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Apvli Gra iVl� JtWuv� <br /> 1 Y � <br /> Labor <br /> Pat left around midnight. He was "car shopping"-his term for breaking into cars and <br /> stealing whatever he could find- trying to hustle a few things to sell or trade come morning. He'd <br /> recently come upon a big score- a police issued hand gun that some idiot had left under the <br /> drivers seat of an unlocked car in an apartment parking lot. It had a nice little case and <br /> everything. That one was sold to Debo for two bundles. <br /> After he left, I laid down. I wasn't feeling so good, a bit weak and achy. I was glad he <br /> was gone, actually. It allowed me a little peace. <br /> I looked around our room as I lay there. Our bed was just a mattress on the floor, I don't <br /> even recall where it came from. It was old and lumpy, and had two springs that had stabbed their <br /> way up through the fabric and would scratch you if you were unlucky enough to roll over on <br /> them in your sleep. We covered it with a tacky leopard print sheet that Pat had pulled out a <br /> dumpster. <br /> Across the room was a monstrous wooden crib that Pat's mother had given us, claiming <br /> that all five of her children had used it. It was creaky and smelled of oxidized metal,with slats <br /> wide enough apart to fail any modern safety standards. It was full of clothes and random <br /> electrical items that Pat would take apart when high on coke and then not be able to reassemble. <br /> Next to the crib was a small bedside table topped by a crooked lamp missing a shade. The <br /> bare bulb burned long shadows into the wall. In the drawer was a wealth of empty bags, used <br /> needles, and crusty bits of cotton. <br /> The rest of the room was bare. There were no pictures on the walls, or even curtains or <br /> blinds as window cover. The overhead light had burned out and never been replaced. <br /> I lay on my left side, as the midwife had instructed, closing my eyes and trying to focus <br /> on positive things.I am going to have a baby soon, I reminded myself. I have a job that I love, <br /> and the boss really cares about me. I have the support of my family, sort-of, and we are working <br /> things out. <br /> I breathed in through the nose, out through the mouth. Slowly, calmly, trying to move <br /> past the wave of nausea that was beginning to creep over me. I felt a tightening in my abdomen- <br /> just a tug at first. <br />