Providence Read Online Free Page B

the cigar between his teeth.
    “Thanks anyway,” I said. I got us away from that house as quick as I could.
    The further away from the center of town I walked, the bigger the houses and yards got. But they weren’t the only things getting bigger. I would be fine bunking out under the stars, but Baby Girl was a whole other story. I was running out of options, and my worries about the night expanded with every step.
    Baby Girl was waking up again, and I knew from my own brothers and sisters that it would only be a few minutes of time before she would start wailing to be fed. I reached into the carriage basket for the bottle of water and the formula mix. The water felt like it had been boiled for tea. I turned the corner and started searching for a solution to my newest problem. There was a group of children playing in their bathing suits on one of the lawns. The biggest one was holding a hose up in the air, producing a shower for the little ones to run through. I wondered how long it would take for one of them to run and tell their mama about us if I asked to fill Baby Girl’s bottle from their hose. I didn’t have a chance to weigh the odds. A woman opened the front door and yelled, “This is your last warning! I want you children in the house, changed into dry clothes, and ready to run errands in ten minutes.”
    The girl dropped the hose and chased the little ones inside. I knew it would be safer to wait until the family had gone off on their errands before touching their hose. Unfortunately, Baby Girl was starting to rumble like a volcano ready to blow and I knew we didn’t have the luxury of ten minutes to wait. I hurried up the block, pouring some of the hot water out as we went, and quickly grabbed the hose and started adding fresh water to the bottle. As soon as it was half full, I hightailed it back to the carriage and practically ran down the block.
    I turned the next corner, eager to get out of sight, in case someone had spotted me with the hose. I ended up on a street that finished with a circle. There was no way out but the way I’d come in. At the end of the road, three trees sharing one large trunk grew. I decided to hide behind it to feed the baby. This street was quiet, but I walked down the block trying to look like I belonged there. I settled behind the tree and hurried to mix the formula before Baby Girl started to cry. I sat and leaned against the trunk, positioning myself so I could peek between the trees without our being seen. Baby Girl was gulping that formula down so fast that I wondered how much of it was going to come right back up. I stopped to burp her and when I looked back out onto the street, I saw a mailman walking around the corner. I curled up tighter and checked to make sure the carriage was out of sight.
    I sat and watched as he strolled along poking letters in the boxes and slots. More precisely, I took notice of the houses where he didn’t stop. I held my breath as he came around the circle and didn’t breathe easy again until he moved on to another street. I changed Baby Girl’s diaper and rummaged through my bag for the candy bar and soda I had purchased earlier. The candy was a gooey blob and the soda was hotter than the baby bottle had been. I brushed off my backside and mustered up the courage to walk around the circle a couple of times. I wanted to get a better look at the houses that had gotten no mail. On my first time around, I looked for cars in the driveway or lights on in the house. Then I circled around again, listening for dogs and checking to see how close these houses were to their neighbors. I spotted a treehouse behind one of the houses. It might be hard to climb up there carrying the baby, but at least it would give us a roof over our heads.
    When Baby Girl started fussing again, I knew it was time to head back toward town. My belly was rumbling as loud as Baby Girl was crying, so we stopped in the Tick Tock Diner. A woman sitting at the counter elbowed the