“A cell phone rings. I can feel the vibration through Brittany’s pants. “It’s hers,” I say.“Answer it,” Isa Instructs.I already feel like I’ve kidnapped the girl. Now I’m gonna answer her cell? Shit. Rolling her a bit, I feel for the bulge in her back pocket. “Contesta,” Isa whispers loudly, this time in Spanish.“I am,” I hiss, my fingers clumsy as I fumble for the phone.“I’ll do it,” Paco says, leaning over the seats and reaching toward Brittany’s ass.I whack his hand away. “Get your hands off her.”“Geez, man, I was just tryin’ to help.”My response is a glare.”

“I was just going to call and say hi.""Give me the phone." I hand it over. Jess, despite her scrawniness, is stronger than I am and could beat me up. She turns my cell off and hands it back. Clearly, I'm very drunk, because it appears to me that the matter is now closed.”

“I froze, my hand on the wall, and listened. Someone was definitely upstairs. I reached into my pocket for my cell phone and took a step back toward the front door. I kept my eyes on the stairs and my hand on the cell phone. A light flashed across the hallway”

“Reesee answered my cell?” Dusty was silent. “Dusty,” he called. “My daughter answered your cell?”“If I say yes, are you gonna get pissed at your girl?”“Uh… yeah.”“Then I decline to answer.”Fuck.”

“It’s the same with cell phones. I never answer them up to my ear. I always put it on speakerphone and hold it six to eight inches away from my brain. Here’s an example of a phone call I recently received from an unknown number:-Hello?-Hi, Is Shehe there? -Yes. But S/he can’t talk right now, as it is very confused. But I’ll tell him or her that you called.”

“I do miss being pregnant. I find sometimes that I'm surprised by the difference between her body and my own -- that when I reach for her hand, I can't feel my touch with her fingers. This often happens when I walk with her in the sling, which must be as close as we can get to the womb. I'll touch her little leg or head and be surprised by the feeling of otherness. Her body is her own now.”