“What for?”
“Leaving me. He always does when I get like this.”
“How many children have you?”
“Nine.”
“How often has he left you?”
“This is the fourth time now.”
“Do you want any more children?”
“No!” emphatically.
“Did you ever know there was a way to stop having so many?”
She almost dropped the infant, took hold of me, and said, “They won’t give it to me. I’m asking everybody. They’ll only give it to the rich. He wants it. He’ll even have an operation. But nobody’ll tell us.”