Hope House (12 page)

“Do you understand?
Eske ou comprann?”

“Oui. I mean yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Boni could have died.”

“It’s not just that. She might have caught a virus and not only pass that to her baby but to every other baby she carries, even if we put it inside her.”

Martine felt tears run down her face. She hated it when
Dr. Tad talked down to her. “I am not stupid. Just because I have never heard of all those letter diseases does not make me stupid. No one ever told me. Probably no one ever told Boni either.”

Tad sat back in his chair. “Didn’t they teach you about STDs, Sexually Transmitted Diseases in school? In health class?”

“Do you forget most of us never went to school? I was only allowed to go for reading and sewing after I finished my chores. No one went to full-time day school, none of the girls here anyway. And even if they did, they did not stay in long enough to learn about diseases. You think if anyone here went to some fancy school where we learned all about our bodies and diseases and what happens when you have a baby we would sign up to come here and be Mr. Puglisi’s breeding bitches?” Now she was crying hard but did not care. “You think we like doing what we do? We do not. But we do not know how to do anything else!”

Dr. Tad just looked at her. He had tears in his eyes too. “I’m sorry, Martine. I didn’t realize. I just assumed someone would have explained—”

“You think Madame LaBrie sat me down and told me the facts of life? When would that be? After I cleaned the house and took care of her boys and made the meals and washed the dishes? When me and Madame were sitting around drinking tea with our feet up and having a heart-to-heart talk?” Martine wiped her eyes. How could Dr. Tad be so stupid?

He got up and put his arms around Martine.” I am so sorry. Of course there was no way for you or Boni or any of the others to know the dangers.” He pulled her up and toward him. He patted the back of her head and held her. “I’m going meet with all of you and teach what your mothers should have taught you. What the children who go to school learn.”

“I am never having sex.” She knew that sounded childish but she did not care.

He laughed a little. “Now, now, someday you won’t feel that way. I’m going to write up some facts and we’ll discuss them. Then maybe next week we can sit down with all the girls and you can help me explain everything to them.”

“You think Boni got one of those diseases?”

“For her sake, I hope not.”

She pulled away and wiped her eyes one last time. “We really have to send her off?”

“I’m afraid so. Mick was clear on that. Can she go to her family’s village?”

“She can try. I do not know if they will take her in. They are going to be very angry with her for losing this job. Plus she has a baby. Another mouth to feed.”

“What about her boyfriend?”

“She has not seen him in about three months. Boris tried to find him but no one will admit they know him. Either he gave Boni a fake name or else has a lot of friends who cover for him.”

“Well, I’ll give her some money. Enough so hopefully her family wi
ll let her stay with them.”

“Can
we hide her a little longer? Mr. Puglisi will not come back now.”

“We can’t take that risk. Why don’t you go see to her, help her pack? Then bring her to my house and I’ll give her some cash.”

“What about baby supplies?”

“Of course. Let her take whatever she needs from the clinic.”

“I am sorry this happened.”

“Me too. How did she get out to see her boyfriend?”

Martine shrugged. The same way they all got out. Boris let them. He had made an opening in the fence down the hill in the back. As far as Martine knew none of the others were meeting men, but all the girls went for long walks in the woods now and then, just to get away. They swam in the lake or picked fruits. It made them feel like they were not in prison even if their bodies were not their own.

“I do not
know how they met. No one ever leaves and no one comes in. That is the rule.” She turned to walk out. She did not like lying to Dr. Tad but some things had to be kept secret. 

Martine wondered
about Boris as she left the clinic. Mr. Puglisi had said his last name was Jean-Baptiste. Was he her brother? She knew there were older siblings who left their home in La Saline when she was still very small but did not know their names. She would have to talk to the guard later and ask him.

As she approached Boni, who sat outside at the table under an umbrella with Kay, she saw Dr. Tad out of the corner of her eye. He
knocked on the gates. She saw Boris open them and then Dr. Tad moved his hand back very fast. “Aah!” he yelled. Martine ran over and Dr. Tad was holding his wrist hard.

“
Ou byen?”
Are you all right?

A big splinter of brown wooden fence stuck in the palm of his right hand. Not much blood but the wood was deep. Dr. Tad just stared at it.

“Come on inside. I will get that out and clean it for you.”

He nodded and she led him inside. Boni stayed at the table, maybe hoping as Martine had an hour ago
, that there was a chance she could stay at Maison D’Espoir. She made eye contact with Martine for only a moment.

Martine shook her head and said, “
Mwen Desole.”
I’m sorry.

Boni hung her head low. Martine felt the sadness all over again, but like Dr. Tad had no way to save her. Instead she just kept walking toward the clinic, to mend the things she was able. 

Chapter Four

1.

Haiti tropical back road, Wednesday morning, February 8
th

Mick looked at Luke in the rearview and smiled. What a good boy, sitting quietly in his booster seat, leafing through one of his toddler books. Mick had planned to fly back to Miami in the morning but woke up with a feeling of unease. Tad had agreed too readily to send Boni off; Mick had expected more whining and pleading. The way Tad capitulated had Mick tossing and turning half the night. Would Tad disobey him? Keep the girl on?

Someday Tad would leave Maison D’Espoir. No doubt about that. He’d get restless worki
ng in the jungle churning out kids, or his ethics would kick in again. Every time a surrogate died in childbirth, Tad had a meltdown and almost quit. Mick always talked him out of it because once Tad left Maison, he’d have no choice to put him down—and they both knew it. He grimaced as he thought of having to exterminate the man who had been like a brother since they were kids. Tad had been a great worker but he knew too much. This was business and no one could be trusted, no matter how loyal he had been or how long they had known one another. Tad was
like
family, but he
wasn’t
family. That’s what Daddy always said.

Until Tad left Maison though, Mick had assumed he would remain obedient. But something didn’t sit right about this Boni situation. Tad was hiding something. He, Martine, and that girl were up to no good and Mick wouldn’t tolerate being lied to.  So here he was, off on a road trip, for another surprise visit to Maison D’Espoir.  He had to be quick about it though. An hour and
a half of driving, a couple of threats passed out if need be, and another hour and a half back to Port Au Prince to his plane. No time to fool around. Luke had surgery planned first thing tomorrow morning in downtown Miami. His final operation for a while and then the poor little guy would have near-normal feet.

Since no one at Maison knew Luke was alive, he’d keep him hidden when he got there. The car windows were shaded but he didn’t trust Boris not to peek in. He’d park the car well outside the compound.

Mick was about forty-five minutes into the drive on heavily shaded dirt roads when he saw something glint in the jungle.  “What the hell was that?” he said under his breath.

He looked in his mirror and saw that Luke had dozed off. Good. He hated swearing in front of his son. Mick slowed down and squinted against the glare of sun and into the trees. There it was again.

“Maison D’Espoir. I’ll be damned.”  Gold letters from the Maison logo jetted through the green. He eased to a stop then put the car in park. Something rustled through the leaves. Mick leaned forward in his seat and rolled down the passenger window for a closer look.

A blue duffel bag with gold letters swung off the black arm of a woman.

“Who the hell is that?” he said too loud.

“Daddy?” Luke asked, having woken up when Mick blurted out the question.

Mick turned around. “It’s okay, Luke. You go back to sleep. We still have a long drive.”

“Luke not sleepy now. Luke stay up.”

Mick turned to the front again and saw a woman dart in front of the car. He reached under the seat and grabbed his pistol.

“Wait here,” he said to Luke. “Daddy will be right back. Make a mask.”

The boy covered his eyes. It wasn’t the first time Mick had asked him to play the game to keep him from witnessing unpleasant business. Someday he’d have to expose Luke to the downside of the job, but not yet. He was too young. “No peeking.”

“Luke no peek, Daddy.” His little fingers squeezed tight over his eyes.

Mick rolled up the window, hit play on the CD that would read Luke
Horton Hears a Who,
and stepped out of the car.

The woman looked right at Mick, stopped, and then ran. She was carrying a baby. Shit. Did she steal it? Tad had said she miscarried. Why would he say—?

He started chasing after her. Damn that liar Tad. “Boni!”

She stopped and turned. Stared right at Mick, defiant as you please, huffing and puffing like a runaway slave. He looked down at the baby in her arms. A little black baby.
No stillbirth. Tad had indeed lied to him. Damn him. What the hell kind of place was Tad running over there?

“I am
going to tell on you,” she shouted. Where did she learn English? Did Tad teach them all the language and let them live on his property for free to carouse with the locals?  “You keep us pregnant like dogs and it is against the law!”

“You signed an agreement!” Why he bothered trying to rationalize anything with this piece of chattel was ludicrous but he refused to be threatened.

“I do not know what that paper say. I do not know no English then. I sign X but dunno what it mean! I am going to tell on you, Mr.—”

Without thinking, he shot her. She crumbled to the ground, still holding the baby. Shit. The infant started crying. Mick ran over.

No question about it. She was dead. Big hole in her forehead and blood coming out the back of her skull, puddling in the dirt. He looked behind him. Luke still had his hands over his eyes, thank God.

The baby wailed.  Mick put the gun down, scooped up the bundle and held him close. At least Mick assumed it was a boy in the blue blanket. Not going to be able to sell this one, that’s for sure. The kid wasn’t set up with a record and to ask Tad for one wouldn’t be prudent.

But Jesus, he couldn’t kill it. Him. The baby didn’t do anything wrong. Mick examined the tiny light brown face with the big brown eyes. Cute little guy. He opened the blanket and checked in the diaper. Yup, a boy.

“Damn it,” he said as he cuddled the kid close again. “Guess I’m stuck with you for right now.” Mick
glanced the long stretch of dirt road. It was well traveled enough that anyone would find Boni if they happened along.

He set the baby down and tried to mentally block out the crying as he dragged the hundred-and-twenty pound breeder into the bushes.

Mick was drenched in sweat by the time he picked the baby back up, kissing his head and hugging him tight to calm him. “It’s okay, little guy.”

The infant’s tiny mouth made a noisy O and Mick suddenly thought to get Boni’s bag and whatever was in it. He carried the baby back to his mother who lay crumpled behind the leaves. Mick reached down and tried to take the duffel bag off Boni’s shoulder but it was stuck under her dead body. He tried to wrench it out from under her but couldn’t manage it without setting the baby down again.

He tried one more time then gave up and instead leaned down and unzipped it. Mick took out a couple of diapers and a binky before rushing back to the side of the road, picked the gun off the ground, and headed for the car.

When he opened the door Luke took his hands off his eyes. Red finger marks covered his face. Luke listened too well, poor kid.

He blinked a few times, was probably seeing stars. “Baby! You got Luke a baby!”

“We’re not going to keep him, Luke. We’re just babysitting, like with the other babies I bring home sometimes.”

Mick pinned the new little guy to his chest and buckled them in together. He put the binky in the baby’s mouth and started driving toward Port Au Prince. No need to go to Maison now. His hunch had been right but he had taken care of things. The kid fell asleep pretty quickly. As he drove, the CD played the Dr. Seuss story, and Luke fell back asleep.  Mick decided to smuggle the little guy back to the U.S. and leave him outside a hospital back there. Getting him paperwork from one of his centers in another country was possible but he didn’t want to have to explain to anyone what had happened. People had a soft spot for babies found outside hospitals. People would line up to adopt the little bugger. Mick breathed a sigh of relief. Yeah, he’d get a good home. First chance he got he’d give him a bath and leave him in front of an upscale Miami hospital.

Mick wanted to call Tad to tell him the jig was up, but he’d do it later. No reason to wake the kids. Mick drove along, the warm bundle nuzzled against his chest, the narrator’s melodious voice talking in rhymes about an elephant. He felt calm. More than that. Buoyant. Mick smiled and patted the baby’s fuzzy little head.

Then his cell phone buzzed in his pocket and shattered his peace. He fumbled to answer it before it woke the boys.

“Hello?” he said as quiet as he could.

“
Hi. It’s Tommy!”

“Quiet. You don’t have to yell.” The baby stirred and Mick sighed. The last thing he needed right now was Tommy Carpenter calling him, or anyone else for that matter.

“
Sorry, Mick
.” His voice hushed. “
I just wanted to tell you that Gloria got in touch with the PI and that should clear things once and for all.”

“Good. Thanks for calling.”

“
Wait. I know I asked this before but, Mick, I gotta ask
—”

“So ask.”

“
Well then, is Alison Gander the baby Gloria lost? That you took?”

“Goddamnit, Tommy!” The baby started crying and Luke woke up.

“Bad word, Daddy. Bad word!” Luke’s eyes frowned in Mick’s mirror. The baby shrieked.

Now Mick was really mad. “Listen, that little girl, that Alison Gander or whatever the hell her name is, is not yours. Got it?”

The new baby screamed and Luke kept yelling, “Bad Daddy. Bad word, Daddy!”

Mick had to yell louder just to hear himself. He didn’t catch Tommy’s response but assumed he’d conceded.

“Make sure Gloria gets off this delusion or else your new wife and kids will get hurt.” Mick hung up. He couldn’t hear Tommy anyway and Mick got the last word.

He popped the binky back into the baby’s mouth then fished around in the snack bag for something to calm Luke. He t
ore the edge of the package of gummy dinosaurs off with his teeth and handed it back to the waiting hands of his teary-eyed son. “I’m sorry, Honey. Daddy was bad, and I’m very sorry. I have to make one more quiet phone call and then I’ll shut the phone off, and we’ll listen to the CD again.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Luke said. The look on his face said it wasn’t really okay but Mick would make it up to him later. For now, sugar would have to do the trick.

   He slowed down the car while he dialed the phone so he wouldn’t go off the road and into the freaking jungle trees and overgrown aloe that made it damn near impossible to do any kind of business while he drove.

“
Hello?”
Tad’s shaky voice said on the other end.

Mick wanted to rage into the phone, really turn up the volume in his voice but he had to think of the kids.  He seeded his words with as much hostility as the low volume would allow.  “I know about your refugee and her little rat. I saw them. Next time you try to deceive me, your precious Martine dies. And you’d better work harder to keep your hens in the henhouse.” He hung up without waiting for Tad to reply and then shut the phone off.

Mick looked in his mirror and made eye contact with Luke. “Who wants to hear
Horton Hears a Who
again?”

“Me, me me!” Luke cheered.  The three of them drove to the charter plane.

2.

Kurt Malone’s apartment, Miami, morning

Kurt pored over the printouts in front of him and shook his head. All the facts pointed to Gloria being delusional. He took a sip of cold coffee from the Patriots mug at the kitchen table. The small chrome table he’d gotten second hand served as his desk at his home office on Meriden Street in Miami. Not the nicest place but it was relatively safe and near the water.

He’d spent yesterday afternoon calming Gloria down after she was nearly killed by a bus, trying to make her understand why she couldn’t go to the police and report it. He’d stopped short of telling her the real reason: that he had to stay away from the cops. But she had accepted the explanation he fabricated. After a couple of glasses of wine Gloria stopped shaking and told him her side of things.

Pretty far-fetched stuff, yet she seemed convinced. Kurt doubted a twenty-two week old baby could stay alive without a lot of machines and a lot of time in neonatal intensive care. The way Gloria told it, the doctor took the baby via D&C, or rather a D&E, which was the same thing, but for larger, more developed fetuses, so that much seemed odd to him. Kurt knew more than he wanted to about the process of abortions and the like, and there was no way a fetus could survive that at any age—even if Gloria’s worst nightmare proved true. All doubtful indeed.

But then why did the DNA match with this adopted kid named Alison Gander? Or pretty closely matched? He’d suggested to Gloria the most reasonable explanation: that
her mother or father had another child she didn’t know about and that lost sibling gave up Alison for adoption; but Gloria insisted that her parents had no such history.  Alison Gander was
her
baby, and she could not be persuaded otherwise.

After too long of listening to her story, Kurt relocated her to another hotel. When he’d gone home and to bed, he agreed with what Tommy Carpenter had told him. Gloria was grasping at straws.