Chapter 10: Rain, Part Two
Author's Notes: Buffy is very young and sometimes makes poor decisions, as she does in this chapter. I am not condoning or recommending her decisions, I am merely writing a fifteen year old mother's logic and inexperience.
Author's Note #2: Just for the record, from the earlier chapters, the waiting period for signing adoption papers in New York turns out to be...none. Pop the kid out, sign the papers, fine by New York. It's not that there's no rule at all, it's just that the law makes it variable to the situation with no guidance on it, which is practically the same thing as no rule in my opinion. That's not the usual, most states have a waiting period, and three days seems to be the most common, but still. I'm in California, so I used three days (our law), and originally I had Buffy starting in a different state so when I moved her to New York I forgot to check into that waiting period law there. Oh well, I tried. Sorry.
Once Buffy decided that she was not going to let any paranoia keep her from her rightful laundry privileges, she checked on Katie in the bedroom. Katie had just gone to sleep, and was good for a while, she decided. What could happen? She was in the same building, and it wouldn't be for that long. Katie'd be fine. Besides, if she took Katie she'd have to make several hard trips carrying the baskets and each time carry Katie too, and that was not the way to do this fast and quiet. No, better to leave Katie safely asleep in her new-used crib and do this fast on her own.
All the way down the flights of stairs, Buffy kept a careful eye out for Zack. The guy made her spooky-weird-vibe-meter go off the charts, and her main goal, besides clean laundry, was to do this without him ever knowing she slipped past him.
Down in the basement, she looked at the room a moment to assess whether she was indeed alone. All seemed clear, except for the noise of one dryer doing someone else's load. The basement laundry room was very old and dingy, with only some highly placed narrow windows 10 feet above, at about ground level. A single bulb tried to illuminate the shadowy room, and the cement floor and brick walls gave it a damp chill most days. The laundry room was not Buffy's favorite place to be, even on a good day with company she trusted.
Get in, get it done, and get out fast! she admonished herself.
As Buffy was loading two washers, she heard a
clang-clunk from the far side of the room, near the storage area. Her heart leapt into her throat as she spun around expecting danger and praying silently for help. That's when she saw him - an ugly old rat, scurrying from behind the far dryer and under the wire mesh fencing which 'protected' the stored items from those who might want to walk off with them. Buffy let out her breath and told her heart it could start beating again. She never, in her wildest dreams, thought that the sight of a big old ugly rat scurrying across a room she was actually in, would be a relief to her.
That says a lot about where I live now doesn't it? she frowned.
Her breathing under control again, Buffy turned back to loading her machines when she heard another noise, from the doorway. She froze, afraid to turn around again.
"Changed your mind, eh?" asked a deep scratchy baritone, a voice which belonged to none other than Zack himself.
Buffy thought her heart would stop beating right then and there. Steeling herself, she turned around to return the greeting, of sorts, from the man she had been trying to avoid all along. And here he was, a tool box in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Wonderful.
"Yeah, I decided the laundry couldn't wait after all." she smiled nervously.
Babies and animals smell fear. Do strange stalker guys smell fear too? God, I hope not. I must be sending off waves of stinky fear fumes right now..."Yeah? Huh." He just looked at her. She couldn't read anything in his expression, and that made her more nervous, if that were at all possible.
"Yeah." Buffy nodded briefly, trying to end the conversation before it started.
She turned quickly and began to put quarters into the machines. As she fished them out of her change purse she fumbled and dropped one. Unfortunately, she only had enough to do her loads, and needed that damn quarter. Bending down to peer between the two machines, Buffy could just see the coin about three inches beyond her reach. She tried to retrieve it but the machines were in the way.
"Need help?"
"Aiee!" Buffy straightened as she screeched in surprise. Zack was immediately behind her now, crowding her personal space and sending her heart into overdrive.
"Sorry." Zack offered, in a flat voice that Buffy could not interpret at all. But he didn't back up.
What's going on in his head? God, is he just strange or is he dangerous and why doesn't he back up and what is he thinking...oh god..."Let me," he pushed past her to the machines, leaned down and slightly lifted with one arm while he picked up the errant coin in the other. Standing, he offered her the quarter without saying a word. He also did not back up, and Buffy was getting more frightened by the second.
She took the coin, and uttered a subdued, "Uh, thanks...Thank you."
"Sure." Zack finally backed up and walked back to the broken dryer, fiddled with it for a few minutes, while neither of them spoke again. Buffy wanted to leave the room, but wasn't sure how to do that in a way that didn't broadcast her fears. Everything inside her was screaming that this man wasn't safe, but she had no proof and no factual cause for alarm. And he was her landlord's son. She didn't want to tip him off to her unease any more than she already had. If she showed her fear, he might be emboldened to do something to her.
Yeah, Buffy. And you're covering so well. I'm sure he doesn't suspect a thing.As she was thinking over her options, Zack packed up the tool box, stood up, and slowly stepped back over to her side of the room again, stopping about three feet in front of her. She tried to look as though she were reading the detergent bottle and didn't see him, even as she noticed, in her peripheral vision, that he seemed to be working his way into actually saying something to her. Just as she had decided that cowards lived to fear another day and she should get the hell out of there, another tenant came shuffling into the room.
Buffy had never been so glad to see someone in her life as she was at that moment. She looked to be sixty-ish, with a bad dye job on her thinning hair, wearing a red velveteen house dress complete with very large costume jewelry necklace, and pink terry cloth slippers. She appeared to be rather slovenly, with a cigarette perched on her lips and a scowl on her face. Buffy thought she was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She could've hugged her right there.
Zack turned to gaze expressionlessly at the intruder for a moment, considering, then decided to leave the laundry room. He stopped in the doorway with one last flat look at Buffy, then left in silence. Buffy was totally spooked and completely relieved.
The woman stared after Zack as he left, then turned, frowned, and looked hard at Buffy.
"Interestin' fella." Her voice had a deep and throaty timbre, probably from years of booze and cigarettes Buffy guessed.
"Yeah, he's different." Buffy smiled at her heretofore unseen neighbor.
"Gives me the heebie-jeebies."
Buffy nodded. "
Oh, yeah."
"You're new." The woman started to remove her laundry from the dryer which had stopped a short while earlier.
She wasn't sure what to say to this woman, she seemed very old and kind of irritable, and Buffy didn't have much to go on here as far as conversation went.
Irritable Woman looked Buffy up and down appraisingly. "Which one are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Which one? Screamin' Baby?, or Screamin' 'when-the-fuck-you-gettin'-a-job-you-shit!', or Screamin' 'Oh-god!-Desmond!-Oh,-you're-so-hard, give-it-to-me-yes-yes-yes!'" she mimicked the last one a little too well, then her bored yet irritated gaze settled back on Buffy.
Buffy raised her hand tentatively. "Uh, I would be Screaming Baby." Buffy blushed, "Can't say I've heard Screaming Desmond yet."
"You ain't missed nothin', let me tell you," Irritable Woman leaned toward Buffy conspiratorially, "Frankly, I think she's fakin' it. 'Course, it's been awhile, could be I don't remember right how that one is s'posed to finish." One of her eyebrows shot up, she pursed her lips and nodded sagely.
Buffy was thoroughly embarrassed by both the subject and the reenactment. "Yeah, well..."
"That makes you 3C then. With that Faith girl." Irritable Woman folded a few towels, then asked bluntly, "You two lovers?"
Buffy's eyes went wide as she quickly denied that rumor, "No! No, no not...that."
"Huh," she nodded. "Well, it's California, you never can tell." Bras and granny panties joined the towels. "So, you're not a couple. What are you that she'd take on some slip of a kid with a baby? She don't look like the motherin' helpful type, you don't mind me askin'."
Irritable Woman was nearly done folding her laundry. Buffy hoped she would leave soon - stay and keep her company - leave - stay --
Argh!!!"Faith is very nice and helpful." Buffy defended. "We're cousins. I moved from another state; she's just helping me out for a while." Buffy hopped on top of one of her washers.
"Huh. You don't say." Irritable Woman sloppily folded some sheets. "What's yer name, honey?"
"Buffy."
"Ah," she nodded knowingly. "Pros or strip?"
"Excuse me?"
"You're a workin' girl. A prostitute, a stripper....?"
"Why would you think...?"
"Buffy." she stated simply.
"Yeah...?"
"Well don't tell me your
ma gave you that name."
"Um, well, she
did." Buffy sat up straighter and narrowed her eyes.
Irritable Woman laughed at that. "Yer ma gave you a stripper name," she nodded, "I think I'd like your ma."
"No, no stripper name, just a name. There was that TV show in the sixties, the little girl was named Buffy. People keep telling me about that one. I know
she wasn't a stripper." Buffy was getting defensive. She was tired of people dissing her name.
"No. She died overdosed on drugs when she wasn't older'n you, by the looks of you. But, no, not a stripper," Irritable Woman pronounced her judgment.
The wind went out of her argument in defense of her name.
"Well, I was born with this name and I think it's a perfectly nice name."
"Huh." Irritable Woman nodded. "S'alright." She appraised Buffy, then asked suddenly. "What's the kid's name? She get a strip name too?"
"Katharine. A perfectly good name for a girl." she declared defensively, and muttered under her breath, "so is Buffy, but I guess there's no pleasing some people..."
"What's that?"
"Nothing. Just trying to remember my grocery list for later."
"Huh." Irritable Woman seemed doubtful. "Well, I'm all done here, so I'm goin' fer now. See you aroun'."
Irritable Woman had reached the doorway when Buffy suddenly remembered she didn't know Irritable Woman's name.
"Wait! I didn't get your name."
Irritable Woman stared at Buffy consideringly, then said "Angie." she paused a moment. "2B."
"Nice to meet you, Angie." she smiled.
"Yeah." Irritable Woman nodded once, then shuffled out the door and up the stairs.
Buffy sighed and looked at her watch.
Great neighbors you got here Faith. At least she got stalker guy to go away...Stay away...please stay away...please stay away...
~~~~~~
Laundry done, Buffy returned to her apartment and checked quickly on her daughter. It had occurred to her that she could've been attacked in that laundry room and no one would have known and her daughter would've awakened alone. She decided then and there that leaving Katie behind was not an option any longer. She regretted doing it and would not do it again.
Katie was still sleeping, thankfully, so Buffy folded her hastily basketed laundry and put it away. Afterwards, she pulled the old afghan around her shoulders and sat by the living room window to think and watch the rain falling on the grey concrete below.
The buddy system from now on, no exceptions.~~~~~
When Faith returned home with a bag of groceries she found Buffy still sitting at the window.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself." Faith called as she put the items away. Buffy was awful quiet, and sad. Faith wondered if something had happened, and decided if she didn't come out with it soon, she was going to ask.
Buffy remained silent, then without turning from the window stated, "If you ever see me walking around in a red velveteen house dress and pink slippers, just kill me quick."
Faith chuckled. "You met Angie."
"You could say that." Buffy turned around and watched Faith fold the grocery bag.
"She's a hoot." Faith walked over to her cousin. "Give me your hand."
"Why?"
"Just give it to me."
Buffy presented her right hand to Faith, who took it and turned it palm side up. She looked at it carefully, tracing a path along the creases she found.
"Nope," Faith pronounced. "No Angie in your future." She let the hand go. "You're safe."
Buffy gave a small smile.
"But just in case the worst does happen, how 'bout I just promise to buy you somethin' else to wear instead? Killin' you would be so messy. Hard to get the blood outta the carpet."
That earned a bigger smile. "Deal."
"There ya go."
Buffy got up to follow Faith into her room while the older girl prepared for her big date, and told her all about her meeting with Zack and Angie. They agreed that from then on they'd keep a sharp eye out for the strange young man.