MAIL-ORDER BRIDE by Sara Baker
MAIL-ORDER BRIDE
by Sara Baker
Three women are swimming in a pool. It is a large pool surrounded by trees. Sunlight filters through feathery pecan leaves; twigs and bugs from the night’s rain litter the pool. The women with their kickboards push through them, heedless. To one side, teenagers explode from the water, spiking a ball over a volleyball net with raucous shouts. On the other side, shrieking children toss balls and hit each other with sherbet-colored Styrofoam noodles. In the middle of the chaos are the lap lanes, where the women find refuge from their children, where they can talk in peace.
The youngest one, Amy, in her twenties, is recovering from a break-up. “Tell me there are good men; I don’t want to be bitter,” she says to the other two, one in her late-thirties, the other in her late forties, both long married.
“Oh, sure there are,” says the middle woman, Rosa, “although my husband says most men are pigs.” The word comes out “peegs.” Rosa is Brazilian, and although she has lived in America for twenty years, her English still rises and falls with unexpected pitches. Kristin, the oldest, says nothing.
“Great, I’m fucked,” says Amy. They approach the wall, turn lazily, push off and kick, their feet leaving three small white trails of frothy bubbles.Sar
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