Family Matters Ch. 14

With scenes like this did summer pass, and the autumn lady-market approached.

Lawrence told her what to expect. She would be offered for sale along with the other girls to brothels and wealthy private collectors. Unsold girls were purchased by the renderer for reduction to their useful components.

On the morning of the market the two men came up to her room. Did they expect her to give them any trouble? She resolved to be as obedient as possible.

They took her downstairs and she made their breakfast, then washed the dishes and set them to dry. Arnold bound her hands and she knelt at the men's feet.

Arnold commented to his father how useful she had been to them. Already he spoke of her in the past tense.

Lawrence said he had mentioned this to Alma's father, who assured him his daughter was very well trained and just what he wanted. She would make a good replacement for Faith until she was sold in turn.

Arnold poured a generous bowl of feed for his stepmother, then leashed her and led her to squat in the back yard. Back inside, he brushed her hair and the three of them proceeded out of the house.

As they walked she recalled meeting her owner three years ago, Larry as she called him then. He was selling his wife's bed; at the time she thought he was a widower. Now he was selling her.

At the entrance to the school's athletic field was a black van resembling a hearse; the renderer's. In the center a dozen stakes had been driven into the earth. Already three girls were suspended by their wrists from hooks at the top. The renderer and his assistant the nurse were inspecting them.

The two men hung her up; loosely, so she could be turned to inspect the front and back.

Lawrence handed his son a tube of lipstick; the boy uncapped it and approached Faith. He applied it carefully to her lips; when he was done, she made that suggestive O with her mouth again. He smiled and patted her on the cheek before putting a thin coat on each of her nipples, which rose to greet him.

She realized suddenly that she was in love with her stepson; and that she was seeing him for the last time. Her eyes begin to brim over with tears; he took a tissue, wiped her face dry, then turned and walked away.

She struggled to regain her self-control. She was here, a slave to be sold. Her duty was to display herself and bring in the highest price for her owner. She forced a smile and hoped it looked natural.

The nurse approached her. She probed each of Faith's openings with a swab for disease, then inspected her tongue. Satisfied, she placed a green sticker on Faith's metal collar.

Within half an hour all the stakes were occupied and potential buyers viewed the merchandise, checking breasts for firmness and reaching between legs for wetness.

Faith was examined by several men and a few women. Two husky ladies, a couple most likely, madams of a brothel in Chicago, thought she had promise but left her for the afternoon; if she were unsold at the end of the day they could get her for less. She saw Lawrence inspecting the other offerings as well.

By noon seven girls, the youngest, had been purchased and taken away.

Buyers and sellers were preparing to break for lunch when a bolt of lightning not far away startled everyone. A storm was approaching. Thunder rolled, and within minutes a drenching rain poured down; everyone who was not tied to a post ran for cover. The five girls were left out to endure the rain.

Suddenly a brilliant shaft of light struck one of the stakes. The girl attached to it gave a brief scream and hung limp from the charred post. The other four shook with horror at the sight and wondered if they were next.

That was enough for the operators of the market. They declared it over and the buyers went to their cars; all except for the renderer.

When the storm was over, he and his assistant approached the stakes. The nurse briskly removed the lipstick from Faith's mouth and nipples; it had no value where she was going and he advertised his product as all-natural.

They collected the four surviving girls and the carcass of the fifth, leading or carrying them to the black van. A good haul today, he said. They loaded each of them in like logs.

Faith went third, with one living girl beneath her who groaned as she was laid on top. Then the last two, and it was her turn to groan under the weight. The air was close, stifling, she did not see how they could breathe. Of course that did not matter to their new owner; it would save him a step.

Somehow they managed for the short distance to the "clinic", as the slaughterhouse was known. The four living girls were led down a corridor to a room with white walls and no furniture and left to wait until they were summoned for termination.

There was no sign of food or water, no need for it in their last hours; but there was a sandy litter box in a corner and two of the girls squatted in it for a moment.

They stood waiting to be called. All were attractive in their own way, but each was different.

One was tall, lithe, svelte; she would surely have been purchased if the market had not closed halfway through. The second was short and chubby; a less likely choice, but some men liked that. The third was the most striking; of average height but with long dark auburn hair, pale milky skin unmarked by the lash, large firm breasts with dark halos around the nipples.

Just then Nurse entered with four baskets and a shearing clipper. She told the girl to kneel and ran it briskly over her head until the skull was entirely bare, putting the hanks in one basket. She did each of the others until all were bald as eggs, then retired with her trophies.

Naked and shaved from head to foot, the four resembled department store mannequins except for their nipples, and the slits that gave them away as real women.

At first no one spoke. Then the former redhead explained this was how they did it; easier to shear a live kneeling girl than after terminating her when she was horizontal.

Faith thanked her, and with the ice broken they were beginning to chat when Nurse returned and pointed to the tall one. She fell silent and was led out to be terminated.

After a pause, the chubby girl tried to restart the conversation. She said her name was Bree; Faith named herself, and the former redhead said hers was Eileen.

She asked the name of the tall girl. No one knew; they never would. Someone thought she had seen her in a restaurant, or maybe on the sidewalk downtown, but was not sure. Eileen said it didn't matter.

Bree said the girl struck by lightning was the lucky one, she would not have to await dissection.

Eileen assured her that girls were terminated first, else they would wriggle on the table. As a student she had once considered a career as a renderer's nurse and went with her class to view the procedure. It was beautiful in its way; she looked forward to undergoing it.

She described a typical operation, though of course they all varied in the details. The subject stood beside the dissecting table and was allowed a minute to contemplate her end unless several girls had to be done in a short time.

She expressed her thanks to the nurse and climbed onto the table. She lay on her back facing the ceiling, and her wrist and ankle bracelets were secured to the edges. Eileen explained this was to prevent untoward movements during the execution.

Strangling was the usual means of choice; it involved no drugs or other impurities and the remains could be marketed as organic. The garrote was placed on her neck, and in a few minutes she was ready for "disassembly".

Occasionally guests attended and more of a drama took place, sometimes quite an extended one. The table was designed to trap and drain any liquids released in such events.

They content you, said Eileen; that's the best part. Faith asked her what she meant and she explained. A girl about to be terminated was often tense and anxious; that affected the quality of her meat. It became unpalatable. Dogs noticed this and - she smiled - other consumers as well. It was important for her to be tranquil and at peace at the end.

This nurse was not a nice woman, but she knew her job and handled the task superbly, all the witnesses said so. Faith asked how she did it. Eileen just smiled and said, You'll see.

Faith once heard the skin was taken off first. Yes, said Eileen, for easier removal of the fat beneath. Sometimes wide sections were peeled and tanned, or narrow ones to be made into belts.

The meat was conventionally described as "dog food", but everyone heard of succulent haunches offered for sale to special clients of the renderer, and cured strips of lady-bacon were considered a delicacy. Eileen hoped she would be chosen for this.

And parts of her for souvenirs. She described a couple and the other two girls giggled at the thought; imagine having a pair of those over your fireplace, or the other in a jar.

Faith tried to look forward to it as much as Eileen did, but it was an effort.

An hour passed; Nurse entered and pointed to Bree, who preceded her on her leash out the door.

Only Faith and Eileen were left now. Faith wondered which of them would be next, but did not say anything.

Eileen explained they did each girl from start to finish before proceeding to the next, separating out the useful portions. The hair was removed before, as they saw.

Faith said Bree would be a good one for tallow and they tried to laugh.

Eileen invited Faith to copulate with her on the floor; it would be their last chance. She demurred; she was not in the mood; besides, it would leave a mess.

She did not know why that bothered her in her situation, but it did. She was always a little fastidious when they made love; Lawrence had liked her for that, or said he did. Perhaps it made her more valuable to a buyer.

Eileen said they could stand with their backs to the wall. Faith looked at her eager face and agreed. Eileen knelt at her feet while Faith braced herself, and with no time to lose entered her. Her tongue proceeded briskly about its little business; soon Faith was moaning through closed lips "Mmm...Mmm" until she felt herself reach a climax.

Eileen had taken up the precious fluid and was preparing to stand for her turn when Nurse appeared. The woman made a wry smile and pointed to her; Eileen kissed Faith on the cheek and went through the door to her execution.

Faith was alone now, the last to go, waiting for the call. The afternoon was growing late; already the sun was in the trees, she saw it through the barred window of the waiting room.

She sank to her knees on the hard wooden floor and silently thanked Eileen; it calmed her mind for what was to come. Then she thanked Lawrence, Arnold, Patricia, and everyone who had helped her in her present life. Tears flowed unnoticed from her eyes as she recited all the people she was indebted to for her present happiness.

Her thoughts darkened. She had been sold today for scrap to the renderer, her owner receiving a fraction of what they expected. If not for that storm... No, she could have done better, presented herself to the early buyers, smiled more, been more accommodating and pleasing to them. That Chicago brothel for instance; she pictured her treatment at the hands of gangsters, what joy.

She would not get another chance; by tonight she would be in buckets, reduced to parts for sale and conversion to bone meal and dog food.

She hoped the operation would be quick and painless, but what if it was not? Eileen hinted there was sometimes blood. What if the period between calls from the waiting room was to subject the girl to a leisurely execution for business or pleasure? A messy one, in which she was... Anne tried to pull her mind away from the possibilities that presented themselves.

Had she offended anyone who might ask for it to be done slowly, while they watched?

Arnold? She had been hard on her stepson sometimes, he might want to make her pay now.

Larry? Dozens of little spats came to mind; yes he had a right to ask for it.

Even Nurse here, she had a cruel mouth and might enjoy her role; some girls were quite high-born, it would be a gratifying form of revenge.

Others; shopkeepers, workmen, all might want to see her gradually slain in stages with garrote or scalpel while she begged without hope for a merciful end.

The sun was approaching the horizon when Nurse came for her. She was still on her knees. She remembered to thank the woman before she stood and went out to the hall.