Born at Dawn by Nigeria Lockley

home and focus on her. Cynthia was able to get her best thinking done when she was cooking or cleaning.
    After she called Keith she spent the two hours straightening up Mildred’s apartment and thought it was time for a break. Marvin, however, did not agree as he used Mildred’s answering machine to bust up her break time. Cynthia was in the middle of lounging on her mother’s white Italian leather sofa with her feet resting on the glass coffee table when the phone rang.
    Marvin’s voice sounded like gravel as he pleaded for her to return home over the answering machine while the boys fought in the background for the remote control. Keith was saying something about homework and James was crying for The Simpsons. Marvin’s sorry almost sounded sincere.
    â€œMildred, if Cynthia is there, please play this for her. I’m sorry for everything. We need you. I’m lost without you. I don’t even know what to make them for dinner.”
    Just as she leaned toward the end table where her mother’s telephone sat, contemplating picking it up, the answering machine cut him off. He called back citing more domestic duties that only Cynthia could take care of.
    â€œKeith has soccer practice on Friday. I have no idea where his uniform is and James has a science project due on Friday that he hasn’t started yet, and I don’t have any more clean overalls.” Before the machine had a chance to cut him off again, he cried out, “Mildred, if she’s there, please, please tell her we need her.”
    Cynthia stood and headed to her mother’s bedroom. She felt like diving into her mother’s bed and hiding behind the mosquito nets. She took a seat in a wicker chair with the rounded back near her mother’s oak dresser. She marveled at Mildred’s exquisite taste and sense of design. Tonight Cynthia needed a place to hide, and she knew she would not be found in the jungle.
    Years—three to be exact—had passed since she’d last sought the comfort of this room. She hid in the folds of her mother’s comforter and drowned all her sorrows in Mildred’s chocolate stash.
    She rummaged through her mother’s lingerie drawers in search of some chocolate to nibble on. Although the décor had changed one thing had not; Mildred still used her lingerie drawer to stash her snacks. Cynthia ripped open a bag of peanut M&Ms with her teeth .
    Marvin had left those same messages on Mildred’s answering machine when Cynthia had fled their happy home after catching Marvin with another woman when he was supposed to be working.
    The irony of that day had never struck her until now. She was supposed to be at home working also, but a patient who had no insurance came into Dr. Chang’s office to discuss his bill. Since Cynthia was the head biller, she had to come in to meet with him and create some sort of payment arrangement. When she finally took a break, she stepped out the office to catch her breath and grab a bite to eat. Strolling eastward across East Eighty-sixth to Gray’s Papaya, she spotted Marvin on the corner of East Eighty-sixth Street and Lexington Avenue. There he stood holding hands with an extremely shapely, tall woman. He had moved a stray strand of her jet-black hair that disrupted her linear blunt-cut bangs. She leaned in, kissed him on the neck with one hand resting on his chest, and he cradled her.
    Gentle. He was gentle with her. He held her like a bird with a broken wing.
    When she got home, instead of preparing an afternoon snack, she’d packed bags for herself, Keith, and James and left a sticky note on the door:

    Marvin, I saw you on the corner today. Don’t worry, you can keep her. I’m taking the boys so the two of you can have plenty of room to roll around.

    Cynthia met the boys on the sidewalk like she normally did and took them to her mother’s house.
    Every day after work Marvin came to her mother’s house begging