Mashed potatoes, and purred peas and chicken. Young mother, Amber manages to gather tiny portions of all three foods into a tiny plastic spoon and places it near her baby girl’s mouth.
The child pulls its head back but focuses her eyes on her mom unsure of what’s in front of her.
“Open wide, Joy.” Amber says and separates her top lip from her bottom. “Aaah.”
The child repeats the actions of her mother and receives the food with a sour expression after swishing it around in her mouth. Amber laughs and uses the tip of her index finger to wipe away smeared peas at the corner of the baby girl’s mouth.
“Look.” She licks away the food from her finger. “It’s not so bad.”
Amber gathers another soup of food onto the spoon and hears the doorbell ring just before pressing the helping up to her baby’s lips. She calls out for her husband who is sitting in the living room watching the nighttime news broadcast and severs Joy the final helping of her meal.
“Honey.”
Amber snaps her head towards the voice of her husband, Clayton. He stands at the kitchen entry way with one eyebrow raised high on his forehead. His eyes are wide, and his peachy complexion has gone pale.
Feeling a wave of anxiety Amber asks, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s for you.” Clayton says and uses this thumb to point towards the front entrance.
“Three men in uniforms. They said it’s urgent that they speak to you.”
“Me?” Amber stands from the kitchen table and walks over to the sink. Her hands are trembling as she prepares a warm bottle for baby Joy and utilizes the time to allow her mind to run with frenzy on bad scenarios for the cause of the late-night visit. Men in uniforms could only mean two things. Someone has died, and they needed her to identity their body or her husband possibly committed a crime and the men, presuming to be investigators have come to ask her questions about his whereabouts on a certain day. As crazy at it may seem, it is the only reason for the suited visit. At least the only thing Amber’s mind could drum up.
