Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins (read any book .TXT) 📕

“You—” Josephine leaned her chest over the table toward Landon. “As her father, you’re not going to say anything?”

“He’s not family!” Maman yelled before Landon could open his mouth.

“He’s the stand-in father for your grandchild,” Josephine retorted.

“Blood is thicker than water,” Maman hissed.

Josephine buried her face in her hands and cried. Maman took off her glasses to clean the lenses before situating them back on the arch of her nose and loudly sighed with impatience. Landon placed his hands on the table to rise, intending to walk over to Josephine, but Maman said, “You stay right where you are. Now, Josephine, stop it, just stop it!” When Josephine continued to cry, Maman gripped the back of her daughter’s neck and Landon jumped in his seat at the sudden aggression. “Now you listen to me, you know the deal: Landon brings in the clients and we give them what they want. They leave and survive. Now, you got two hours. Get yourself together, and get that baby together too.”

Josephine’s cries quieted. “Two hours?”

“Yes. They are coming tonight. Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Landon, take her upstairs and make sure she fixes herself up.”

No sooner did Josephine make it to the top of the stairs than she flipped around to strike Landon in the face. But he grabbed her wrist midflight and inched her back into the bedroom so that he could close the door behind them for privacy. Josephine paced around the room as she kept an eye on Hallow, who was transfixed with a stuffed teddy bear in her bedside crib. Landon went through Josephine’s closet to pick out a dress and pair of shoes and laid them across the bed. When he was about to head to Hallow’s dresser, Josephine stood in front of it and said, “Don’t you dare.”

“Jo, please. Stop this.”

“No, Landon!” Josephine stomped her feet, and Hallow started to fuss. “Landon, she’s too young.”

“You heard what Maman said. This isn’t new.”

“And you just sit there and not even defend me?”

“What would’ve been the alternative? She fires me. I lose part of my income, and I don’t get to see you or Hallow again?”

“Who else is she going to get to help with all of this, Landon? We’re cooped up in here!”

“She has the records full of the names and contacts of all clients, you know that. She could easily call someone else up to do her bidding, and then what?”

Josephine plopped down on her bed and turned her back to Landon.

He sat down beside her and reached to touch her shoulder, but retracted his hand when she flinched. He continued, “They’re willing to pay two hundred thousand dollars, Josephine. Two hundred thousand. But they want to see it done in front of them. I get my twenty percent as usual. And then it’s done.”

Josephine looked back over her shoulder at him. “They practically foam at the mouth.” She put her head in her hands.

“Who?” Landon asked.

She looked at him again, disgust curling her lips. “White people. When they watch us slice up our bodies for them. I won’t have it for Hallow.”

“It’ll grow back, Josephine.”

“Wow. That’s probably the most heartless thing that you’ve ever said to me. It’s almost like Maman’s spirit possessed your body.”

“Come on, Josephine. You know this is a part of your family’s way. You know this.”

“Well, sometimes I don’t wanna be a part of it.”

Eric and Amelia Weber rang the doorbell at exactly seven p.m. sharp. They immediately rang again after the sound of the first ring tapered off. As soon as Landon opened the door, Amelia took ahold of Eric’s right arm and guided him into the foyer. Eric had an uneven gait and a large wound on the side of his temple. Amelia took off her wool hat to shake out her dirty blond hair then helped to remove her husband’s coat. She said, “Thank you so much for letting us in. We didn’t want to stand out there too long.”

“Too cold?” Landon asked as he took both of their jackets to hang on the coatrack.

“Too dangerous,” Eric answered, after which his wife cleared her throat and smoothed his forehead. “Sorry. I get these terrible migraines since the accident, so if I don’t talk as much as my wife, it’s because I’m collecting myself.”

“Not a problem,” Landon said.

“So, where is the baby?” Amelia asked.

“They’ll be down in a minute. Please let me escort you to the dining room. We’ve prepared some light refreshments for you both.”

“We can’t stay too long,” Amelia said as they walked down the corridor. “I want him to get a proper rest before the operation, and he’s not allowed to eat anything.” Moments later, after they sat down at the dining room table, she took a cracker with some cheese and crunched down hard on them. “Doctor’s orders. He’s gonna be put under.”

“I understand,” Landon said.

Maman was mixing lemonade with mint leaves in a tall glass pitcher. There was a charcuterie board along with a bowl of mixed berries. To its right, a utility knife—Dexter-Russell. Maman wore her emerald earrings, a tradition for whenever a new client arrived, and her best heels. The Webers looked Maman up and down several times as she took her place at the head of the table and smiled whenever she caught their stares.

“So how long have you been living here?” Amelia asked.

“Many years.”

“You ever thought about selling?” Amelia asked again.

“Heavens, no. We intend on staying right here.”

Amelia shrugged and looked around. “You could probably get a lot of bang for your buck. Though it might be better to wait too. If you hold out longer, I can see you getting at least three million for this.”

“Thank you for your suggestion,” Maman coolly replied.

Someone cleared their throat from the corner of the room, and everyone turned around to see who it was. Josephine stood in a dress and shoes that Landon did not pick out for her, Hallow in the onesie that