed out of your room!”

  “We’re not allowed to congregate in the major parts of the building. I was sort of thinking that I might like to take a … a walk … outside to get some … fresh air.”

  “Ha!” shrieked Lorena, “It’s ten degrees below zero outside, Miss Essie! We’re in the middle of a great big ol’ snowstorm! You’d freeze your little ol’ feathered hat right to your head!”

  “I really need to get out,” said Essie insistently. “I just feel claustrophobic in here.”

  “Better to be a claustro …
whatever phobic … than a frozen icicle!” declared Lorena.

  “I won’t go far,” continued Essie in her plea. Anything to keep Lorena from going in my bedroom and discovering Clara, Hubert, and baby Antonio. It would be easier to explain a penchant for winter walks than harboring residents and babies in my bedroom during a quarantine.

  “I hope you change your mind,” directed Lorena, shaking her finger in Essie’s face. Essie merely smiled sweetly at her. Eventually, Lorena gathered up Essie’s pill supplies and replaced them in the cupboard. “Okay, Missie, I’m goin’ but I better not hear that they found your stone cold body out in the parking lot tomorrow mornin’!” She scowled at Essie and disappeared out her front door. You can’t scare me, thought Essie.