You never asked me why I named you CeeCee. I spent a lot of time with one of those little baby name books they sell at the grocery store, checking the meaning behind all the names. A lot of girls’ names mean “pure” and “soft” and “womanly,” when I wanted you to be tough as nails. The two I liked best were Carol, which means “strong,” and Constance, which means “unyielding.” I was still undecided when you were born, and both names seemed so grown-up for my little baby. Pam suggested CeeCee to better suit a strong little girl. I think it’s perfect for you.
“Well, if you don’t have the look of a new mom,” Naomi said with a laugh when CeeCee walked into the kitchen Sunday morning. “Completely exhausted.”
CeeCee lowered herself into a chair at the table. Naomi had made her a sling like the one she used with Emmanuel, and she was carrying Sweet Pea in it. The sling had magical powers, she was convinced. After a night of changing wet diapers, cleaning spit up, stumbling to the kitchen to heat formula, and listening to that rhythmic crying that tore at CeeCee’s heart, she’d put the baby into the sling and was rewarded with utter silence and calm.
“There’s oatmeal on the stove,” Naomi said.
CeeCee got to her feet again and scooped some of the oatmeal into a bowl, leaning over so she wouldn’t spill any of the hot cereal into the sling.
“Before you sit, there’s something for you on the counter.” Naomi nodded toward the counter by the stove. CeeCee picked up the manila folder and carried it back to the table.
“What is it?” she asked, taking her seat again.
“Open it and see.”
She opened the folder and pulled out two birth certificates, a social security card and an Oregon driver’s license.
“The top birth certificate is yours,” Naomi said. “That’s your new name.”
CeeCee stared at the typewritten name. Eve Bailey, born in Portland, Oregon, on March 7, 1960. Her parents were Marjorie and Lester Bailey. She stared at those names, picturing the imaginary people to whom they belonged. Marjorie and Lester. They sounded so solid, the names of caring, attentive parents. She already loved them. Maybe she’d grown up in a middle-class neighborhood in a house with a swimming pool. Did people have swimming pools in Oregon? She doubted it, but the image was sharp in her mind.
“My name’s Eve?” She looked at Naomi.
“Now and forever more,” Naomi said. “What do you think?”
“Eve.” She repeated the name out loud. It made her feel older. Older, wiser, more sophisticated. “I don’t think it fits me.”
Naomi smiled. “That’s how I felt about Naomi at first.”
“I keep forgetting you’ve been through all of this yourself,” CeeCee said.
“Oh, yes. And I remember how hard it was to give up my old name and take on a name as oddball as Naomi. But you’ll be amazed how quickly you’ll adjust. I’ll start calling you Eve right now.”
CeeCee smiled slowly. There was safety in a new identity. She had to remember that. “There is no Eve Bailey, right?” She wanted to be sure she understood. “This is a made-up name?”
“That’s right.”
She looked at the birth certificate again. “She’s a year older than me.”
“That’s good. It won’t seem quite so weird that you’ve had a baby.” She leaned forward. “So remember now. You’re seventeen.”
CeeCee peeked inside the sling to make sure the baby was breathing, then picked up the social security card and driver’s license. The social security number was very different from hers and the card was made out, of course, to Eve Bailey. The license had no picture on it. The address was in Portland.
“I’ve never even been west of Chapel Hill,” she said. “Why Oregon? Because it’s as far from here as possible?”
“Oregon doesn’t have pictures on their drivers’ licenses, that’s why,” Naomi said. “When you get to Virginia, go to the Department of Motor Vehicles and get a Virginia license.”
“Virginia? Why am I going to Virginia?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute. First, check out Sweet Pea’s birth certificate.”
She pulled the final document from the envelope. The certificate showed that Corinne Bailey had been born a week ago in Charleston, South Carolina. Eve Bailey was her mother. Her father’s name was blank.
“Who’s her father supposed to be?” CeeCee asked.
“You don’t know. That’s best in a situation like this. Just pretend you slept around and weren’t sure. Otherwise, you can have all sorts of problems later.”
“Like what kind of problems?”
Naomi shrugged. “Like, if you ever needed the father’s permission to do something, now you don’t. And if she finds her birth certificate when she gets older, she won’t go looking for some mythical man.”
“But she’ll think her mother was a tramp.” CeeCee almost laughed.
“Better a tramp than a felon,” Naomi said.
Felon. The word was sobering. CeeCee Wilkes was a felon. Eve Bailey was a pure blank slate.
“So, why Virginia?” she asked again.
“There’s a woman in Charlottesville named Marian Kazan. You can stay with her while you get your feet on the ground. I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard she’s really nice and she runs a day-care center, so she can take care of the baby—of Corinne—while you find a job. That’s got to be the first thing you do when you get up there. Look for work.”
“How do I…I mean I can’t tell them where I worked before.”
“That’s right, you sure can’t. What kind of work were you doing?”
“Waitressing.”
“Perfect. Start at a dive, something low-level where you can tell them you have experience but where they won’t care enough to check your references. If they ask where you worked, make up the name of a place and say it was in Charleston, since that’s where the baby was born. Get experience in your new name, then you can build up a work record and you’ll be home free.”
Naomi made it sound so simple, but CeeCee’s head spun.
“You’d better say your parents were from South Carolina or something, too, because I don’t think people from Oregon sound like you.”
CeeCee nodded.
“And we want you to leave tonight,” Naomi added.
“Tonight?” CeeCee asked. “How am I going to find my way to Charlottesville at night? How far is it, anyway?”
“About four hours,” Naomi said.
“Don’t make me leave tonight,” CeeCee said. “Please. With the baby and everything.” How would she manage the baby on her own, without Naomi to turn to with every question and insecurity? She suddenly remembered, though, that her plan to leave the baby at the governor’s mansion required darkness. She could pass through Raleigh on her way to Charlottesville and leave the baby on his doorstep. “What about the formula?” she asked. “How will I heat it?”
“We’ll give you a big jug of water to mix the formula with. Put it inside the car instead of the trunk so it stays at room temperature. That car still has heat, doesn’t it?” Naomi looked momentarily worried, until CeeCee nodded. “Okay, then you’ll just give her room-temperature formula. It’ll be fine. Forrest is in town right now buying diapers and formula.”
“What if…what if she chokes or something? Do you know baby CPR?”
Naomi’s smile was patient. “I’ll give you a quick first-aid lesson before you take off,” she said. “You’re really good with her, Eve. You’re a natural mom. You just need to stop worrying so much about everything.”
“Let’s face it,” CeeCee said dryly. “I’ve got a lot to worry about.”
“Pretend you don’t. You’ll attract attention if you seem too paranoid.”
“This lady…Marian?”
“Kazan.”
“She knows I’m coming?”
“She’s expecting you and Sweet Pea late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Stop if you need to sleep, but do it in a parking lot somewhere with a lot of cars so you don’t attract attention. If a pig stops you, you’re on your way to stay with a friend in Charlottesville. You can give them Marian’s name and phone number.”
Marian Kazan would be expecting a girl and a baby. CeeCee would have some explaining to do when she showed up alone.
“The license plate on the car isn’t from South Carolina,” she said.
“We’re taking care of that this afternoon.”
“Man,” CeeCee said. “How do you do all this?” She lifted the birth certificates.
“There’s a good network,” Naomi said. “We haven’t had to use it in a long time and it frankly scares me to get involved with them again, but we have to. Everyone’s pitching in to help you, CeeCee. I mean, Eve. And by helping you, they’re helping us and Tim and themselves. We all protect each other.”
“Is Marian part of SCAPE?” CeeCee asked, and knew as soon as the words left her mouth that she shouldn’t have asked. Naomi raised her eyebrows, waiting for her to take the question back.
“Don’t ask, I know.” She was beginning to think half the people in the country were part of SCAPE.
Forrest arrived at two that afternoon, laden with supplies for CeeCee and a South Carolina plate for the car. He’d bought diapers, formula and a pacifier for the baby, who already had a complete wardrobe, thanks to Emmanuel’s hand-me-downs.
“This is your baby shower,” he joked. She’d never met a man more unpredictable than Forrest. Nice one minute, curt the next. He was anxious to have her leave, so he’d probably enjoyed buying her the things that would help her do that.
He’d also bought a flashlight, a laundry basket to serve as a car bed for the baby, and some clothing for CeeCee—jeans and two sweaters that were too large.
“It’s good they’re too big,” Naomi said, looking at the tags on the sweaters. “You’ll look like you recently had a baby.”
Forrest once again spread a map, this one of North Carolina and Virginia, on the kitchen table. He wrote directions for CeeCee and handed them to her. “Don’t forget you’re driving a stick,” he said. “Last thing you need is to screw up and get stopped by the fuzz.”
“Okay,” she said, glancing at the directions. “Would it be okay if I took that map with me, in case I take a wrong turn or something?” She’d need it for the side trip to Raleigh.
He looked at the map for a moment as though considering his answer. “Yeah, you can take it,” he said, folding it up.
“Y’all have been great to me,” she said.
“Like we had a friggin’ choice.” Forrest actually smiled at her. He reached into his shirt pocket and handed her five twenty-dollar bills. “For the road,” he said. “Just remember, you were never here. And you’re never coming back. This time for real, okay? I don’t want to see you on my doorstep again.”
“I know,” she said. She understood the rules now.
Since it was still light out, Forrest carried her things to the car for her. Then she fed the baby in the rocker in front of the fireplace. Naomi sat across from her, nursing Emmanuel. CeeCee was quiet, her fear mounting. Once she walked out the door of this safe haven, she could never come back.
She looked up to see Naomi smiling at her.
“That’s your baby.” Naomi nodded at the infant. “Look at her in your arms. Tell me she doesn’t feel like yours.”
“She doesn’t,” CeeCee said. “She feels like something I stole.”
“No,” Naomi said. “She’s something you saved.”