Part 26 (1/2)

Theresa makes a face. ”I don't like going down there by myself.”

”Buddy Boy! Could you let Jimmy in!” Piper calls down.

Jimmy knocks another time.

”Buddy Boy!” Piper calls again.

Theresa jumps up and heads for the open hall window and pokes her head out. ”That's not Jimmy. It's Mrs. Caconi.”

”Sounded like Jimmy,” Piper mutters.

Mrs. Caconi is inside now, climbing the stairs. ”This is your own little house, Walter Williams. Not so little, either. Twenty-two rooms it is. Best one on the Rock.” Mrs. Caconi is huffing and puffing harder than usual. She chuffs and hisses when she breathes, like a freight train.

Annie pokes me. ”C'mon! We got to help her. She has trouble with stairs.”

Mrs. Caconi is on the landing, leaning her heavy body against the banister and dabbing at her forehead. Her foot rocks the blue-ribboned basket with the tiny blanketed bundle, all wrinkly and red, no bigger than a banana bread. Hard to believe a person could ever be that small.

”Need some help, Mrs. Caconi?” I ask.

”Well, I wouldn't say no to a strapping young man like you carrying this baby up these stairs . . .”

”Yes, ma'am.” I lift the basket, which is surprisingly light. Baby Rocky must weigh five times more than this little turnip. Annie stays with Mrs. Caconi as she slowly makes her way up the stairs.

”I'm not used to taking care of a newborn,” Mrs. Caconi explains. ”It's been umpteen years since my Donny was that small,” she tells us as I plunk the basket on Piper's bed.

We all stare at the tiny baby, his eyes closed tight like a brand-new puppy's, a blue knitted beanie on his head.

”Been rocking him the last hour. I'm not as young as I once was, you know.” Mrs. Caconi sighs. ”He's sleeping now, though. They're sweet as pie when they're sleeping, aren't they?”

”Baby,” Nat mutters, her eyes whipping past the baby and past again as if they can't settle down for a full look. ”Walter,” Natalie whispers.

”It,” Piper grunts. ”His name is It.”

”Oh now dear child, don't you start with that rubbish. I won't hear of it. No, I won't. He'll grow on you, yes he will.” Mrs. Caconi straightens the baby's beanie. ”Your mama'll be home soon. And she won't tolerate that kind of talk.”

Piper's eyes glaze over. ”Thing,” she whispers.

Mrs. Caconi ignores her. ”Oh yes, indeedy. He had a big bottle and a nice clean diaper with me. Now you watch him while I catch forty winks, you hear me, little miss?” Mrs. Caconi points her handkerchief at Piper. ”Fog's comin' in and it's dark as night. I'm gonna take a catnap before night s.h.i.+ft. Little d.i.c.kens woke up six times last night.” She squints at Piper. ”And don't you tell me no. Watching him while he's sleeping is not too tall an order for you. I should think not. You got a whole roomful of folks to help you here.” She wags her finger at Piper and stumbles bleary-eyed into the next room.

No one says a word as she groans and grunts her way up on the big bed. In seconds she's snoring so loud it sounds like the foghorn next door.

Piper stares at the teeny-tiny baby in his blue beanie cap. ”Get It It out of here,” she whispers. out of here,” she whispers.

”Now you listen up.” Theresa mimics Mrs. Caconi and wags her finger at Piper. ”Taking care of babies is something I know all about.” She taps her chest. ”I'm going to teach you.”

”Theresa!” Annie warns in a husky whisper.

Piper looks like she may hawk up a big one and spit it right at Theresa.

Theresa puts her hands on her hips. ”Her mom's okay now. Do I still have to be nice to her?”

Piper gulps, then crumples into an exhausted heap.

”Uh-oh,” Annie whispers. Her lips pucker up and her forehead wrinkles. She strokes Piper's hair. ”We'll help, okay?” Annie nods to us and we all pipe in.

”Sure, we'll help,” I say.

”Help. We'll help. Baby,” Nat adds.

Annie smiles. ”That's right, even Natalie will help.”

Tears spill out of Piper's closed eyes. She pushes them away from her face in quick jerky motions. ”I don't want a brother.”

Natalie gets a tissue and wraps Piper's fingers around it, which only makes her cry harder.

We all stare at Piper. No one knows what to say. ”Brothers aren't that bad,” Theresa declares. ”They squirt pee at you when you change their diapies, though, you gotta watch that.” Theresa puts her finger down by her personal parts like it's a water hose. ”They have their own private squirt gun.”

”We have nothing of the kind,” I insist.

”How would you know?”

”Because I know my own equipment. I'm pretty much an authority on it, okay?”

”Not when you were a baby.”

”Moose! Piper!” Jimmy's voice again. This really is Jimmy.

”Buddy!” Piper calls again. ”The door!”

Theresa pops up and checks the window. The fog is heavy and dark like a coat pulled tight around us. What time is it? ”Don't the pa.s.smen have to go back to the cell house now?” Theresa asks.

”They go back at four thirty,” Piper tells us. She has that fuzzy look, like someone who needs to sleep for two days straight.

Annie glances at her watch.

”I'll get him,” I offer. Natalie stands up. She has been amusing herself by tucking the baby's covers all around, then all around again. She is gentle with the baby. So gentle.

”Stay here, Nat. I'll be right back,” I tell her softly.

Natalie chews at her lip. And Piper snaps to. ”Wait, Moose. Moose! I'm coming down too.”

Theresa shakes her finger at Piper. ”You can't. You have to watch the baby.”

”Theresa,” Annie warns.

”You have to take them everywhere with you, Piper. You can't just leave them.” Theresa's chin juts out with the force of her words.