Because Kate knew she wouldn\u2019t do it, she knew that Niva would. \u00a0And Niva would continue to do this work for her, because she had no idea how much Ana was going to use her. \u00a0At that moment, Kate disliked Ana enough to turn on her heel and walk into her room, shutting the door quietly.<\/p>\n
Kate couldn\u2019t control Ana, or Niva, but she could control her reactions to them. \u00a0Right now, she was angry at Ana for trying to use her, and angry at Ana for using Niva. \u00a0Maybe at some point she would sit down and talk to Niva about how Ana was going to abuse her, but for right now, she had to do some normal studying.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
-3-<\/p>\n
The vacuum sucked up the last bits of popcorn from the floor. \u00a0The anger and hate that Kate had the night before had cooled into a pool of disgust.<\/p>\n
It was raining today, a perfect day to crawl into bed with her books and a cup of tea. \u00a0As it was, she was busy dusting and cleaning the two common rooms of the apartment. \u00a0The kitchen was cleaned first, and it was spotless; now she was vacuuming the living room and would soon be finished with the dusting. \u00a0She had found Ana\u2019s books on the coffee table and piled them at the door to her room.<\/p>\n
Lynn was lucky to have gotten three hours\u2019 sleep before heading to the bus stop to catch the bus to campus; Niva had presented Ana with a perfectly typed paper that morning, adding to Kate\u2019s irritation.<\/p>\n
Kate looked at the clock after the vacuuming and decided she was going to take a quick walk to the convenience store across the street and pick up something special for lunch. \u00a0She really wanted a tuna sandwich, but needed the key ingredient. \u00a0She hoped that the store would have chunk white, but would be happy with the simple chunk light instead. \u00a0She got her coat on and went down the three flights, pausing at the second floor to hear a baby cry.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t know that one of the girls on that floor had a baby, and she knew from the landlord that was a particular no-no, as this was for single college girls. \u00a0If they had boys over, that was their prerogative, but no children were allowed. \u00a0Maybe someone was babysitting.<\/p>\n
The baby\u2019s cries were stopped suddenly, though she heard nothing to make it stop. \u00a0She shrugged and kept on going to the store.<\/p>\n
The store was empty except for three older men who leered at her and then at the Kino screen, watching small bouncing balls hit numbers on a TV. \u00a0She went up and down the aisles, searching for tuna. \u00a0She finally found some, a pair of dusty cans, and plucked one from the shelf, checking the expiration date. \u00a0There was one month left.<\/p>\n
She shrugged, and brought it to the counter. \u00a0After paying three dollars for it, she pocketed it without a bag and ran back to her house. \u00a0As she approached the second floor, she heard the baby cry again. \u00a0She hesitated at the door, not wanting to disturb anyone, yet, not wanting to get anyone in trouble, either.<\/p>\n
Back at home, it would be perfectly all right to knock on someone\u2019s door and ask if they needed any help or had a cup of sugar. \u00a0But this was the big city, and people here were not as friendly or as forthcoming as they were from her hometown. \u00a0She had her hand raised at the door, to knock, and thought long and hard. \u00a0What would the girl say if she knocked on the door and said she heard a baby crying? \u00a0\u201cYes, and I know it\u2019s a bad thing but I have no where else to go\u201d? \u201cYes, please don\u2019t tell the landlord\u201d? \u201cYes, I\u2019m babysitting\u201d?<\/p>\n
The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was probably the last. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t her problem. \u00a0She brought her hand down, and as she turned to go upstairs, the door opened and a harried girl stepped outside. \u00a0The baby was still crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me,\u201d Kate said, and the girl stopped for a moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah?\u201d she said, fumbling to lock the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you hear that baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat baby?\u201d she asked, and hoisted her backpack onto her shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe baby crying?\u201d<\/p>\n
The girl gave her a look that Kate immediately read as, \u201cYou\u2019re off your rocker,\u201d while the girl said, \u201cYeah, right,\u201d and went down the stairs. \u00a0The baby stopped crying again.<\/p>\n
Kate went back upstairs, and no longer heard the baby cry. \u00a0When Lynn came crawling in around dinnertime, Kate saw from the look on Lynn\u2019s face that she had an up close and personal date with her bed, and so she let her go. \u00a0Niva came home next, followed by Ana at around nine, smelling of cigarettes and booze. \u00a0The tromped into the apartment, and was obviously drunk.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not my problem, thought Kate, shutting off her light.<\/p>\n
The next morning, she had a ten o\u2019clock class, so started to leave to go catch the eight o\u2019clock bus. \u00a0One of the girls from the first floor, a Vietnamese girl named Thanh fell into step with her. \u00a0She was born in America, and her mother was dead. \u00a0Her father was working three jobs to put his four children through college. \u00a0Kate thought that was crazy. \u00a0\u201cHe loves to work,\u201d Thanh said as they sat on the bus. \u00a0For once, she didn\u2019t have her earbuds in.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hear the baby yesterday?\u201d Kate finally asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe baby crying, on the second floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, we\u2019re not allowed to have children in those apartments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, but I could have sworn I heard a baby crying yesterday. \u00a0This girl out and out lied to me when I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thanh shook her head. \u00a0\u201cNo, I\u2019ve never heard any babies on that second floor. \u00a0Creaking beds, maybe, but no babies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two laughed over that, and Thanh promised to come upstairs sometime to visit, while Kate promised to do the same. \u00a0Neither had the same classes, as Thanh was one year ahead, but Thanh said she\u2019d be happy to have her along as a study buddy. \u00a0Especially for her Western Civ class.<\/p>\n
Kate went to her Algebra class and then was free until noon, when she worked at the computer lab for three hours before heading home on the three-thirty bus.<\/p>\n
She got to the second floor and heard the crying again. \u00a0Finally, she could take it no more and knocked on the door. \u00a0An African-American woman opened the door. \u00a0\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHi, I\u2019m from upstairs and…do you have any…sugar?\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman looked her over, and Kate knew that she didn\u2019t look like she was baking, seeing as she had just come off the bus. \u00a0\u201cI think so, how much do you need? \u00a0Come on in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks.\u201d \u00a0Kate stepped inside. \u00a0She expected the crying to be louder in here, but it wasn\u2019t. \u00a0It was the same volume as it was out in the hall. \u00a0Kate looked around the kitchen, furnished as it was like hers upstairs, with one kitchen and a large living room, and bedrooms off the kitchen and living room. \u00a0In this set up, the TV was opposite the windows, and there was a doorway as opposed to an archway to the living room like her apartment was.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much do you need?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch – Oh, only half a cup.\u201d \u00a0As soon as she spoke, the crying stopped. \u00a0The woman took down a large tin from the cupboard and then took out a zipper plastic bag. \u00a0She measured a half a cup with a measuring spoon. \u00a0As soon as she poured the sugar into the plastic bag, the crying started again.<\/p>\n
The woman gave her the plastic bag, and Kate murmured, \u201cThanks.\u201d \u00a0Then she asked, \u201cHow can you stand the crying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat crying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t hear that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHear what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe baby – there, it just stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman smiled, \u201cHoney, there\u2019s no baby here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can hear it crying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI swear, there\u2019s no baby here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kate frowned. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cOkay, well, thanks for the sugar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re welcome. \u00a0Anytime you need anything, just come over.\u201d \u00a0The woman quietly shut the door behind her. \u00a0Kate shook her head, thinking that the woman must think she\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n
Kate heard the baby again and went up the stairs. \u00a0As she did, she bumped into the landlady. \u00a0\u201cHi, Mrs. Cohen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHello,\u201d she said, her accent harsh. \u00a0\u201cI left a note upstairs. \u00a0I got a complaint yesterday that one of you came in late singing up a storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know who that was,\u201d Kate said, her head down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou tell her I do not tolerate this here.\u201d \u00a0She started to walk back down the stairs.<\/p>\n
Something occurred to Kate. \u00a0\u201cMrs. Cohen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas there ever a baby here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face went cold for a minute. \u00a0\u201cDoes someone have a baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, but, and this is going to sound crazy, but I hear one. \u00a0And I checked, but there isn\u2019t a baby there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cohen looked at the second floor door. \u00a0\u201cI won\u2019t let babies here anymore. \u00a0I did once, once. \u00a0It was awful, awful.\u201d \u00a0Then Cohen knocked on the second floor door. \u00a0The same woman as before unlocked the door. \u00a0\u201cI want to check your place,\u201d she said. \u00a0\u201cI heard you have a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was just what Kate did NOT want to happen, and the woman said, as she closed the door, \u201cI told her that we don\u2019t – \u201c and the door shut.<\/p>\n
Kate went upstairs and immediately jumped onto her computer. \u00a0She Dug her own address.<\/p>\n
There it was, in black and white, a newspaper report from the \u201880\u2019s. \u00a0A baby was found in a closet, suffocated. \u00a0The mother was an 18 year old college student who had suffocated her two month old baby because it wouldn\u2019t stop crying.<\/p>\n
Now it wouldn\u2019t stop, and there was something in that apartment that was making it cry, making its soul stay behind.<\/p>\n
She had to find Daniel, he could find the thing that was making its soul stay behind. \u00a0But she had told Daniel to leave her alone. \u00a0What an idiot she was. \u00a0She turned right around and bumped again into Mrs. Cohen. \u00a0Apologizing, she ran down the stairs and to the bus stop.<\/p>\n
Kate sat in the middle of the bus, hoping he would be there, but he wasn\u2019t. \u00a0She said he lived in a castle in Longwood, so she got off the bus at the terminus and walked the four blocks to the beginning of Longwood Mall, a long expanse of trees and woodland where, according to him, the Summer Fairies were.<\/p>\n
She walked along it, and it grew dark around seven; pretty soon she was stumbling around on the outskirts. \u00a0Then she saw a house from a distance, a house bathed in light, with a fountain also bathed in light, facing the Longwood Mall. \u00a0It looked to her like a castle on a hill, made of light.<\/p>\n
She headed for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Because Kate knew she wouldn\u2019t do it, she knew that Niva would. \u00a0And Niva would continue to do this work for her, because she had no idea how much Ana was going to use her. \u00a0At that moment, Kate disliked … Continue reading