KRISTIAN SEKULIC/GETTY IMAGES
Voices
coffee, and before you’ve opened
the door the kids have swarmed,
giving homework excuses, asking you to settle arguments. Their
world consumes you, and in their
presence you lose track of your
own unraveled life. But they
haven’t forgotten the month of
subs they muddled through in
your absence, or why you were
gone in the first place.
“I have an uncle,” Jessica
says. There are many plans for
you involving uncles. “My mom
thinks you’d like this friend of my
dad’s,” Peter confides. “When do
you think you’ll get remarried?”
ELIZABETH
SCARBORO
Angelica asks. You shrug. You
want to say never, or I’m so tired
I can’t see straight. “It’s OK,”
Jorge says, patting your shoulder.
“It can take a long time.”
You, on the other hand, imagine wandering through years
and countries by yourself. The
ground underneath your feet
no longer feels solid. The possibilities are endless, and none of
them inter