Social Themes
"I think I'm pregnant."
Derek stared at her, stunned. She stared back.
He finally found his voice. "You say you think. You don't know for sure?"
"I'm almost three weeks late."
"That's it?” Derek brushed by her. "I hear my sisters talking all the time. That's no big deal."
"It's a big deal for me."
Miré en dirección al mostrador y vi a un policía parado de espaldas a mí.
Me quedé sin aire y las piernas no me respondían. El policía dio media vuelta y ya no tuve dónde esconderme. Apreté a Briana contra mi pecho. Era mía y de nadie más. No iba a dejar que me la quitaran.
I ran blindly into the store, sliding in my greasy shoes, knocking cans onto the floor, ramming into shelves. I fumbled for the phone. I picked up the receiver. I could feel Devin right behind me.
I dialed nine, one..
His hand slammed the phone down.
"I hoped it wouldn't come to this," he said.
I'm starting to feel dizzy again—and scared. I need to sit down. I make my way slowly to the table and collapse into the moulded plastic chair. On the table is something I hadn't noticed before: a white envelope. With my name on it.
"He's impossible, Marta," she says. "Absolutely impossible. Doesn't have any friends. Sleeps all day. Watches TV all night. Never showers. Refuses to cut his hair. Pushes his dirty dishes under the bed or stuffs them in drawers with his dirty underwear. I'm at my wit's end."
I want to leap into the kitchen and say, "Hey! It's only two o'clock. I'm up. I've had a shower. I'm dressed. And I never put dirty things—dishes or underwear—in drawers. I leave them on the floor. And when were you in my room anyway?" I have standards. Low ones, but still.
The war between the States has only been over for two months, and the roads and rivers are clogged with men traveling in all directions. Most of them will make it home one way or another. That's the easy part. It's what you bring home inside your head that's the problem.
The woman's dress was ripped and her tears made white streaks in the dirt on her face. She stared into the mass of jumbled lumber. Allie could hear a baby wailing from somewhere in the mess.
