Reaper Unleashed (3 page)

She debated not bothering and allowing the woman to be robbed while she lay in a drunken stupor. It would serve her right, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Sarah wouldn’t let the hateful woman turn her into herself. She went back to the car, waking Josh to put him in his booster seat. He whined and fussed a bit and tried to wiggle away while she locked him into the seat, but after a slight scuffle, she was in the driver’s seat headed for the motel. 

An hour and a half later, Sarah was grateful when they were safely locked inside the room at the Weeks End motel. As she lay back on the bed with Josh asleep beside her in his playpen, she wondered what she was going to do with Josh when she had to work tomorrow before falling into an exhausted sleep of her own.

Sarah woke the next morning feeling a bit groggy. Rolling over, she looked at the window to see a single ray of sunshine was blazing through a small hole in the curtains. She sighed when her eyes met Josh’s. He was holding onto the side of his playpen with his thumb in his mouth and his blankie clutched tightly in his tiny fist. He smiled at her and she melted inside.  He really was a good baby.

She got out of bed, walking over to lift him into her arms, squeezing him to her. Last night she’d stopped for food at the small grocery on the way to the motel. She’d been so angry with Marta that she’d forgotten to grab the food she had already bought. She’d considered going back for it but decided against it. She didn’t want anything to do with Marta ever again.

“Are you hungry, baby?” she asked him.

“Appiesauce, Mama,” he said around his thumb.

Sarah smiled; her baby loved his applesauce. He’d eat it for every meal if she’d let him. She carried him into the small kitchenette reaching into the bags on the counter to get the applesauce. She set him at the table before grabbing his bib and putting it on him. He’d learned to feed himself almost a year ago but he was still messy. He normally got more on him than in him.

After pouring some applesauce into a bowl, she reached for a spoon before setting the bowl in front of him. Grabbing the spoon, he began eating. Sarah turned getting his sippy cup and the baby wipes from the duffle bag she’d packed last night. She started the coffee, and put two slices of bread into the toaster for herself. Sitting down, she laughed when Josh began making choo-choo noises as he brought the spoon to his mouth.

Looking at her with a face covered in his breakfast, he asked while holding his spoon out to her, “Mama want appiesauce?”

Sarah shook her head. She hated applesauce.

“No, baby, you eat your applesauce and then we have to go see if we can find a sitter for you. I have to work tonight.” His little face scrunched up as he looked at her. 

“Gama?” he asked looking distressed. Sarah felt awful because she’d left him with Marta.

“No, baby. You’re not going to stay with Grandma anymore,” Sarah told him, her heart aching for leaving him with Marta at all. A hour later she was putting Josh into his seat to go to the daycare she knew was down the street in an old church. Not much religion had survived the natural disaster that had destroyed half the world, and the church building had been converted into a daycare.

She needed to see how much it would cost for her to have Josh watched at night. They had a flyer in the lobby that she’d picked up last night. On it she’d read that they had evening hours up until eleven at night. She was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be able to afford to leave him there but she had to try. If that didn’t work, she had no idea what she was going to do.

As she stepped back from the car, a man wearing a sparkling sequined dress spoke to her. “Cute kid,” he said, walking by making a silly face at Josh, who laughed.

Sarah smiled “Thanks.” She got into the car a little unnerved by the man, who went into the room two doors down from theirs. She pulled away from the parking lot headed to the small daycare. Josh chattered in the back and Sarah smiled as he pointed out every tree. He was fascinated by them and Sarah had no idea why. She turned, parking near the door of the small daycare. Getting out, she looked around seeing a play area; it was small but the area was fenced. It had swings, a short slide, a sandbox, and a playhouse. The building was well maintained and there were four cars and a truck parked in the lot.

Sarah went around the car to get Josh out, grabbing her purse and his hand when she had him out of his car seat. Once inside the building, it took a second for her eyes to adjust to the dim interior. She walked up to the small counter where a smiling woman in her early twenties with twinkling blue eyes and a kind face sat.

“Hello, welcome to Sunnyside Daycare, may I help you?” she said while waving to Josh who seemed to be fascinated by the other children playing with a huge toy car race track.

“Hi, I saw your flyer and I came by to see how much it costs for the after hours service. I work at the diner till nine and wanted to know more about those services.”

“Certainly. There are three classes. The infant and toddlers is from three months to fifteen months. Then we have the fifteen month to three years and finally the three to four year olds class. They are…” the woman’s voice trailed off as she noticed that Josh was trying to get her attention.

She felt Josh tugging on her hand. Looking down at him, she noticed that he was suddenly doing the peepee dance.

“Potty, mama,” he said.

“Ummm.”

“You can take him in there. It’s great that he’s potty trained. That makes things so much easier.” The woman grinned at her and pointed to a door off to the left of the counter.

“Thanks,” Sarah said, taking Josh into the little bathroom and helping him. They were exiting the bathroom when he asked, “Play now?” He looked so hopeful that she felt her heart squeeze.

“No, sweetheart, not yet. We have to talk to the lady first.”

“Oh, it’s okay, he can play while we talk.”

“Okay, Josh, you can play,” she told him and he ran off towards the toy cars, sitting next to another boy who offered him a truck. A woman was watching over the kids as they played so Sarah turned her attention back to the blue-eyed woman in front of her.  

“I’m Nancy, by the way. I run things here. How old is he?” Nancy asked looking at her expectantly.

“Two. His name’s Josh and I’m Sarah.”

“Nice to meet you, Sarah. That’s such a good age. Our night services are forty credits a week. Unless you need more than four nights and then it’s five credits each extra night. We are closed on Sundays, but if you need services those nights we have a group of prescreened sitters that work for a fee. You’d work that out with them. We inspect their homes and get references before adding them to the list so you can be assured that they are safe.”

   Damn, Sarah thought, wondering what to do. She’d already spent a hundred credits on their lodgings for two weeks and the groceries. That left her with fifty credits for this week and next. When she got paid she might be able to pay to have them keep Josh but they weren’t going to be able to eat if she paid for it this week.

She’d have to see if she could find someone cheaper. It was too bad Kara, the stripper she’d had keeping Josh six weeks ago, had left the Weeks End while she was living with Marta. Kara had taken good care of Josh and she’d done it for free.  Josh had loved her and the only complaint that Sarah had was that Kara wasn’t always on time, which had caused problems with Hal at the diner because she’d been late a few times.

“Okay, well I want to check prices at a few more places. Can I get back to you next week?” Sarah asked, trying not to let her disappointment show on her face.

“Sure, but we’re the best prices in town. You’re welcome to check around. I make sure we keep the prices low so that working parents can afford to pay the fees.” Nancy gave her a bright smile. Sarah didn’t doubt that she was right. It was just that she couldn’t afford to pay them all her credits. Next week she’d have the funds she would need but she needed to find someone to take care of Josh for the next week.

“Could I see the list of sitters perhaps. I’d like to see if they are willing to do a one night sitting job,” Sarah asked, hoping someone on the list would be able to keep him for her.

Nancy’s face fell and she looked pained. “I’m very sorry. I can’t release the list to anyone who isn’t already a client. It’s not fair to the parents who are already with us. If you choose another daycare and still use our sitters, it could cause a conflict. Most of our sitters only take one child or two when they’re siblings and we need them available for our clients. I’m very sorry.”

“Oh, I understand.” Sarah said feeling her eyes tear up. She smiled with a false brightness she was sure Nancy didn’t buy for a second. “Well, I’ll let you know as soon as I check the prices.”

“Sure,” Nancy said, her eyes filled with sympathy. Sarah went to where Josh was playing. He was driving the truck the other boy had given him around the racetrack mat with the other boy following behind him with a dump truck.

“Josh, honey. We have to go.”

“Play?” Josh asked his eyes pleading.

“No, honey, we have to go check out another place. Come on, sweetie.” Josh looked mutinous for a moment before he handed the truck to the other boy. Sarah sighed; thank goodness he wasn’t tired or he would have fought her. She took his hand and began walking out of the daycare. Her eyes stung with the tears she hadn’t shed.

They were almost to the car when she heard a voice behind her. “Sarah, wait, Sarah.” Sarah turned seeing Nancy hurrying out behind her. She stopped, holding Josh’s hand as she turned. Nancy walked over to her.

“I know that this may be an erroneous assumption on my part, but I get the feeling that this is about credits. I can’t offer you services at a reduced rate or give you the list of sitters, but I can maybe help you.” Sarah felt her heart, which had been heavy in her chest a moment ago, pick up.

“I have a friend who I know is great with kids but not everyone is okay with his lifestyle. Most of the parents don’t want him anywhere near their kids but he might be able to help you. If you want, I can give you his number. He’s not…well, you’ll understand when you meet him,” Nancy said, holding out a piece of paper to her. Sarah reached out for it, looking up to meet Nancy’s eyes with her own.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Nancy nodded. “Good luck and let me know if things change. We’d be happy to have Josh here. He seems like a wonderful boy.” She waved to Josh and with a final smile she headed back into the daycare.

Sarah felt like the woman had handed her a diamond. She was so grateful that she felt slightly dizzy from it. Getting Josh into his seat, she pulled out her phone dialing the number Nancy had given her.

A male answered after four rings. “Hello.”

“Um, hi, my name’s Sarah and Nancy gave me your number. She said you may be able to help me. I have a childcare issue. Could we meet and discuss it possibly?” Sarah felt awkward and she stumbled over her words, unsure what to say or do.

“Sure, we can meet at my place if you want, that way you can inspect it.”

Sarah wasn’t sure about meeting him at his home, although she knew it was a good idea to look it over before agreeing to let him keep Josh. She just wasn’t sure about being alone with a strange man. Hesitating, she debated what to say. She didn’t know Nancy and even though she’d seemed nice, people sometimes surprised you. Deciding to take a chance, Sarah looked at Josh in the back seat and hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake.

“Okay, where do you live?” she asked.

“Do you know where the Weeks End motel is?” he asked, surprising her.

“Yes,” she replied.

“I’m in room 305. How long will it take you to get here?”

“About ten minutes.” Sarah was dumbfounded. She suddenly understood why Nancy had said that not everyone would be okay with his lifestyle. He was the man she’d seen at the hotel earlier today who’d made funny faces at Josh.

“Great, see you in a bit then,” he said before they hung up.

Sarah sat there for a moment looking out the window at the little daycare. She wasn’t too sure about this but he’d been recommended by someone who seemed very diligent in her endeavors to protect children.

Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, she started the car. She’d check it out; after all it was only for a week, right? The man had to be better than Marta. She’d be able to afford better daycare soon and it didn’t hurt to talk to him. This thought in mind, she headed towards the Weeks Ends.

When she arrived, she lifted Josh from his seat and carried him past their room to the door marked 305. She hesitated again before she knocked softly. Josh was playing with her hair and sucking his thumb where he rested on her shoulder. It was only a moment before the door was opened and the man who’d earlier been wearing a sequined dress stood in the doorway in a pair of sweats and a tee shirt.

“Hey, you live here, huh. That’ll be convenient,” he said, smiling. “I’m Derik.”

“Sarah,” she said, following him inside when he motioned her in.

He sat down on the bed and she looked around seeing that there was a playpen set up along the wall and inside was a bunch of toys.