Page 42 of Baby Blue
“Okay, let me try it this way. If you had a child, would you want them to stay with the person who lives in your home? I mean, as far as the house is concerned?”
That was something Blue had never thought about. After giving it some consideration, he said, “Well, it’s shabby, but it’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer. My furniture is old, but it’s not dangerous or anything. I’ve tried to do a decent job putting a nursery together for her, but I’ve only had her a week. I’d like to paint and get a new rug, but now there’s no money for that. There are a few pictures on the walls, and the shower Anne’s friends at the hospital gave me left me with the things that are necessary. No frills, but she has what she needs.”
“What about what you need?” Glen asked.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean, you should be able to live too. You should be able to eat, and to have clothes and somewhere to sleep. What can you afford to spend on yourself?”
That question made Blue feel like the biggest loser on the planet. He struggled to say, “I don’t spend money on myself. I never have.” It was almost impossible for him to get out the next words he had to say. “I made barely over minimum wage. No benefits and no vacation time. No sick leave. Nothing.” When he listened to himself saying that, it made him sick. He was sitting there in that austere office, across the desk from a man in an impeccably ironed white shirt and expensive tie, and he felt like a worthless bum.This was a mistake, Blue thought.He’s going to laugh me right out of here.
His mouth dropped open when Glen said, “Well, it sounds to me like your old boss did you a favor. You can most definitely do better than that. You’re a mechanic, and mechanics are in demand. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding a job. But I’ll tell you this. You said exactly what I wanted to hear. You’renot concerned with yourself. Your main concern is for this child.”
“Yes, sir.”
Glen stared at him and rolled his pen between his finger and thumb. “Let me guess. Your mom and dad divorced when you were young and you were brought up by a single mom.”
Blue shook his head. “I never knew my parents. I was put in foster care when I was a toddler, so I don’t remember them.” He could feel himself shrinking, getting smaller by the minute, more insignificant and less of a person. “The things that happened to me… No child should have to live through that. No one should.” Blue closed his eyes against the tears he felt pooling in his lower lids, then opened them and looked straight at Glen. “Can I show you something?” Glen nodded, so Blue handed the baby to Anne, stood, slipped off his tee, and turned with his back to Glen.
Anne burst into tears, and he wasn’t surprised. He knew what his back looked like. There were scars from cuts and whippings and all kinds of beatings, and at least a few cigarette burns. A full minute passed, a minute in which Blue felt humiliation like he’d never felt in his life. He hadn’t wanted Anne to know, but he wanted this man to know, to see where he’d come from and to at least know he wasn’t playing the lawyer’s sympathies. Slipping his tee back on, he turned to Glen, and he could feel his soul hardening, readying for the verbal abuse he was sure was coming. All he said was, “This isnevergoing to happen to my daughter as long as I have breath in my body.”
Glen’s face was expressionless when Blue sat back down. But his words were all the new dad needed to hear. “Mr.Wallace, I’m going to do everything in my power to not only see that never happens to your daughter, but to be sure that you get to be the one who protects her from anything and everything like that.” He leaned over to his phone and punched a button.
A voice came through the speaker and said, “Yes, sir.”
“Gretchen, get on the phone and start making some calls. I want case citings for custody of a parent with whom a child has been abandoned. I also want you to call McDermott and tell him I want some background on a VirginiaParker at child protective services. We should be able to find out if there have ever been any actions taken against her for abuse of power or neglect of a minor under her supervision. Oh, and tell Jody to call his dad. I’m going to want to have a sit-down with him and get some questions answered.”
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.” The phone went dead and Blue wondered what was about to happen.
“One of my clerks is the son of a retired family court judge. I don’t do much family law, so I’m going to consult him. In the meantime, this is our strategy for your meeting with Ms.Parker tomorrow,” Glen said. He punched the phone again. “Valerie?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Could you come in and take notes, please?” he said forcefully.
“Yes, sir.” In seconds, the door opened and a young woman in a beautiful business suit strolled in and took a seat. “Ready, sir.”
“She’ll write down what we talk about, then type it up and get it to you. You may have to work all night, but this all has to be done.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll do whatever you say, sir,” Blue said. And he meant it. If this man was willing to help him keep his daughter, he’d do whatever he was told. And when Anne reached over and took his hand, he knew for certain that he wouldn’t be doing it alone.
“Got that done,”Blue said, tossing a sponge into the bucket at his feet. “I don’t know if it looks any better, but it sure smells better.”
The buzzer on the dryer went off and Anne headed that direction. “I’ll put everything back on your bed. Grab the rugs and take them outside to shake.”
“I can’t shake an eight-foot rug!” Blue laughed.
“No, but we can beat it and get as much dirt out of it as we can,” Anne explained loudly from the laundry room.
“What’s next?” Blue asked, looking around the kitchen. At least the cabinets did look better since he’d scrubbed them.
“The bathroom. And you’re doing that. I’m not touching it,” Anne said, laughing as she passed him with a laundry basket full of sheets, his blanket, and a mattress pad. “As soon as I get this done, I’m going to run to the store and get you some kind of curtains for the windows, a comforter, and some new bathroom rugs. Get that floor cleaned up in there, and I mean take that brush and scrub the baseboards and everything,” she said, pointing to the bathroom.
“Yes, ma’am,” Blue grumbled.
“She’s going to check the bathroom. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He went to the back door, threw out the dirty water, and ran another bucketful, complete with cleaner, then shuffled back into the bathroom, bucket and brush in hand.
