Law and Order

There are lots of ways to lose a child. Plenty of people forget their kid at the store at some point. Others marry the wrong person, or they’re just the wrong person themselves. What’s less common is to find a child, and Chelsea had just found two.

They were at the edge of a Walmart parking lot, by a break in the curb where cars could pass through. Their mother had left them in the scant shade while she waved a sign at passing cars. Despite the cold, the sun was strong and the younger of the two, a baby like the one Chelsea herself was carrying, was flushed. The other, three maybe four, stared up at her wide eyed.

“Uh, could you hand that up to me sweetheart,” she said again, nodding at a jar of food. The child didn’t answer, but shied away when she bent down to shuffle the jar back into one of the bags, cradling her baby with her other arm. They stared at one another for a second longer, then Chelsea started walking again.

As she passed by on the sidewalk, the woman looked her up and down and said, sympathetically perhaps, “you don’t have a man to do these things for you?” She kept walking.

“My man, he’s down in Ohio. His family owns a car dealership, so he works seven days a week. I’m supposed to move in with him now that he has an apartment, but my bus ticket is for tomorrow.” She pulled out the ticket. “I just need a few more dollars to book a hotel for tonight, but I haven’t had a car stop all day.”

“I’m sorry,” Chelsea replied, “Hopefully your luck will change.”

“I’ve always had bad luck,” the woman replied, waving to the four year old. “Most people won’t even look at me. My par…” She went on and on.

It was only a five minute walk to get to the store but always longer coming back. By the time she got to the third floor, all Chelsea could think about was the weight in her arms, which is maybe how this stranger wound up sitting on her couch as she finally set the groceries down. As she put Brayden down into his rocker, she struggled with what to say.

“I’m sorry, but you need to go.”

The woman kept on talking.

“You need to go,” Chelsea said, more loudly.

The woman didn’t break from her monologue, but there in the doorway the four year old stared at her, slouching back to balance the weight of the baby in its arms. Cold air swept in from outside. The child’s dark eyes and red cheeks trembled. It hefted the infant to adjust its grip and continued to stare at her in silence.

“Couldn’t you let us warm up a bit? Just for a couple minutes? It’s so cold outside. We can stay at the bus station overnight if we have to, but they don’t like you to be there so long.”

“Only a few minutes. Just long enough for them to get warm.”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you!” the woman replied, rushing to bring her children in. “Do you have diapers? I think my baby needs a new one.” She started opening drawers.

“You need to go,” Chelsea said, watching her dig through the closet, “I’m sorry it’s cold, but you can’t be here. Please get out of my home.”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry,” the woman said, standing. “I’m just going to use the bathroom.”

“No,” Chelsea said, moving to block her, but the woman shoved her away. “I’m calling the police!” she yelled, “You really need to go away.”

The child stared up at her, from its seat on the floor. She stared back as she dialed the office of her apartment. “Hello? Yes, can you send someone to my apartment? This woman has locked herself in my bathroom. No, I don’t know her. I don’t think she’s dangerous though, she just followed me home from the store. No,” she whispered, “she has kids with her, I don’t want to call the police.” There was a long silence on the other end. “Okay, you’ll send someone? Okay.”

She hung up the phone with no idea what to do next. She moved Brayden’s rocker into the kitchenette and stared at the two children in her living room. She picked Brayden up. She looked toward the bathroom. She put him back down. She looked at the bathroom again.

There was a knife in the sink. There was a clay vase with fake flowers that she hid money in. She picked up a can of baked beans and set it out of the bag. A baby, the other baby, began to cry. She knocked on the bathroom door. “Please, the police are on their way. You need to go.”

Again the woman rushed past her. “Harmony, get your brother. We’re leaving.” She grabbed the bags of groceries. Chelsea pulled the bags away, and the woman threw the beans at her. The can bounced off her head and into Brayden. She was chasing the woman with a knife.

All she could hear was babies crying and the woman saying over and over “She said I could stay with her until tomorrow. Look, I have a bus ticket. I’m going to Ohio.” She was in handcuffs and there was blood on her shirt. A police officer looked down at where she was sitting. “Is there anyone who can take care of your baby for the night?”

On the other side of the parking lot, she saw the apartment security guard talking to a paramedic, his hand wrapped in gauze. “I take care of my child,” she said. “What are you doing with him? Why is he crying?”

“We have to take you into custody tonight until a judge can set bail in the morning,” the officer replied. “If you don’t have anyone who can care for your child, family services will have to get involved.”

——

It wasn’t until two days later that Nadine, who said she was with the Mothers’ Day Bail Fund, handed Chelsea a heavy packet. “These are resources to help you get your baby back. Have you heard from a social worker yet?”

“Yes, we talked on the phone.”

“The social worker’s job is not to help you. Call our office if you need anything.”

“I can’t pay you back.”

She sighed, “that’s not why we do this.”

Back home, someone had forced the lock to her apartment. It was empty except for a broken vase and some plastic flowers on the floor.