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I had four days before I would no longer be a free woman. I lived in a small mansion that included six restrooms. My master bathroom was the size of some of those tiny houses they showed on HGTV. I was going to be confined to an 8 x 5 cell and public showers. I stood from my vanity, walked over to the toilet to vomit, but nothing came up. I couldn’t vomit up the torment in my spirit. It was like the knife of a blade and nothing or no one could remove it.
I fell down on the toilet seat lid and cried out. “God, give me strength.”
I was on the list to volunteer at the shelter today, but I decided I wasn’t going to go. There was no school so there wasn’t any need for the afterschool program. I convinced myself that they could do without me and I was far too depressed to contribute anything of any worth to anyone. I had hit a new emotional low.
“I have to get on the other side of this,” I said to myself. “On the other side of this is the rest of my life, with my husband, in this house, maybe a –” My voice trailed off, but I thought what I would not utter. Maybe a baby.
I laughed at myself. I knew I was desperate for normalcy. Since when did I want a child? Melia had been an accident. She wasn’t planned.
“I don’t even like kids,” I spoke out loud. But I was lying to myself. I did like some kids. I liked Mary Bolton, and I liked her a lot.
My cell phone rang. I started to ignore it since it wasn’t my husband’s personalized ring tone. But something said: don’t. So, I pulled myself up and rushed into the bedroom to get my phone.
Samaritan House.
They were probably making sure I was going to show. I guess they were short. That couldn’t be helped by me. I ignored it.
Two minutes later, it rang again. This time a voice mail registered. I ignored that too. I wasn’t going to let them guilt me into coming in.
A minute later a text message came through. I opened it.
This is Darlene. Emergency. Please call me.
I sat up and dialed the number. Colleen answered. The stress level in her voice was easily on ten.
“This is Samaria.”
She didn’t even say hello.
The next voice I heard was Darlene. “Samaria, please. I need your help. I’m in labor.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.” I ended the call, sprang from the bed, dressed and flew out of the house all in under five minutes. It took me another twenty to get to Samaritan. When I arrived, an ambulance was in front of the building.
Darlene was strapped to the gurney. She reached for my hand and squeezed. “Thank you.”
She was perspiring, her hair was all over her head and her daughters were sitting on top of each other in a heap against the wall. They were terrified. More terrified than I had been when I was in my restroom less than an hour ago.
“Can you bring the girls? I can’t reach my mother-in-law. The girls can’t come in the ambulance and they can’t stay here.”
I nodded. Darlene released my hand and howled from the impact of a contraction. The EMT’s wheeled her out of the building.
Colleen was white as a ghost. I approached her. “You might need to have a seat.”
“I thought I was going to have to deliver a baby. She’s been in labor for over an hour. I don’t know what she was thinking not letting anyone know.”
I looked over at the girls. I knew what she was thinking. What would happen to her children? I extended a hand and Mary took it. Destiny squirmed out of Krissy’s grasp and wrapped her hands around my leg.
“Let’s get your coats so we can go to the hospital and wait for your brother.”
I entered the room with the kids and Darlene was calm and relaxed enough to fall asleep. The power of drugs. She raised her head and smiled at her children, then looked to me and said, “Thank you so much. My mother-in-law will pick up her messages. Then she’ll come.”
Darlene didn’t look sure, but I nodded, playing along with her. “Of course she will. So, the girls are going with her while you recuperate?”
“Yes, I had a plan for later, but my C-section wasn’t scheduled until January 3rd.”
“I didn’t know you were scheduled for a C-section.”
“I’ve had all my children that way. I labored for twenty-two hours with Krissy and they still had to cut me. After that, no more long labors.”
“Girls,” I said reaching into my pocket. “There’s a vending machine down the hall. Take this...” I handed them a few dollars. “...and get a snack.”
Kids loved vending machines. They were happy to leave the room.
I turned to Darlene. “I know you can’t take a newborn back to the shelter. What’s your plan?”
“I don’t have one. I’m early, Samaria. I didn’t expect that.” Darlene bit her lip. Her frown deepened. “My brother-in-law was supposed to be in South Carolina with his uncle for a few weeks so the girls and I could stay at the house while I recovered and got the apartment ready. But now.” She cried. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. She’s not going to make him leave. I had to beg her to send him away. I had to pay for his train fare and everything.”
I raised a hand and stroked her forehead. “Shhh...everything is going to be fine. I’ll think of something.”
Darlene sniffed and bit down on her lip. “I can’t impose on you. You have your own problems.”
“Impose?” I frowned and then softened my tone. “I’m your friend. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you and those girls.”
A nurse entered the room. “I need to check on this little guy.” She looked at the monitor and said, “Everything looks good, Mama. We just need to get you prepped and ready.”
Darlene wrapped a piece of the sheet around her finger. “I get nervous about this every time.”
“Four sections,” the nurse said. “Are you done having babies?”
Sadness entered Darlene’s eyes. There was no way she wasn’t thinking about Kris. She chuckled without cheer. “My uterus is liable to explode if I get pregnant again. I’m getting my tubes tied after this little guy.”
The nurse patted her on the leg. “I’ll be back soon.”
The nurse took the air in the room with her. Except for the emergency part, so much of this was familiar to me. And it was a painful kind of remembering. A trip down memory lane that I didn’t feel like taking. I wanted to leave, but then I remembered, the woman, my friend, Angelina who held my hand and stayed with me even after the way I had treated her. She never left my side, even when it was uncomfortable for her. I had to do the same for Darlene.
“Do you want me to stay with you?” I asked. I looked out through the glass window and could see her children lined up on a sofa in the waiting room. “The girls are okay. I can see them from here.”
Darlene nodded. I put down my handbag and removed my coat.
An hour later, they took Darlene to surgery. I left the room with my emotions as raw as a skinned knee.
Krissy was the first on her feet. “Is the baby coming?”
“Your mom is on her way for her C-section. Have you ever heard that term before?”
“That’s when they cut the belly to get the baby out,” Mary replied.
“Shut up. I know that,” Krissy yelled.
I shook my head. “Don’t talk to your sister that way.”
“You don’t tell me how to talk to her.”
If rolled eyes could cut, I’d be bleeding. “Yes, I do.” I got firm back with her. “I tell you because I’m the only adult in the hallway. I have the say on how you will behave.”
Krissy’s face twitched from anger, or likely it was fear. She crossed her arms and marched back to the sofa and fell onto it, waking Destiny who had fallen off to sleep.
“How long do a C-section take?” Mary asked.
“Not too long. I think it should be over in about thirty minutes.”
“Is that a long time?” Mary asked.
“It’s about as long as an episode of one your T.V. shows,” I replied, knowing she could gauge it that way. I took both their hands and sat down on the couch opposite from angry Krissy and waited. I waited with them, but my thoughts would not wait. Darlene was early which meant her plan wasn’t going to work. Her mother-in-law was still a no-show. What was she going to do?