Marie: The Mother who Never had a Chance

In the book Krik Krak, the story, “Between the Pool and the Gardenias,” presents a woman named Marie, who is a maid that finds a dead baby on a dusty curb. Marie takes the baby and treats her as her own. She acts as if she is alive and even gives her the name Rose. Marie has dealt with a cheating husband and had many miscarriages in her past. As Marie keeps the baby, she tells her stories and admires her as if she was alive. As the baby starts to decay, Marie finally decides to bury the dead baby but she gets caught be the Dominican pool cleaner that she once slept with. He accuses Marie of killing the baby.

In the story, “Between the Pool and the Gardenias,” Marie seems to be a woman who is desperate to be a mother. Due to her constant failed pregnancies, she feels as if she has a second chance when she sees Rose on the curb. For instance, Marie states, “She looked the way that I had imagines all my little girls would look. The ones my body could never hold.” Marie took the baby knowing she was dead because she wanted a baby very badly; it was like she was able to live out her dream to be a mother for one day. For example, Marie goes into more detail about giving Rose all the things she was not able to give the children that she miscarried. “I could give her all the clothes that I had sewn for them. All these little dresses that went unused.” From this quote one can tell that not only was Marie desperate for a child, but she was hoping to give birth to a little girl.  

In this story it is obvious to the reader that Marie has lived a hard life. She has tried many times to have children of her own but had them taking away. She had accepted the fact that her husband was cheating on her. For example, when Marie observes the baby she thinks it could be a trap, “She might have been some kind of wagna, a charm sent to trap me. My enemies were many and crafty. The girls who slept with my husband while I was still grieving over my miscarriages.” Not only does Marie experiences heart break with her husband, but she made love with the Dominican pool cleaner who never spoke to her afterwards. Now as Marie tries to bury the dead daughter she that imagined was hers, The Dominican pool cleaner assumes she is doing something evil and threatens to get her in trouble. It is obvious to the reader that Marie’s life never gets better.