I had eighteen dollars and no childcare, so I took my eight-month-old to work — and at ten past five the blanket in the linen store was empty.

I knew it was against every rule in that building.

And I want to be completely honest about the rest of it, because when this got told back to me I came out of it better than I deserve.

Leaving an eight-month-old on a folded blanket in a linen store was not safe.

It was not “not ideal.” It was not safe, and I knew it was not safe while I was doing it, and I cleared the floor and moved every heavy thing out of that room and checked her twice and it was still not safe.

I did it because the other option was no rent, and I chose between two frightening things and I picked the one I thought was less likely to end us.