The Dew Breaker

After Part 5 brings all of the preceding parts together, Part 6 works to slightly unravel this tight web of connections. This story recounts an interview between a young journalist named Aline and a retiring seamstress named Beatrice. The newspaper is the Haitian American Weekly. The editor’s wedding dress was made by Beatrice, so she simply wants a small column regarding the seamstress’s retirement. In the back of her mind, Aline is thinking about a recent breakup with an older girlfriend, a female professor.

Beatrice has made wedding dresses since she lived in Haiti and has always hand-sewn the dresses alone. She explains that all the girls who come requesting dresses call her “Mother,” and accordingly she behaves imperiously toward Aline. For example, she replies to a question about whether she’s been married by saying the question is an inappropriate one to ask someone her age.

The interview takes a bizarre turn when they go for a walk. Beatrice points out her various neighbors’ homes, including one that she says belongs to a prison guard from Haiti. When they get back to Beatrice’s house, she is clearly distracted. She explains that she plans to move again, then abruptly transitions into a story about the dew breakers.