Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right

by Brenda Hampton

  Cydney rolled her eyes. “You need to get this mess under control. Before I get home today, I want that child out of my house. It wouldn’t hurt if you’d be gone too.”

  Not saying another word, she stormed to our bedroom to get her keys and purse. Still a bit in shock, I stood by the door and continued to hold Erica in my arms. Cydney walked past us and slammed the door on her way out.

  I went to the bedroom and laid Erica on the bed. I then stepped outside to get her car seat and gift to bring them inside. I opened the letter and it read: Since you’re not man enough to love me, maybe you can find some love for your child. Maybe she is yours or maybe she isn’t, but with you running in and out of our lives, you made her believe that you were. You failed to do the right thing by me, so now is your chance to do right by her. See you later, SUCKER!

  This bitch was out of her damn mind. How in the hell was she going to stick me with a child that wasn’t even mine? She knew darn well Erica wasn’t, and to leave her on my doorstep like this, proved to me that I’d been dealing with one stupid, non-caring and ignorant woman.

  I heard Erica crying, so I rushed down the hallway to my bedroom. She was sitting up in bed, while wiping the tears from her eyes.

  I ran up and held her in my arms. “What you crying for?” I said, lifting her over my head. I wiggled her around in the air and she laughed. “I got you. Your da…daddy’s got you, okay?”

  Erica was laughing so hard that she squeezed her eyes and spit drizzled down from her mouth. It caught me in the face, so I lowered her to my chest. She put her arm around my shoulder.

  “Did you boo-boo?” I asked because I smelt something.

  She smiled and nodded.

  Laquinta had been trying to potty train Erica, but I wasn’t sure if she’d been successful or not. I put her on the bed and removed her pants. She had on a pull up and it was filled with mess. I frowned, but she smiled. She placed her hands over her big brown eyes then winced.

  “You are too cute, but I don’t have anything for you to change into.” I sighed and looked around the room. I didn’t see anything that I could use, so I took her to the bathroom so I could clean her up. After I washed her up, I held her up over the toilet and looked down into it.

  “If you have to boo-boo again, do it in here, okay?”

  She nodded and we left the bathroom.

  I cut up a white sheet and wrapped it around Erica’s bottom. I found some safety pins and clipped them to the sides. I then reached for the phone and called Laquinta’s place. As expected, she didn’t answer. I didn’t expect for her to.

  “Listen, I don’t know what kind of game it is that you’re playing, but you’d better come and get Erica by the end of the day. If not, I will contact DFS and have her permanently taken away from you. I’m sure your mother wouldn’t like that, so you’d better rethink some shit and get your ass over here soon.”

  I hung up and thought hard about Laquinta’s mother’s last name. Her first name was Virginia, but she’d been married, at least, four times. I didn’t have a phone number, an address or nothing. “Damn.” I sat thinking and overloading my brain for answers.

  By mid-day, Erica had taken another nap. We both lay in my bed. She was a good two-year-old and wasn’t much of a problem at all. When she woke up, it was almost three o’clock. I figured she was hungry, so I went to the kitchen to find her something to eat. As I searched through the fridge, I saw a chicken nugget TV dinner that Cydney had bought last week. It had a side of mash potatoes and corn to go with it.

  As soon as I stuck the TV dinner in the microwave, Erica started to cry. I looked at her sitting on the floor and the wrapped sheet around her had drooped to her knees. She sat in urine, reaching out for me to pick her up. Just as I picked her up, I heard a car door shut outside. I rushed to the window, hoping it was Laquinta. Instead, it was Cydney. First, she went to the mailbox and then she came inside. She came through the kitchen’s entrance and saw me standing with Erica in my arms.

  “Why are you back this early? I thought you had a funeral to go to?”

  She nudged her head towards Erica. “And I thought that I told you to work this situation out, before I came home. I see you haven’t done anything as of yet.”

  “I called Laquinta several times, but she won’t answer her phone. I also tried to figure out where her mother lives but it’s just not coming to me. Trust me, I’m working on it. Meanwhile, I just can’t throw Erica outside and send her on her merry way.”

  Cydney looked at Erica, and Erica reached out for her.

  “Hiiiiii,” Erica said, waving her hands. Cydney took a swallow then stepped up to me. She took Erica from my arms.

  “Why is a torn sheet in the middle of the floor?”

  “I didn’t get a chance to go to the store because I didn’t want to miss Laquinta if she came back for Erica. Do you mind if I go to the store to get Erica a few items? She needs some pull-ups and some food. I’m not worried about clothes because I know Laquinta ain’t stupid enough to leave Erica here overnight.”

  Cydney handed Erica back to me. “I’ll go to the store. You clean up this mess and see about her.”

  “No, I don’t mind going to the store. Besides, I want to stop at Laquinta’s place to see if she’s there and just not answering her phone. Maybe some of her neighbors know where she’s at too.”

  “I guess you want me to watch Erica while you do all of this, right? I don’t think so, Isaac.”

  “Please. Only for a little while. All I’m doing is going to the store and over to Laquinta’s. I’ll be right back.”

  I handed Erica over to her again.

  “Why didn’t you go to work today?” she asked. “I thought your vacation was over?”

  “It is, but I don’t have time to explain everything to you. I’ll explain it to you once I get back.” I snatched my keys from the table. “We need to talk about that long scratch down the side of my truck too. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, would you?”

  “I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. What scratch?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.”

  No sooner had I got several blocks away from my house, I could’ve sworn that I saw Miguel in a blue Navigator. I quickly turned my truck around and followed behind the Navigator. It was driving in the direction of Trinity’s house, and as soon as it made it on her street, I passed it up. I pulled over to the curb, and from a distance, I watched Miguel get out. He jogged up the steps and unlocked the door to let himself in. I made a mental note to call Trinity later, apologize to her for not stopping by, and make it my business to stop by soon. For now, I had to deal with this situation with Erica, so I hurried to the store so Cydney wouldn’t trip.

  I left the store with pull-ups, fruit cups, ice cream, spaghetti and chili mac in a can. I figured Erica would enjoy something sweet, so I picked up a bag of suckers and some chocolate chip cookies.

  After I left the grocery store, I stopped at Laquinta’s place. I went to her door and knocked several times, but no one was there. If she was, she was ignoring me.

  “Laquinta,” I yelled. “Open the door!”

  I continued to knock, but nothing came of it. That was until her neighbor across the way opened her door.

  “Sorry for the noise,” I said. “Ms. Ruthie, have you seen Laquinta today?”

  “Earlier. She and Erica were going somewhere, but I don’t think she’s been back since then.”

  “Would you happen to know her mother Virginia? I’m trying to find out where she lives.”

  “I know she’s a slut, but I don’t know exactly where she lives. I think it’s over there by Forest Park somewhere.”

  “Forest Park is a huge park, Ms. Ruthie. Do you have any idea what street by Forest Park?”

  “I think somewhere on Skinker Ave. That’s all I know is…somewhere on Skinker near Washington University.”

  Ms. Ruthie really wasn’t much help at all. She was an elderly lady, and si
nce she was known for being nosy, I was surprised that she couldn’t tell me more. I reached in my pocket for a pen and piece of paper. I wrote my name, number and address down and gave it to her.

  “If Virginia happens to stop by, please give this to her for me.”

  She said she would, and then closed the door.

  CYDNEY

  Erica had been with us for four days. Laquinta hadn’t shown up and I was damn mad about it. I even tried to reach her myself, but the tramp had disappeared. Isaac wasn’t too happy about it either, but we both had to make the best of a bad situation.

  Nonetheless, we enjoyed Erica. She was adorable and was very much attached to Isaac. She called him Da-Da, and whenever he’d leave the room, she’d follow after him. I was surprised to see what a good father he could be. He was the one who fed her, bathe and cleaned after her. After Erica’s first night with us, I’d given up our bed and slept in the guestroom. Isaac and her slept in our bed. It was the only way I could get some sleep. Erica was a night owl. She wanted to play all night long and sleep during the day. Basically, Isaac was worn out. He’d told me about resigning from work, but I suspected there was much more to it. He loved his job, and if he was innocent of all the things his boss accused him of, then Internal Affairs couldn’t have kept him away. Actually, I wasn’t that surprised to hear about some of the things him and Miguel had done. I knew what kind of man Miguel was, and even though Isaac wasn’t always a self- righteous individual, I was a bit stunned by the accusations against him. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but the burden of taking care of everything around here wasn’t going to fall on me.

  I also hated to add stress to an already uncomfortable situation, but I continued to ask for his signature on our divorce papers. I put them in bed with him every single night. By morning, either the torn papers were spread out over me, or they were clearly in the trashcan where I could see them. He wasn’t ready to throw in the towel, but especially after this thing with Erica, I was.

  On Thursday, I was sitting at my desk busy with work. Carol was absent again, which caused me to have to do more work. Darrell was back, but he was so busy trying to play catch up that I didn’t want to bother him about me wanting to fire Carol and find a new replacement. I made myself a mental note to chat with him later.

  As I was typing up my own letters to two customers about their denied claims, Isaac entered my office with Erica. Earlier, he’d left me a message, but I hadn’t had a chance to call him back.

  “We brought you lunch,” he said, sticking his head through the doorway. He put Erica on the floor and gave a brown paper bag to her. “Go give it to her, honey,” he said.

  Erica held the bag and trotted over to me. She was moving so fast that she tripped and fell. My heart dropped. I jumped up to see if she was okay. She started crying, so I picked her up from the floor. I held her close to my chest and told her that it would be okay. She stopped crying so I sat her on my desk and squatted to check her knees.

  “Did that carpet burn your knees,” I said, looking at them. I rubbed her knees and made her smile. She reached out for me, so I picked her up. Isaac grabbed the bag from the floor then placed it on my desk.

  “It was just a toasted tuna sandwich and some chips,” he said.

  “Yucky,” I said, looking at Erica. “Did your daddy…Isaac make me a yucky sandwich for lunch?”

  Erica nodded and clapped her hands.

  “Then let’s go get something good to eat. Would you like something good to eat?”

  “McDonald’s,” she screamed and clapped again.

  I tossed the paper bag in the trash. “Then, McDonald’s it is.”

  Isaac felt dissed. “I spent a lot of time in the kitchen making that sandwich. You could have, at least, eaten it.”

  He reached for Erica, but I pulled her away from him. “I got her. Sorry about the sandwich, but it was smashed anyway.”

  We laughed and made our way to the elevator. As soon as we got on, Erica reached for the buttons to push them.

  “No, no,” I said, moving her hands away from the buttons. She kept trying to reach for them, and when I moved away from them, she started to cry. I kissed her hands and tickled her. She loved to be tickled.

  “You can’t play with those, sweetie. I’ll buy you something to play with later, okay?”

  She nodded with glee in her eyes. Isaac looked at me from across the elevator. He cleared his throat. “I knew you’d make a good mother. I wish…”

  “Don’t even think about it, Isaac,” I said, stepping off the elevator. “Please hurry up and find Laquinta.”

  We left my office building and went down the street to McDonald’s. I got Erica a Happy Meal, Isaac wanted a chicken sandwich and I got a salad. Once we got our food, we went outside so Erica could play on the playground. She played around with the other kids and seemed to enjoy herself. One of the other little girls on the playground took Erica’s hand and tried to show her around. Erica’s eyes watered, so the little girl brought her over to us.

  “I don’t think she wants to play,” the little girl said, extending Erica’s hand to mine. “What’s her name?”

  I reached for Erica to put her on my lap. “Her name is Erica.”

  “She’s really pretty. How old is she?”

  Isaac spoke up. “Two. She just turned two.”

  Erica held up two fingers then put them in my mouth. “That’s right. You’re two.” I said, removing her fingers from my mouth and showing them to her.

  “Two,” she said.

  I smiled and rubbed my nose against hers. As for the little girl, she stood next to us and stared. “Is everything okay,” I asked her. “Thanks for bringing her over to me.”

  “She has a tear in her pants.” The little girl pointed to it. I looked at the tear and it had been there since Laquinta brought her over. I’d washed Erica’s pants, but we hadn’t gotten her any clothes because we didn’t know how long she was going to stay. Since she’d been with us, all she wore was pull-ups around the house. I looked at the little girl.

  “Thanks for pointing that out.”

  She shrugged, and after saying goodbye to Erica, she left to go play with the other kids. We quickly finished up lunch and made our way back to my building.

  “Isaac, meet me in the parking garage by my car.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to take Erica somewhere.”

  “What?”

  “Would you please just do as I asked you to do?”

  “Take her somewhere like where?”

  “She needs a few things. While we go shopping, you can go home and get some rest.”

  “What makes you think that I don’t want to go shopping?”

  “Do you? I thought you might want to take this opportunity to catch up on some rest.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but...”

  “Well, bring your truck to the parking garage so I can get her car seat.”

  “What about your job? Don’t you have to go back to work?”

  “I’m cool. I’ll play catch up tomorrow.”

  Isaac left to get his car and Erica and I went to my car. He soon came to the parking garage to put her car seat in my car. He tightened Erica in then closed the door.

  “Be careful,” he said to me. “I appreciate you doing all of this.” He reached into his pocket for his wallet.

  “I don’t need any money. Just make some calls and see if you can find Erica’s mother, grandmother or somebody, okay?”

  “I’ll do what I can,” he said, walking back to his truck. After he drove off, I drove off behind him.

  Erica and I stayed gone until nine o’clock that night. I picked out several outfits for her, at six different stores, and then I stopped to get her some toys to play with too. After that, I took her to the grocery store with me. But before we left the store, she wanted to ride on a carousel. We smiled at each other, and when a lady next to me complimented how cute Erica was, and mentioned how
much she, “looked like me” it truly touched my heart. I didn’t dare tell her Erica wasn’t my child. I let her ride, but she threw a tantrum when it was time to get off. I thought another ride would save me the embarrassment, but when the ride was over, she got angry with the horse. She hit it and cried as if it had done her some serious harm. I picked her up and carried her out to the car. A bagger saw that I needed help and strolled my cart to the car to assist me.

  “Thank you,” I said. He placed the bags in my trunk, while I tightened Erica in her car seat. I closed the door and offered to tip the bagger.

  “No thank you, ma’am. Just doing my job.”

  I thanked him again then left. Just that fast, Erica was asleep. I kept watching her in my rearview mirror. She moved around a few times, but for the most part, she was out.

  As I neared home, I called Isaac and asked him to meet me outside with my bags. He was asleep, but when I pulled up, he was outside waiting for us. I removed Erica from the back seat.

  “Isaac, there are some things in the trunk, and on the back seat. Would you mind getting them for me?”

  While he got the bags, I went into the house to lay Erica down. She quickly sat up in bed, so I climbed in there with her. She put her arm around my neck and snuggled her head against my chest.

  “Go back to sleep,” I whispered. She closed her eyes, and within minutes, she was sleep again.

  Isaac came in and placed the bags on the floor. He looked up at me, shaking his head. He left again then came back in with more bags.

  “This is ridiculous,” he whispered. “You shouldn’t have bought all of this stuff.”

  I ignored him, and when Erica was in a deep sleep, I eased out of bed to go put up the groceries. Isaac helped.

  “Baby, if you don’t mind me saying it, I think you’re getting too attached. You know Erica is not staying with us forever, right?”

  “Of course she’s not, and I know what I’m doing. She’s been around here for four days and didn’t have any clothes or nothing to play with. This has nothing to do with being attached. I’m just trying to make the best of a horrible situation. Have you had any luck with Laquinta or her mother?”