Always Us (The Jade Series #8) (36 page)

It’s a studio apartment so it’s just one room with a twin mattress on the floor and Caleb’s crib next to it. There isn’t room for any other furniture. There’s a tiny TV in the corner sitting on a yellow milk crate and a few boxes of clothes lined up against the wall.

I go over and look in the bathroom. There’s a toilet, a tiny sink, and a shower. It’s such a small space you can barely close the door.
 

“Jade, check this out.”

I walk out of the bathroom and see Garret in the kitchen. He’s at the sink and has the water turned on. Instead of being clear, the water is a yellowish-brown color. “I hope she doesn’t drink this shit or give it to Caleb.”

I meet him over there. “I don’t think she does.” I hold up a gallon jug of bottled water that was sitting on the floor. “But she has to shower in that water.”

There’s a rusty stove next to the sink but I doubt it works. An old microwave sits next to it on the counter.

“She can’t live here.” Garret shuts the water off.

“I know. It’s horrible, but where is she supposed to go?”

“We’ll get her a place. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just needs to be safe.”

“She won’t take our money.”

“Then we’ll give it to her anonymously.” He takes a few steps, which puts him in the living room. Yeah, it’s that small of a place.
 

“She’ll use the money for food and bottled water and diapers. She won’t use it for an apartment.”

“We’ll give her enough money so she can get that stuff
and
a new apartment.” He scans the walls and the wire hanging down from the ceiling. “This is fucked up. Nobody should live like this. Guys in prison live better than this. I’m going to find out who owns this building and report him. He’s gotta be breaking some kind of laws. You can’t even drink the water. And I’m sure there’s a law saying he has to fix shit like that.” He points to the hanging wire.

“How are we going to give her money without her knowing it’s from us?”

“I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.” He shakes his head. “Why the hell isn’t Alex letting her stay at his place?”

“Alex has tried to convince her to stay at his place but she won’t do it. She said she doesn’t want Alex thinking she’s trying to move in, or that she’s using him for a free place to stay.”

“No wonder you two are friends. She’s just as stubborn as you.” Garret goes to the window and tries to close it but it won’t shut. It’s broken. “Jade, you can’t even close this thing. Some guy could climb the fire escape and come right in through the window.”

“She doesn’t have anything to steal.”

“She’s got a baby. People want babies, Jade.”

A chill runs through me. “Don’t say stuff like that. Nobody’s taking Caleb.”

“It’s a shitty world. And bad guys have no problem stealing a baby and selling it to couples who desperately want one. And even if they leave Caleb alone, a guy could sneak in here at night and attack Sara. Rape her. Beat her up. Whatever.”

“What are we going to do?”

He rubs his jaw as he looks around the room. “They can stay at our place tonight.”

“We can’t get Caleb’s crib in our car.”

“We’ll go buy one of those portable ones.”

“Sara won’t agree to stay with us. You know she won’t. ”

“Then we’ll talk her into it. She won’t have to stay there for very long. We’ll find her a new apartment this week. We’ll put it in her name and pay for a few month’s rent so she can save up some money.”

“How are we going to explain that?”

“We’ll make up a fake foundation and tell her she was picked to receive assistance.”

“Do you think she’ll buy that?”

“She’s gonna have to because she’s not living here anymore. I had no idea she was living like this, did you?”

“If I did, I would’ve got her out of here. This is worse than my mom’s house. At least
there
we could drink the water. And we didn’t have mold growing everywhere. That black mold is really dangerous. It can make you sick, especially Caleb, since he’s so small.”

There’s noise in the hallway. People are stomping up the stairs, yelling at each other. Then a door slams as they go in the apartment next door. The walls are thin and we can hear them fighting. They’re cursing and screaming and then there’s a loud bang on the wall by Caleb’s crib. He instantly wakes up and starts crying as the neighbors continue to yell and curse and throw things at the wall.

“Shit.” Garret goes and picks up Caleb, holding him against his chest and covering his ears. He bounces him a little, which usually soothes him, but this time it doesn’t. The neighbors are too loud. “Do you think we can take him somewhere?”

“No. Sara will freak out if she gets home and we’re not here. Besides, I don’t want to walk around in this neighborhood, and we don’t have a car seat so we can’t drive anywhere.”

Garret glares at the wall that the neighbors keep banging on. “I need to go over there and tell them to shut the hell up.”

“No, don’t. They probably have a gun or a knife.”

“Can you grab his blanket?” Garret nods at the crib.

I pick up the blue blanket and hand it to him. He wraps it around Caleb, who’s dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

“His arms and legs are freezing,” Garret says. “It’s too cold in here for him. You know why? Because you can’t close the damn window.”

“Shh. Don’t swear in front of Caleb.”

“Trust me. He’s heard worse living next to those two.” He motions to the wall, where the F-bombs are flying as the neighbors continue to fight. “See if you can find Caleb some warmer clothes.”

I check the cardboard boxes along the wall. Inside one of them are some baby clothes. I take out a navy sweatshirt and some gray sweatpants and bring them over to Garret.

He kneels down and sets Caleb on the twin mattress. Caleb squirms and cries.

“I’m just going to change your clothes, okay?” Garret tickles him a little, trying to distract him from the noise. It works. Caleb stops crying and giggles and grabs his toes.

“Hey. I can’t put these pants on you if you do that.” Garret tickles him some more and Caleb giggles so much he drops his toes.

Garret tries to put the sweatpants on Caleb, but they’re too small. “Jade, can you find some other pants? He’s outgrown these.”

I go back to the box as Garret puts the sweatshirt on Caleb.

“I need a different sweatshirt, too. This one barely fits him.”

“He doesn’t have anything. The pants are all the same size as the ones I gave you. Same with the shirts. That’s probably why Sara’s got him in the clothes he’s wearing. They’re the only things that fit him.”

Garret picks Caleb up off the bed. “Guess we’re going shopping for baby clothes. How can she not have any clothes that fit him?”

“She doesn’t have money for clothes. Her car breaks down every week. She’s always paying to get that thing fixed. And then rent and food and day care.”

The fighting next door is getting even louder and making Caleb cry.

“It’s okay, buddy.” Garret holds Caleb against his chest, trying to soothe him. “I swear I’m going to kill those people.”

“I think they’re going to kill each other in a few minutes.”

A half hour later, Garret’s still trying to calm Caleb down. The neighbors are still loud, except now they’re having sex, so it’s a whole different kind of loud.

“Check your phone,” Garret says. “See if Sara left you any messages.”

I check, and see that she sent me a text. “She says she’ll be back in about 10 minutes. What are we going to do?”

“We’re telling her she’s staying at our place tonight.”

I agree with Garret, but I know Sara won’t go for it. She always thinks she’s in the way or bothering people. I used to think that way, too, and sometimes I still do. So I understand where she’s coming from, but she needs to accept our help because this involves her safety and Caleb’s safety. She can’t live here. It’s too dangerous. She’s just lucky nothing bad has happened yet. Or maybe it has and she didn’t tell me.

I smile as I watch Garret with Caleb. The way he’s holding him, talking to him, rubbing his back, trying to calm him down? It melts my heart. It’s not even his kid and yet he’s so sweet and caring with him.

Now I’m starting to think one kid isn’t enough. I might just have to have two with this man. And they’re going to be the luckiest kids in the world.

GARRET

I don’t usually get into other people’s business, but I feel I have to intervene when it comes to Sara’s living conditions. It’s not safe for her and Caleb to live this way. I know she likes to be independent and able to support herself, and I respect that, but there’s a point where you have to admit you need help. You can’t let your pride get in the way of your safety.

I hear someone trying to open the door so I go over and say, “Who is it?” because there isn’t even a peephole to check.

“It’s Sara. I’m having trouble with my key.”

I open the door, still holding Caleb. I finally calmed him down. The poor kid was scared to death when the neighbors got home and went fucking nuts. I don’t even want to know what was going on over there. They’ve quieted down now.

“How’d it go?” Sara sets her purse down on the kitchen counter. “I see Caleb woke up. Sorry about that. I was hoping he’d stay asleep. He wasn’t too much trouble, was he?”

I wish she wouldn’t say stuff like that. A baby isn’t trouble. Yeah, the crying sucked, but shit, if I were him, I’d cry to. He’s trying to sleep and all hell break’s loose next door. And then he wakes up and finds two strangers here instead of his mom. Plus, he’s freezing because he doesn’t have warm clothes that fit. Of course he’s going to cry.

“He wasn’t any trouble.” I hand him to Sara. “He’s a great kid.”

“How was the job interview?” Jade asks.

“It went really well. I think he’s going to offer me the job. Like I said, it’s just two days a week but it pays way more than I get now.” Sara bounces Caleb on her hip. “The guy said he’ll call me tomorrow and let me know if I got it. If so, I can start next week. And I can still work at the coffee shop. I’ll just have to change my schedule. Anyway, thanks again for watching Caleb. You guys can go. I’m sure you have to study.”

Jade looks at me. I guess she wants me to be the one to talk to Sara about this. How do I say it without hurting her feelings?

“Sara, we were thinking you should stay at our place tonight.”

She looks at Jade, then back at me. She knows what we think of her place and I can tell she’s embarrassed and ashamed. She doesn’t say anything but her eyes are watery like she’s about to cry. Shit. So much for not hurting her feelings.

I try to explain. “It’s just that we saw a cockroach and where there’s one there’s hundreds and Jade said you hate bugs.”

A little white lie never hurt anyone, right? And in this case, I’d say it’s justified.

“Yeah, I hate bugs,” Sara says. “Where did you see it?”

“Right over there.” I point to the corner by Caleb’s crib. “Your landlord will have to get an exterminator. But for now, you shouldn’t stay here.”

“That’s okay. I don’t want to inconvenience you guys. I’ll just stay awake all night and keep them away from Caleb.”

“You need your sleep,” I tell her. “You’ve gotta work tomorrow. You’re staying with us.”

She hesitates, so I say, “Pack up what you need. I’ll hold Caleb.” I use the take-charge tone I use with Jade and it works on Sara, too. She hands Caleb to me and goes to a box in the corner where she keeps her clothes.

Sara and Jade are both so stubborn about taking help from people that you can’t give them a choice. You just have to tell them you’re helping them, not ask if they want it.

“This is just for one night,” Sara says, holding her box of stuff as we go down the stairs. “I’ll meet you guys at your place.”

“We need to stop at the store first and get some stuff,” Jade says to Sara as we walk to Sara’s car. “We need to get a portable crib for Caleb to sleep in. Are you okay sleeping on the couch? If not, we could get a blow-up mattress, although our couch is probably more comfortable.”

“The couch is fine. And Caleb can just sleep with me.”

“He’s a big boy,” I say, handing him to her. “He can’t sleep with his mom. He needs room to stretch out. We’re getting him a crib.”

“Really, you don’t have to do that.” Sara puts Caleb in the car seat.

“Too late. We’re doing it. Just follow us.” I head to my car, which surprisingly hasn’t been vandalized or stolen by the guys who were checking it out when we pulled in.

“Do you think she’s mad at us?” Jade asks as we get in the car.

“She didn’t seem mad. She seemed relieved.”

“Yeah, she did.” Jade reaches over and holds my hand as I drive off. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I glance over and see her smiling at me.

“I think I’m going to have to add another kid to the one I already promised you.”

“Oh, yeah?” I give her hand a squeeze. “You sure you don’t want to think about that some more? You just doubled the number of kids we’re having.”

“I know, but one just doesn’t seem like enough.”

“Well, if we’re having two, we might as well have three. It’s just one more.”

She laughs. “Don’t push it.”

I don’t think Jade’s serious about having two kids. She’s just saying that because she saw me with Caleb. By tomorrow she’ll be back to wanting just one kid, which is fine. Like I said, one is better than none.

We stop at the store and I grab a cart and start tossing stuff in. Baby wipes, baby powder, baby shampoo.

“Garret, what are you doing?” Sara’s freaking out, as I knew she would. “I can’t afford all that.”

“You’re not paying for it. So load up.”

She grabs my arm. “No. I don’t want you guys buying me stuff. I have a job. I just don’t make enough to afford all this.” She picks up the baby shampoo. “And I never buy name brand. It costs way more than generic.”

I feel like I’m reliving scenes from when I met Jade last year. Jade’s standing there, not saying anything, but she’s smiling at me because this money argument is so familiar. It reminds me of the first day I spent with her. She got mad at me for buying her groceries and she insisted on only buying generic brands, just like Sara’s doing.