Shakira came into Bubba-Doo’s last Thursday like she so often does, somehow looking extra focused on that day. Shakira is a strong young woman. She always moves with purpose and keeps a lot of things going in her busy life.
I happened to be there at the store after work that day. It was a laidback weekday afternoon, and I was just off from a day out visiting in the hospital and working back at the office.
Charles Qualls
Fred was later than normal that day, but he was making up for it with a Pepsi he said was somehow better than usual. His ubiquitous pack of nabs was perched in his free hand, and as always he used his thumb to push each cracker up like a Pez candy coming out of a dispenser. Fred made that simple snack look so tasty and enjoyable.
“Shakira! How’s it going? Hey, I’ve been meanin’ to ask you something,” Aaron said. “I’m gonna head out to sit on the bench in a minute. This cigar ain’t gonna smoke itself, you know. But I’ve got to ask. That singer is too young for your folks to have named you for her.”
“That’s right,” Shakira confirmed.
“So, where did they get your name?” he continued.
“Well, that’s an interesting one. The way they tell me, my older sister was in the kitchen with my mama. I was on the way, maybe three months from being born. I don’t know. Anyhow, they had seen a TV commercial over and over until my mama decided to try the product.”
“What was that?” Aaron wanted to know.
“It was Shake-and-Bake. She had some pork chops and put them in that little baggie with the mix. She was about to shake it up. My little sister was so carried away, they tell me she was cheering mama on.”
“Now, anyone within earshot was smiling and wanted to hear the punchline.”
Now, anyone within earshot was smiling and wanted to hear the punchline. How did her name come from that?
She went on. “My sister was still really little herself. She couldn’t say ‘Shake-and-Bake’ to save her life. So, as mama began to mix it all up in that bag, my sister was yelling ‘Shakira!! Shakira!!’”
“My dad came walking into the room about that time, and they say he busted out laughing. He grabbed my mama’s arm and said, ‘What do you think about that?! I like the sound of that.”
“They tell me mama said, ‘What? How do I like the sound of what?’” So my dad explained he thought they ought to name the new baby Shakira. He just liked the sound of it.”
“Well…?” Mickey asked.
“Well, here I am!” Shakira laughed as she finished the story. “Evidently, against all odds my mama liked it too.”
Shirley was there listening. She jumped in, “I think that’s a beautiful story. Just something that happened at the right place and the right time. How nice. I’ve always admired your name. I think it has beauty in it.”
Shakira positively beamed. But then everyone saw her face fall back to the serious expression she had worn into the store.
“Winston, you got any infant formula? Diapers?” she asked.
In a small community, there truly are few secrets. Everyone gets somewhat used to their business being everyone’s business. But no one was prepared for the question Shakira asked.
“Everyone gets somewhat used to their business being everyone’s business. But no one was prepared for the question Shakira asked.”
The place fell silent. I would swear I could hear the ice cream machine pulsing, but then I realized it was just Ralph suddenly breathing a little heavy. Everyone turned back in and looked straight at Shakira.
“No, no … no, no, no!” she protested, half smiling and half glaring with an index finger pointed skyward. “You guys see me all the time. You know I didn’t have a baby.”
Several heads nodded. Everyone was coming around now.
“It’s just that I woke up this morning and opened the door. I was gonna let the cat in. There was a baby sitting there in a car carrier. Right on the top step.”
“They call ‘em ‘kittens’ you know,” Landrum quipped. “Baby cats are kittens.” He grinned at his newfound wit. Everyone else just shook their heads this time.
Shakira said, “A kitten would be easy compared to this. This was a baby human.”
“What are you gonna do?!” Marleen wondered aloud. She had stepped over from a slow moment in the restaurant. Stephanie was hovering around, too. Her fiery eyes were fixed in anticipation.
“Well, nothing fast,” Shakira answered. “I’ve got a family member or two who have little ones. They came by and coached me a little. Brought some basic supplies, but I still need to stock up.”
“You gonna keep it?” Ralph stammered.
“Ralph, babies aren’t ‘its’,” Shirley reminded.
“Looks like I’m gonna be taking care of a little one for the time being.”
“Her,” Shakira offered. “We’ve called family services, but nothing happens instantly. Looks like I’m gonna be taking care of a little one for the time being.”
That was last Thursday.
Now, as I swung back by the store a little more than a week later, I asked about the baby and Shakira. Someone said they had just bumped into Shakira at the Post Office and she was about to stop by Bubba-Doo’s.
In an uncanny act of timing, she walked in.
As if one large room could know what was happening in any tiny corner, I witnessed people instinctively swivel their heads and then approach. They came from over in the dog food aisle and they came over from the bar.
Shakira walking in this week was drawing an audience fast. Anytime she arrived, inquiring minds wanted to know.
“How’s the baby?”
“Does she know her name yet!”
“You getting any sleep?”
“What do you need?”
The questions rang out as if this young friend were suddenly the focus of a media scrum. Shakira grinned a tired grin, satisfied that people at least cared.
Answers rattled off her lips almost as fast as the questions had been asked.
“She’s fine, healthy. … I’m pretty sure we’re a little early for that. … I’m cat-napping a bit but pretty worn out. … Right this minute not much.”
“Well … you gonna keep it?!” Ralph sputtered, half catching himself this time as the question tumbled out.
Shirley took a light-hearted swat at him. “Ralph! She’s not an ‘it!’”
Here is the amazing thing. In the face of all this curiosity, Shakira had the overall look of someone who, despite what had to be an overwhelming situation, was actually managing to keep things between the figurative ditches.
“One thing most of us learn is we don’t know how strong we actually are until we’re forced by life to find out.”
One thing most of us learn is we don’t know how strong we actually are until we’re forced by life to find out.
Then, she settled in to hold court. Hers was a spell-binding tale that I guess really shouldn’t have surprised me. Because what she recounted now from the previous few days was about that particular community just being what it was.
That is to say, the greater metropolitan Bubba-Doo’s area had stepped up and was not going to let her go through this alone. They are people who won’t let you suffer alone. They won’t let you grieve alone. They won’t let you celebrate or carry heavy loads by yourself, either.
She rattled off all the food that had been brought over. People rightly perceived her to be too busy to cook. She told of boxes of diapers and infant formula that kept getting dropped off at her door.
People were coming by and sharing wisdom from their turns at raising their own children. They were showing her how basic things were to be done and helping her organize so every day wasn’t a new, unexpected experience.
Offers of babysitting, yard care and even automobile maintenance were flying in.
She was going through the processes with the relevant social agencies, but there was a fast-spreading rumor that Marleen was thinking of adopting the baby. Could that be?
I know my ears deceive me. But just now I think I heard Billy and Hector getting ahead of things. They were offering Marleen occasional babysitting services if she had the need arise. Surely nothing could possibly go wrong with that pair left in charge of an infant. Right?
No one knows yet how this whole thing will work out. But one thing has been proved again. A challenge like this for one person becomes the community’s challenge in a place like this.
Why, in some ways this little baby being found on Shakira’s doorstep has been a breath of fresh air. It’s given people something to rise up to as they come to her side. It’s the subject du jour, served up every day with all the latest news.
You know, actual babies being abandoned or dropped off on a doorstep are a serious matter every single time. Sometimes, those leaving the child might do so just to shirk responsibility. We could all wish the mother or father thought there were a better or different set of options.
Other times, though, they truly believe the baby has a better chance if they themselves aren’t the one trying to raise him or her. Maybe they can’t see past the current hour of their own circumstances. Perhaps they lack the confidence in their ability to provide. They just don’t have the vision to see themselves as the solution.
“Nothing seems to rally a community, a neighborhood, a church or family like finding a baby on the doorstep.”
Nothing seems to rally a community, a neighborhood, a church or family like finding a baby on the doorstep. People seem to rise to the moment and contribute whatever is needed until a longer-term plan can be figured out.
However, if we think metaphorically, we see a similar thing happen in our world more frequently than we might realize. When one denomination takes an archaic position on a current issue, a stance born more of opinion or bias than of theology, they may only leave a figurative baby on someone else’s doorstep.
For instance, when one faction of Baptists decided recently to yet again attack the notion that equally gifted and called women could be pastors of churches, all they really did was drop a baby off on another Baptist group’s doorstep. It became a rallying point that re-energized and gave focus to the other, more progressive group.
If established corporate America insists on maintaining a wage gap along racial and gender lines, eventually in the natural evolution of things, companies that are more fair and proactive in addressing these injustices will likely move up or move ahead in a new generation’s eye.
Nations that attempt genocide may appear to have the upper hand for a time. Russia may bully Ukraine for a time. Horrible things may happen during that season. Eventually, they simply end up turning a broader swath of world attention against themselves. In the wake, the alliances of those who joined together to defeat them are left stronger. A figurative baby on the doorstep that causes a rally.
Yep, if a baby was going to just be let go like that, she sure had it happen in the right place and at the right time. She won the lottery of doorsteps.
Right here at Bubba-Doo’s, folks are walking with a little extra step lately. They’re proud of being a place where the helpless can be nurtured and where the small can become a big deal. A community where even the strong find out that they don’t have to possess alone all the strength needed to carry the moment.
They’ve just got to be open to the love and help their neighbors want to offer. And then, let it all happen. Come to think of it, that’s probably a decent lesson for all of us. When we have the grace to let others come alongside us, such good things can happen.
Charles Qualls serves as pastor of Franklin Baptist Church in Franklin, Va. He is the author of eight books.
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