Paul Gayle had no job, no money, a baby and 16 lessons from the Obama administration to teach him what to do next
The last student to arrive for fatherhood class was the only one holding a baby, and a dozen men looked up from their desks to stare.
最后一个参加父亲课程的学生是唯一一个抱着婴儿的学生，十几个男人从桌子上抬起头来盯着。
Paul Gayle, 19, had a pink diaper bag hanging off a shoulder decorated with tattoos of marijuana leaves, and a crying 7-month-old in his arms.
19 岁的保罗·盖尔 (Paul Gayle) 肩上挂着一个粉色尿布袋，上面有大麻叶子的纹身，怀里抱着一个哭泣的 7 个月大的孩子。
“Come on, girl, chill out,” Paul said, carrying the baby to a seat in the corner.
“来吧，女孩，冷静一下，”保罗抱着婴儿坐在角落里的座位上说道。
He offered her a rattle, and she swatted it away.
他递给她一个拨浪鼓，她把它拍开了。
He gave her a bottle, and she only cried louder.
他给了她一瓶，她却哭得更大声。
Finally, he reached into the diaper bag and took out a pacifier for her and a shot of Goody’s Headache Relief for himself.
最后，他把手伸进尿布袋，给她拿出了一个奶嘴，还给自己开了一瓶古迪止痛药。
“Sorry for the noise, y’all,” he said.
“抱歉打扰你们了，”他说。
“We’re both a little mad at the world today.”
“我们都对当今的世界有点生气。”
“No problem,” the teacher said.
“没问题，”老师说。
“I’m up here talking about being a dad, and you’re doing it.”
“我在这里谈论如何成为一名父亲，而你正在这么做。”
He had pushed a creaky stroller through one of Milwaukee’s worst neighborhoods and ridden a bus across the city not because he wanted to attend a class called Fragile Families and Responsible Fatherhood, but because, like everyone else in the room, he saw no other choice.
他推着一辆吱吱作响的婴儿车穿过密尔沃基最糟糕的街区之一，并乘坐公共汽车穿越整个城市，并不是因为他想参加一个名为“脆弱家庭和负责任的父亲”的课程，而是因为，像房间里的其他人一样，他别无选择。
Some of the men had been told to take the class as a condition of visiting their estranged children.
一些男子被告知参加这门课程作为探望他们疏远的孩子的条件。
Others had been lured by the promise of job referrals or reduced child-support payments.
其他人则被工作推荐或减少子女抚养费的承诺所吸引。
Paul had come mostly because of the promise of free baby supplies, and lately he had been purchasing his Pampers one at a time, repeating the same transaction so often at a corner store that a clerk had dubbed it the Daddy Paul Special, 75 cents for a single cigarette and a size-3 diaper.
保罗来这里主要是因为免费婴儿用品的承诺，最近他一次买了一个帮宝适，在一家街角商店经常重复同样的交易，以至于店员将其称为“爸爸保罗特价”，一根香烟和一个 3 号尿布 75 美分。
Paul and his daughter head home after attending a fatherhood development class at Next Door Foundation.
保罗和他的女儿参加完隔壁基金会的父亲发展课程后回家。
Lately Paul had had been purchasing his Pampers one at a time, repeating the same transaction so often at a corner store that a clerk had dubbed it the Daddy Paul Special, 75 cents for a single cigarette and a size-3 diaper.
最近，保罗每次都买一支帮宝适，在一家街角商店经常重复同样的交易，以至于店员将其称为“保罗老爹特惠”，一根香烟 75 美分，一个 3 号尿布。
Here in one of America’s most segregated cities, the biweekly fatherhood class has become President Obama’s preferred antidote to so many of the problems facing black men.
在美国种族隔离最严重的城市之一，每两周一次的父亲课程已成为奥巴马总统解决黑人面临的许多问题的首选解毒剂。
His administration approved the 16-course curriculum and devoted more than $500 million to funding hundreds of fatherhood classes around the country.
他的政府批准了包含 16 门课程的课程，并投入了 5 亿多美元来资助全国数百个父亲课程。
One of the biggest grants went to North Milwaukee, where, according to studies of census data, black children face disadvantages that accumulate from birth: three times as likely as white children to die in their first year; five times as likely to live with a single parent; nine times as likely to attend failing schools; 15 times as likely to live in poverty; 18 times as likely to go to prison.
其中最大的一笔赠款流向了北密尔沃基，根据人口普查数据的研究，那里的黑人儿童面临着从出生起就积累起来的不利条件：第一年死亡的可能性是白人儿童的三倍；与单亲父母同住的可能性是其五倍；就读不及格学校的可能性是其九倍；生活在贫困中的可能性是普通人的 15 倍；入狱的可能性是普通人的 18 倍。
“Strong fathers can be the first and best step toward fixing these communities and helping our children reach their goals,” Obama said last year while promoting the classes.
奥巴马去年在推广这些课程时表示：“坚强的父亲可以成为修复这些社区并帮助我们的孩子实现目标的第一步，也是最好的一步。”
Paul had written down his goals as part of an exercise on the first day of class: “Brush Sapphire’s teeth every night.” “Stay calm.” “Find a stable apartment.” “Get a job — any.”
保罗在第一天上课时写下了他的目标，作为练习的一部分：“每晚给蓝宝石刷牙。” “保持冷静。” “找个稳定的公寓。” “找份工作——任何工作都行。”
Now it was his 15th class, nearing the end, and despite the hopeful language in a course guide — “End the cycle of intergenerational poverty!” “Help turn your child turn into a success story in 16 lessons.” — so much about his life remained unstable.
现在这是他的第 15 节课，即将结束，尽管课程指南中充满希望的语言——“结束代际贫困的循环！” “通过 16 节课程，帮助您的孩子成为一个成功的故事。” ——他的生活中有很多东西仍然不稳定。
He had moved nine times in seven months.
他在七个月内搬了九次家。
He had been offered two jobs but failed the drug tests.
他曾获得两份工作机会，但未能通过药检。
It had been several days since he had seen the baby’s mother, a former longtime girlfriend who was no longer living with them.
他已经好几天没有见到孩子的母亲了，她是前多年的女友，现在已经不再和他们住在一起了。
“Sapphire misses you.
“蓝宝石想你了。
Are you coming over to see her??” he had texted once, and the silence that followed made him think Sapphire might become another black child whose long odds depended on a single parent, and that parent was him.
你要来看她吗？？”他发过一次短信，随后的沉默让他觉得萨菲尔可能会成为另一个黑人孩子，他的成功几率取决于单亲父母，而那个父母就是他。
In the first fatherhood class he had recited 20 strategies for managing anger.
在第一堂父亲课上，他背诵了 20 种控制愤怒的策略。
In the fifth he had role-played effective methods of child discipline; “Say ‘no’ firmly and repeat as necessary,” the course book read.
在第五次中，他对管教儿童的有效方法进行了角色扮演。教科书中写道：“坚定地说‘不’，并在必要时重复。”
Now the teacher asked the students to stand for a group exercise, so Paul grabbed the baby and joined his classmates in the center of the room.
现在老师要求学生们站起来进行集体练习，于是保罗抱着婴儿，和他的同学们一起站在教室中央。
The teacher said he would read a series of “value statements,” and students would go to the right side of the room if they agreed with the statement, the left side if they disagreed or stay in the center if they were unsure.
老师说，他会阅读一系列“价值陈述”，如果学生同意该陈述，他们就会去房间的右侧，如果不同意，就会去左侧，或者如果不确定，就留在中间。
“Men and women are equally capable of caring for children,” the teacher said, and all at once the men began to move, half to the right and half to the left, jarring at each other as they went.
“男人和女人都有同样的能力照顾孩子，”老师说，男人们突然开始移动，一半向右，一半向左，边走边互相刺耳。
“Oh, hell, no,” one said.
“哦，见鬼，不，”其中一人说道。
“Damn right I’m capable,” said another.
“该死的，我有能力，”另一个人说。
Paul stood alone in the center of the room, unsure.
保罗独自站在房间中央，一脸不确定。
“A man who cries easily is weak,” the teacher said, and the men hurried around the room again.
“容易哭的人是软弱的。”老师说，男人们又在教室里匆匆走来。
“It’s okay to use violence if you’re disrespected,” the teacher said.
“如果你受到不尊重，使用暴力是可以的，”老师说。
“A man should be willing to take any job to support his children.”
“一个男人应该愿意接受任何工作来养活他的孩子。”
Paul still stood alone in the center of the room, watching everyone move, cradling the baby against his shoulder.
保罗仍然独自站在房间中央，看着每个人的举动，将婴儿抱在肩上。
“Paul, come on man, what are you sure about?” the teacher asked.
“保罗，拜托，你确定什么？”老师问道。
“Me being honest?” he said.
“我诚实吗？”他说。
“You’re asking us for simple yes/no answers, and I can see it both ways.
“你问我们的是简单的是/否的答案，我可以从两个方面来看。
It’s a whole lot more complicated than you’re making it seem.”
这比你想象的要复杂得多。”
Paul attends a fatherhood development class led by social worker Alphonso Pettis at Next Door Foundation.
保罗参加了隔壁基金会社会工作者阿方索·佩蒂斯主持的父亲发展课程。
He had pushed a creaky stroller through one of Milwaukee’s worst neighborhoods and ridden a bus across the city not because he wanted to attend a class called Fragile Families and Responsible Fatherhood, but because, like everyone else in the room, he saw no other choice.
他推着一辆吱吱作响的婴儿车穿过密尔沃基最糟糕的街区之一，并乘坐公共汽车穿越整个城市，并不是因为他想参加一个名为“脆弱家庭和负责任的父亲”的课程，而是因为，像房间里的其他人一样，他别无选择。
She was his first child, and when he found out he was going to be a father, he felt both excited and scared.
她是他的第一个孩子，当他得知自己要当爸爸的时候，既兴奋又害怕。
He was unemployed, broke, single and still pursuing his high school diploma — an accidental teenage father, the exact thing his mother had warned him not to become.
他失业、身无分文、单身，但仍在追求高中文凭——一个意外的青少年父亲，正是他母亲警告他不要成为的人。
He hid the pregnancy from his mother for several months, hid it from nearly everybody, until his daughter arrived in August at 6 pounds and 13 ounces, with tousled hair, soft skin and normal results on her first hospital check-up.
他向母亲隐瞒了怀孕的事情几个月，几乎向所有人隐瞒，直到他的女儿于八月出生，体重为 6 磅 13 盎司，头发凌乱，皮肤柔软，第一次医院检查结果正常。
“Health: Good.” “Ethnicity: Black.” “Risk factors: None.”
“健康状况：良好。” “种族：黑人。” “风险因素：无。”
The first crisis of her life had come a few hours later.
几个小时后，她人生中的第一次危机来临了。
“I need a car seat ASAP,” Paul had written on his Facebook page, when the nurse explained they couldn’t take the baby home without one.
“我尽快需要一个汽车安全座椅，”保罗在他的 Facebook 页面上写道，当时护士解释说，如果没有汽车安全座椅，他们就无法把婴儿带回家。
He didn’t have a phone or a computer, so he logged onto Facebook using a cheap tablet he shared with a friend.
他没有手机或电脑，所以他使用与朋友共用的廉价平板电脑登录 Facebook。
“I need one now!” he wrote.
“我现在需要一个！”他写道。
“I am at Sinai hospital.
“我在西奈医院。
Please someone help or let me borrow $50.
请有人帮忙或借我 50 美元。
They sell one here.
他们这里卖一个。
Please help.”
请帮忙。”
He managed to borrow a car seat from a relative, borrow a car from a friend, buy a few baby supplies from Goodwill and take the baby and her mother home to a friend’s one-bedroom apartment.
他设法从亲戚那里借了一个汽车安全座椅，从朋友那里借了一辆汽车，从 Goodwill 购买了一些婴儿用品，然后带着婴儿和她的母亲回到了朋友的一居室公寓。
“I’m gonna be the best daddy for this girl,” he wrote on his Facebook page, and only in the next months did he begin to understand what that would require.
“我将成为这个女孩最好的爸爸，”他在 Facebook 页面上写道，直到接下来的几个月，他才开始明白这需要什么。
“Fittin to walk everywhere and do whatever to find me a job,” he wrote, in September.
“我适合步行到任何地方并尽一切努力找到工作，”他在九月份写道。
“Kills me to be missing so much of my baby’s life,” he said, in December, when Sapphire and her mother left to stay with relatives in Minnesota.
去年 12 月，当萨菲尔和她的母亲离开明尼苏达州与亲戚同住时，他说道：“我太想念我孩子的生活了，这让我很伤心。”
“Headache outta this world,” he wrote, in January, when the baby and her mother returned from Minnesota, and the baby moved in with him.
一月份，当婴儿和她的母亲从明尼苏达州回来，婴儿搬来和他住在一起时，他写道：“头痛超出了这个世界。”
“Tired, irritated, stressed and plus,” he wrote, in February, when the mother started to visit less, and when he began to wonder if he should fight for custody in court.
“累、烦躁、压力大等等，”他在二月份写道，当时母亲探望的次数开始减少，而他开始考虑是否应该在法庭上争取监护权。
“Anyone trying to buy a Play Station?” he asked in March, when he had run out of money and used up his $198 in food stamps.
“有人想买 Play Station 吗？”他在 3 月份问道，当时他的钱用完了，并用完了 198 美元的食品券。
“Asking $130 but would be willing to work something out.
“要价 130 美元，但愿意解决一些问题。
Need baby stuff.”
需要婴儿用品。”
Now it was the end of April, and he left fatherhood class and took Sapphire back to his mother’s rental house in North Milwaukee, where they had been staying for the last several weeks.
现在已经是四月底了，他离开了父亲课程，带着萨菲尔回到了他母亲在北密尔沃基的出租屋，过去几周他们一直在那里住。
His mother, Bindu, was sitting in the living room and watching a report on the local news about a family that lived a mile away.
他的母亲宾杜（Bindu）坐在客厅里，正在观看当地新闻报道，内容是关于住在一英里外的一个家庭。
The family had hosted a barbecue the previous afternoon, and an unsupervised 2-year-old had run into the street and been hit by a van.
前一天下午，一家人举办了烧烤会，一名无人看管的两岁孩子跑到街上，被一辆货车撞倒。
The driver stopped and shouted for somebody to call 9-1-1, but instead the toddler’s uncle came off the porch, shot the driver in the head and then shot the toddler’s 15-year-old brother for failing to watch him.
司机停下来，大喊叫人拨打 9-1-1，但孩子的叔叔却从门廊上下来，朝司机的头部开了一枪，然后又因为孩子没有看管他而开枪打死了 15 岁的弟弟。
“A total loss of control on our streets,” the mayor was saying on the news, in a news conference to address the seventh and eighth murders of the week.
“我们的街道完全失去了控制，”市长在新闻发布会上谈到本周的第七和第八起谋杀案时说道。
“I just want to take Sapphire and myself and go dig a hole like Bugs Bunny,” Paul said, once the report finished.
“我只想带着蓝宝石和我自己，像兔八哥一样去挖一个洞，”报告结束后，保罗说道。
“Get yourself out of this neighborhood,” Bindu said.
“离开这个街区，”宾杜说。
“It’s a mess, and it’s only getting worse.”
“一团糟，而且只会变得更糟。”
“Get an education,” she said.
“接受教育，”她说。
“Get a phone.
“拿个电话。
Get a car.
买辆车。
Get a job.
找份工作。
Get an apartment.
买一套公寓。
Get a bank account.
获得一个银行账户。
Get a plan for your life.”
为你的人生制定一个计划。”
“A baby needs stability, Paul.
“婴儿需要稳定，保罗。
It can’t be day-to-day for 18 years.
18年来不可能天天如此。
Give her something to depend on.”
给她一个可以依靠的东西。”
Paul was Bindu’s youngest child, and he reminded her of his father: soft-hearted and hard-headed, all the right intentions without the necessary follow through.
保罗是宾杜最小的孩子，他让她想起了他的父亲：心软但头脑顽固，所有的意图都是正确的，但没有必要的后续行动。
Paul had tattooed the names and birth dates of his siblings on his arms as a tribute to family, but he had gotten one of the birth dates wrong.
保罗将兄弟姐妹的名字和出生日期纹在手臂上，作为对家人的致敬，但他把其中一个出生日期写错了。
He had skirted the edges of trouble — suspended from school but never expelled, using marijuana but not dealing it.
他避开了麻烦的边缘——被学校停学但从未被开除，吸食大麻但不进行交易。
And at 19 he possessed what few other black men in his neighborhood did: He was among the 42 percent with no criminal record; the 35 percent with a high school diploma; and the 14 percent of fathers who lived with their child.
19 岁时，他拥有了邻居中很少有的黑人所拥有的东西：他是 42% 的没有犯罪记录的黑人之一； 35%拥有高中文凭； 14% 的父亲与孩子住在一起。
“A master at barely avoiding disaster,” Bindu said of him, but she had said the same thing about Paul’s father until he was shot and killed during an argument at 39, when Paul was in eighth grade.
宾杜这样评价他：“一位勉强避免灾难的大师。”但她也对保罗的父亲说了同样的话，直到他 39 岁时在一次争吵中被枪杀，当时保罗正在上八年级。
The police hadn’t solved that murder, had never even reported a lead, and Bindu’s experiences with Milwaukee gave her little faith that they would.
警方尚未侦破这起谋杀案，甚至从未报告过线索，而宾杜在密尔沃基的经历让她不太相信警方会侦破这起谋杀案。
She worked for an anti-homelessness organization, handing out water under bridges and listening to stories about how the city’s infrastructure had failed its minorities: public schools that graduated well below half of their students, long wait lists for public housing, jails that imprisoned black men at twice the national rate and a racial health disparity so vast that whites lived nearly a decade longer than blacks.
她在一个反无家可归的组织工作，在桥下分发水，并聆听有关该城市的基础设施如何辜负少数族裔的故事：公立学校的毕业率远远低于学生的一半，公共住房的等待名单很长，监狱中监禁黑人的比例是全国的两倍，以及种族健康差距如此之大，以至于白人比黑人多活了近十年。
“If you want to be healthy as a black person, you don’t want to live in Wisconsin,” the city’s health director had once advised.
“如果你想作为一个黑人保持健康，你就不想住在威斯康星州，”该市的卫生主管曾经建议道。
But Bindu did live in Wisconsin, in one of its worst neighborhoods, where Obama’s fatherhood initiative was advertised on fliers posted at barber shops, food banks and homeless shelters.
但宾杜确实住在威斯康星州，这是该州最糟糕的社区之一，那里的理发店、食品银行和无家可归者收容所张贴的传单上都宣传着奥巴马的父亲倡议。
“Strong Fathers Take Family Matters Into Their Own Hands,” one read.
“坚强的父亲会把家庭事务掌握在自己手中，”其中一位写道。
And even if some considered that a thin solution to so much systematic racism and decay, Bindu thought that a fatherhood class could at least be a safe and constructive place to go.
即使有些人认为这是解决如此多的系统性种族主义和腐败的一个薄弱的解决方案，宾杜认为父亲阶级至少可以是一个安全和建设性的地方。
She had encouraged Paul to enroll and said he could stop sleeping on friends’ couches and live with her, so long as he followed her rules: no wandering the neighborhood at night; no visits from the baby’s mother, whom she didn’t trust.
她鼓励保罗报名，并说他可以不再睡在朋友的沙发上，可以和她住在一起，只要他遵守她的规则：晚上不准在附近闲逛；婴儿的母亲没有来探望，她不信任她。
“I can’t be your safety net forever,” she had told him, and she had decided against giving him his own key.
“我不可能永远成为你的安全网，”她告诉他，并且她决定不给他自己的钥匙。
Now he carried Sapphire upstairs to their bedroom, where his mattress was on the floor under a string of Christmas lights.
现在他带着蓝宝石上楼到他们的卧室，他的床垫放在地板上，在一串圣诞彩灯下。
He brushed her teeth and rocked her down into her crib.
他给她刷牙，然后把她摇进婴儿床。
Then he sat on the window ledge, lit a cigarette and blew smoke into the alleyway.
然后他坐在窗台上，点燃一支烟，向巷子里吹着烟。
“Bedtime,” he said, as Sapphire played in the crib.
“睡觉了，”萨菲尔在婴儿床里玩耍时，他说道。
“Come on now.
“现在来吧。
Daddy needs a break, girl.”
爸爸需要休息一下，女孩。”
“We’re getting up early tomorrow, making something happen.
“明天我们要早起，让事情发生。
We’re starting out fresh, you and me.”
你和我，我们都将重新开始。”
“Close your eyes,” he said, but as Sapphire kept looking up at him, he closed his.
“闭上你的眼睛，”他说，但当蓝宝石一直抬头看着他时，他闭上了眼睛。
Paul, at the Next Door Foundation with his daughter, talks to a social worker.
保罗和他的女儿在隔壁基金会与一名社会工作者交谈。
He hid the pregnancy from his mother for several months, hid it from nearly everybody, until his daughter arrived in August.
他向母亲隐瞒了怀孕的事情几个月，几乎对每个人都隐瞒了，直到八月份他的女儿出生。
He awoke the next morning to a hopeful message on his Facebook page: “Might have a job lead.
第二天早上，他醒来时看到自己的 Facebook 页面上出现了一条充满希望的信息：“可能有工作线索。
Call if you can,” his former high school counselor had written, and since Paul didn’t have a cellphone and didn’t want to wait, he packed his diaper bag, wrapped Sapphire in a blanket and traveled across the city to find the counselor at Pulaski High.
如果可以的话，请打电话。”他的前高中辅导员写道，由于保罗没有手机，也不想等待，他收拾好尿布袋，用毯子包裹蓝宝石，穿过城市去普拉斯基高中找到辅导员。
Paul had graduated from Pulaski the year before, and he had been celebrated that day as one of the principal’s handpicked “turnaround stories.” He had started high school just months after his father’s murder, a stormy freshman who dented lockers in the school hallways, but he had become one of the school’s most popular eccentrics, with fluorescent socks and wild hair.
保罗前一年从普拉斯基大学毕业，那天他被誉为校长精心挑选的“扭转局面的故事”之一。父亲被谋杀几个月后，他就开始上高中了。他是一名暴躁的新生，曾在学校走廊的储物柜上砸凹痕，但他已经成为学校最受欢迎的怪人之一，穿着荧光袜子和狂野的头发。
He cooked his father’s native Jamaican food and sold it in the cafeteria.
他为父亲烹制牙买加本土食物并在自助餐厅出售。
He made honor roll his last semester, and a teacher suggested he apply to culinary school or even to college.
他最后一个学期进入了荣誉榜，一位老师建议他申请烹饪学校甚至大学。
“You can make it,” that teacher had written in an evaluation.
“你能做到，”那位老师在评价中写道。
Now Paul walked into the lobby and ran into that same teacher, who looked down at the baby in his arms.
现在保罗走进大厅，遇到了那位老师，他低头看着他怀里的婴儿。
“Yours?” he said.
“你的？”他说。
“Yep,” Paul said.
“是的，”保罗说。
“Congratulations,” the teacher said, before continuing down the hall.
“恭喜你，”老师说，然后继续沿着大厅走。
Paul changed Sapphire’s diaper, went upstairs and found the counselor in his office.
保罗给萨菲尔换了尿布，上楼在他的办公室里找到了辅导员。
“You mentioned something about a job?” Paul said, and the counselor explained that his friend was hiring for a caretaking position in an elderly home, no experience necessary, paying $10 an hour.
“你提到了一些关于工作的事？”保罗说，辅导员解释说，他的朋友正在一家养老院招聘看护职位，无需经验，每小时支付 10 美元。
“They need somebody who can start right away,” the counselor said.
“他们需要一个可以立即开始的人，”辅导员说。
At top, Paul and his daughter head home after attending a fatherhood development class at Next Door Foundation.
在上图，保罗和他的女儿在参加完隔壁基金会的父亲发展课程后回家。
Above, Paul takes a break from his fatherhood development class to change his daughter’s diaper.
上图，保罗在父亲发展课程中休息一下，给女儿换尿布。
He agreed to continue coming after his 16 sessions were up, thinking about the free baby supplies, and thinking that help might be something he’d need.
他同意在 16 次疗程结束后继续来，考虑到免费的婴儿用品，并认为他可能需要帮助。
“Do they drug-test?” Paul asked, thinking about the urine tests he had failed at Target and Milwaukee Sanitation.
“他们会进行药物测试吗？”保罗问道，想着他在塔吉特和密尔沃基卫生局未能通过的尿液测试。
“No,” the counselor said.
“不，”辅导员说。
He pointed to Paul’s tattoos.
他指着保罗的纹身。
“You might need to cover up all those marijuana leaves on your arm, turn them into hearts or something.
“你可能需要把手臂上的大麻叶子都遮起来，把它们变成心形之类的。
But the main thing is you need to call her tonight.”
但最重要的是你今晚需要给她打电话。”
“Or you can just drive out there and see her,” the counselor said.
“或者你可以开车去见她，”辅导员说。
“What?
“什么？
The job is in Waukesha?” Paul said.
工作地点在沃克夏？”保罗说。
Waukesha was three bus transfers to the west, a mostly white suburb where 83 percent of children lived with both parents, 90 percent of families were middle class or better, 93 percent of adults were high school graduates and 95 percent were employed.
沃克夏 (Waukesha) 距离西部有 3 趟公交车路程，这是一个以白人为主的郊区，83% 的儿童与父母同住，90% 的家庭是中产阶级或以上，93% 的成年人是高中毕业生，95% 的人有工作。
“What are they going to let me do in Waukesha?” Paul said, but he listened as the counselor outlined a plan: Cover the tattoos.
“他们会让我在沃克夏做什么？”保罗说，但他听着辅导员概述了一个计划：遮盖纹身。
Get the job.
得到这份工作。
Save enough money to rent an apartment near work and move with Sapphire to Waukesha, where she could enjoy all the advantages of an America that Paul had never experienced, an America nine miles away.
攒够钱，在工作地点附近租一套公寓，然后和萨菲尔一起搬到沃克夏，在那里她可以享受保罗从未经历过的美国的所有优势，一个九英里之外的美国。
“Waukesha,” the counselor said, stretching the word out, nodding his head.
“沃克夏，”辅导员一边说，一边点点头。
“That could be the answer right there.
“这可能就是答案。
She’ll grow up right.
她会长大的。
She’ll have some rich friends.”
她会有一些有钱的朋友。”
“She could go to one of those day cares with a garden and a big old playground,” Paul said, nodding now, too.
“她可以去一个有花园和一个大操场的日托所，”保罗说，现在也点了点头。
He promised the counselor he would call about the job, and he started traveling back across the city.
他向辅导员承诺他会打电话询问这项工作，然后他开始穿越城市返回。
Sapphire fussed and he cradled her to his chest.
蓝宝石烦躁起来，他将她抱在怀里。
She spit up on his shoulder and he didn’t bother to wipe it off.
她吐在他肩膀上，他懒得擦掉。
“Waukesha,” he said, still getting used to the idea, because maybe it could work.
“沃克夏，”他说，仍然习惯这个想法，因为也许它可行。
He would get a bank account.
他会得到一个银行账户。
He would save money to put himself through school and win full custody of Sapphire.
他会攒钱供自己完成学业并赢得萨菲尔的完全监护权。
“Gonna overcome everything for this little girl right here,” he wrote, posting a photo of Sapphire to his Facebook page, and by the time they arrived back at his mother’s house it looked to him like a place he was already preparing to leave.
“我会为这个小女孩克服一切，”他写道，并在他的 Facebook 页面上发布了一张蓝宝石的照片。当他们回到他母亲的家时，他看起来就像一个他已经准备离开的地方。
“A week tops and I’ll be out,” he said, carrying Sapphire up to the front door.
“一周就到了，我就要出去了，”他一边说着，一边抱着蓝宝石走到前门。
He reached for the knob, but it didn’t turn.
他伸手去够旋钮，但它没有转动。
He knocked, and nobody answered.
他敲了敲门，却没有人应门。
He pushed his shoulder against the door just to be sure.
他把肩膀抵在门上，只是为了确定一下。
“Damn,” he said.
“该死，”他说。
“Locked out.”
“被锁在外面了。”
They sat on the curb, waiting for his sister to come home with a key.
他们坐在路边，等待他妹妹拿着钥匙回家。
After a few minutes, Sapphire started to cry, so he wrapped her in the blanket and gave her the rest of her milk.
几分钟后，蓝宝石开始哭泣，于是他把她裹在毯子里，给她喝了剩下的牛奶。
After 10 minutes, two teenagers walked by, and Paul stopped them.
10分钟后，两名青少年走过，保罗拦住了他们。
“Hey, give me a dollar,” he said, but the kids kept walking.
“嘿，给我一美元，”他说，但孩子们继续走。
He smoked one cigarette and lighted another.
他吸了一支烟，又点燃了另一支。
He wrapped the blanket tighter around Sapphire.
他把毯子裹得更紧，把蓝宝石裹得更紧。
“I’m sorry,” he told her.
“我很抱歉，”他告诉她。
A neighbor came out to talk to Paul while they continued to wait.
当他们继续等待时，一位邻居出来与保罗交谈。
“What’s happening?” he asked, and Paul told him about the trip back to his high school, the counselor and the $10-an-hour caretaking position.
“发生什么事了？”他问道，保罗告诉了他回高中的旅程、辅导员和每小时 10 美元的看护职位。
“Waukesha?
“沃克夏？
Yeah, you’d fit in real good in Waukesha,” the neighbor said, laughing at the idea, and something about his reaction made Paul realize how ridiculous it seemed.
是的，你在沃克夏真的很适合。”邻居笑着说，他的反应让保罗意识到这看起来有多么荒谬。
He didn’t have a job.
他没有工作。
He didn’t have hearts on his arms, or a car to get him to work, or money to rent an apartment in the suburbs.
他没有心，没有车让他上班，也没有钱在郊区租一套公寓。
He didn’t even own a key to his own home.
他甚至没有自己家的钥匙。
Paul and Sapphire wait for a city bus as they head home after attending a fatherhood development class.
保罗和萨菲尔参加完父亲发展课程后，在回家的路上等待城市公交车。
Paul doesn’t have a car and relies on the bus system as his main method of transportation.
保罗没有汽车，依靠公交车系统作为他的主要交通方式。
What he had was a baby and one more fatherhood class the next afternoon, the last of Obama’s 16 sessions.
第二天下午，他有了一个孩子，又上了一堂关于父亲的课程，这是奥巴马 16 节课程中的最后一节。
The teacher talked about the five developmental stages of childhood.
老师讲了童年的五个发展阶段。
He talked about treating mothers with respect.
他谈到尊重母亲。
“Congratulations, Graduate!” read a certificate with Paul’s name printed on it, but before he left the teacher pulled him aside.
“恭喜你，毕业了！”读了一张印有保罗名字的证书，但在他离开之前，老师把他拉到一边。
“This isn’t really the kind of thing you finish,” the teacher said.
“这不是你真正能完成的事情，”老师说。
“This is about achieving self-discipline.
“这是为了实现自律。
That’s the essence of manhood.
这就是男子气概的本质。
We want to keep giving you help,” and so Paul agreed to continue coming, thinking about the free baby supplies, and thinking that help might be something he would need.
我们希望继续为您提供帮助。”因此保罗同意继续来，考虑到免费的婴儿用品，并认为帮助可能是他需要的。
“Are you coming over today?” he texted Sapphire’s mother, on his way home, and she told him that she was.
“你今天过来吗？”他在回家的路上给萨菲尔的母亲发短信，她告诉他她是。
He brought Sapphire back into the house, turned on cartoons and waited.
他把蓝宝石带回屋里，打开动画片等待。
This was where they spent much of their time together, rotating from a chair to a couch to another chair as empty soda cans and baby formula piled up around them.
这是他们大部分时间在一起度过的地方，从一张椅子转到一张沙发，再转到另一张椅子，周围堆满了空汽水罐和婴儿配方奶粉。
He bounced Sapphire on his knee as a cartoon about a talking car gave way to another about a talking horse.
当一幅关于一辆会说话的汽车的漫画被另一幅关于一匹会说话的马的漫画取代时，他把蓝宝石放在膝盖上。
“Still coming??” he texted the mother, and then waited for her to write back.
“还来吗？”他给母亲发短信，然后等她回信。
He cooked potatoes and fed them to Sapphire by hand.
他煮了土豆，亲手喂给蓝宝石。
She spit up on his shoulder, and he changed his shirt.
她朝他的肩膀吐口水，他换了衬衫。
Paul Gayle is trying to make a better life for his daughter, but the odds are stacked against him.
保罗·盖尔试图为他的女儿创造更好的生活，但他的处境却很艰难。
Click the photo above for more images.
单击上面的照片查看更多图片。
“Soooo bored,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
“太无聊了，”他在脸书页面上写道。
“Who wants to hang with me and Sapphire?” and finally he heard the front door open.
“谁想和我和蓝宝石一起玩？”最后他听到前门打开的声音。
It was Bindu, home from work, and she squeezed his shoulder and kissed the baby.
那是宾杜，下班回家了，她捏捏他的肩膀，亲吻了孩子。
“Did you call about the job in Waukesha?” she asked.
“你打电话来是想了解沃克夏的工作吗？”她问道。
“Not yet,” he said.
“还没有，”他说。
He switched from cartoons to MTV, and then to “American Idol” as the sun went down.
他从动画片转向 MTV，然后在太阳落山时又转向《美国偶像》。
He started to fall asleep on the couch, but Sapphire grabbed at his beard.
他开始在沙发上睡着，但蓝宝石抓住了他的胡子。
“Let me sleep,” he said, but now she was chewing on the remote control, pulling his arm, asking for attention.
“让我睡吧，”他说，但现在她正在嚼着遥控器，拉着他的手臂，寻求注意。
“What do you want?” he said, and what she wanted was to be held, then to crawl, then to eat, then to play peek-a-boo, then to crawl again.
“你想要什么？”他说，她想要的是被抱住，然后爬行，然后吃东西，然后玩躲猫猫，然后再爬行。
“Ugh, are you serious?” Paul said, strapping her into a bouncy chair, closing his eyes.
“呃，你是认真的吗？”保罗说着，把她绑在一张充气椅上，闭上了眼睛。
Bindu came back into the room and put a hand on his shoulder.
宾杜回到房间，将一只手放在他的肩膀上。
“Did you call yet?” she asked.
“你打电话了吗？”她问道。
Paul stood up and walked out of the living room, out the back door and into the alley.
保罗站起来，走出客厅，走出后门，走进小巷。
“How long are we going to be stuck like this?” he said, lighting a cigarette.
“我们还要这样被困多久？”他一边说，一边点燃了一根香烟。
“Weeks?
“几周？
Years?” He looked down the alley to the street, and on that street was a bus stop, and for a few seconds he wondered what it would feel like to leave: just quiet, no questions, no stroller, no baby.
几年？他沿着小巷望向街道，那条街上有一个公共汽车站，有那么几秒钟，他想知道离开会是什么感觉：很安静，没有问题，没有婴儿车，没有婴儿。
But even now he could hear Sapphire crying.
但即使现在他也能听到蓝宝石的哭声。
He stomped out his cigarette and walked back into the house.
他踩灭香烟，走回屋里。
She saw him and held up her arms.
她看到了他，举起了双臂。
He lifted her from the bouncer, pulled her into his lap and offered what he could.
他把她从保镖上抱起来，把她拉到自己的腿上，并尽其所能地提供了一切。
Paul and his daughter head home after taking a fatherhood development class.
保罗和他的女儿参加完父亲发展课程后回家。
Sapphire’s mother started to visit less, and he began to wonder if he should fight for custody in court.
萨菲尔的母亲开始减少探望，他开始考虑是否应该在法庭上争取监护权。
Paul Gayle is trying to make a better life for his daughter, but the odds are stacked against him.
保罗·盖尔试图为他的女儿创造更好的生活，但他的处境却很艰难。
Click the photo above for more images.
单击上面的照片查看更多图片。