Losing Isaiah Page #3

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but she wouldn't move.

Doctor say she lost a baby.

What baby?

Hey, little man.

You okay?

Y'all hungry?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Whoo! Whoo, yeah.

Can I give you

a hand there?

No, I got it.

You sure? I got a little cousin

about that age.

You know, they can do damage

to your back.

I said I got it.

Okay.

Lord, boy, you heavy.

Mama...

It's okay. Go back to sleep.

I'm going to stay

with you tonight.

Pizza.

You gonna have your pizza.

I'm sor...

Eddie Hughes.

You know, I didn't

meet you before.

I got to get back inside.

To your kids?

They ain't my kids,

and why you got to be lurking

up here on my floor?

I'm not lurking.

I'm just having a smoke.

Well, smoke somewhere else,

goddamn it.

I'm a working man on vacation...

up from Tampa.

You ever been to Tampa?

Oh, this look like

a vacation spot to you?

Actually, my brother lives here.

Yeah, you know,

he don't like to smoke, so...

I'm just visiting him.

We're, uh...

we're in the music business.

Mm-hmm.

I was just, uh...

working on a song about, uh...

concrete.

Check it out.

I got to work

on the melody a little bit.

I hope you good

at something else.

- Hello, Mama.

- Uh, Khaila.

Uh, there's some leftover pasta

in the fridge...

Bye, Khaila. So long, sweetpea.

And, uh, laundry needs

to go in the dryer.

I'm out the door, honey.

Okay.

Give me a kiss. Mwa!

Oh, I might be

a few minutes late tonight,

but you can stay, huh?

Bye, girls.

The Fredericks residence.

Khaila?

Yeah?

It's Gussie.

Can we meet somewhere?

He ain't dead?

My baby ain't dead?

Well, now, where is he?

In the city,

living with a family in DePaul.

Well...

Well, I got to see him.

Slow down, Khaila.

There are a lot of issues

involved here.

He's been legally adopted.

So? I got to see my baby,

Gussie.

Where is he?

Okay, we're going to work

on that,

but it's going

to take some time.

- No. Come on, let's go.

- I'm on your side.

I'm going to help you,

but it's going

- No, no, no, no, no.

- To take some time,

and you're going to have

to be patient, Khaila.

I can't be patient.

- Listen.

- I need to see my baby.

Listen to me,

listen to me, Khaila.

Don't let

everything you worked

so hard for fall apart.

Hey,

what are you doing in here?

Nothing.

Looking for Gussie.

Oh, she's in the hall.

Thanks.

- I'll call you tonight.

- Yeah.

Pop the hood.

See you, buddy.

- Bye.

- I'll call you tonight.

- Bye, Daddy, bye, Daddy.

- Have a good trip.

Take your ticket.

Take me, please.

You wouldn't like it, sweetie.

It's in a big city with...

it smells,

in a big room

with men with no hair.

Bye, Daddy.

Bye, Daddy.

Sorry.

Oh, don't be sad.

Daddy will be back

in two days.

Look who's here.

Aw... two days.

You know what two is?

One, two... that's not long.

Besides, Heidi's going

to take you to the park now.

Then after the park,

you're going to take a nap,

and drink your apple juice.

Use your sipper cup.

And Mama's going

to come home

right after work like

I always do, okay?

Good night.

Uh-huh, and you're going

to draw me a picture?

Yes.

- Of what? Of an airplane?

- Yes.

With two wings,

flying up in the sky.

- Up in the sky!

- Up in the sky, yeah.

How many wings

does an airplane have?

Two.

Two! How many hands

does Isaiah have?

Two.

And how many eyes

does Isaiah have?

Two.

And how many kisses

is Mama going to get?

Two.

Oh, you're my boy.

Okay, have fun at the park.

I want to race.

Okay. Bye-bye, honey.

Bye, Mommy.

W-W-W-W-Whee!

Okay, now, guess

where we're going?

Where?

To the park.

What are you going to go on

when you go in there first, huh?

The slide?

Ah, push.

Ready? One, two, three, up.

Good boy. Okay.

Heidi, over here.

How you doing?

Good.

So, can you come?

I don't know.

I'm pretty tired.

So, can you get off?

I don't know.

They're supposed to go out.

Hello, Isaiah.

I get so nervous.

Hi.

Hello?

Hello?

Miss Richards.

You're late.

I'm sorry.

Gussie said

you was a real good lawyer.

Yeah. Now, she's explained

some of this to me,

but there's still

a lot of holes here.

She tells me you'd like to

reinstate your parental rights.

You gave your child

up for adoption.

Now you want him back.

No, I never gave my child up

for no adoption.

You left him in an alley.

You abandoned him

and made no effort

to find him again.

Legally, that's the same thing.

Well, that's 'cause

I thought he was dead.

No one ever sent you any letters

informing you

of his whereabouts?

Nope.

Or of the Lewins'

intent to adopt him?

Mm-mmm.

Now, Miss Richards,

you know

you couldn't read very well

before you went into

the rehab program.

You sure you didn't throw

away any official papers?

No. I ain't never got no papers.

Not even in jail?

If I would've got some papers

like that,

don't you think

I would've remembered?

You don't like me all that much,

do you?

I don't like what put you in

this situation, Miss Richards.

How do I know that when

I help you get your boy back,

you're not going to go back

to smoking rock

and leave him again?

'Cause I'm telling you

I'm through with all that.

Oh, well,

that's what you all say.

You ain't got

to talk down to me.

I can pay.

There's no fee involved here.

We take on cases

that are socially relevant.

If we win them,

they set legal precedent.

Your case fits that profile.

The fee's taken care of

by donations.

It's going to be tough.

The family he's with is white,

they treated him well.

They'll fight this.

But I'm his mother.

Well, I'm sure that white woman

feels fairly strongly

that she is,

and there are a lot of people

who'll agree with her.

Mommy, pussycat.

The owl and the pussycat...

Went to sea.

In a beautiful pea-green...

Boat.

They took some...

Honey.

And plenty of...

Money.

Wrapped up

in a five-pound... note.

Night-night, sweet boy.

Charlie?

Margaret, hello.

She wants him back.

What?

Who? Who wants him back?

I don't know.

We got a letter

from some legal service.

She never signed away

her rights.

She's going to challenge

the adoption.

Where did she come from?

What are we going to do?

Listen, sweetheart,

it-it's going to be all right.

No, it's not.

Mommy, I want Daddy.

Oh...

Mommy, I want Daddy.

Daddy's not home.

I want Daddy.

So do I.

I want him to be here.

I want Daddy.

She's claiming she never

received any notice

to terminate

parental rights.

That can't be.

You handled that yourself,

right?

Look, this is what I do

for a living.

I followed every procedure...

the newspaper notifications,

computer checks of prisons,

the welfare rolls...

I mean, we even hired

a-a private detective

with our own money

to look for relatives,

but you can't find

somebody on the street

if they don't want to be found.

And what does it matter, anyway?

The adoption is final...

it can't be reversed.

Oh, I'm afraid it can.

The court can vacate a judgment

if it was entered

into by default,

and it will vacate

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