Master Class by Christina Dalcher

Author:Christina Dalcher [Dalcher, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-04-21T00:00:00+00:00

I’m not sure I like the idea of going from regular wine drinker to teetotaler overnight, but the letter’s tone, clipped and precise as a nun’s in a Catholic school, makes me skittish.

You will present yourself at your designated meeting point (see attached) no later than 9:00 AM on your date of transfer. Upon arrival, go directly to the check-in desk to be registered.

You must carry your identification card at all times.

You will. Go. You must. All imperatives without even a “please” to soften their stiffness.

Automatically, I reach for my coffee mug and raise it to my lips. Not automatically, I set it back down when my hand starts to shake. Everything about this morning tells me it’s not the right time to give myself the caffeine jitters.

Malcolm left the radio on when he left for work, and now an interview with Petra Peller comes on the air, invading my kitchen.

“The Genics Institute,” Petra says, “is proud to announce the acquisition of a new subsidiary, WomanHealth, Incorporated. As you know, WomanHealth has been a champion of informed family planning for over a quarter of a century. WomanHealth is here for you,” she went on. “More importantly, we’re here for your children. For your children’s future. Even if those children are unborn.”

I’m thinking something more along the lines of, What the fuck is an unborn child’s future? Unborn children don’t have futures.

Which is exactly Petra’s point.

“Think of the stress of education,” she says. “The pressure it puts on our little ones, our tweens, our high schoolers.” She pauses for effect. “I’m just so proud to share our plan with you, a plan that will leave no child behind. Not one.”

“How are they planning to work that miracle?” I say back, turning toward the radio so quickly I almost lose my balance.

Petra clears it all up for me in a few sentences. “Beginning next month, WomanHealth will offer no-cost pregnancy management services to any woman referred by the Genics Institute. Your income won’t matter. And by any woman, we mean any woman, regardless of where she is in her term. If you don’t like your baby’s Q score, we’re here to help.” There’s smiling in her voice, and little mm-hmms of approval from the interviewer.

The words “no child left behind” take on fresh, terrible meaning: It’s impossible to leave a child behind if the child doesn’t exist.

Petra’s voice—prerecorded, I’m guessing—comes back in a public service announcement tone: Are you single? Unemployed? Worried about your financial future? No college education? Miserable about your Q score? Come on down to WomanHealth for your free consultation!

The next part targets a different audience:

Do you have everything except a child? Tired of feeling like you’re being outbred? Is it time to start the family you deserve? WomanHealth is here for you!

A radio voice reminds us this program has been sponsored by the FFC. As if anyone needed reminding. The same voice, void of any identifying dialect markers, introduces the brave women who have offered testimonials. N

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