Sid the Snow Removal King to the Rescue!

   “So what? Just cuz I’m a black homeless junkie, you think I killed that white bitch? That ain’t my thing, man. You know me. Can I go now? I wanna see the baby.” Shantell bolted up from the old squeaky green chair and stalked over to the large office windows.

    “Sit down, Shantell! We’re not done yet!” Her older sister barked her reply. As soon as Shantell sat back down, Desiree’ continued, calmer now. “I didn’t say that you killed the baby’s mother, but I gotta say that it doesn’t look good for you. She’s getting an autopsy now. Soon as we have the results…”

    “Am I under arrest? I didn’t do nothing!” Shantell pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest and slouched down further in the seat, peering at Desiree’ through dark hooded brown eyes.

    Desiree’ came around to the front of the desk, made a space and leaned on the edge, also crossing her arms and looked sadly at the twenty-year-old. “No,” she replied with a sigh. “You’re not officially under arrest, but I do have to hold you here until we get the autopsy results back. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.” She stood up straighter and smoothed a few loose strands of long black hair back into place. She walked back around to the other side of her desk to put it to rights, saying as she did, “I don’t hear from you in six months, and this is the call I get? Dammit, Shantell, when are you gonna grow up?”

 “And be a pig like you? No, thank you! Even the thought of being here makes me wanna puke! Besides, I get by. Been clean since Daddy died. Staying with some friends and stuff.” Movement in the exterior office caught their eyes. A tall, slim blond lady carrying a large file walked over to the officer holding the baby. The officer pointed to Desiree’s office, and the lady walked over, heels clacking a staccato that echoed on the linoleum. “Who the hell is that bitch?”

    “Shantell, language! She’s the social worker who’s been assigned to the case. Be respectful.” To which, Shantell snorted with derision. The lady walked up to Desiree’s desk and they shook hands. “Hello, Miriam, thank you for coming. This is my sister, Shantell. She’s the one who found the baby.”

    Miriam went to shake hands with Shantell but was ignored. “Hello, Shantell, my name is Miriam Anderson. It’s good to meet you. I’m working with your sister and the other officers to try to find any relatives of the baby. But first, I’d like you to tell me what happened.”

    “I done told Desiree’, and like a dozen other pigs already.” Desiree’ cleared her throat. “Sorry, I told the police officers already.”

    “I understand, but I really need to hear it from you. And just so you know, I will be recording your statement,” Miriam said as she pulled out a small tape recorder from her leather purse and pressed record. “Now, Shantell, will you please tell me how you happened upon the baby?”

    “You got a smoke? I think better when…”

    But Desiree’ cut her off with a stern warning. “There will be no smoking, Shantell! You will behave yourself, or you will find yourself in a holding cell. Is that clear?”

    “Fine!” She threw her hands up in mock surrender. She rolled her eyes and gave an overly dramatic sigh before continuing. “It was yesterday, around noon . It had been snowing when I went to the kitchen to find some lunch, but we were out of just about everything, again. It’s hard to keep food in the apartment with so many people there at all times. So, I threw on my dad’s old Army jacket and walked up to the corner food truck for a hot dog and a soda. Walked out to Central Park to watch the kids and dogs playing in the snow. I kept checking my watch cuz I just got a job waitin’ tables at night, and I didn’t want to be late. By the time two o’clock rolled around, I decided to walk over to Mario’s for some food shopping. He’s cute, got a cool accent, and always gives me the employee discount. Says it’s cuz he used to be homeless and wants to help out as much as he can. We talked for a bit, but he had tons of people in the store. Stocking up for the storm, or something. So, I made my way to the back of the store to use the bathroom. Damn hot dogs, man, you don’t buy ‘em, you just rent ‘em, you know? So, I do my business, get cleaned up, and decide to dry off my socks with the hand dryer. Not good to walk around with wet socks, you know? Well, I sat on the floor to put on my nice warm socks and check social media. Was feeling nice and warm on that nasty bathroom floor, and just fell asleep. I slept hard, too. ‘Bout four hours later, I wake up, a little disoriented and kinda cold. The power had gone out, and there were no sounds coming from the store. Mario’s stays open til midnight, and he always busy so I was starting to get even more freaked out. I put on my shoes and tried to call the restaurant to tell them that I overslept and would be in soon, but just got a recording saying that they were closed on account of the weather. So, I got up and opened the door, calling hello to see if maybe Mario was still there. The store was completely quiet, and all the lights were out, ‘cept for the emergency exit signs. Guess they run on batteries or something. The other bathroom door is closed, and I don’t hear nothin’ from there, so I slowly walk up and down the aisles. I go up to the counter, and even check the office, but the door is locked. I look out the windows, and snow has piled up so much it completely covers the windows. It’s super freaky, man. Ain’t never been stuck in a blizzard before. I call out once more, but ain’t no one there to answer, ‘cept my growlin' stomach. I find a paper and pen and write Mario a note sayin’ that I took some food and would pay him back soon as I could. I walked the aisles again, grabbing a few things to eat. By now, I was bored but getting even more freaked out, so I started walking the aisles again. I heard a noise that I thought was a cat that got in somehow, so I turned on the flashlight on my phone and started looking for it. As I got closer to the bathrooms, the noise got louder and sounded less like a cat and more like a baby. One of my roommates had a baby, and it sounded just like that. I followed the crying and found a bloody shirt in the corner next to the bathrooms. There was a lot of blood next to the shirt and leading into the second bathroom. I was super scared but opened up the door anyway. Saw the bitc… uh, girl, laying on the floor without a shirt and blood all over her lower half. Thought she’d been shot. Almost threw up but I closed the door and went to the bloody shirt. Sure enough, it was a baby. I had to hold onto the shelf to keep from either fainting or puking or both. Ain’t like on T.V. where you know the blood is fake. This was the real deal. The baby’s crying was getting weaker, and I knew that she needed to eat and get cleaned up. I gently picked her up and cleaned her off best I could in the other bathroom. Then I searched the baby aisle for diapers and food. Luckily, Mario had both. I put the smallest diaper I could find on her and wrapped her up in one of the blankets. That roommate with the baby had shown me how to put a bottle together, so I did just like she told me and sat to feed the baby. At first, she didn’t like it, but after figuring out it was food, she calmed down and ate. I remembered to burp her when she finished, and we just sat there in the dark. I wrapped her in another blanket cuz it was cold, and I knew that it would only be getting colder. Found some songs on my phone and we listened to a few. Didn’t want to run out the battery, so I turned it off after a bit and held her close while she slept. I nodded off a few times myself but was too scared to really get a good sleep. We spent the next few hours switching from sitting to me carrying her around the store to stay warm. After her next bottle and diaper change, I took another blanket and wrapped her to my chest like you see them Indians in pictures doing. Up and down the aisles we went again and again. From time to time I could hear rats out on the docks where they unload the trucks. I tried texting all of my roommates, but no one answered back. I nosed around behind the register and found Mario’s cell phone number. I tried calling first but got voicemail. I left a message, then hung up and left him a text message as well. By this time, the baby was due for another bottle and a clean diaper. I got her taken care of and had a snack myself. By this time, though, I was in full-panic mode. I knew the kid had to get to a doctor, her mama was dead, and the store was getting colder and spookier. When I was little, I thought it would have been cool to stay in a store after it closed- get to eat all the candy and junk food and drink all the soda I wanted. Now I know that it ain’t fun at all. I looked online for a snow plow service and called Sid the Snow Removal King. Thank God he answered too! It took everything in me to not cry like the baby when I told him what was up. He must be a daddy hisself, cuz he was real nice and his voice was so soothing, like that late-night radio D.J. Mama used to listen to. He said that he knew Mario’s store and would head on over to dig us out. I thanked him lots and hung up before sitting down to have a real cry. Soon enough Sid the Snow Removal King had cleared a path for us and when we got out of Mario’s there was an ambulance and some cops waitin' for us. I hugged Sid tightly and thanked him again and walked over to the ambulance. The paramedics took their wheeley bed and went with some cops to get the baby’s mama while another medic checked out the baby. After answering a million questions, they strapped the baby in a car seat and put us both in the back of the cop car and took us here. That’s it, end of story.”

    Miriam clicked off her tape recorder and there was a knock at the door. All three jumped as no one had noticed another officer standing there with an older couple a few paces behind him. The woman was holding the baby, tears sliding down her powdered cheeks. Desiree’ stood up and motioned for him to come in. He did and closed the door behind him. “Sorry for the interruption, ma’am, but these are the baby’s grandparents. They wanted to talk to you. Also, we got the preliminary autopsy results in. The coroner does not suspect foul play, the mother just bled out. She was only sixteen. The paramedics said that it was lucky Shantell found the baby, otherwise she would have died, too.” Desiree’ nodded, and the officer exited the office.

   The baby’s grandparents timidly walked in the office. Shantell stood up and faced the grandmother, who embraced her in a fierce hug. “I just wanted to say thank you for saving our little Chloe. Took a lot of courage, and we are forever grateful!”

    Shantell shrugged and mumbled, “it ain’t no big deal.” She gave the baby a small kiss on her forehead and whispered, “just don’t end up like me, sweet thing.”

    After the office had cleared out, Desiree’ gently took Shantell’s arm. “Look, kiddo, you don’t have to stay in that awful apartment. I have a room for you. We can start over. Please.”

    Shantell pretended to think it over, gave Desiree’ a hug and replied, “sure, D, sounds good. Can we stop for some food, though? I’m starvin’!”

    Desiree’ chuckled. “No, sis, first thing you’re going to do is take a hot shower, you absolutely reek!”