Baby Alicia Is Dying (5 page)

“Then go.”

“I could ask them if you could come with us.”

“Corrine, that’s just not my thing.”

“Well, I just wanted to give you a chance.” Corrine shifted her books. “Guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“See you at lunch?”

“Not today. I’m sitting with my friends Sherry, Kristen, and Rebecca. Oh … and Randy Morris. I told you about him, remember?”

“No, I don’t think you did.”

“Well he’s just a guy in my American studies class. He asked me out.”

Desi knew how important having a date and a boyfriend was to her friend. “Corrine, that’s terrific. You should have said something.”

“You’re so busy with that AIDS place, we hardly have any time to talk anymore. I’ll tell you about Randy sometime when you’re not so busy.”

She wanted to tell Corrine to stop acting so childish. That it was all right for her to have other friends. Her own growing friendship with Tamara was helping her to see that it was possible to have a wide circle of friends and still care about old friends too. There was no need to feel joined at the hip to
someone. “Maybe we can do something Sunday afternoon.”

“Probably not. Randy’s supposed to call me. Listen, I’ve got to go,” Corrine called over her shoulder as she dashed down the hall.

Bewildered by Corrine’s behavior, Desi fiddled aimlessly with her locker until she realized she was going to be late to class. She darted into biology just as the second bell rang, hurried to her lab table, and slid into her seat just as Mr. Redding started handing out yesterday’s quiz papers. Desi noticed that Shaundra was absent, but Brian gave her a nod of greeting.

Around her kids shuffled and complained as they studied their quizzes. Brian Connley buried his face in his hands and moaned. Desi read her score, A+, and noticed Brian’s D. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand what was so difficult about biology.

From the front of the room Mr. Redding announced, “All of you know your assignment—dissecting your frogs.” A few kids made faces. Mr. Redding told them, “Fill out the chart in your workbook as you dissect. I’ve got to step out for a few moments. Don’t fool around. Get to work.”

He left, and murmuring started. Desi lifted the frog out of the formaldehyde, stretched it out in the dissecting pan, and proceeded to slice it open. “Here, pin its skin flaps back, Brian,” she directed. “That way we can expose the alimentary canal.”

When he did nothing, she stole a glance at him. His face was the color of paste. “What’s wrong?”

He stared at the slit-open frog. “Nothing.”

“You look sick.”

“Thanks. I love you too.”

“Well, you do.”

Suddenly Brian stood. “If Redding misses me, just tell him I skipped.” He bolted for the door before Desi could say anything. Embarrassed, she shrugged to the kids around her. Two girls at the next table gave her mean looks.

Desi felt her face flush scarlet. What was wrong? Did she have lipstick on her teeth? Before she could check it out, Mr. Redding came back into the room. He glanced around and then said, “Desila, I’d like to see you up here please.”

She caught an instantaneous case of bad nerves. Had she done something wrong? Had he noticed that Brian was gone, and would she have to lie for him? Heart pounding, she went to Redding’s desk. “Yes, sir?”

“Desila, I’ve just gotten an official notice from the front office that Shaundra and her parents have requested a change of lab partners immediately. Can you think of any reason why she’d suddenly want to trade in one of the best biology students in my class?”

“No, sir,” Desi told him, absolutely shocked by Mr. Redding’s question.

“You two didn’t have a falling out, did you?”

“Not that I know about.”

Mr. Redding tapped his pencil against the top of his desk. “Well, all I know is that her parents went to the administration and asked for her to be moved, and I have to honor that request. So I guess it’s just you and Mr. Connley.

“You know, I structure this course so you kids can learn how to work interactively. Your group was short a member from the first, and now you’ve lost another member. Let’s hope Mr. Connley sticks it out, or I’ll have to insert you into another group, which I don’t want to do, because it will disturb
its
balance.”

Desi was hardly listening. She kept trying to figure out why Shaundra would have asked to dump her as a lab partner. When the bell rang, she blended into the flow of the hall traffic, slipped into the bathroom, and checked her face in the mirror. “Same old me,” she mumbled.

She was standing at her bus stop, waiting for
her school bus, when Brian pulled up in a rattling old car, flung open the door, and said, “Come on, I’ll give you a lift.”

No boy had ever offered her a ride home before. Desi got in, and Brian threw the car into gear and squealed out of the parking lot. She gripped the armrest.

“Did Redding miss me?” Brian asked.

“If he did, he didn’t say anything in class.”

A block later, Brian drove into a McDonald’s parking lot, parked, and jumped out of the car. “Come on, I’m starved. I’ll buy you a snack.”

She hurried in after him and was sitting in a booth scowling out the window when he deposited the food on the table and sat down across from her. “So, what’s with the long face?”

“Nothing.”

“Did you get into trouble with Redding?”

“No.”

“Well, something must have happened. Tell me.”

She hesitated, but finally asked, “Did you know Shaundra asked to get out of being my lab partner?”

“Yeah, I heard.”

She sat up straighter. “Does the whole school know? And why? What did I do to her?”

“The word’s going around about you working with kids who have AIDS. I guess the idea sort of freaked her out.”

Her jaw dropped. “But how—?”
Corrine
. Of
course. “A person can’t catch AIDS just by being around people who have it.”

“You and I know that,” Brian said, “but that doesn’t stop people from being scared.”

“Well that’s the stupidest, most juvenile thing I’ve ever heard. If people could just see these babies … Prejudice toward them is dumb! Stupid!”

“Hey, don’t take it out on me.”

“If I’m such a health risk, then why are
you
sitting across from me?”

He took a swig from his cup. “I guess because I’m not stupid and juvenile.”

The clever way he turned her angry words made her smile. “Okay, so you’re a good guy. But you can’t go running out on me again like you did today. If you don’t stick it out, who knows where Mr. Redding will put me?”

“I’ll stick it out.” Brian’s intense blue eyes bore into hers, and for a moment her breath stuck in her throat.

“So tell me, why
did
you leave the room today?”

“It was the smell of that blasted dead frog and the junk it was soaking in.”

“Formaldehyde.” She studied him more closely. “What’s the matter? You have a weak stomach or something?” He didn’t answer, but leaned back against the booth and took a couple of deep breaths. “That’s it,” Desi pressed. “You’re sick to your stomach even thinking about it.”

“All right,” Brian growled. “So I have a weak stomach. What’s the big deal?”

“Well that’s just terrific. I have one lab partner who dumps me because of where I spend my free time and another who tosses his cookies at the sight of frog guts.”

Brian groaned. “Don’t say that word. I might pass out.” The idea of a macho guy like Brian fainting—coupled with the pasty color of his face—made her giggle. He gave her an imploring look. “Aw, have some mercy. Man, you don’t know what it’s like to be saddled with a weak stomach. I can’t even go on roller coasters or Ferris wheels. It’s grim.”

“So that’s why you never made it through biology last year?”

“I skipped every lab.”

“We’re going to have to work doubly hard in there now. There’s just the two of us now.”

“What if things get worse?”

“What do you mean? What things?”

“There are some kids at school who can make life pretty rough on you.”

For a moment she felt baffled. “Are you saying some kids might be mean to me because I help out at ChildCare? Good grief! These are defenseless babies. Everybody knows about AIDS.”

“Maybe some kids aren’t as open-minded as you are,” Brian said. “Maybe they can make you wish you never cared about AIDS babies either.” A chill ran up her spine. Suddenly he offered a smile.
“Let’s drop it. Besides, who’d be dumb enough to tangle with a girl who slashes frogs the way you do?”

She agreed with him and felt her mood improve. Outside, the long shadows of afternoon stretched across the parking lot. “I’ve got to get to work,” he told her, stuffing the last of his fries in his mouth.

“Where do you work?”

“At a health club. I get to use the equipment, and it helps blow off steam. It’s not a bad way to pass an afternoon if you need to.”

“Are you telling me I might need to ‘blow off steam’? But why?”

“It helps. Believe me—I speak from experience.” She would have asked him more, but he stood and pulled her to her feet. His hand felt warm on hers. “Don’t worry about the kids at school. Most are all right.”

She recalled Alicia’s elfin face. “I’m sorry there are people who feel threatened because I work at ChildCare. The babies are really special. And nobody wants them. No matter what happens or what anybody does, I’m not going stop helping with those babies.”

   The minute Desi walked into the ChildCare house the next Saturday, she recognized Alicia’s crying. She hurried into the kitchen, where Sadie was walking the floor and juggling the screaming baby.
“What’s wrong?” Concern made her heart pound crazily.

At the sound of Desi’s voice Alicia turned her head and reached out her hand. Sadie handed the baby over. “She’s cutting more teeth. Her gums must be hurting plenty; she’s cried all morning.”

Desi held Alicia close and rocked her. “There, there, baby girl,” Desi cooed. “It’s all right. I’m here now.”

Sadie handed Desi a small tube of ointment. “Here’s something to rub on her gums so they’ll stop hurting.” Desi sat in the rocker and proceeded to massage the numbing gel on the baby’s gums. Alicia lay docilely, watching Desi. Sadie said, “That baby sure does like you, Desi. She just calms right down the minute she sees you or hears your voice.”

Desi’s heart swelled. Alicia
did
seem more responsive to her than to anyone else. She toyed with Alicia’s hair, winding the soft ringlets around her finger. “She’s a very special baby,” Desi told Sadie. “And the fact that she likes me shows that she has excellent taste.”

Sadie laughed. “I can tell that you’ve got things under control with that one, so I’ll go check on Anthony. That boy’s been sleeping all day long.”

Desi dressed Alicia in a bonnet and sweater and took her for a walk on the grounds in a stroller. They were winding their way along a leaf-strewn path when she heard Tamara call, “Hey. I’ve been looking
for you.” Tamara came up alongside, holding Heather on her hip.

“Alicia needed some fresh air to keep her mind off her gums,” Desi explained. The faint odor of burning leaves scented the crisp November air.

Tamara spread a small blanket out on the grass and plopped down with Heather. Desi lifted Alicia from the stroller and joined them on the cool grass. “So how’s life in the salt mines?”

Desi told her about her conversation with Brian. Tamara listened, wide-eyed. “That’s terrible. What are you going to do about it?”

“There’s nothing I can do, except ignore it.”

Tamara stroked Heather’s arm. “Can you imagine what it’s going to be like for these babies when they get into school? I mean, if they’re lucky enough to live that long.”

“It doesn’t seem fair, does it? To have so much stacked against them.”

“Maybe medical science will find a cure soon,” Tamara added hopefully. “There’s a lot of research going on, you know.”

Desi touched Alicia’s cheek. Her skin felt soft and warm, and the baby offered a sunny smile. “Maybe so.”

Suddenly, from across the lawn, she heard Sadie calling their names and hurrying toward them. Desi scooped up Alicia. “What’s wrong?” she asked as Sadie got closer.

“It’s Anthony,” Sadie said, her face dark with worry. “He’s running a fever. I think he’s pretty sick. I’ve just called an ambulance to take him to County Hospital.”