Milkman

Middle sister doesn’t see milkman again until one evening when she is returning from an adult French class downtown. During this particular lesson, the teacher read aloud from a novel in which the author described the sky as some color other than blue. The students protested this, becoming even more disturbed when the teacher insisted that they look out the window to observe the colors of the sunset. While doing this, middle sister noticed a white van parked outside, but quickly convinced herself it wasn’t milkman’s.

Middle sister’s route home passes through a perpetually deserted area of town she calls the “ten-minute place.” Middle sister once asked ma why this neighborhood is so desolate, but ma’s only explanation was that some places, like some people, are “just stuck” (84). Ma then began to complain about her deceased husband (“da”), who suffered from episodes of depression; in middle sister’s community, it is seen as self-indulgent to be depressed, although it is also suspect to be too hopeful.

A bomb left over from World War II recently exploded in the ten-minute place, and while middle sister is walking, she comes across the head of a cat killed in the blast.