Summary

Nightbitch’s body ached. She attributed it to her period and the suffering she associated with womanhood. Everything angered her, particularly the cat, who had a bad disposition. When Nightbitch complained about the cat, her husband insisted it was a miracle that they and the cat had “all evolved” to share “this moment in history” (49). The cat was so needy, she amplified Nightbitch’s desire never to be needed again. She felt motherhood had been “designed to put a woman in her place” (49).

The grocery store amplified Nightbitch’s feelings of oppression. She wondered about “‘the hysterical woman’” (50). Suddenly she craved meat. She bought pounds and pounds of it. Then she bought vegetables, because dogs “wouldn’t buy vegetables” (52). Outside, she ran into an old coworker from the gallery. She lied, saying she loved “being a mom” (53).

Nightbitch told her husband she was trying...