Playpen
By: Dr. Kenya Mitchell
Tags: Fiction, Poverty, Literally Literary, New York

Photo by Les Anderson on Unsplash

Maya’s jittery hands clumsily clanged perfume bottles and makeup compacts on the bureau. Glancing at her cell phone for the time, Maya realized she had waited too long for her sister Nora to show up to watch the baby. Anatoly, Maya’s boss, was impatient. If she kept stalling, he might call another one of his “girlfriends.”

Anatoly had too many chicks floating around. All those damn perfectly made-up faces floating around the island made it hard for a girl to negotiate with him. Maya convinced herself that it wasn’t Anatoly’s brutish charm that kept the ladies around, kept them working.

Cash was his talisman. When a girl needed something, Anatoly played it real cool. Girls who didn’t know, the naïve ones who thought they could push him around with their pussies, would claim to fall in love with him. In turn, Anatoly would make the chick a favorite, lavishing second hand furs and public housing penthouses complete with balconies overlooking the Russian Riviera that is Coney Island. The chicks always ended up forgetting their own dreams, only believing in what Anatoly could do for them.

Eventually, the favors became few and far between until eventually the girls were left to fend for themselves. Anybody with two eyes could see that there weren’t too many opportunities for advancement in Coney Island. Girls always ended up calling Anatoly for help, desperate, begging. When they reached to hug him as they pled, a stiff, distancing arm would extend, holding them back. Too often they’d gasp, “I’ll do anything.” Too often they did. That’s when the real work began.

“I don’t have time for love,” Maya always told herself, defiantly. Love means opening up, sharing things, especially all the sticky details about one’s self. She steadied her nerves and took one last look in the mirror. She could see lines under her eyes. Her trademark, wide baby doll eyes had ceased to be cute. They just looked frozen in fear.

“Ice, ice,” she mumbled to herself. Maya used ice to make her face look relaxed — her quick fix. Four strides was all it took for her to get from the dressing area of her studio to the refrigerator. As she stepped across the floor, she carefully skirted the playpen that took most of the space in the middle of the floor, as not to wake the baby. Absentminded, Maya reached into the freezer, grabbed some ice and applied it to the puffy circles under her eyes. Looking over the ice, Maya’s eyes wandered around the room and finally rested on the sleeping infant in the playpen. Curled up, shaped like a kidney bean, his pink lips worked on a dream nipple.

Maya’s countenance clouded with disdain. She knew it was wrong but she couldn’t help hating that baby. Every time she looked into its face and it grinned charmingly at her, all she could see was Nicolas’ malevolent sneer when he raped her in a drunken fit of anger. Nicolas’ veneer of sincerity when he begged her for forgiveness, promising to be a fantastic father. His easy grin when he said he was going to work, which ended up being code for “I’m going to disappear.” How could she have bought that bullshit? Nicolas never went to work!

“Fuck,” Maya whispered, cursing her naiveté and her current situation. Some digital jingle blared from her cell phone. “Shit,” she hissed. The baby stirred, and, after some struggle, flipped onto his back, moaning, threatening to cry.

“Shush, shush, sh… Shut up! You’re gonna fuck this up for me.” Maya flipped open the cell phone. Through the phone, a gravelly voice speaking Russian was heard.

“What?” Maya asked.

“My God. Вы глупая России я когда-либо встречал,” Anatoly sighed, exasperated, “You don’t even know your mother tongue. What’s that crying?”

“Oh, nothing. My sister’s baby.”

“You sure that one’s not yours?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Because this is the fifth time I’ve called you and heard a baby over there. Some of my associates told me they’ve seen you on the street pushing a stroller. Just tell me the truth.”

“No, he’s not mine, for real, Anatoly. I just take him out sometimes cuz my sister needs somebody to watch him while she works. You sure you don’t have no phone girl job for her or nothin?”

“You know I don’t hire moms, Maya. I can’t have a mother living this kind of life. Having mothers do that kind of work drags the kids into it. It makes the kids fucked up.”

“You’re so moral, Anatoly,” Maya sneered, “You know, mothers need money too.”

“Well let her go be a school teacher or a secretary or something,” Anatoly replied dismissively, “Have her sue the daddy for child support. Where’s he at? Shit, I’ll help her find the mother fucker.”

“He was a john.”

“Well, she should have been more careful. Look, I’ll be in front The Sea Garden Restaurant in five minutes. Be there.” Click!

Maya leaned against the fridge and began picking at the cuticle on her left thumb. She had half a mind to call Anatoly back to tell him her sister hadn’t shown, but she knew that was a bad move. For one thing, she’d lose her job at the strip club and be blacklisted in the neighborhood. Everybody knew Anatoly. Even if she could scrounge up the money to pay the next month’s rent, the landlord wouldn’t accept it. On top of that, Maya didn’t want to stop working at the club. Working in the club was like a mini vacation for her. It gave her a chance to have all the champagne she could drink and all the coke she could snort, just like the high class models did. With the disco lights blinding her, the men whispering flattery in her ears, and the money filling her pockets, it was easy for Maya to forget she had a baby at home.

In that instant, counting the imaginary money on her pocket helped Maya forget that she had a responsibility to the sleeping child in front of her.

“I called Nora. I’ll call her again. She always checks her messages,” Maya rationalized, “Nora has keys to get in. She’ll be here in no time. The baby will sleep for at least another hour.”

The mental lie jumped into her mouth and out into the atmosphere, “Nora will be here in no time. The baby won’t even notice, he’ll sleep.” She let the ice slide over her fingers and into the sink. On tiptoe, she maneuvered around the playpen like a teenager sneaking out after their parents had forbidden it. She picked up the shabby sequined purse that looked like it was a designer brand under the club’s disco ball. Using all the grace she could muster, Maya eased the usually creaky door open a crack.

Click! The door latched behind her.

The baby only stirred.

***

Nora’s computer clock said 4:30 pm. “Geeze, Toshi’s late today,” Nora laughed to herself. The a sadder thought struck, “Maybe he’s not going to ask anymore.” Nora frowned inwardly. That would be just her luck. Right when she decided she would give it a try. Just then, the unmistakable muffled sounds of footsteps caressed Nora’s ears.

Toshi, Nora’s coworker made his way down the office hall towards Nora’s desk, shuffling his feet on the grey industrial grade carpeting. Nora stared at her computer, steadily typing and pretending she didn’t hear Toshi’s footfalls approaching.

“Um, hey,” Toshi smiled.

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“Nora, you know what’s going on.”

“Still trying to get me out for drinks?”

“Well, yeah.”

“After two months? I can’t believe the level of persistence.”

“Well, when I know what I want, I don’t settle for less.”

“That’s an admirable quality in a man. You know, for once I don’t have to babysit.”

“I think you’ve been making that whole babysitting thing up.”

Nora giggled, “No really. I wouldn’t lie to you. I’ve been wanting to go out with you for a while now. Today, I’m free. Let’s make the most of it.”

Toshi’s face registered shock, then happiness, “You’d like dinner too?”

“Yeah. I know a good Thai place around the corner. Listen, I’ll be done with my work in about fifteen minutes. Let’s meet in front of the building.”

“Alright,” Toshi walked away beaming at her, and she held his gaze, smiling until the end. She was glad to see him happy for once. Typically, he walked around the office looking frustrated. People in the office tried to down Toshi for being a foreigner, by discouraging him from speaking up at meetings because of his Japanese accent, but Nora knew they did that because they were scared of his intelligence.

To counter the office politics, Nora always tried tell him little jokes to cheer him up, offered him help with his projects. Not that he needed much help. Toshi was so attentive, diligent and reliable. If Toshi treats women like he treats his work, Nora thought, he is the kind of guy I want around when I’m not working.

Here was Nora’s chance to find out what kind of person Toshi really was. Five minutes was all Nora actually needed to finish up her work. Her secretarial position was a no brainer. She was just working the gig until she got done with law school. Nora used the remaining ten minutes to primp in the ladies room.

Downstairs, in front of the building, Toshi was waiting patiently. Shyly, he grasped Nora’s hand. In return, she tightened her grip and led him to the Thai restaurant. At the table, Nora kept smiling, even though they were talking about a whole bunch of nothing — who annoyed who at work, how Toshi was embarrassed for a coworker when they put their foot in their mouth. Toshi broke the conversation to say, “I love the way you look right now. You have a happy glow.”

“I’m just glad to have some time away from the office with you, that’s all. You know, we could hang out on Satur…” Nora’s phone vibrated in her pocket. “Who is this calling me now?” Nora pulled the phone out and looked at the number. It was Maya’s cell.

“Do you want to take that?” Toshi offered.

“No, I really don’t want to take it,” Nora said with a tinge of annoyance. Nora didn’t feel like getting wrapped up in another one of her sister’s drama sagas. Since they were teenagers, Maya had a way of stringing problems together and wearing them for the whole world to see, like a child making popcorn tinsel for the Christmas tree in front of the living room window. Whenever some guy would beat Maya up, Nora and their mother had been there to put ice on her face and kisses on her cheek. “Maya’s unlucky,” their mother used to confide in Nora, like Nora was a friend she had grown up with instead of her daughter, “Maya keeps meeting the wrong guys. I hope she finds a good one soon.” There used to be a tinge of pity in their mother’s voice.

In the past, Nora had joined their mother in the chorus of sympathy for Maya. But after years of seeing Maya continue to chase jerks and refuse honest jobs, Nora realized, Maya was not unlucky, she was throwing herself against the rocks. Now that their mother was dead and Nora was making something out of her life, she didn’t have time to play medic in an unbeatable war. That would just put her in the position to get battle scarred as well. Why didn’t Maya hire a baby sitter, she wanted to know. All that money Maya made at the club, where does it go? Nora knew it wasn’t being used on that rag-tag room that looked like it was furnished in the seventies. The sofa had a plastic sheath ,for goodness sake. Nora spent her own money on Dominic’s diapers. The sisters shopped together at Goodwill for his clothes and toys. It didn’t add up.

Especially since Anatoly and Maya had been spending more time together outside of the club. He had to be giving her money for her to give him any of her free time. That worried Nora. Maya had always managed to escape the guys before Anatoly, but this time she wasn’t so sure her sister would make it. All the girls who went around that creep thought they would be different, that they would be smart enough to outwit him, get what they could and leave. The girls who were really smart didn’t even cross paths with him. He was just a low rung goon for the real bosses. Once a girl started working for those guys, they couldn’t quit if they wanted to. Anatoly was just one of the millions of ways they enslaved women.

Toshi stared at Nora with a concerned expression, “You ok?”

“I’m sorry,” Nora giggled nervously, “Do I look like something is wrong?”

“You zoned out there for a minute. You sure you don’t need to take that call?”

“No. My sister called earlier, probably to wrangle me into babysitting again. I figure if I just ignore her, she’ll get the point.”

“And the point is?”

“I need to have some fun for once.”

“Well, we have all night to make sure you do that.”

***

Maya was right. The baby did sleep for about an hour — an hour and ten minutes to be precise. Dominic probably would have slept longer if a gunfight hadn’t broken out across the street from their building. The sound of the bullets pumping out of the gun didn’t sound like the pop! pop! pop! of a revolver. It was the tata!tata!tata! of an AK-47. Dominic’s instinct was to awaken, crying, to his aunt’s sympathetic face. This time when he awoke, all he saw through his watery eyes was the pressboard paneling of the walls.

Grasping the mesh walls of the playpen, Dominic pulled himself up to stand on his feet. Looking around, he realized no one else was in the room. This wasn’t the first time this had happened to him. On two of the occasions, he screamed louder and someone appeared from behind a door, out of nowhere, just like peek-a-boo. On the other seven, no one came. He raised his voice a few octaves but no one appeared.

Tata!Tata!Tata! Hollow tipped bullets ricocheted off the sides of the walls and through a window. Like termites, two ate their way through the cheap sheetrock walls, ripped the mesh of the playpen, and tore the back of the Dominic’s onesie.

Dominic shrieked as he lost his grasp on the wall of the playpen and fell backwards onto his blankets. The impact of the sudden fall pushed the breath from his lungs. He flailed his arms and legs, gasping. After hiccoughing a few times, his bronchioles opened up enough to allow him a moan then sobbing. Turning over onto his stomach, Dominic left thick smears of blood on the duck printed blankets. His little body quaked from incessant bawling, Dominic crawled a bit then collapsed onto the floor of the playpen. Dominic’s cries rang out like a police siren, filled the room, pierced the walls, traveled down the street and into the darkness of the night.

***

Nora cocked her head as if she could hear something under the loud music that played in the bar she and Toshi had gone to after the restaurant. Putting her drink back on the bar she said, “Something’s wrong. I can feel it.”

Toshi looked at her with concern. “What is it? Do you feel sick?”

“No, it’s not me. Something else. I just have this horrible feeling.”

“Maybe it has something to do with that call you ignored.”

“I hope not. I would feel so bad if it did.” Nora whipped out her phone, turned it back on and dialed her voice mail.

“You have two new messages,” the automated voice droned through the phone. Maya’s voice came through on the first message sounding nervous. “Nora, Anatoly is taking me out in an hour. Come watch the baby as soon as you get off from work.”

Demanding bitch, doesn’t even call Dominic by his name, Nora thought angrily. Then the next message came on.

Toshi watched as Nora’s face changed color from blood red to ash grey. “What is it?”

“My sister! She left my nephew in the house alone.”

“What?! How long ago?”

Nora babbled frantically, “About an hour and a half ago! I have to go check on him. I need a cab. It’ll take too long to get from here to Coney. You know how the trains are when everybody is leaving Midtown.”

“Of course. Let’s go.”

Toshi threw down some cash on the bar to cover the drinks and grabbed their coats with one deft motion. Clasping Nora’s hand in his, Toshi led her to the street. With his free hand, he hailed a cab. As Nora got in, she said, “Thank you. You don’t have to come. I’ll be ok.”

“Let me come with you,” Toshi said firmly, “I know we’re not close, and this is a family situation, but at least let me keep you company until your sister gets home.”

“Um. Ok,” Nora said, reluctantly.

As the cab sped towards Brooklyn, both Nora and Toshi retreated into silence. Toshi peered at Nora, who was gazing out of the window at the darkening city. Nora’s hand scratched at the car seat. Toshi put his hand over hers to quell her fidgeting.

Nora laughed softly, “I know I’m a mess.” Her eyes locked with his. The wan smile on Nora face melted into an anguished frown.

“You’re not crazy, you’re normal,” Toshi said, “If you weren’t worried, I’d be worried about you. Just try not to give yourself a heart attack. He was sleeping right? Then he must be still in the crib.”

“He sleeps in his playpen,” Nora chimed in. “He had a crib but one day I came over and it wasn’t there anymore…”

“Well then, he’s ok. Playpens keep babies safe. I’m sure he’ll be ok, locked inside.”

“Toshi, Coney Island isn’t exactly Pleasantville,” Nora took a deep breath to calm herself, “You’re probably right. At most, he’s just crying now. But I feel like he could be dead. I must be crazy.”

“It must be your feelings telling you something. If you’re just worried, at least your heart is in the right place. Maybe we should meditate, to send some good energy to your nephew.”

Nora guffawed, “I don’t believe in all that new age stuff.”

“It’s not new age. It’s old. Just like praying. Don’t you ever pray?”

“I used to, before my mom died.”

“Want to try it now?”

“Ok. It could make me feel better. It used to make me feel better sometimes.”

The cab hit a pothole, jarring them, giving them an excuse to take hold of one another. Eyes closed, currents and eddies of aura whirled and twinkled from their foreheads in the taxi driver’s rear view mirror. The driver recorded this phenomenon with a blink, then turned his attention back to the road.

The cab pulled up to the dark row house. One of the streetlights was half dim. A couple of guys sat on the porch of the neighboring house in dark shirts and thick leather jackets, even though the night air was dead still with the approaching summer humidity. The men didn’t speak to each other, just glanced at the streets and each other with coal dim eyes and mirthless lips. There was a porch light, but the men reclined on their lawn chairs in absolute darkness. Toshi looked apprehensive. “Yeah,” Nora whispered, “This is where she lives.”

Slowly, they stepped out of the cab, made their way up the sidewalk and opened the chain link fence. As they walked up the path to the back door, they averted their eyes from the glances of the men on the porch.

“Hey,” one of the men called gruffly.

Nora cringed at the man’s call. “Yeah?” she asked timidly.

“We heard a baby crying in there for a long time.”

“Oh my god,” Nora moaned dashing to the door.

Another one called behind her, “We tried calling the chick that lives there, but she didn’t answer. We left a message.”

Nora opened the door of the room, dashed in, and peered into the playpen. “Oh my god,” she cried, “He’s bleeding!”

Toshi reached into the playpen and picked the baby up. Toshi examined the baby’s back. “He lost some blood, but it doesn’t look that bad, like a bad scratch. But he’s in shock from the pain. He passed out. Call 911.” Toshi used a blanket to gently compress Dominic’s wounds while Nora dialed.

A voice came from the doorway behind them, “Oh shit. Oh shit.”

Nora and Toshi turned around to face Maya, “I can’t believe this shit. The guys next door left a message saying the baby was crying after a gunfight, but they didn’t say some bullets came into my room!” She gasped, “Oh shit. Oh shit, what is Anatoly gonna do when he hears I left this baby alone to work! He’s gonna fuckin…”

“Who cares what he’s gonna do!” Nora yelled, “I feel like I want to kill you! I can’t believe you left Dominic alone!”

“I left you a message! Your spoiled ass ignored me all day!” Nora blushed with guilt. Maya jabbed her fingers in Nora’s chest, “I knew it! I knew you were ignoring me! If you had answered the phone and come over here, none of this would have happened.”

“I will not let you blame this on me. It’s not my fault you were irresponsible!”

Maya’s face crumpled into tears. “What was I supposed to do? While you were out with your little boyfriend, I was I was…” Maya’s chest heaved, “You don’t understand Nora! You just think I can wave a magic wand or say a little prayer and things will magically change? Things aren’t like that for me! Bad shit like this is going to keep happening to me! This is just the beginning now that Anatoly is gonna know that baby is mine. Don’t you get it?” she shrieked. “Things have always been easy for you and hard for me! You always had good luck!”

The call of sirens got nearer. Maya backed out of the door, Nora following. Maya stared Nora in the eye and whispered, “Since you’re Little Miss Perfect and you know what to do, you take that baby. He’s your problem now.” Maya sniffled, turned, stumbled in her heels and dashed past the half dimmed streetlight into the oceanic darkness of the night.