- Are we awful people, Jack?
- Would you stop already?
- I want to. It’s just…. I know I’m supposed to be happy right now – it’s all we’ve ever wanted - but it’s eating me. Are we making the biggest mistake of our lives?
- For the hundredth time, no.
- But what if something goes wrong? What if we get caught?
- First of all, it’s not us that would get caught. No one can touch us.
- Yes, but what if they get caught?
- They won’t. They’ve been doing this long enough to know better.
- What if she remembers?
- Do you remember anything from when you were two?
- Yes. Yes, I do. I remember once I woke up and my mother was packing my stuff into a backpack and, and… she told me I was going over my grandma’s place with my cousins, and, and…. when we got there, we found out she was very sick, and…
- And six months after that your grandma died?
- Yes, how’d you know?
- You’ve told me this story before. Melinda, you were five at that time. Relax, okay? Please stop overthinking this. You want it, I want it, we’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time. After all, it was all your idea…
- Oh, don’t put this on me! It was mine as much as it was yours!
- Mind your tone. Okay, listen. You seriously need to relax. Plus, it’s already too late to change your mind. She’s on her way. Let me get you a glass of wine.
***
- Jack?
- Hm?
- What if she cries?
- What do you mean if she cries? Of course she’ll cry, she’s two. All kids cry.
- Yeah, but what if she won’t stop crying?
- And why would that be?
- Because she doesn’t know us, we’re not… we’re not her…
- Hey, hey, don’t get upset, okay? She might cry at first, but she’ll get used to us. She’s gonna love us so much.
- But how do you know?
- We’ll give her everything. More than anyone would’ve ever given her. That place she comes from, it’s a shithole.
- How do you know?
- They told me there were four kids in one apartment. What else could it be?
- Oh, that does sound terrible.
- And she’s the prettiest of all. In fact, she’s the most beautiful child of all they’ve shown to us.
- Yes, she’s so lovely. She looks like those Russian dolls with rosy cheeks and blond hair.
- Like a Belarusian doll, to be more accurate.
- Eh, potayto, potahto. What’s the difference anyways?
- Well, for one, Belarus is a different country.
- Oh, really? I’ve always thought it’s like, a big city in Russia…
- No, it’s a country. A very poor one, as a matter of fact. Everyone’s trying to get away from it.
- So, are you saying that, we’re actually doing her a favor?
- Of course we are. We’ll give her everything. She won’t have to share ever again. We’ve got her everything.
- She’ll love her room, won’t she?
- Of course she will. It looks like it was taken from the pages of a home design magazine.
- Who was gonna give her such room, huh? No one. No one would have given this lovely little girl what she deserves. Her parents probably don’t care about her, right?
- Well, we don’t know that, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is the little angel will arrive at our doorstep in less than 24 hours.
- If everything goes as planned.
- Everything will go as planned.
- How could you be so sure? How could you possibly be so sure about everything, Jack?
- Haven’t you had enough wine already?
- No, but Jack, for real. You don’t know those men. You haven’t even spoken with them directly.
- You know Roger is like my brother. He’d never let me down. If it wasn’t for those men him and Lila would’ve never had Faith. And now she’s their whole world.
- Just because everything went well with Faith doesn’t mean that something’s not gonna happen this time.
- Those men, as you call them, know what they’re doing. They’re the ones that got this British child to an Australian family despite the whole circus by her parents.
- You mean the one who was taken from her bed while on a family vacation in Spain?
- In Portugal.
- God, this story gives me the chills.
- Because they made it look that way. That’s what you get when you abandon your little children in a hotel room while in another country.
- Yeah, that was so negligent of them. We’ll never abandon our little girl. Never.
- Of course we won’t.
***
- 911, what’s your emergency?
- Oh hi, hm, I’ll be having a daughter.
- Miss, are you in labor?
- We’re taking this child, you know? She’ll be in my hands tomorrow and I don’t know what to do with her…
- Miss, are you about to give birth to your daughter now?
- Give birth? No, no. I’ve got my uterus removed.
- Miss, can you repeat your emergency again?
- I told you, I’m having a daughter tomorrow and I don’t know…
- Miss, are you or are you not in labor right now?
- This girl, she deserves so much better than what she has, you know… We’ll give her everything…
- Melinda, who are you talking to!? Hang up the phone right now!
- Jack, this lady asked if I was giving birth, can you believe her, Jack?
- Hang up the phone, Melinda!
- But Jack…
- Give me that! I said, give it to me! Yeah, like that. Okay, you’ve had enough, it’s time to go to bed.
- Jack, can I just ask you one more thing, Jack?
- Go ahead.
- How could some people have four children and others can’t have any? It’s just so damn unfair… Those people, they probably don’t even deserve them. I mean, how could you possibly give enough care and attention to your child if you have four of them? Those people, Jack, they must be awful people.
Please, read this:
This was Tsvetelina Ruseva’s graduation short story, published here exactly as submitted.