“Susan,” a female voice called from the shack’s front doorway. “Your formula has arrived.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Susan said, brushing off the dirt from her knees and heading inside.
The front room held the older children who watched out for straying toddlers who might wander into the street. Susan patted one of her ten-year-olds on the head as she passed and went through the nursery where several of the nine infants were at different stages of crying from their basinets. Susan could tell by the tone this was their hungry cry, and although her order of formula was three days late, she was grateful to see the box sitting on the floor in her office.
The room was no more than a closet where she would sit on an upside down bucket and scribble her letters to different organizations for funding which would never come. But Susan was the ultimate optimist. She had to be, because no one else was.
She tore open the box from America and as she ripped apart the inner packaging, she stopped. Inside the box was a briefcase. Susan’s heart dropped as she realized this wasn’t the formula for her babies. She tried to contain herself as the infants next to her sobbed. She immediately considered where she could scrounge up enough milk to make a diluted version of lunch.
Susan snapped apart the latches and opened the briefcase. She pressed a hand to her mouth and shrieked. Inside the briefcase were stacks of hundred dollar bills. Too many stacks. She touched one of the piles with trembling fingers. It looked real. She tried to imagine the amount and quickly realized it must’ve been millions.
Just then an eighteen-month-old girl with chocolate brown skin staggered up to Susan wearing nothing but a diaper. Susan scooped her up and dropped the girl on her knee.
“Hey there, Tasha,” Susan said, following the toddler’s eyes to the briefcase.
“Yes,” Susan said. “It’s a gift from God.”
Tasha lifted an envelope from the mound of money and shook it.
“What’s this?” Susan asked, taking a pack of bills and handing it to the girl in trade for the envelope. The girl seemed agreeable to the exchange.
Susan opened the envelope and read the note inside:
HUG A BABY FOR ME.
LOVE, TOMMY
Susan’s eyes filled with tears. She couldn’t even dream of what this meant for her children. Susan coddled Tasha in her arms. “Baby, I think we’re going to get you some shoes today.”