6

“I Want to Celebrate!”

Dave Krendell had left the school that morning, carrying his edu-computer along the thickly packed corridor streets. At 3:30 in the afternoon, he was alone in his family's tightly cramped apartment cubicle. He'd turned on the TV that was embedded in the wall but Dave couldn't concentrate on the movie. He wondered what he was going to tell his parents about his suspension.

How can I be a religious fanatic? He thought, All this season, I've been carrying out the rope to hang our own cheerleaders on.

The doorbell rang. Dave got up from the sofa, came over to the door and slid it open sideways.

Louise Torelli stood in the doorway, carrying her edu-computer. She had a smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eye.

"Hi Dave. Can I come in?"

"Oh yes. Please come in. I'm glad to have some company."

Louise entered the apartment. Dave shut the door behind her.

She looked at the TV screen.

Louise asked, "So what are you watching?"

"It's an old movie. It's called 'Soylent Green'. It was produced before the City building was constructed. It predicted that the world would become so overpopulated, that people would start eating each other."

She spoke in a light tone. "It turned out they were right, huh?"

"Only the idea about eating people." He told her. "They got everything else wrong. The people in this movie are uncivilized. It's a totally chaotic world in the movie. Everything is out of control. People are acting like savages. Somehow, the fact that people are being killed and eaten is kept as a deep, dark Government secret; and people who find out about it go mad."

Louis asked, "Why would they? We know what we're eating, and sometimes we know who, and none of us go crazy."

"Some of us do go crazy, if we don't kill and eat each other." He said, "Mr. Avery went absolutely insane, 'cause one dead cheerleader, not only didn't get eaten, but she came back to life. Then he started exaggerating, beyond all good sense and reason; and somebody who'd done nothing wrong, got suspended for a week."

Louise picked up the remote control, and switched the TV off.

"You'll never guess what." She said, "I've got you reinstated."

"Reinstated?"

She said, "You'll be allowed back in class tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"That's right." She kept smiling. "Your suspension is ended. You'll be graduating in cap and gown with the rest of us."

"How is that possible?"

Louise put her edu-computer down on the coffee table in front of the sofa, and drawled pleasantly.

"Well, today I personally eliminated the source of your problems."

"The source?"

"Yes." Now Louise grinned broadly. "This nerdy teacher's pet, personally eliminated Karen Bennet from the land of the living, where she didn't belong any longer."

"What? You killed Karen?"

"Right." She nodded with a laugh. "And I got an A plus and four gold stars for it. It was a gym class punch fight. I punched her right in the jaw, and knocked her flat. When her head hit the floor, it broke her neck. Instant death at my hands.

"The vertebrae in her neck were probably weakened by the noose, but I'm the one who finished the job."

"Karen's dead?"

"Right."

She chanted.

"'We hanged our bitch.

More meat to eat.

Now the whore can't twitch.

More meat to eat.'

"That's just the way thing should be. Now Mr. Avery won't have to explain anything to the School Board."

Dave repeated, "Karen's dead?"

"Imagine that." Louise spoke proudly. "She was my very first kill ever, and I did it with just one punch. I can't tell you how great I feel."

Louise stepped up to Dave. She put her arms around him, pressed her body up against his, and kissed him on the mouth, sticking her tongue between his lips. Then she grabbed him between the legs.

Then she said, "Shove that inside me now Dave. I want to celebrate."

He took a step back.

He said, "You're raping me?"

Louise laughed, and took a step back.

Then she went on. "Just before I killed her, I knocked Sarah Denski out cold. I got another A plus for that; but she didn't die, so there were no gold stars.

"Then after I killed Karen, Mrs. Ramierez paired me with Carlotta Obregon;" Louise giggled. "But Carlotta was afraid to fight me. Mrs. Ramierez had to threaten her with an automatic F, if she didn't. I did want to see if I could kill Carlotta too, just 'cause it felt so good; but she really beat the hell out of me, and knocked me senseless, for about a minute. That got her an A plus too.

"Mrs. Ramierez said it was the best class she's ever taught."

Dave again said, "You killed Karen?"

"Yeah. It's gonna help bring up my grade average, and it'll look good on my college resumes."

Dave said, "But I said that I loved Karen. I prayed for her."

Louise stopped smiling. "How did she feel about you?"

"Well..."

"Then guess who really loves you Davey. I got an A plus and four gold stars to prove it.

"Now listen. Mrs. Ramierez wants me to join the girl's warrior squad again. This time I'll stay on for the entire season, or as long as I last, so no one'll accuse me of shirking. That means I'll get extra rations again." She smiled sweetly. "Then I'll fill out nice and sexy. Then, since I've already got my implant, I'll let you fk me. Just you and me. No one else."

Dave repeated, "You'll let me?"

She said, "What's the point of me having a permanent implant, when I never have any need for it? You won't have to go anywhere else for it."

Dave shook his head. "I really don't know what to say."

"Well you can say 'Thank you for killing her', like any gentleman would."

"Well I certainly am grateful, to be able to graduate with the rest of you, and to be able to get a good job in the future;

"But I prayed for Karen and she came back. That means that God had some very special plans for her future."

"Well she didn't come back any more virtuous than she was before. Maybe God saw that He was wasting His time with her."

"I don't know Louise. That sounds like heresy. Like you're saying that God is less than omniscient."

"Tell me Dave. Was I wasting my time over you, when I killed her? Am I gonna be wasting my time, when I'm doing it with you?"

"No! I'm very glad that you killed Karen Bennet, and there's no one who I want to do it with more than you."

"Why thank you Dave."

He said, "I've also decided that it would be good for me to join the warrior team myself. It'll get me the extra rations too. Then I'll fill out strong and healthy, and I'll give to you the best fking you've ever had."

Louise smiled and sighed. "You know, that's the nicest thing that any guy's ever said to me. What a terrific day I'm having!"

She and Dave went into each other's arms and kissed warmly.

The doorbell rang.

Dave said, "Wouldn't you know?"

She asked, "Your parents?"

"No. They wouldn't ring. They’d walk right in and catch us in flagrant whatever."

Louise giggled.

Dave went over to the door and slid it open sideways.

Karen Bennet stood in the doorway, dressed in only tight slacks and sneakers. Her hair was disheveled.

She said, "I didn't hear anyone pray this time."

Dave looked back at Louise, who began to tremble.

Karen entered the apartment and said, "This time I heard the voice of God Himself.

"And I've decided to stop being a slut."

She looked at Louise and asked, "You don't waste time, do you?"

Louise shouted, "I think that's what I've just been doing!"

Then she picked up her edu-computer from the coffee table, and ran out the door.