Paul Melko - The Walls of the Universe

“I told you last week about this,” Casey said.

“I can’t work and watch Abby at the same time!”

“Working?” Casey said. “That implies you get paid for this.” She pointed at the thick binder of papers that represented the months-long arbitration.

A spike of anger surged through Prime. If he hadn’t been trying to hold on to the squirming baby, he would have stood up and shouted at Casey. Instead, he hissed, “Screw that! I expect you to support me. This represents our fortune!”

Casey laughed shortly. “Define ‘fortune.’ ”

“Millions!” Prime said. “You know what this could mean to us.”

“John, you stole the idea, got caught, and now you’re fighting for a scrap,” she said. “It’s not even worth your time.”

“This is my deal! This is my fortune!” Prime shouted. The baby’s lip jutted out and she let out a wail in unison with Prime.

Casey shook her head. “There’s bottles in the fridge and diapers under the bassinet.” She turned and headed for the door.

“How long are you going to be gone?”

Casey shrugged. “I dunno.”

“I need to know.”

“Lunch, then shopping,” she said. “I could be a couple hours. Before dinner.”

“You better be,” Prime said.

“And if not?” Casey let the door slam behind her.

Prime fumbled with the knob, trying to keep Abby on his shoulder at the same time. By the time he had the door open again, she was down the stairs and out the apartment building door.

From the front window, he watched her get into the Trans Am and back out of the driveway they shared with the other three tenants. His anger grew as he tried to shush the screaming baby. Why didn’t Casey understand? Why didn’t she help him? This was important. This was what made all the suffering worth it.

If he had the device…

The Trans Am sped down their street. Prime turned away, then turned back. He had caught an outline in a parked car on the street. The sole occupant looked at him, caught his eye, then pulled out of his spot and sped away in the same direction Casey had gone.

For a moment, Prime could have sworn it was Ted Carson in that car. He shook his head. His subconscious was playing tricks.

At six, Abby resting on his chest, he dialed his mother-in-law.

“Oh, Casey left two hours ago,” her mother said.

“Do you know where she went?” Prime asked. “I was expecting her.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Is that Abby I hear?”

“She’s asleep.”

“I was so sorry she didn’t bring her to lunch. A girls’ day out!”

Prime found himself gritting his teeth. “Yeah, too bad.”

“I’ll be over tomorrow. I bought a new outfit for Abby, and I want to see how it looks on her. She looks good in purple, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Prime said. “If you see Casey, have her call me, please.”

“I will. Bye-bye!”

Prime cradled the phone and craned his neck to look out the front window. The street was long in shadow, but there was no sign of Casey.

She had promised she would be back after lunch, and now it was dinnertime and he had gotten nothing done. It had been a mistake to settle with this Casey. There were better ones out there. Better universes. He should have taken his time and picked a better one. But the chance of finding a fucked-up universe or another one with castaways in it was too much. This universe had seemed close enough. And now he was shackled down with a baby and a dead-end job and lawsuits, while Johnny Farm Boy had the multiverse to explore. It wasn’t fair.

Prime thought he heard something at the door and jumped. Abby squeaked, then rooted around, mewing. He patted her back, not wanting her to wake back up, because he knew it would be a twenty-minute ordeal to get her asleep again.

He listened for the scratch of a key in the door. Nothing. Perhaps it was just the neighbors walking down the hallway.

The floorboards outside creaked. Probably just Mr. Williams walking past. Not Casey.

Damn it! Where was she?

Prime craned his neck around again, slowly so that Abby wouldn’t stir, and scanned the street. He heard an engine rev, but it was two streets over.

Something rattled outside the window. He jumped. Abby snorted, then sobbed, in her sleep.

Prime’s heart raced, and he could do nothing. He was helpless with the baby in his arms.

He rose, and gently lowered her onto the couch, wedging her into the corner of the ratty pillows. She could almost roll, but the couch was the best place for her; the crib was in their room. She stirred but didn’t wake.

He slipped into the open kitchenette area and pulled a knife from the drawer. Then he edged next to the window, peering out at the twilight.

He exhaled. There on the fire escape was a tabby cat, licking its crotch. He banged the window with his palm.

“Scat!”

It jumped, and ran.

Abby yowled, and Prime cursed himself.

He raced to the couch and lifted her into his arms. She squalled into his ear. Prime caught the heavy smell of feces. She’d pooped her drawers in her sleep. He turned around and inspected her butt. Brown stains around the edges of the diapers meant the poop had leaked out.

“Shit,” he muttered, looking around for the wipes. Diapers, wipes, and formula took the largest chunk of his paycheck right now. He hated using them.

Abby shrieked the entire time, from the moment he unsnapped her outfit to the moment he snapped it back on. Then she let out a huge sigh, as if being clean were all that mattered, and her cries disappeared.

“Great,” Prime muttered.

Keys rattled in the door. Casey, carrying bags in each hand, kicked it open. Most were from the food store, but one was from the bookstore: more mysteries. They didn’t have money for that!

“I’m back!” she called.

“Back late!” Prime shot back, before he could cut himself off. He didn’t want to sound so angry.

“So? I said I was going shopping.” Casey frowned a moment, then pushed the smile back on her face. “She was good for you, wasn’t she?”

Prime looked down at the baby who had been shrieking for ten minutes straight. Abby was batting at the string of his hooded sweatshirt.

“No, she wasn’t.”

Casey took Abby from him, cooing at her. “Daddy’s little girl was mean to Daddy? Was she? Was she?”

Prime groaned, looking through the bags for the receipt. He found it under a slab of pork. “We can’t afford this!” He held up a book. “How many more books did you buy?”

“They’re essentials,” Casey said, using the same voice she was using with Abby. “Meat and mysteries are essential.”

“Don’t talk to me that way!”

“You’ll startle the baby, John.”

Prime glared, then began pulling food from the bags, slamming items into the shelves.

“Jesus, John! Why are you so angry?”

“Because-Because you left me here with a screaming child all day!”

“She’s your daughter, John.”

“Sometimes, I just-”

“Want to leave? Chuck it all and run? Yeah, I know what you want to do. I know you think I tricked you or something. Well, it wasn’t my plan to be a pregnant teenager. I wanted to go to college. Well, we can’t just run from her. We’re here, and this is what we’re stuck with.”

“I know it! I know it! I chose this.”

“There was another option, besides marrying me and having this kid?” Now Casey was screaming too, and Abby was angrier than ever.

“No! That’s not what I meant!”

“What did you mean?”

“I-”

There was a thump, and Prime spun to look out onto the fire escape again.

“Someone’s at the door,” Casey said.

“Right,” Prime said. He peered out the window, but the escape was empty.