Unwind

They slip in after the first period bell rings and Co

They stay together yet alone, each in their own stall. Mercifully, the bathroom door squeals like a pig whenever it's opened, so they have warning when anyone comes in. There are a few girls at the begi

"We won't make it in here until lunch," Risa a

"You'd be surprised how long you can hide in a bathroom."

'You mean you've done this often?" asks Lev, in the stall to his right.

Co

The bathroom door squeals. They fall silent. Dull, rapid footsteps—it's a student in sneakers. Lev and Co

After the bathroom door squeaks closed, the baby coughs. Co

"By the way," says Risa, "it is a girl."

Co

"It was because of what the kid said," Co

"What?"

"Back at that house—the fat kid at the door. He said they'd been storked again."

"So what?" says Risa. "Lots of people get storked more than once."

Then, from his other side, Co

Co

Clearly offended, Lev says, "Tithing's in the Bible; you're supposed to give 10 percent of everything. And storking's in the Bible too."

"No, it isn't!"

"Moses," says Lev. "Moses was put in a basket in the Nile and was found by Pharaoh's daughter. He was the first storked baby, and look what happened to him!"

"Yeah," says Co

"Will you keep your voices down?" says Risa. "People could hear you in the hall, and anyway, you might wake Didi."

Co

"Big deal," says Risa.

"No, this was a big deal. For a whole lot of reasons. See, there were already two natural kids in the family. My parents weren't pla

"Do I want to hear this?" Risa asks.

"Probably not." But Co

"That's illegal," a

"Yeah, but my parents figured, who's go

As Co

"Things go on like it never happened. Everything was quiet for a while, and then two weeks later, I open the door, and there on that stupid welcome mat, is another baby in a basket . . . and I remember ... I remember I almost laughed. Can you believe it? I thought it was fu

"Oh, no!" says Risa, figuring it out even before Co

"It's the same baby!" Co

The bathroom door squeals, and Co

"So, what happened to the baby?" Risa asks.

"By the time it landed on our doorstep again, it was sick. It was coughing like a seal and its skin and eyes were yellow.''

"Jaundice," says Risa, gently. "A lot of babies show up at StaHo that way."

"My parents brought it to the hospital, but there was nothing they could do. I was there when it died. I saw it die." Co

He wonders if Lev will have some pronouncement on the topic—after all, when it comes to God, Lev claimed to have all the answers. But all Lev says is, "I didn't know you believed in God."

Co

There's silence now. The leaky flush handle drizzles. Next door in the boys' bathroom a toilet flushes, and the sound echoes hollowly around them.

"People shouldn't give away babies that get left at their door," Lev finally says.

"People shouldn't stork their babies," Risa responds.

"People shouldn't do a lot of things," says Co