Motherhood Is Murder

?But you said Celia wasn?t on the cruise!? Paula said.

I swung the van door open and reflexively put the strap of the diaper bag on my shoulder. ?She wasn?t.?

?Then she couldn?t have slipped something in Helene?s drink if she wasn?t even there. And then what about poisoning herself? I mean, do you think that was a suicide attempt??

?No! Her dose wasn?t lethal. Galigani told me that??

Suddenly a hand reached into the van and gripped my hair. So fierce was the grip that it literally launched me out of my seat. My cell phone fell out of my hand. I gripped my bag to me and screamed, ?Paula! Call 9-1-1.?

A kick found its way to my ribs and I doubled over in excruciating pain.

Had she heard me?

Would Paula call 9-1-1 or would she think the call had simply dropped?

My assaulter screamed, ?What the hell do you think you?re doing parked in front of my center??

Celia!

Images of the riots on TV flashed in my mind. All of SFPD would be downtown. Was there anyone available to respond to a 9-1-1 call?

Celia?s knee crashed into my face and she seemed to be pushing me back or was I retreating?

Laurie?s face filled my mind and I swung the diaper bag as hard as I could into Celia?s side. She blocked my blow, grabbing the bag out of my hands and pushing me into the birthing center. I landed on the cool marble floor, out of breath and in pain. She threw the bag at me.

Kenny!

Kenny was on his way!

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Celia?s leg move back, gaining momentum for another kick. I rolled out of the way. Her miss only served to infuriate her further; she came at me and drew her leg back for another swipe. This time I was ready. As her leg swung forward, I grabbed it and pulled her off balance.

She struck the floor hard and I scrambled to my feet.

Could I make it out the door and back to the van?

Celia screamed and pushed herself up as I sprinted toward the door. She hurled herself at me, yelling obscenities.

When would Kenny be here?

Fifteen minutes at least. My cell phone was on the street. I had no backup. No weapon, no nothing.

Celia was punching at me and I was scrambling as best as I could to get out of her way.

?The cops are on their way,? I bluffed.

?Liar!? she screamed, knocking into me and throwing me off balance. ?You?re going to ruin everything!?

I fell to the floor. This time she came with me, landing on top of me hard and knocking the wind out of me.

She put her knee between my shoulder blades and pinned my arms behind my hand. ?You should have stayed out of it,? she said.

Adrenaline shot through me and suddenly I was so furious that I wrung my arms out of her grip and launched myself to my feet. She fell back, momentarily stunned.

Fury boiled up inside me and I flung myself down on her?wrestler style?screaming, ?You killed that woman in Miami and took her baby. You sold her baby! You killed her and sold her baby!?

Celia pushed at me repeatedly. ?Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!?

?That?s how you got the money for this remodel!?

She shoved me into the reception console. A packet that had been on top of the counter went flying. My eyes followed it as it landed on the floor. Patches. It was a bunch of medicine patches.

Her face contorted. ?And I?m going to kill you!? she spat. ?Just like I killed her!? She dove for the package.

The patches.

The drug had been on the nicotine patches. It had never been in a drink. Celia hadn?t needed to be present in order to poison Helene!

Animal instinct overtook me. I pressed against the counter and propelled myself forward through the air, landing on top of her. I pounded my fist into her face. Blood poured from her nose.

?You broke my nose!? she screamed.

My face was wet and I realized I was crying. ?You were following me the other day! Your yellow VW bug. You almost crashed into me!?

My hand stung and my body ached, but I wasn?t weeping from the physical pain. I was weeping for fear of my life and grief for the lives lost at the hands of this woman.

Celia twisted to the side and knocked me off her. She scrambled to reach the patches.

I reached the packet before her. ?You killed Helene with the patches and you tried to pin it on Bruce by poisoning yourself!?

She slammed her elbow into my side. The packet flew out of my hands as I tried to defend myself against