As they waited outside for someone to respond, Hallow peered up and wasn’t sure if they were going to a place of business or someone’s bedroom, because all she could see were blue curtains fluttering and a warm light glowing from somewhere inside.
As soon as the two women stepped into a large room, a eucalyptus scent entered Hallow’s nose and she could feel her entire body open up. Women’s magazines and an oil diffuser that gently exhaled warm, thick clouds in the air were placed on a table. There was a visibly pregnant woman lounging on a green velvet sofa with her feet hanging over its arm. A dark-skinned woman in a blue-and-white floor-length dress and whose hair was wrapped in a carnelian turban with matching lipstick came over to the seating area. Much to Hallow’s surprise, this woman did not tell the pregnant woman to get her feet down but rather fluffed the pillow behind her head and asked if she preferred her water sparkling or still and her tea iced or hot.
Once this dark-skinned woman caught sight of Helena, she did not hesitate to hug her, then cup her cheeks with her hands. Through their giddy reunion, Hallow picked up that the woman’s name was Odessa. Despite her youthful face, her commanding presence made Hallow think she carried herself as a woman twice her age. Then again, if she were not maternal, maybe she would not be working here.
“We’ve missed you already here, girl!” Odessa said to Helena. “Everybody misses your light and warmth.” Odessa’s chestnut eyes caught Hallow in her line of sight and she asked, “Is this Bianca?” Helena stood side by side with Odessa, and with her eyes stern and unyielding toward Hallow, she said, “Yes, this is she. She’s a little bit shy.” Hallow half smiled and stuck out her hand. “Oh, you don’t do hugs?”
“Hmm?” Hallow asked. “Oh. I’d love a hug.”
Odessa took Hallow’s hand and pulled her into her body. With her right hand, she rubbed Hallow’s back and greeted her with a honey-toned “Welcome.” It was the first time that Hallow had ever been hugged by someone other than Josephine. Entranced, Hallow forgot her reservations and struggled to pull away even when Odessa grabbed both of her arms to get a good look at her head-on.
“Let’s go over by the window, actually. Maya here is due in about three weeks, and she’s not feeling too good about heading down those stairs you came up. Let’s give her some space, hmm?” Odessa directed them toward the window and asked if either of them would like something to drink. Helena said she was fine without, but Hallow asked for tea because the odds of Odessa bringing the whole pot were high, and if she did, Hallow knew she could pour and pour if she didn’t have anything to say.
While Helena and Odessa caught up with each other for a few more minutes, Hallow looked over every corner of the place. Near the front door, there was a bulletin board cluttered with notices for rent-raising parties, school supply and food drives, marches and protests, city council and block association meetings, missing children. Only blue curtains divided one room from the next, and there were places to sit everywhere: small chairs, stools, ottomans.
“So, Bianca, what’s got you interested in becoming a doula?”
Anxious about Hallow’s response, Helena closed her eyes.
“I want to help women like us,” Hallow said. “There’s always work to be done, and I thought I could lend a helping hand. After a while, you have to step outside the classroom and throw yourself into real-world experiences, right?”
Helena smiled.
“And . . .” Hallow held her breath in and exhaled upon looking at the Angela Davis mural on the wall closest to her. “Asali Givens’s story, and the fact that I went to a town hall meeting not too long ago where she was brought up, amongst other things.”
“Was it the one at St. Philip’s?” Odessa asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, it was.”
“I helped organize that one! It was good, wasn’t it? Have you been to any others?”
“No.”
“Sometimes we hold some meetings here. It’s a really safe space, or at least we try to make it one. It’s been a bit crazy around here lately.”
“What’s going on?” Helena asked.
“Well, you remember all those police that day at St. Philip’s? They haven’t stopped coming around. They’re just trying to intimidate us, that’s all. Nothing our ancestors ain’t been through.”
Helena thought of the unmarked cars parked outside of the Melancon home, and her hands trembled.
“Anyway—” Odessa said. “Those are all good reasons. I’ve been working here for five years, and I love every bit of it. We usually have you shadow someone more experienced and then once you pass your certifications, you can start seeing clients. The other doulas aren’t in tonight, but if you come on the first Saturday of the month, you’ll meet them. Though you will meet the founder and CEO tonight. She’s just in the back meditating. She had to do a breech birth this morning, and it took a whole lot out of her.”
“Ooh,” Helena hissed. “How are the mother and baby doing?”
“Safe. Alive. Tired but alive.”
“Thank God,” Helena said.
“You know, Bianca, you’re really lucky to have Helena as a doula to bring you in here.”
Her eyes widening with curiosity, Hallow turned to Helena, who was now blushing from being put on the spot. “Really? Why is that?”
“Because she’s a gift. You wouldn’t believe how many women come in here thinking they want to do this, but when it gets tough, whether with their clients’ anxieties or doctors’ negligence, they bow out. But I knew from the moment Helena told me her reason for being here that she was different.”
“What reason was that?”
“We really don’t need to get into that,” Helena said as she waved her hand.
“No, no, don’t be embarrassed. It was quite sad but moving, actually. She wanted to give new mothers the tenderness that she never got from her own
