The Dew Breaker

This part is about a woman named Nadine. At the beginning of the story, she receives a letter from her parents: They thank her for sending money and beg her to call them. They live in Haiti, while Nadine is now in America. The “near-calligraphic” handwriting of the letter suggests that while the parents depend upon her for money, they are educated and dignified people. The money seems necessary in part because of an illness on her father’s part.

Next, we witness Nadine at work as a hospital nurse. She is eating alone, keeping her distance from her fellow employees. Only one fellow worker, Josette, feels brave enough to talk to her.

At home after work, Nadine sits in front of her television, which she uses to numb her emotions. The lone message on her answering machine is from a former boyfriend, Eric, who leaves an awkward and uncomfortable greeting. Eric previously impregnated her, but she agreed to have an abortion. Though she does not call him back, she saves his voicemail messages and other mementos of their relationship.

The next day at work, a patient known to Nadine as Ms. Hinds has a violent outburst, and Nadine subdues her. Ms. Hinds, a teacher, is upset because of the effects of a laryngectomy, which has left her unable to speak. She expresses her frustration to Nadine.

At home again, Nadine tries to call Eric, but a message informs her that his number has changed. Distraught, she recalls how her parents sacrificed their middle-class lifestyle to send her to nursing school in America. She calls her parents; together they discuss trivial issues, preferring to deal with more grave matters in their letters.

Back at work, Nadine once again encounters Ms. Hinds, whose parents have come to pick her up from the hospital. Ms. Hinds simply says goodbye (though she must write it on a piece of paper), but seeing Ms. Hinds is very emotional for Nadine. She feels voiceless against her circumstances and feels almost obligated to talk to Ms. Hinds about the suffering she will endure due to the loss of her voice, but she does not do so. The encounter prompts Nadine to consider that her baby would have been born around this time, and she observes that the distorted, widened reflection she sees in the metal elevator doors represents a version of herself who never existed.