Leopard's Baby

Wearing a backpack, Tammy walked from the bus station to the Brown campus. She’d driven from Jeremy’s place to Philadelphia, where she parked his car in a parking garage just inside city limits. She walked two miles into the center of the city, abandoning the car. She hoped it would eventually be traced back to Jeremy and he could reclaim it. She stayed two days in a low-class hotel before taking a train to Boston. Nobody paid any attention to her. From Boston she took a bus to Providence.

She consulted a campus map, located Karla’s dorm, and entered with a group of students. Nobody questioned whether she had a right to be there. She ascended to the third floor and knocked on Karla’s door. No answer. There was a lounge down the hall from which it was possible to view the door to Karla’s room. Tammy settled in the lounge. There was a math book on a table. She picked up the book and leafed through it. A student saw her with the book and asked her for help on a calculus problem, which she provided.

Close to two hours later Karla appeared with two other students, one male and one female. They spoke animatedly for a few minutes. Karla punched the male lightly on the arm, they all laughed, and Karla entered her room. Tammy put the book back where she’d found it, walked to the door, and knocked.

Karla opened the door with a grin on face and said, “Did you forget… Oh my God! Tammy! Is it really you? Come in! Come in!”

Tammy entered. Karla closed the door and stood with her back to it. Neither said anything for a full minute. Then Karla rushed to Tammy, hugged her tightly, and said, “I can’t believe you’re here. I almost didn’t recognize you. You look completely different. They’re saying the most awful things about you on television. I was afraid…” Karla started to cry.

“I need your help, Karla,” Tammy said as she patted her friend on the back and handed her a tissue.

“Whatever you need,” Karla said. She began to speak very rapidly. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead. Do you need money or something to get away? I bet I can talk my father into helping you. I know I can help you with your disguise so nobody will be able to recognize you. You have contacts in Israel don’t you? You could go there and stay for years. Everyone would forget about you, and you could come back. We can…”

“Slow down, Karla,” Tammy said brusquely. “I’m not hiding out in Israel or any other place. I’m going after my son. I need to know where he is. Your mother took him somewhere. Tell me where.”

“My mother has legal custody. Even if you were able to get him away from her, you’d be on the run. Do you think that’s the best environment for him? Let me work on her for you. In a couple of years I bet I could get her to allow you to see him…”

“Karla be quiet and listen to me,” Tammy said, speaking sharply as she put her right forefinger on Karla’s lips. “Your mother is a first-class bitch. You know it. I know it. She blames me for your brother’s death. She hates me and there’s no way you or anyone else could convince her to allow me access to my own child. Even if you could, which I doubt, it would, at best, be fleeting. She’d still be his primary caregiver, implanting her warped set of values on him. He wouldn’t know who I was and would be afraid of me.”

“He would know!” Karla claimed. She took out her phone and displayed a picture of Tammy. “Whenever I see him, provided my mother’s not around, I show him your picture and tell him you’re his mommy and you love him.”

“I thank you for that, but it’s not enough.”

“But the courts…”

“Don’t tell me about the fucked up courts!” Tammy exclaimed. She extended her lower jaw and bared her teeth in anger. Karla staggered back as her eyes opened wide in fear. Tammy took a deep breath to calm herself and continued, “You know me better than anyone outside my immediate family. You know there’s no way in hell I’d sign a document surrendering custody of Brendan. Your mother, or more likely Covington, got someone to forge those documents. I admit it’s partially my fault. I was stupid. I didn’t think even she would stoop so low as to do something blatantly illegal. I overreacted and that was the start of my legal problems. Other than threatening her I did nothing wrong. Maybe I deserved a slap on the wrist. I did nothing to warrant sixteen months in prison. I’m sure she’s used her money to exacerbate my problems to the point where I’m labeled a dangerous psychopath who needs to be institutionalized. I’m not a psychopath, but I am dangerous. A fact she’s going to learn.”

Karla started to cry in earnest. Through her tears she said, “Tammy I love you like a sister, really I do. I know what my mother has done is reprehensible. But she is my mother. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”

“I’ll make a deal with you Karla,” Tammy said after a brief hesitation. “Tell me where she’s taken Brendan and I’ll make every effort to avoid harming her in the process of getting my son back. Don’t tell me and all bets are off. Sooner or later I’ll learn where they are, and when I do, well… you can figure it out.”

“Aspen, Colorado,” Karla said. “Near it anyway. I’ll write the address for you.”

Karla handed Tammy a slip of paper just as the door opened and a short, plump, blonde came in. Her brow furrowed as she glanced from Karla’s tear streaked face to Tammy, and back again.

“Who are you?” the blonde asked. “Why is my roommate crying?”

“I’m Maggie,” Tammy said. “Karla and I are old friends.”

“Again, why is she crying!” the blonde demanded.

“It’s okay, Bobbi,” Karla said. “T-t… Maggie reminded me of something bad in our past, and I started to cry. I’m about to get my period. I guess I’m overly emotional.”

“Thanks for helping me, Karla,” Tammy said. She opened the door and started to leave. Just before it closed behind her, she added, “Nice meeting you, Bobbi.”

The door opened behind Tammy. Karla rushed out and called, “Maggie, wait.” She handed Tammy an envelope and said, “Here’s three hundred dollars. It’s all I have with me.”

“I don’t need your money Karla. You gave me what I need.”

“You can never have too much money. Please take it. Please. It would make me feet better.”

Tammy took the envelope, stuffed it into her backpack, thanked Karla, hugged her, and kissed her on the forehead. She could see Bobbi standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, eyes narrowed as she stared suspiciously.

***

Clarabelle was lying on her cat-bed gazing at Megan and Nathan, Megan’s husband, who were finishing an early dinner. Suddenly she jumped to her feet, arched her back, laid her ears back, and hissed loudly. The fur on her back and tail stood straight up.

“What’s with her?” Nathan asked.

There was a knock on their apartment door. “I bet I know,” Megan said with a chuckle. She opened the door without looking through the peephole first. Olivia entered. She and Megan hugged. The cat howled and darted toward the bedrooms.

“Hi Nathan,” Olivia said. “I haven’t seen you since your wedding. It’s been close to a year. How’s married life treating you?”

“Just great! Better than I imagined. My male colleagues are envious in the extreme.” He laughed. “Olivia, how are you doing? We’re just about done with dinner and are going to have coffee and dessert. Can we get you something?”

“Coffee would be nice,” Olivia said. “I ate before I got here.”

“It’s not just his male colleagues,” Megan said as she began to prepare the coffee. “Three women, who wouldn’t give him the time of day before we got married, have propositioned him. I guess they figured if I went for him he must be something special, and they wanted to try him out.”

“I told them they can’t compete with Megan,” Nathan said. He cleared the dinner dishes from the table and put his arm affectionately around his wife. “By the way, did you put some kind of spell on our cat? I’ve never seen her act like that.”

“Animals don’t like me,” Olivia replied. “Dogs, cats, they all act like that when I’m around. She’ll be fine when I leave.”

“That’s weird,” Nathan said. He cocked his head to the side, furrowed his brow, and turned to Megan. “I thought you told me you had cats around.”

“It’s… complicated,” Megan said. “Our family is… unusual. There are some things I can’t tell you. Not yet anyway.” Megan glanced at Olivia who gave a barely perceptible negative shake of her head.

“Is it related to your stepsister?” Nathan asked.

“To some extent, yes,” Megan said. “It has nothing to do with the two of us.”

“Now you’ve aroused my curiosity,” Nathan said. “I hope to be let in on the secret soon. Olivia, I’m glad to see you. I doubt, however, you came from the DC area to Chicago just to say hello.”

“You’re right,” Olivia said. She added milk and sweetener to her coffee and took a sip. Then she handed Megan an Illinois drivers license with Megan’s picture on it, but the name was Judy Felson. “Nathan, I’m about to tell Megan something which, if you know about it, may make you an accessory to a crime. If that will make you uncomfortable I suggest you go to another room or take a walk or whatever.”

“Will Megan also be at risk?” Nathan asked.

“Yes,” Megan and Olivia replied simultaneously.

“Where she goes I go,” Nathan said. “And it’s obvious I have to keep this strictly confidential.”

“Once you’re in, you can’t get out,” Olivia warned. Nathan made a gesture indicating he understood. Olivia gave him a hard stare before continuing. “First of all, nobody knows I’m here. I made sure of that. If anybody asks, you never saw me. If you’ve been watching the news, you know Tammy escaped custody. She’s on her way here. I made arrangements for her to get money and ID in the same name as on the license, but other than that she’ll have to manage on her own. What I would like you to do is buy a second-hand car in the name Judy Felson. Make it an older one so it doesn’t have a built-in GPS or a tracker. I’ve set up a bank account with $10,000 in it in the name Judy Felson. Have the car checked over by a mechanic you can trust. I’m sure if you ask around you can find somebody. There should be enough money to cover insurance as well. If not give me a call, but don’t be too specific. If there’s money left after the car and insurance are taken care of, close the account and give the money to Tammy.”

Olivia gave Megan a checkbook and a kit which Tammy could use to alter her disguise. She kissed Megan and Nathan, drained her coffee cup, and left.

Nathan took Megan in his arms and kissed her deeply. “Being married to you is even more exciting than I imagined. When do you think you can let me in on this family secret about cats?”

“I’ll tell you what,” Megan said. “I’ll ask Tammy. If she says it’s okay, I’ll tell you.”

***

It was growing dark when Tammy took a bus to New York City. As she walked down the aisle to her seat she saw man reading a copy of the New York Post. Her picture was displayed prominently on the lower right corner of the front page. She realized that even with her disguise anyone who examined her closely might recognize her, including Karla’s roommate. She thought she was probably safe on the bus. The light was dim and she was wearing a baseball cap with the brim pulled down obscuring her features. She had to be careful about being out in daylight.

Once she arrived at Port Authority, she bought cotton swabs to put in her mouth and make her face broader. She bought a bus ticket to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. She wanted to nap on the bus, but didn’t want to let her guard down.

When the bus arrived, she walked to a truck-stop in the city and managed to bum a ride westward. It was after midnight when the driver said he had to stop. He offered to share the bed in his truck cab with her, no strings attached, but even though she was exhausted, she turned him down with thanks.

To avoid being recognized, she figured she had to stay away from well-lit, crowded places. She realized it would take longer, but thought her best option was to hitchhike on back roads, never going too long with any one person.

After a couple of hours walking westward on a little used road, she went into the woods. It was chilly. She took off her clothes and wig and stuffed them into her backpack. She climbed a tree, hung the backpack from a branch, and changed. The leopard sprawled on a branch and went to sleep.