The process of a baby chick hatching out is called going from Pip to Zip. It begins with the hidden, Internal Pip. The baby chick uses its beak to pip through the egg sac into a pocket of air. The egg may wiggle a little from its breathing, but not much more is seen from the outside until it makes the External Pip, leaving a small hole or crack in the shell. The Zip is a series of Pips made through the shell while the baby chick turns in a circle to unzip itself from the inside. It can take 18 hours or more. Each chick is unique and cannot be rushed.
With each breath the chick takes, it absorbs the blood vessels and yolk through its belly button. If the chick hatches too fast, it can bleed to death and die.
I pipped. Got in her van and went to Fucking Florida without her. It felt horrible, too. Like I’d just punched Mama in the face. Oh, and I knew she was going to be pissed. I don’t even remember the vacation I worried so much. I had never, ever, not minded her.
I figured she’d mixed the days up if she’d been drinking, and of course she’d been drinking. But even when I knew she was wrong, I always did the right thing by her. Until this last trip to Fucking Florida.
Excerpt from Care & Feeding by Chela Gutierrez
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