“Oh, no!” she said out loud. “I thought this was going too well.” She looked at the alarm clock on her end table. It was well past midnight now. The child was probably hungry. Anticipating that this would happen, Opal and Marjorie had prepared an extra rubber gloveful of Vigor and left it on Essie’s kitchen counter. “Wait here, Antonio,” she whispered to the baby as she scooted the infant further towards the center of the bed for safe keeping. Then, grabbing her walker, she headed toward her kitchen, grabbed the filled glove and zipped back to the bedroom before Antonio had emitted a second cry. Essie parked her walker and sat on the bed next to him, leaning against the headboard. She removed the rubber band that Marjorie had tied around the finger with the needle opening and, picking up Antonio in her arms, gently slid the rubber appendage into his awaiting mouth. The little boy latched onto the finger immediately and started sucking furiously.
“Holy coyote!” exclaimed Essie to the little boy in her arms, “you are one hungry fellow!” Almost instantly, Antonio’s violent feet and arm movements slowed and he calmed as he drank the make-shift formula. “Sorry I can’t provide real mother’s milk, Antonio, but I’m all dried up in that area!” She chuckled to herself and Antonio seemed to respond to her joke and giggled back at her while he drank.
When the infant finished the formula, had a new Reliables diaper on, and was sleeping soundly again, Essie gently transferred him to the basket in her walker and covered him with several soft towels from her bathroom. Then she wheeled him with her as she moved to her kitchen and prepared another serving of Vigor for when he next became hungry. She took the spare formula-filled glove back to the bedroom and placed it and several spare fake diapers on her end table so she could get to them if she needed them in the middle of the night. Then, as Antonio appeared to be sleeping soundly in the walker basket, Essie crawled into her bed and fell almost immediately to sleep.
Normally, Essie never slept deeply. Because of her weak bladder, she frequently awakened several times at night to go to the bathroom. Tonight was no different. When she felt the urge to pee, Essie roused herself and started to climb out of bed. Abruptly, she remembered the infant in her walker next to her bed. Cautiously, she glanced at Antonio who was sleeping peacefully. Essie glanced at her clock. It was now after two in the morning. She made her way into her bathroom holding onto the wall because she didn’t want to chance disturbing the sleeping child by moving the walker. When she returned and was climbing back into bed, she realized that her biggest challenge was looming and that she probably shouldn’t avoid considering it until morning. That was, what to do with Antonio when her morning aide, DeeDee, arrived at seven to get her dressed and give her her morning medications. Hmmm. DeeDee always came directly into her bedroom. She just knocked to announce her presence, but then she walked right in.
A plan began to hatch in Essie’s mind. DeeDee typically didn’t go into Essie’s bathroom unless Essie asked her to. It would be close, but if Antonio would cooperate by being quiet during the few minutes that DeeDee would be in her apartment, maybe Essie could manage to maintain her secret for a while longer. She lay down on her bed and dozed for a few more hours, but at six she decided that she’d better get busy if she was going to pull off operation “secret baby.”
As Essie started to slide out of bed and move around her small bedroom, holding on to furniture and walls for support, she could hear her charge stirring in the walker. Little cooing sounds began to emanate from the basket. She realized that she’d probably have to feed Antonio first before she could do much else. Sitting on her bed, and grabbing the glove device from her end table where she had left it, she scooped up Antonio in her arms and quickly began to feed him. The baby was hungry and quickly made short work of the entire contents of the glove. Afterwards, Essie changed the diaper that she now expected to be soiled. One thing for sure, this was a consistent little fellow. She hoped she could rely on his consistency for just another hour or so, until DeeDee was gone, and perhaps Santos had found his mother.
After changing the baby’s makeshift diapers and placing him back in the walker basket, Essie quickly maneuvered the walker to her bathroom. She pulled out every towel she had from her cupboards and arranged them softly in the bottom of her bathtub and deposited the infant in the middle of her bathtub. Then, she gently closed the bathroom door, returned to her bedroom and opened her drawers and brought out a clean outfit to wear--a flowered blue shirt, navy pull-on trousers, white gym socks, clean panties and bra. She laid these items on the end of her bed and placed her tennis shoes on the floor beside them. As she looked at her clock again, the hands were just a few minutes before seven. DeeDee was often early. Essie could never really figure out why some days her aide was early and some days she was late, but Essie could pretty much count on DeeDee arriving within ten minutes one way or another of seven o’clock.
Today DeeDee was early. There was the typical knock on her front door and then Essie heard DeeDee Pritoni’s cheerful voice, “Miss Essie! Time to get up!” DeeDee’s face appeared in the bedroom doorway. A look of amazement replaced her casual expression. DeeDee’s beautifully curved eyebrows rose alarmingly and her black ponytail bobbed.
“Miss Essie! You’re up!” said DeeDee as she entered Essie’s bedroom. “And you have clothes set out! Are these what you want to wear?”
“DeeDee,” replied Essie, quickly and quietly, “I just couldn’t sleep, so I decided to get up. I picked out what I want to wear so you can just help me slip these clothes on and give me my pills and I can get going. Okay?”
“Of course, Miss Essie!” agreed the young woman, moving into the room and expertly helping Essie dress for her day. This was a routine that the duo had accomplished together many times and each knew exactly when to stick out an arm or pull up or down. Soon, Essie was dressed and DeeDee headed to the living room and removed the pill box in the kitchen just as Lorena had done the previous evening. Essie followed her, carefully closing the bedroom door behind her.
“You surprise me, Miss Essie!” said DeeDee as she handed Essie a glass of water and a handful of five or six pills. “You’re usually such a sleepyhead! Just what made you want to get up and get going so early today?” DeeDee tapped her toe as she eyed Essie slurping down her pills as if she were drinking a tasty daiquiri.
“Gumgle,” mumbled Essie, continuing to swallow pills.
“No scowl?” questioned DeeDee, as she took back the glass Essie handed her. “You usually hate taking your pills.”
“No,!” argued Essie, “I’m just anxious to get going.”
“I know,” said DeeDee, conspiratorially, “I bet it’s Hubert Darby, isn’t it? I think I heard someone say that he’s sweet on you. Maybe you two have a rendezvous planned?” DeeDee’s perfectly manicured eyebrows gyrated up and down lasciviously.
“I have no such thing!” exclaimed Essie. “And you can stop your Groucho Marx eyebrow routine, DeeDee! I’m an old lady and the only man I ever rendezvoused was my husband!”
DeeDee laughed as she put away the pills and glass.
“Okay, Miss Essie,” she sang out as she opened Essie’s front door, “if you say so! But that Hubert is one snazzy dresser, if you ask me!” Still chuckling, DeeDee closed the door and headed down the hallway.
“Hubert Darby, my foot,” mumbled Essie, just as a cry sounded from her bathroom.
Chapter Seven
“It takes a village to raise a child.”
–Author Unknown
Essie quickly rushed to her bathroom and moved to the bathtub where baby Antonio was screaming loudly. She hoped the walls of the small room would act as insulation of the sound or that her neighbor Clara was already at breakfast and couldn’t hear the very loud noise. Clara was a busybody and would definitely complain to her or–worse–to the staff if she thought that Essie had a baby in her apartment. Essie bent over and lifted the infant from the tub. Her arthritis in her back ached as she tried to stand carrying the added weight. She placed Antonio over
her shoulder and gently patted his back as she softly bounced him up and down. Almost immediately a loud burp emitted from the baby’s mouth and he quieted noticeably. Essie placed him in the walker basket and wheeled him back into her bedroom. She sat on the edge of her bed and pondered what to do next.
She needed to go to breakfast, if for no other reason than to find Santos and discover what he’d found out about Antonio’s mother. Had Maria returned? Did he know where she was? Essie knew she couldn’t continue to keep the infant in her room for long. Should she take the baby with her and head to the dining hall? Or should she remain here and hope that Santos or one of her friends would come to her and let her know what was happening? Essie was exhausted. She had gotten even less sleep than she usually did. Worry over the baby had kept her up most of the night.
“Let’s go!” she said finally to her little charge and she rose from her bed and gently tucked his arms into the basket and then cautiously lowered the lid. Moving with determination, she headed for her front door. As she opened the door and started to move her walker into the hallway, she was confronted by Opal, Marjorie, and Fay who motioned for her to return inside.
“Good morning, Essie,” announced Opal, as the three women entered the apartment. Marjorie closed the door behind them. “We’re here to cover for you.”
“We’re your back-up,” added Marjorie. Fay had already lifted the seat on Essie’s walker and had removed Antonio and was cradling him in her arms. She pressed her wheelchair’s automatic button and her device whizzed her over to the window. Fay held Antonio up to the sparkling morning sunlight streaming into Essie’s front window. The little boy giggled and cooed and tried to grab Fay’s chin. Fay smiled and rubbed her face in the baby’s tummy and they both laughed.
“Go to breakfast, Essie,” ordered Opal, as she and Marjorie began moving around Essie’s apartment. Opal headed to the kitchen and began preparing a new glove of formula. “I brought some reinforcements!” she announced as she opened the basket on her walker and removed several cans. “It’s not Vigor, only a generic, but it should do. My son tried to get me to drink this horrible gunk too. These cans have been sitting above my sink for years. I think they’re still good.”
“That stuff could withstand a nuclear bomb!” called out Marjorie from the bathroom as she entered back into Essie’s living room. “Essie, I’ve stacked up several more boxes of Reliables on your sink. I had some myself.” Marjorie moved over and sat next to Fay and began gushing over the baby. “Oh, Fay, look, his little t-shirt is getting dirty! He needs something to wear besides just paper diapers and this old thing.”
“Nell’s bells, Marjorie!” cried Essie. “Outfitting this child is the least of our worries! Let’s save infant fashion for another day and concentrate on the problem at hand!”
“Yes, let’s!” agreed Opal still working efficiently at Essie’s kitchen sink. “And the first problem is for you, Essie, to go to breakfast! We’ve all three eaten and we’ll watch Antonio!”
“And besides, Santos told us he needs to speak to you!” added Marjorie.
“Why didn’t you tell me that first?” demanded Essie. “Did he find Maria? What did he say about Antonio?”
“Essie,” said Opal calmly. “He didn’t say anything to us. He doesn’t know that we know anything about the baby, remember? He merely asked us where you were. He just said he really needs to talk to you. We told him we would check on you and have you go straight to breakfast when we did. So, go!”
“Yes, go, Essie!” added Marjorie, extending a pointed finger towards the door. Opal gave Essie a “scoot” gesture and Fay smiled sweetly. Essie gave a sigh, turned tail, and headed out of her apartment.
She hated to leave the baby alone. Not that she didn’t trust her three friends, but she felt uncomfortable leaving anyone in her place with the baby. Anything could happen. If the baby started crying and her friends couldn’t calm him, she would be in trouble with the Happy Haven administration. She might even be evicted. Possibly. She wasn’t sure. Violet didn’t like her as it was. She was suspicious of Essie and watched her every movement. Even so, Essie was hungry and she needed to eat. She rolled her walker–now baby-free–into the dining hall and sat alone at her regular table.
Within a few seconds, Santos appeared beside her.
“Miss Essie,” he said in a relieved voice. “I am so happy to see you. When you are not here for breakfast with other ladies, I am very worried.” He bent over and whispered in Essie’s ear. “Is baby okay, Miss Essie?”
Essie turned and patted Santos on the arm. She could see the worry in his eyes. “He’s fine, Santos. Opal, Marjorie, and Fay are taking good care of him now.”
“You tell other ladies about Antonio, Miss Essie?” he asked, his face wrinkling in despair.
“Don’t worry, Santos,” replied Essie. “They are good people. They love babies. I told them about Maria and they will protect her secret–just like I will.” She smiled gently again at the young man who appeared petrified that the child’s existence might become public knowledge.
“I hope this is so, Miss Essie,” said Santos. “Miss Marjorie and Miss Opal and Miss Fay are very nice ladies. You sure they not tell Miss Violet? I am very scared Miss Violet find out and take baby Antonio from Maria.”
“We’re trying very hard not to let anyone else find out about the baby, Santos,” she replied in a whisper, patting his sleeve. “But, Santos, more important. What about Maria? Have you heard from her?”
Santos sighed deeply and stood up. He rubbed his hands over his face in a gesture of despair. “No, Miss Essie,” he cried softly. “I hear nothing from Maria. I do not know where Maria is. I am very worried.”
“This is not good,” said Essie, shaking her head. “You know this woman, Santos. Do you think she has abandoned her baby? I mean, maybe all of this was just too much for her. Maybe she was so frightened of her husband and it was simply too hard to hide from him with a newborn infant. Maybe she’s counting on you to protect the baby while she hides from her abusive mate.”
“I do not think so, Miss Essie,” continued Santos, speaking quietly as he pretended to collect dishes from the table. “Maria, she loves the baby! She does not come back for baby–this is very bad sign! I am afraid something bad happened to Maria.”
“You mean, you think Gerald, her husband caught up with her and forced her to return to him?” asked Essie. “Do you think Gerald would seriously hurt Maria if she tried to leave him?”
“Si, I do, Miss Essie,” replied Santos, stopping in his dish collecting and clutching a pile of dirty plates to his chest. His face was a portrait of pain.
“There must be some way to find out,” said Essie. “The four of us–the four of us who sit at this table–we will try to take care of Antonio as long as we can, Santos, but this facility is not designed for infants, and eventually someone will discover that we have a newborn child in my apartment. And once that happens, I won’t be able to keep the baby’s presence a secret.”
“Miss Essie,” said Santos, his eyes sad and drooping, “please just watch Antonio a little bit longer. I will try to find Maria.” He stood taller, his chin lifted.
“Tell me what you plan to do, Santos,” said Essie. “Is there anything we can do to help track her down? Maybe call some of her relatives or friends?”
“I cannot do that, Miss Essie,” said Santos, “I do not know Maria’s friends or relatives. They are all in Mexico. I am very sorry.”
“Santos,” said Essie after contemplating this information, grabbing his shirt as the young man turned to the kitchen. “What is Maria’s last name?”
“Compton,” he said. “Maria Valdez Compton. She marry that Gerald Compton, the cabrón!” He ground his teeth and clenched his fists.
“And Gerald Compton works here in Reardon?” asked Essie, ignoring the young waiter’s epithet.
“Si, Miss Essie,” replied Santos, “Gerald build the houses. I not know where, but I remember Maria say it. It so
und like flowers.”
“Flowers?” she asked.
“Si, Miss Essie,” he said with a shrug, “Like orchidea or–how you say–asafrán? I not very good at flowers.”
“It’s something,” said Essie, nodding. “Now, can I have some eggs and bacon before I begin my detecting, Santos? And, please, don’t let them burn the bacon!”
Santos smiled tentatively and headed off into the kitchen with his pile of dishes.
Chapter Eight
“I don’t particularly like babies. I don’t mind them for about four minutes. That’s my max. After that I can’t quite see what everyone’s fussing about.”
–Hugh Grant
Essie made short work of her breakfast. Her speed was partially because she was anxious to return to her apartment and tend to the baby. It was also partially because she didn’t have anyone to talk to. Essie enjoyed her meals primarily because she enjoyed chatting with her tablemates and sipping her coffee. Without this camaraderie, all she could do was look around the dining hall at the few stragglers like herself who were lingering over their coffee too.
Papoosed: An Essie Cobb Senior Sleuth Mystery Page 5
