Christin

5:40pm—There we were. The four of us waiting at the table in Denny’s. Jen was a nervous wreck. She was fidgeting as she does when she is out of her comfort zone. She kept digging in her purse, looking for what, I don’t know. I don’t think she even knew. Then she was rearranging the silverware on the table. Even with Alphonso, T and I there for support, she still looked like she wanted to run out of there and never come back. Had it not been for the fact that she would finally be able to see her baby boy, I think that she would rather be anywhere, but there.

5:45pm—I tried to bring up the subject of work hoping it would take her mind of the clock and her eyes off the door. “So how do you like working in infants department rather than the front end?” She wasn’t biting. Nothing was going to distract her. Not me, not Alphonso and definitely not T.

5:50pm—Alphonso tried his best too. “Jen, you need to stop biting your nails. They look disgusting.” Still nothing from Jen. She just gave him that look. The “Not Now” look. I give him credit, at least he tried.

5:55pm—T even had his own attempt at comforting Jen. “It’s going to be fine. I’m here and he isn’t going to mess with you.” But that brought up a different issue. What if the ex saw T and decided not to let Jen see the baby? He was a jealous, controlling monster that kidnapped the baby in the first place, so if he knew Jen had a new boyfriend and was moving on, maybe he wouldn’t let her see Vinnie and maybe he would take the baby away forever. We couldn’t take that chance. It was a consensus amongst the four of us that T would wait in the bathroom.

6:00pm—It was just the three of us. All eyes were on the front door. Nobody said anything.

6:05pm—The doors opened to the restaurant. We all held our breath. Was it him? No, it was a couple with their kids.

6:08pm—Maybe he wasn’t coming. Maybe he decided he wasn’t going to let Jen see the baby. She would be crushed. More than crushed, she would be devastated. She hadn’t seen him in months and all she wanted to do was to hold her child. Her sweet little baby.

6:11pm—The door opened again. I wasn’t sure if it was him or not. A man was with a woman, carrying a baby in a baby seat. Was this the monster that I had been hearing about? Jen got up. It was him. Alphonso and I stayed seated. Jen pulled out some money from her coat pocket and handed it to the ex. “I have to run up to Wal-Mart real quick. I will be back in a few minutes” He handed Jen the baby in the baby seat and they left.

6:15pm—The first time I saw Vinnie, he was a quiet little baby with no hair. He had big brown eyes and chubby little cheeks. He was just a sweet, innocent baby.

6:20pm—T came out of the bathroom once the ex had left. Jen was making sure Vinnie was okay. Giving him the once over “mom look”. I can’t remember who suggested it first. Maybe it was all of us at once but we all had the same thought. We needed to leave. Jen had her baby and if we didn’t leave the abusive bastard would be back to get the baby. The sweet, little innocent baby. Jen’s baby. “Jen, we need to leave now” She hesitated. She was scared of what the ex what do. He knew where she worked. “You have the baby, we should go” Still, Jen looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Jen, if we don’t go with the baby, you may never see him again” That’s what did it. The thought of never seeing her child again.

6:28pm—Alphonso and I went out the door first. We wanted to make sure the ex was really gone and not playing games. No sight of the ex. “It clear. Let’s go”

6:30pm–We all ran out of Denny’s like we just robbed a bank. Jen with the baby in hand. Jen and T jumped in T’s car. Alphonso and I jumped in my car. We didn’t know if he was behind us. What if he was following us to the apartment? What would he do when he found out we left with the baby?

We would find out soon enough.