She watched the moon rise higher in the sky, and a great sorrow settled on her shoulders. It was unfair that the children should have to do without even the tiniest pleasures when Martin denied himself nothing.
She thought back on a time when the two of them sat on this same porch and remembered how he’d promised her the world. She’d never asked for the world. She’d asked only that he be a father to their children. A man who would see to it that his daughter had a ribbon for her hair and his sons wore shoes that fit.
A new anger rose inside of her. Before she’d held it back, believing it better for the children. It wasn’t better. Not for her; not for any of them. Martin had a responsibility and it was high time he lived up to it, regardless of how he felt about her having another child.
As the last stars faded from the sky, Eliza made her decision. She would go to Charleston while she still had money enough for train fare. She would stand face to face with Martin and demand that he provide for his family. And if he refused, she would follow him to the union hall and shame him in front of his friends.
Whatever she had to do, she would do.
——————
THREE DAYS LATER, CALDONIA WAS babysitting all eight children and Eliza was on the 7:15 train headed to Charleston. Martin never worked on Sunday, so chances were she’d find him at the apartment quite possibly still asleep. If she knocked on the door and he didn’t answer, she’d pound on it until he did. And if he had already gone out, she would sit on the front stoop and wait for him to return.
She’d thought of everything, including the possibility that he had another woman living with him. If that were the case, she was prepared to tell him he could do as he wanted as long as he made provisions for their children. The only thing she would not do is leave without some sort of satisfaction.
Anxious to save time, she took the trolley from the train station to Jackson Street and walked across to the apartment building. It had been four years since she’d last been there, and the building seemed different somehow. As she climbed the four flights of stairs she listened for the sound of something familiar, but there was only the tinny whine of a harmonica and a baby’s cry.
Standing in front of the door, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and knocked. Voices came from inside, and a woman hollered, “Just a moment.” It was as she’d thought; he had someone with him.
Eliza steeled herself for the confrontation. Right off she would tell the woman she’d not come to cause her grief, that her being there was about the children and nothing more.
Seconds later, the door swung open. “What you want?”
For a moment Eliza was too shocked to speak. There was indeed a woman, but she was smaller than a child with a hunched back and a topknot of cottony white hair.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Eliza said. “I’m looking for Martin Hobbs.”
The woman shrugged. “I no know.”
“Martin Hobbs,” Eliza repeated. “He lives here in this apartment.”
“He no live here.” The woman turned and called, “Berto, come.”
A man who was only marginally taller than the woman hobbled to the door. “What is it that you need?”
Eliza felt a rush of fear thicken in her throat. “I’m… I’m…looking for Martin Hobbs. He’s supposed to live here.”
The old man shook his head. “Not here. We been here a year. Maybe you got the wrong apartment?”
“Maybe,” Eliza said and turned away.
She tried to think.
Maybe he got a better apartment. Maybe he’s down the block or around the corner.
On the third-floor landing, she stopped and knocked on Gertrude Sloan’s door. Gertrude opened the door, and before Eliza could say anything she shook her head.
“You’re too late. He moved out.”
Her words hit Eliza like the sting of a hornet. “When did this happen? Was it recent? Did he say where he was going?”
Gertrude gave a cynical snort. “Me and him didn’t talk much. He didn’t like me any more than I did him.”
“Would he have told anyone else in the building? The landlord, maybe?”
Gertrude shook her head again. “I doubt it. He moved out owing rent.” She watched the way Eliza was leaning over on the door jam. “You okay? You look like you need to sit a