"What is it?"
"What is it? Don't you know nothing? That's a baby's bassinet.
It's what they call a Baby Moses basket. My granddad still has the one my mother slept in right after she was born. She was born in a house, not a hospital. Maybe that's why my grandma died. If she was in a hospital..."
"Your grandmother died when your mother was born?"
"Never mind," she said, waving her hand as if she'd been talking to herself aloud. "Who lived up here? Whose baby slept in that? Why is all this locked away? Huh?" she asked me as she looked around. Then she paused and looked at me, waiting for an answer, suspicious of my silence.
"I don't know. How would I know?"
"I just thought she might have said something to you about it."
"No, she didn't."
She went to the small television set on a table across from the sofa and turned it on. The screen lit up with a picture, and a smile exploded across her face. "This is better than the basement, way better. It has a kitchen and a bathroom. too. This really is a private apartment!"
She shut off the television set and went over to the sink to turn on the faucet. Dirty brown water came out but started to clear as she ran it. We heard the sound of what seemed like a bang in a pipe, so she turned it off quickly. We were both quiet, listening.
"Don't worry. I doubt she heard anything. She plays that television too loud," Alanis said and continued to explore the attic, looking in the dresser drawers. She held up baby clothes. "No question that there was a baby up here once. It's all blue and green and yellow. Bet it was a boy. Why keep it up here?
"
"Maybe it was the maid's quarters." I suggested. "And she had a baby."
"How can you be a maid and have a baby in the house? Who would watch it while you worked, and where was the daddy?"
"I don't know. Maybe someone lived up here before my grandparents bought the farm."
That gave her pause.
"Yeah. maybe. I'd ask my granddad. He's been here forever and would surely know, only then he would know we got the key, unlocked the door and snuck up here. I better not say anything to him."
"I don't know why it's important we find out anyway."
"Hmm," she said. "You know what we'll do?" she said. smiling. "We'll pretend this is our own private home. Yeah, that's what we'll do. We'll even bring food up here and have our own parties again."
"But Great-aunt Frances might not like it," I said. "The door was locked and she never told me about it."
"Well, we just gotta be careful so she don't find out. right? Right?" she punched at me.
"Right," I said.
"We'll just use it on weekend nights. We'll come up after she toes to sleep. For now, I don't want to even tell Nikki or Raspberry about this, so don't mention it in school. They can be big gossips."
She continued to search the dresser drawers. When she opened and sifted through the clothing in the bottom one, she paused and took out a piece of small notebook paper. She read what was on it.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Woman's name and telephone number. Toby DeMarco, 555- 4343. I wonder if this was the woman who lived up here."
"Why would she have her own number in a drawer?"
"Maybe she left it after she left the house. Just in case she forgot something or something. I don't know all the answers.
You know what we'll do? We'll just mention her name to your great-aunt and see if she says anything. If she wonders how we know the name, we'll say we heard someone say she lived here once."
Once again, I shook my head at how quickly Alanis could come up with stories and lies. It was as if they were all lying just under the surface, waiting anxiously for a chance to pop up.