“Debra, yes it’s Carlisha,” she said in a strained voice as another wave of pain overtook her. “I’m waiting for the ambulance to go to the hospital. Can you please meet me there?”
“Yes of course!” Debra practically jumped out of her bed in response. “I should be there in thirty minutes,” Debra said in a panic. She scrambled to find proper clothes to put on after she hung up the phone. She silently prayed that Carlisha’s emergency was just a false alarm, she knew Carlisha had weeks to go before she was due. But she wanted to be there for Carlisha - her new friend. Debra had taken a strong liking to her and she greatly sympathized with her being an orphan. She didn't want her friend to have to face childbirth and raising a child all on her own with no assistance. No one should have to do those things alone. And Carlisha was so young. “God please let Carlisha and the baby be fine. I will be taking her back home with me so she can rest and wait for the proper due date of her baby,” Debra prayed with faith. After putting on a jogging suit she dashed to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, then raced out of the house.
**KC**
Hooked up to machines, Carlisha was in full revelation that she was in labor. The contractions were coming faster and more aggressive than before. But her main concern was for her child to be born healthy. She wished she had went to the hospital like James had suggested after her attack, but she didn’t have any immediate concern at that time. She was fully dilated now and ready to push, problem was her son was breech. Also, it was too late for her to get pain medication but her concern for her son’s life consumed her more than the need to get pain relief. The doctor debated whether to do a C-section, but after examination, baby was already feet first in the birthing canal.
Carlisha screamed in agony when she pushed several times, then she felt the relief of her baby boy delivered. She was a mother. Her pain was replaced with joy and a smile swept over her face. She never experienced joy like that before. The doctor quickly gave Carlisha’s premature son to the nurse as his concern was greater for Carlisha. Blood was everywhere. Carlisha laid her head back in exhaustion. She tried to take a peek at her son, but her eyes were blurry and all she saw was faint white lights. Soon the sound of her baby wailing comforted her and she closed her eyes. The sound of the heart monitor signaling that Carlisha was flat lining competed with the wails of her newborn son.
**KC**
The multiple rings of the phone woke Pete up with a start. He sat right up in the bed and looked around the dark room in bewilderment. The ringing again thirty seconds later confirmed why he woke up. Pete snatched the phone off the cradle that was on the nightstand. "What is it?" He was obviously annoyed. He yawned and stretched.
"Is this Peter and Moriah Holmes’ residence?" The caller asked.
Pete rubbed the sleep from his eyes so he could clearly see. The clock on the nightstand read two-thirty in the morning. Pete was alarmed. “This is Pete. What is this about?"
"Sir, I’m sorry to have to report this, but Miss Carlisha Mitchell died this morning after giving birth to her son. He was born premature, but miraculously he's doing just fine –"
"What?!" Pete ran his hand through his hair with his free hand. Did he hear him right? Carlisha died after giving birth? What? Am I dreaming? Pete looked around the dark bedroom in hope that it would confirm that he was in his right mind and hearing the gentleman on the other end of the phone correctly.
"Sir you and your wife are listed as next of kin for Miss Mitchell."
"My wife is dead," Pete answered shortly, he was still confused. He yawned.
"Oh Sir, I’m so sorry for your losses. But I had to call. We also need to know when you will be coming in to see the baby."
"Baby? Isn't there someone else you can call? I’m not related to Carlisha. My wife took her in years ago and got her on her feet, but I’m in no position to deal with this." And a black baby at that. He yanked the covers off and got out of the bed. He paced back and forth, completely naked, as he tried to process what he was just told. The gentleman on the other end of the phone continued talking, but Pete's mind had left his present state. Carlisha is dead? I just saw her yesterday. And I didn’t even know she was pregnant. Would I have even cared? A pang of sorrow overtook him and the color of Carlisha's skin didn't matter to him at that moment. He wiped tears that unexpectedly fell from his eyes. Moriah would probably be ashamed of him on how he turned his back on Carlisha and how he had come to despise the skin she was in. But Pete felt that all the love and compassion that was once within him was buried along with his wife. He didn’t feel there was use for love and compassion without his wife – his definition of love, in the world. But the unexpected news of Carlisha stung.
He remembered when he considered Carlisha a part of his family. Moriah adopted her by love into their home. They spent holidays together and even went on vacation as a family a few times. He did once feel like a father figure to her and now he grieved her death. He completely shut her out of his life and heart the moment her black face began to remind him of the black man that took his wife's life. Never did he consider how his actions may have affected Carlisha. The call was vividly reminding him of the call he received when Moriah died.
"Sir, Sir are you still there?" The caller interrupted Pete's thoughts.
"Yes, I’m here. I will be at the hospital shortly." He hung up the phone and waited for the moment he would be awakened from the nightmare he swore he was having. No way is Carlisha dead and leaving behind a baby?! He stood frozen in his position by the side of his bed. He didn’t know what to do, who to call, what to say or how to react.
Chapter 17
Debra had arrived at the hospital within thirty minutes like she had told Carlisha. She had harassed the nurses to tell her which room Carlisha was in, but she was denied. They told her Carlisha was already in the process of giving birth and that she would have to wait. Debra’s heart sunk when they told her Carlisha was having her baby early. She immediately started to pray that the baby and Carlisha would be all right. She asked God for the baby not to have any complications and that all his organs were fully developed and that he was ready to thrive on his own outside his mother’s womb. But that was hours ago. Debra sat impatiently in the waiting area. None of the nurses or doctors would give her any more updates because she wasn’t related to Carlisha. She resisted the urge to go postal and barge her way into Carlisha’s room. Her instincts told her something was terribly wrong. The baby must have died. Oh God please comfort my friend! Debra prayed silently with her eyes closed and the back of head pressed against the wall while she sat in the chair with her hands clasps together tightly in her lap.
“Hi. I don’t know who to ask for, but I’m next of kin for Carlisha Mitchell…” Debra heard a familiar voice. She opened her eyes slowly to see the back of a gentleman standing at the nurse’s station.
“What is your name sir?” a nurse asked the man.
Debra got up and walked toward them.
“Peter Holmes.”
“Pete, you’re Carlisha’s boss. Remember me, Debra?” Debra interrupted, thankful that perhaps she could get some answers on what was going on with Carlisha through Pete.
“Yes!” Pete smiled brightly at the sight of Debra. Her face immediately eased some of the apprehension he had about the whole ordeal he was faced with. However the circumstances under which he was graced with her beautiful face didn’t please him at all.
“I’ve been here for hours now since Carlisha called me and told me she was on her way to the hospital, but nobody is telling me what’s going on.”
“Sir. Ah, I’ll have someone come out and speak with you shortly,” the nurse said sympathetically.
“Okay,” Pete responded to the nurse solemnly. He didn’t want to have to deal with any of this. Now Debra stood in front of him desperate for some answers about what was going on with her friend. Pete swore a curse was placed on his life. He just lost his wife a little over a year ago now he was dealing with the death of a
young woman he once saw as a daughter, even though he was nothing but a jackass to her since his wife’s death, the thought of that deepened his sorrow over Carlisha’s death.
Pete didn’t know what to say to Debra. Her face was etched with worry and he wished he could replace it was joy – but not with the news he would have to share. He pulled her to the side. “Let’s sit over there.” He guided them to some vacant seats. The waiting area was eerily quiet, perhaps because it was so early in the morning; it was now three-fifteen.
“Something happened to the baby – didn’t it?” Debra asked after she sat in a seat next to Pete.
A lump clogged Pete’s throat which made it difficult for him to speak. A desire to kiss Debra briefly consumed his thoughts, he figured that would be the magic he needed to erase all the fog in his life and perhaps jumpstart his heart so that he could truly feel love and compassion again. But he brushed it away. “Carlisha died after giving birth to her son,” Pete informed her. He watched as Debra’s face instantly changed from worry to sorrow like a switch of a light. Tears welled up in her eyelids, then released like a flood down her face. He gently pulled her into his arms as she relieved her grief on his chest as she cried. Pete cried too as he gently caressed Debra’s red hair. He cried for his wife, he cried for Carlisha, he cried for the hate he still harbored in his heart for black people and he cried for his desire for Debra that made him afraid he may be losing his love for his dead wife.
**KC**
Rachel and her parents came to the hospital right after they received the call from Pete about what happened. It took Rachel’s parents a while to console her after she heard the news. Rachel then went ahead and called Carlisha’s co-workers to let them know that she had passed away after giving birth.
Rachel, her parents, Noah and Leah, along with Debra and Pete stood behind a glass window as they watched a nurse holding Carlisha’s newborn son for them to see. He was the tiniest thing they had all ever seen. His four and a half pounds was swaddled neatly in a blanket and his small head was covered with a pink and blue cap. His eyes opened and closed slowly as he tried to focus. His dark mocha skin already resembled his mother.
“I didn’t know she was pregnant,” Rachel spoke, breaking the grief of silence among them. “He is so adorable!” She smiled as she looked at the precious gift from God in front of her. She touched the mirror as to touch the young man that captured her heart. His little mouth curved up into a smile she swore was geared toward her.
“He’s so precious. It’s sad that Carlisha didn’t get a chance to hold him.” Leah watched as the nurse cradled the baby before them.
Debra cried softly as she looked at the precious face of Carlisha Junior. She couldn’t believe that Carlisha’s son would also go through the world without his parents. Carlisha was gone and Debra was clueless as to who the father was.
Pete looked at the baby emotionless. He didn’t know what to feel, how to feel or why to feel. He just wanted to go home, drink a beer and get lost in sports news. All of this sorrow was rocking the boat of his own grief over the loss of his wife. It was bringing back painful, painful memories.
“What are you going to name the baby?” Debra looked up at Pete who was standing next to her expressionless.
“What?” he looked at Debra confused.
“What are you going to name the baby?” she asked again, she pointed to the bassinet the baby was just placed in by the nurse.
Pete turned and walked away from the glass window. Debra assumed he was still trying to deal with his grief of Carlisha’s death. She walked up next to him. “I can help you with the baby and I am more than willing to babysit on my days off.”
“I can help too Uncle Pete. I can even spend some nights at your house,” Rachel volunteered.
“Noah and I would like to help anyway we can too,” Leah offered.
“Look, I’m not raising anybody’s black baby!” Pete reacted in an outburst. All their talk about the baby and assuming he was raising it irritated him. How am I to raise a goddamn baby? A baby I’m not even related to? He combed his fingers through his hair. The look of shock on their faces from his outburst immediately made him regret his words. “I’m sorry! I’m just not in a position to raise a baby. Let the hospital take care of it.” Pete began to walk away again.
“The hospital will call social services and have him placed in the system,” Debra said as she walked up behind him. No way would she allow her friend’s child be put in the government system, no telling who would raise him. But from the reaction of Pete she wasn’t sure he would be a good fit either. The disgust she felt for him that time she saw him and he completely ignored Carlisha returned. Now it made sense – he was a racist. But how in God’s name was he listed as Carlisha’s next of kin. Debra was completely confused, but if Carlisha had seen fit for him to be next of kin, there must be some love and compassion in him somewhere. Carlisha obviously had seen that part of him, she assumed. Debra pulled at Pete’s arm to get his attention. He stopped abruptly. “Look, Carlisha saw fit to name you as next of kin so you can’t just allow her baby to be placed in foster care.”
“I didn’t ask for any of this mess!” Pete snapped. Debra’s beautiful face didn’t matter to him at that moment. Looking at her now really reminded him of his wife and he wanted to scream. Moriah was good at dealing with situations like this. He wished she was there. But being in the hospital only reminded him of when he had to identify her dead body and when he looked at Carlisha’s black baby it only reminded him of the race he despised because of his wife’s death. He knew he was wrong for feeling his resentment toward one race – but for the life of him he couldn’t help it and he needed to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.
Debra swung her hand and smacked Pete across the face. She swore she would never let a man talk disrespectfully to her again, especially after the crap she dealt with from her ex-husband, plus the fact that her friend just died put her in a different state of mind. “Well this is the mess you’ve got to deal with. And I won’t allow you to put Carlisha’s son in foster care either!”
Rachel, Leah and Noah watched the exchange a few feet away in disbelief.
Pete looked blankly at Debra for a few seconds. Moriah would have reacted the same way. He turned and silently walked away toward the elevator, thankful that someone was just getting off and he could have an immediate escape.
Chapter 18
It had been two days since Carlisha died after she gave birth to her son. Pete was beyond frustrated from the numerous calls from the hospital asking him when, how, and what he was going to do because the baby was ready to be discharged and Carlisha’s body needed to be claimed. Pete had been running on autopilot since he left the hospital two days ago. He closed the business for bereavement, he figured that would’ve been the right thing to do – but really it was his excuse to escape all the noise regarding the current events.
He sat in his favorite spot in the middle of the couch, opened bottle of beer in one hand the TV remote in the other as he stared at the figures of people playing baseball on the TV screen. He didn’t notice the ringing of his doorbell at first, but after the third ring he broke out of his daze. He sucked his teeth loudly, immediately annoyed by whoever was on the other end of the door harassing his doorbell.
Pete saw Rachel and James behind the door when he looked through the peephole. He opened it without greeting them and waited for them to state their reason for interrupting his peace.
“Uncle Pete, James said that Carlisha was attacked at work by a group of women which could’ve lead to her dying after giving birth,” Rachel burst out. “We’ve got to report this to the police and show them the surveillance camera,” she went on as Pete looked at her blankly.
“What?” Pete walked away from the door and back into the living room.
Rachel and James followed him in. James closed the door behind them.
“We’ve got to press charges against those women that attacked Carlisha. They
may have been the reason she died. We can’t let them get away with this!”
“I’m dealing with enough as it is.” Pete sat back on the couch.
“But we can’t just let these women get away with what they did to Carlisha. Uncle Pete Carlisha was family.” Whether he wanted to remember that or not, she had to remind him. No they weren’t blood related, but she was still family in every sense of the word.
“I was right there Mr. Holmes, I know I can identify the woman that hit Carlisha, plus I’m sure it’s on the security cameras at work,” James finally spoke. He was really taking Carlisha’s death hard. He felt he should have pushed her more to go to the hospital after the attack.
Pete took a long swig of his beer. The number of monumental decisions he had to make just increased and he didn’t want to have to deal with any of it. The knowledge of the ghetto mess of Carlisha being attacked in his place of business didn’t help the situation either. “What is it exactly do you all expect me to do? All of a sudden I have people demanding all these decisions from me over a woman my dead wife took in years ago.” Pete ran his hand through his hair. He blew a breath. “If you want to deal with the police about this then go ahead, I won’t stop you. I just don’t want to be involved any further.”
“Okay.” Rachel sat in the armchair next to the couch. James remained standing. “When are you going to get the baby?” she asked as cautiously as possible. She didn’t want to add to his agitation, but she needed to know what his decision was regarding Carlisha’s newborn baby. She knew Social Services would intervene soon if he did nothing.
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