Anita Jaxon

Anita Jaxon is Ida’s mother and Monroe Jaxon III’s wife, remembered at the moment their family is torn apart by the evacuation of Philadelphia. Her wordless, prolonged farewell to her daughter gives the city’s flight a domestic cost: Monroe leaves with Ida, while Anita remains behind.

Identity and Family

Anita appears in Ida’s recollection of the winter when the jumps threatened Philadelphia. She is identified by name when Monroe, distressed at the kitchen table, tells Ida that God no longer loves them and that He has abandoned them. Anita answers by telling him to hush, calling him drunk, and sending Ida back to bed. The brief exchange places her amid the family’s fear without suggesting that she shares Monroe’s despair in the same way.

The Evacuation

After bridges have been blown and fires spread through the city, Ida wakes to the sound of her parents arguing. She hears Anita crying while Monroe insists that she cannot stay and urges her to be strong. He enters Ida’s room with a candle, dresses her quickly for the cold, and tells her to say goodbye to her mother.

Anita holds Ida for a long time, crying so intensely that Ida remembers the scene as painful even years afterward. A small suitcase stands by the door. When Ida asks whether they are leaving, Anita does not answer; she continues to hold her daughter until Monroe makes her let go. Monroe and Ida then depart together, leaving Anita behind.

Separation and Narrative Significance

Ida’s account does not explain why Anita remains in Philadelphia or what happens to her afterward. Its emphasis is instead on the separation itself: the child’s unanswered question, the suitcase, Anita’s embrace, and the father who finally breaks it. The scene turns the larger evacuation into a private rupture, preserving Anita in memory not through a later fate but through the force of that last farewell.