Someone shouted for the man to stop, to leave it alone now. Rose joined the group and yelled for the man to sweep the poor thing onto the tracks. But her voice was drowned out by the arriving train.
As the doors opened, Rose gently tilted the stroller back over the lip of the car’s floor and pushed to the other side, nestling it tight between the doors and the blue seat next to it. She used her foot to kick off the brake, leaned against the doors, and watched the man begin sweeping the dazed rat toward the platform’s edge, pushing it hard and fast. Whether he heard Rose or not, she thought, he was doing just as she’d suggested.
It was then the rat leaped up again, as if it had been playing possum, electrified and wild, running between legs and luggage and jumping between the subway doors just as they were closing, a dark blur flying at knee level across the car. Rose looked down just in time to see the rat’s tail disappear under the rain cover of the stroller, a dark shadow moving up and over Emma’s body toward her face, a wild spray of red splashing across the plastic bubble. Emma’s tiny pink-socked foot began to kick wildly, and Rose tore into the rain cover but could not puncture it, could not pull it off the stroller’s frame. She pitched the whole thing over on its side and went up under it with her hands and head disappearing in the same spot the tail had disappeared moments ago.
Under the cover it was hot and wet, so much hotter and wetter than the Brooklyn afternoon out of which she and Emma had stepped in search of some relief.
Human Milk for Human Babies
LINDSAY KING-MILLER
MESSAGE REQUEST
From: Zuzu Shaw
To: Cori Kennedy
Hi Cori, I saw your post on the Mother’s Milk forum about having oversupply and wanting to donate milk. I would love to take you up on your generous offer. I’d be happy to come by your house to pick it up.
If you respond to this message, Zuzu Shaw will be added to your list of contacts.
From: Cori Kennedy
To: Zuzu Shaw
Hi Zuzu! Wow, you responded to my post fast. Yes, I’d love to have you come pick up some milk and help me reclaim my freezer space, LOL! How old is your babe? Mine is starting to wean herself, but I have to keep pumping because every time I stop I get mastitis. UGH. We’re up on the north side by the lake, how about you? Want to bring your little one with you? Amelie and I could both use a playdate! We just moved here right before she was born and we haven’t really found our “people” yet.
From: Zuzu
To: Cori
I also live near the lake. How does 1 pm tomorrow sound? We don’t have many people either, although we’ve been in this area longer.
From: Cori
To: Zuzu
Awesome! Here’s my address: [open in map]
From: Zuzu
To: Cori
Thank you (and Amelie) for having me over today, and for sharing your milk. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring my little girl with me, but I hope we can meet up again soon. After all, she and Amelie are milk sisters now, so in a way, we’re all a family.
FRIEND REQUEST
To: Zuzu Shaw
Cori Kennedy has sent you a Friend Request. If you accept, you will be able to see and interact with each other’s Profile.
From: Cori
To: Zuzu
Hey! I added you hoping I could peek at cute baby pictures on your profile, but I guess you’re not as much of a paparazzi mama as me. Could you send me a pic of your little one, and remind me what her name is?
From: Zuzu
To: Cori
I worry about privacy with putting photos online. I have some on my phone but I lost my charger; I’ll text you after I get a new one. In the meantime, do you happen to have any more milk you can spare?
From: Cori
To: Zuzu
Absolutely! Wow, she went through that fast. Is she hitting a growth spurt? Amelie just had one a few weeks ago, and they’re right around the same age, aren’t they? It’s so wild how you wake up in the morning and they’re like six inches longer than you remember. We’re going to be out running errands today, so I can just bring a cooler by, since you’re in the neighborhood. Can you send me your address?
From: Zuzu
To: Cori
They just keep growing and growing. Always hungry. Don’t worry about dropping it off, I can pick it up another day.
From: Cori
To: Zuzu
It’s no trouble! I’m already out and I have the cooler in my backseat, so I should really get it to you before it gets too warm.
From: Zuzu
To: Cori
I live here: [open in map] Please don’t ring the doorbell, I don’t want anything to wake up.
From: Cori
To: Zuzu
Thanks for taking the milk off our hands, and I’m sorry for interrupting you in
