It’s raining outside, sheets of rain coming down, drowning everything. I’m reading verses about peace and comfort and a future, but none of it is making any sense today.
“My help comes from the Lord.”
“He will not allow your foot to slip.”
“The Lord will protect you from all evil.”
“I will make up to you for the years the swarming locusts have eaten.”
It’s all pretty frustrating right now.
I saw a woman the other day and it looked like she was having to blow through a tube to propel her wheelchair down …

The track lights reflected off the sheets of copper covering the wall behind the percolators and when I turned around a group of customers walked in, the line creeping toward the door. Good. Finally. Tips. I’ve worked at this cafe for six months, and I swear I’m like the stripper with the best boob job when it comes to getting the biggest tips possible from every type of customer.

I sat in the back seat of the truck’s cab, where i could see Hank’s hands, where I could either strangle him or dive out of the truck if he pulled out a gun, depending on how brave I felt.

“It’s coming up, on the right,” Hank said. “Just past that telephone pole.”
We pulled into a dirt driveway and passed a few single-wide trailers.
“That one,” he said, pointing to one in the back.
Phillip parked in front of the door and killed the engine.
Why did he turn off the engine?

To the child we might have had,
You would have been a girl.

********
We were floating; rolling over waves in the blue-green Caribbean the night she told me she wanted a baby. I looked at the steeply-pitched red roofs dotting the St. Croix hillside, watched the palm trees dance in the breeze to the rhythm of the sea, then reached over and placed a hand on her suntanned belly.
“Really?” I asked. “Do you think we’re ready?”
“It seems like the right time. Good jobs, good house. If I get pregnant soon, I …