Summary

The first story is called “Parsley and Coco Cola” and is told from the perspective of a young Mexican woman named Diana who learns that she is pregnant. She imagines messages her boyfriend to tell him and him responding enthusiastically to the news they are going to be parents, before revealing that she doesn’t have a boyfriend and the pregnancy is the result of a one night stand. The narrator calls herself “the kind of girl who gets used in an argument against abortion” (7) because of her habit of drinking heavily and engaging in casual sex. Diana researched options for terminating the pregnancy and quickly ruled out the possibility of attending a clinic because they were too far away, all in Mexico City. She read about various teas and herbs said to induce abortions as well as an extremely...