His older brother swatted his hand. "That ain't nothing. I tackled Jimmy Gaffer so hard that he had to go home. I put my whole weight on him-like this." He got up from his chair and hooked Bobby around the neck, brought him down on the floor, and lay on top of him like a pancake.

"See?" he said. "Ain't n.o.body gettin' outa this."

"Don't use the word ain't," Karen scolded.

"Lemme go!" Bobby cried.

Laughing, Ted said, "That's wonderful, Benny, but I think you'd better let your brother go before you squash him."

"Yeah, you're squashing me!" Bobby said.

Benny rolled off, got to his feet, and extended a hand to his brother.

"Sit down so we can say grace," Karen said, coming over to the table.

They got into their chairs and the family linked hands, closing their eyes.

"Our Father," Karen began, "who art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name. We thank You for Your blessings. We thank You for this meal, for this home, for our livelihood. We ask that You watch over us always, and keep us safe from harm. We'd like to say a prayer for Pastor Emerson down at Victory Ministries Church, and one for his mother, who has fallen ill. May she recover with grace."

She sighed, then quickly added, "And Lord, we ask that You bring down your wrath upon all evildoers and hold them in contempt in Your sight. In Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen."

"Amen," the family echoed.

"Okay, girls, here's what I want you to do."

Karen had removed the undergarments along with their gags, and now the girls lay naked on their stomachs, staring at the floor. She herself had changed into sweat pants and a t-shirt, had pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She stood holding the rubber tube attachment to the Hoover vacuum, its round end gaping like a maw.

"I want you to pretend you are your baby. Imagine yourselves nice and snug inside the womb, suspended lovingly in your mother's fluids. Ah, how she sacrifices a portion of her every meal to you. How she keeps you hydrated and warm. She must really love you. You can't wait to meet her. But what's this you see? A Planned Parenthood sign? What could that mean?"

Karen picked up the bucket of ice water and doused their naked bodies in it. The blonde girl shrieked, then started sniffling, begging to be let go. Her daddy had lots of money, she said, and would pay a hefty ransom.

Karen laughed, switching on the vacuum.

"Yo, why'd you splash us?" demanded the Latina.

"Because," Karen replied, "your mother's procedure has begun, and her body temperature is dropping in response. You're not so snug and warm now, are you? But what's going on; you're so confused. How could Mommy do this after she nurtured you for so long?"

Kneeling before the black girl, Karen shoved the rubber tube in her face.

"Ahh!" The girl said, her cheeks getting sucked in.

"Oh my!" Karen dragged the rubber hose across her face, sucking in her nostrils, cheeks, eyelids, lips-sucking in then yanking so the flesh snapped back. "Mommy, what's happening?"

"Get off me!" the girl cried.

Karen moved on to the Latina, tugging on her face and even the steel ring in her eyebrow. Then she did the blonde, who sobbed uncontrollably, her tears swallowed greedily by the hose.

When she was satisfied, she rolled the girls over and vacuumed between their legs, sucking at the tender young flesh and twisting, snapping it back.

Screams of pain filled the room.

She switched off the vacuum and the screams were decreased to whimpers. Blood leaked across the girls' thighs. Picking up a spool of black trash bags, she said, "All right now, girls, it's time to wrap up your dead babies and throw 'em in the garbage. Who wants to be first?"

She found Ted in the living room, dozing by the blue glow of a sports game, a longneck bottle in his hand. She kissed the side of his brow, carefully retracted his beer and set it in the sink; then she headed upstairs.

The door to the boys' room was ajar and a yellow light streamed into the hall; she paused before entering, head c.o.c.ked, listening. She could hear m.u.f.fled voices.

"I hope you guys are ready for bed," she said, opening the door. She stopped. "What are you doing up there, Benny?"

Benny was on the top bunk with his brother, halfway under the blankets; he had a strange expression on his face.

"I'm practicing my defensive plays on him," he said coolly, punching Bobby lightly in the stomach, eliciting a breathy oof!

"Well it's bedtime now so get into your own bunk."

Benny swung his legs over the edge, climbed down the wood ladder, and flopped onto his mattress.

"You've almost outgrown your bed," she said, stepping across the carpet, past the golden trophies, the binders of baseball cards, the posters of Derek Jeeter, John Elway, Randy Johnson.

"He'll be thirteen next year," Bobby said, his voice uneasy and weak. "Then he'll get his own room."

"That's right," Karen said, kissing the boy on the cheek and tucking him into the blanket.

"I don't mind staying in this room," Benny said.

Karen kneeled beside him. "But you're going to be a teenager soon, Benny. You'll want your privacy. Trust me. What happens when you want to have one of your girlfriends over?"

"I hate girls," he said, wrinkling his nose. "All they do is complain, cry, and make noise."

Karen laughed. "Well, I doubt you'll feel that way much longer."

She got up and went to the door. "You boys brushed your teeth, I hope?"

"Yes, Mom," they said.

"All right, goodnight then, have sweet dreams."

"Goodnight."

She switched off the light.

"Time for the final act," she said, locking the metal door behind her. The girls were huddled against the wall, naked, using each other as pillows, trying to fall sleep.

"Ah ah ah," Karen said, "come on, get up, you can rest later. Right now we've got G.o.d's work to do."

Blinking, they did their best to a.s.sume the kneeling position. Blood-smeared handprints covered their inner thighs.

Karen slid a chair before them, its legs scratching across the floor. From the shelf she removed an object draped in cloth, which she cradled in her lap as she sat down. "I have something very special here," she said. "Want to know what it is?"

They looked at her but said nothing, their faces showing fatigue, their eyes contempt.

"Come now," Karen said, pouting. "You can't be tuckered out already. I have one last thing to show you, and then tomorrow I'll dump you behind the shopping mall-or some other awful place-and you can return to your wretched lives. Doesn't that sound nice? I hope this experience has impacted you. And next time, perhaps you'll think twice before opening your legs."

This news seemed to invigorate them, to give them hope. Picking up their chins, they did their best to concentrate.

"That's better," Karen said, removing the piece of cloth and letting it drop to the floor.

The girls gasped, made retching noises, and the black one said, "That what I think it is?"

Karen nodded, holding up the jar. "This is an aborted human fetus. Not either of yours, of course. No, this one was scheduled for stem cell research over at the university, but luckily a friend of mine is a medical professor there and he liberated it for me. He's always been a proud member of our church."

She shook the container as one might shake a jar of pickles; the fetus swirled about in the amber liquid. Its underdeveloped head, tiny tummy, stumpy legs, reaching arms-so beautiful is proof of G.o.d's existence, she thought wistfully. So beautiful is the miracle of child. Uns.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the lid, she stuck in her nose and inhaled the chemical aroma. "Ah, the scent of budding life," she said.

She held the jar out to the girls, but they wrinkled their noses in disgust at it. "Smell it!" she demanded. And they did.

"Now, you have to watch as I do this," she said. "I'm serious. If any of you close your eyes, I'll punish you, and then we'll be forced to start over. The faster we get through this, the faster you can go home, understand? You do want to go home, don't you? Where it's nice, warm, and comfortable?"

They nodded.

"Good. Just remember, no shutting your eyes."

Reaching into the container, she extracted the soggy fetus and set the jar by her feet. The misshapen wrinkled body dripped fat amber drops onto her pants. Taking a deep breath, she brought the fetus before her mouth and started to eat it.