Everything Inside

“At night when their wards were well medicated and asleep, they’d stay up and gossip in hushed tones, judging and condemning their patients’ children and grandchildren, whose images were framed near bottles of medicine on bedside tables but whose voices they rarely heard on the phone and whose faces they hardly ever saw in person.”

Elsie’s job as a nurse for elderly patients in small group is indicative of the story’s interest in loneliness. This passage suggests that elderly patients are often abandoned by the people they love most; ultimately, the story implies that Elsie is in the same position. Like these patients, she keeps mementos from the people who have abandoned her.

“They were soon like a trio of siblings, of whom Olivia was the dosa, the last, untwinned, or surplus child.”

In Haitian Creole, the term dosa refers to a girl born after a set of twins; here, the term is used to describe Olivia, Elsie’s friend who eventually ran off with her husband. By the end of the story, Elsie begins to consider herself to be the dosa in their love triangle, and in the world at large. The term highlights her loneliness.

“Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t afford the plane ticket. She had already booked a flight to go to Les Cayes in a few months to visit her family, and she’d need to not only bring her family money but also ship them all the extra things they’d asked for, including a small fridge for her parents and a laptop computer for her brother.”

This passage highlights the multitude of expensive responsibilities faced by immigrant communities. In addition to supporting herself in Miami, Elsie is also sending money back home, and her visit will not be a vacation, but rather a chance to share her economic success with her family.