Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
Antonia’s Baby
1889 was a solemn year for dear Antonia Monroe. After the announcement of her
pregnancy, she was forced out of her mother’s home, her boyfriend of three years left her,
and her father passed away from terminal cancer. Her sister Fallon, whom she was quite
close to, moved out west, California or some other faraway place, to pursue an
entertainment career. Now, Miss Antonia lives in a small cottage on the outskirts of
Savannah, Georgia, all on her own, fending for herself as she waits for the day that she
gives birth to her beautiful child.
Today, December 23, Antonia began her regular Monday routine of traveling
from her small home into town to gather necessities that would last her for the next few
weeks. The task was increasingly difficult these past few months, as Antonia’s due date
came closer and closer and it showed. She was due any day now, and she knew that
meant she needed even more food to take care of her and her newborn. With no one
around to help her, she made her way to the closest grocery store, Garland’s.
“Mornin’, Mr. Garland,” Antonia said as she struggled into the store. Garland
greeted her and helped her inside.
“Toni, why you ‘round here when you’re like this?” Garland asked with a look of
concern. “You look like you can barely stand!”
“I know, I know. But I ain’t got no one else to help me, so I have no choice but to
do it myself,” replied Antonia.
“You know I told you that I could deliver your goods to you! You are one
stubborn youngin’,” Garland said.
Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
Antonia smiled a smile that showed she was tired of Garland’s reprimands.
Garland just shook his head and gathered whatever Antonia needed for her, while she sat
in a chair to recover.
Antonia’s mind stayed on her mother. The last time she spoke to Mrs. Paula
Monroe was over five months ago when she told her she was pregnant. Mrs. Monroe did
not take kindly to children out of wedlock, and told Antonia that she would either have to
get married now or leave her home. The issue was that Antonia’s ex-boyfriend, Henry
Williams, had already left her when she told him. Henry said he wasn’t ready for a child,
and left Savannah to avoid the embarrassment. Not even his mother knows what
happened to him.
Antonia saw Paula out and about from time to time when she was doing her
errands, but she refused to say one word to her. Paula made it clear that she didn’t want
anything to do with her now. Antonia respected her mother and her wishes, and didn’t
want any trouble.
“Toni!” Garland shouted.
“Oh! Sorry, Mr. Garland. I must’ve been daydreaming again,” she answered.
“It’s quite all right, youngin’,” said Garland. “Hey, you sure you want to head
back right now? If you need to rest some more, you can stop by my house up yonder. My
wife Carol can take care of you, no problem.”
“I’m fine,” Antonia said, shaking her head. She lifted herself off the chair with
Garland helping her up. “I’m fine, really. Thank you, though.”
Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
Garland stood back and watched as Antonia struggled her way out of the store and
attempted to make her way back home.
That evening, Antonia felt as tired as she had ever been. She threw her supplies
right on the floor as soon as she got home, and made a beeline for the bed. She lied down
for hours. A little after midnight, she felt an excruciating pain, and suspecting it was
finally time, made her way to the bathtub. After ten hours in labor, alone at her home,
Alexandra Rose Monroe was born.
“So precious,” Antonia whispered as the little girl slept.
The next morning, Christmas came and brought a light snowfall with it. Antonia
was resting in her bed with Alexandra fussing next to her, when a knock came on the
door. When no one answered, the knocking grew louder. Antonia shook awake and
covered Alexandra up in the bed while she went to answer the door.
“About time you answer!” Garland said with a smile. Carol Garland was next to
her and had presents for her and her child.
“George told me you were having a baby soon, child! So I thought I’d get you
some things for you and the baby! Merry Christmas!” Carol said.
“Y’all are too sweet! Come in, please! I have a surprise for you,” Antonia smiled
the brightest smile as she escorted the two towards her bedroom.
Antonia stopped and turned towards them, her smile still lighting up the room.
Garland and Carol’s smiles turned to looks of bewilderment. Antonia looked at their
faces and returned their confused expressions.
Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
“What? Don’t you see?” Antonia turned to look at Alexandra moving underneath
the covers. She drew the covers back and turned back to the older couple. “My darling
little girl was born yesterday! Isn’t she the most precious thing?”
Carol looked at Garland, who was still just as perplexed. “Girl, are you pullin’ our
leg? There ain’t nothing there,” Garland said after a couple moments.
“What are you talking about, Mr. Garland? My Alexandra Rose is right there,
clear as day,” Antonia looked back at Alexandra and picked her up. “See?”
“Oh my,” Carol muttered.
“Toni, stop this mess. We came here to celebrate Christmas with you, youngin’,”
said Garland.
“Mr. Garland, I’m not playing any tricks. I’m holding my baby! How can you
deny her like this?” Antonia asked.
“We only see sheets, darlin’,” Carol said. “Now, we know you can’t wait to have
your baby, but you don’t need to make up things. Aren’t you a little too old for this?”
Antonia walked up to Carol and gestured for her to hold Alexandra.
Garland pushed Antonia back. “That’s enough! Stop trying to make fools out of
us, girl! We came here to say Merry Christmas, not get played around like this! You
should be ashamed of yourself!” Garland yelled before he walked back towards the door.
“Mr. Garland, please! My baby is right here, in my arms! You can’t leave without
seeing her!” Antonia shouted. Carol’s expression towards Antonia mixed with fear and
sympathy. She said a slight prayer under her breath before she turned to follow her
husband.
Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
Antonia heard the door slam shut, and then looked back down at her baby girl.
Alexandra was fussing and squirming in her arms, just as any baby would.
“Why did they deny you? You look just as any other baby girl. Healthy and
normal. I just don’t understand,” Antonia said as she sat down on the bed.
She watched as her baby girl fought sleep. “The Garlands are old, so maybe their
eyesight just isn’t what it used to be. Maybe that’s it.”
She got up from the bed and looked out the window. The snow was still falling,
but didn’t stick. Without thinking too much, she grabbed her heaviest coat and boots after
wrapping Alexandra in layers of cloth. Closing the door behind her, she made her way
across town to Mrs. Monroe’s home.
She knocked on the door and no one answered. Maybe she went out to the church
house, she thought. After a second and third round of knocks, she finally heard footsteps
coming from inside.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Her mother shouted from inside. Antonia felt
Alexandra shifting around in her arms and wrapped her up tighter to shield her from the
bitter wind.
“Oh,” Paula said after opening the door. She wore her festive holiday church
outfit, along with her favorite Christmas-themed hat that she always wore during the
holidays. “Come, come in, child. It’s cold. Don’t let the cold come in.”
Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
Antonia walked inside and sat down in a chair in the kitchen. Paula gave her
daughter a stern looking once-over and finally noticed the many layers of cloth in her
arms.
“Do you want some water,” Paula asked, laying her hat down on the counter.
“No, ma’am,” said Antonia. “I just came to wish you a Merry Christmas is all. I
wish I had a present to give you.”
“Save that talk, girl,” Paula responded, pouring a glass of water for herself.
“Actually,” Antonia said. “I have something to show you, more precious than any
gift.”
Paula turned to her with a raised eyebrow and sipped her water. Antonia
unwrapped the cloth and showed the sleeping child to her mother.
“Cloth? What’s precious about that?” Paula responded with a perplexed
expression.
“It’s not the cloth, ma’am. My baby girl, Alexandra Rose. I finally had her
yesterday,” said Antonia.
Paula walked up to Antonia and snatched the cloth from her arms. Antonia
shrieked as Alexandra fell onto the floor and cried hysterically.
“Mama!” Antonia shouted, picking up Alexandra and calming her down.
“What the hell is wrong with you, girl? You come to my house talking about a
baby like this? This is just some cheap cloth you probably got at that run-down Garland’s
store!” Paula said.
Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
“Mama, this is my baby! How are you going to deny your own granddaughter?
You ought to be shamed of yourself!” Antonia exclaimed.
“Shamed? Girl, get the hell out of my damn house! Coming ‘round here thinking
you have a baby! You probably aborted it with your sinful self! Get out of here!” Paula
yelled, grabbing Antonia from the chair.
Antonia pulled her arm away and hurried out of the door.
“Don’t worry, child. I got you and that’s all I’ll ever need,” Antonia whispered to
Alexandra, as she trudged her way back to the cottage.
With tears in her eyes, she watched as her little girl slept. How come everyone
acts like they can’t see you, she thought. Antonia wiped her face with her handkerchief.
Ever since she got back from her mother’s house, she had a headache that got worse
every hour. She lied down with her daughter and hoped that she would stay asleep
through the night, so that she could sleep off the pain.
Throughout the next few days, Antonia’s health deteriorated. She moved slower
and her face was less bright. The headaches became frequent, and she even became
forgetful. Regardless, the young woman took care of her daughter, and took the trip to
Garland’s the following Monday despite what happened just days ago.
“Mornin’, Mr. Garland,” Antonia uttered, as she picked up her usual items. Mr.
Garland just nodded with a stern expression.
Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
“I hope I have enough for all this,” said Antonia, putting the large bag of items on
the counter.
Garland waved her off. “Just take it. I won’t make you pay.”
“Mr. Garland, you don’t have to do that. Treat me fair like all the other
customers,” Antonia remarked.
Garland hesitated. “Toni, I’m sorry for yellin’ at you the other day. It was
Christmas and I shouldn’t have done you like that. But why did you try to tell us that you
had your baby and you didn’t?” he asked.
“Mr. Garland, I wasn’t lying. You know I never do no mess like that. I want to
know why you, Carol, and my own mother are denying my daughter. Like you three are
in cahoots against me,” Antonia said, almost struggling to get the words out because of
her fatigue.
“We would never be in cahoots with your crazy mama, firstly,” Garland started.
“And second, we ain’t see no baby. How are you going to tell us what we saw? We ain’t
see nothing in that cloth.”
Antonia shook her head, grabbed her bag and walked out of the store.
The next day, New Year’s Eve, Antonia sat in a rocking chair as she rocked
Alexandra in her arms. A knock on the door awoke her from her daydreaming, and she
hustled to the door to answer.
“Hello, is this the home of Miss Antonia Monroe?” asked a man that looked like a
doctor with a nurse standing off to the side.
Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
“Y-yes,” Antonia replied, letting the two in.
“We know this might be strange, us coming to your house like this, Miss
Monroe,” the nurse said. “Your mother asked us to see you.”
“What? Why?” asked Antonia, sitting back in the rocking chair.
“She just wanted us to check on you to see if you were okay. She said she was
worried about you,” the doctor responded.
“Like hell she’s worried,” Antonia muttered.
The doctor and nurse looked at each other for a split second before noticing the
cloth that Mrs. Monroe told them about. “Excuse me, but what’s in all those layers of
cloth, ma’am?” the nurse asked.
“My baby girl,” replied Antonia before showing Alexandra to them.
The nurse looked back at the doctor again with a confused look. “Right, what a
precious girl she is. Her name?”
“Alexandra Rose Monroe. At least you don’t deny her like my own friends and
family,” Antonia mumbled, continuing to rock in attempt to get Alexandra to fall asleep.
The doctor wrote down things on a pad as the nurse continued to talk to her.
“Miss Monroe, when did you have Alexandra? She’s a gorgeous baby.”
“Christmas Eve,” Antonia answered. “Listen, I don’t know why y’all are here, but
you’re making me nervous and you’re disturbing my girl from her sleep. She needs to
nap around this time.”
“I promise you we won’t be long,” the doctor said. “We just want to be sure that
you and your child are healthy.”
Chris Lewis
English 307
January 30, 2014
“We’re fine. Now leave this house, and tell my no good mother to stay out of my
business,” Antonia said, straining her voice to a yell.
The doctor nodded and the two of them got up to leave. “Have a good day, Miss
Monroe.”
Antonia got up to shut the door behind them and walked back to the bed. Her
body was feeling more tired than it ever had, even more than before giving birth. She lied
down on the bed, Alexandra nodding off right next to her.
“Well? Isn’t she insane? Tell me what she said!” Paula exclaimed to the doctors
when they came outside.
“You were right,” the nurse said. “She really believes she had a child. She was
able to give a name, date and time of birth, everything. It’s strange.”
“She sounded sincere as well, it’s hard to say she was lying, even though we both
didn’t see a thing,” the doctor explained.
“Let me go inside and tell this girl she needs help. She is full of sin and needs to
turn her life around. I’ll be right back with her right away,” said Paula, barging into the
cottage.
She walked through to the bedroom and saw Antonia lying dead on the bed, and
little Alexandra Rose crying from her disturbed slumber.