Queenie

Queenie Jenkins texts her boyfriend, Tom, from her gynecologist’s exam room. She wishes he was with her. Meanwhile, the doctor looking inside her becomes concerned and asks for backup. Queenie isn’t informed about what’s happening as the doctors poke around. The doctor eventually finds Queenie’s IUD and asks her to return to the waiting room. Queenie brought her Aunt Maggie for support, but Maggie starts to lecture Queenie about how Tom is evil because he’s a Gemini. Queenie asks Maggie if she’s really just talking about white men, and Maggie replies, “'You can take it how you want to […] you’re the one who thought she found her white savior’” (4). Maggie, like Queenie’s grandmother, is devoutly religious. Queenie isn’t. The doctor calls Queenie back into the exam room and informs her that she had a miscarriage. Queenie never even knew she was pregnant and is shocked. The doctor coldly informs her that pregnancies can still happen even with an IUD; Queenie wishes the doctor recognized that this is an emotional topic.

In a flashback, Queenie remembers Tom’s grandmother describing how beautiful their children would be, painting a Eurocentric picture: lighter skin, green eyes, and a “nice straight nose” (6).