She only stared at him, hard and wary, as she wondered why a salesman knew her name. If he was uncomfortable at her inspection of him, he showed it not the least, standing cheerily before her as if expecting at any moment that she would throw open the door and welcome him warmly. As the dawn of realization came over her, she lifted her head slowly and nodded slightly, but still with no particular friendliness in her manner. This man must have been sent by the people she had contacted regarding her daughter. “Greer?”, she said, more of a statement than a question. He spoke again. “Yes, I’m with the Life Cycles Medical Center, the LCMC? You contacted us last week and I’ve brought the information you requested. I would have called before coming but we have no number for you. Would it be convenient now to go over some of the things you asked about?” As she stared blankly at him, wondering whether to tell him to go away or not, she thought to herself “Of course you have no number for me, I haven’t had a phone in over ten months, and it’s only ‘convenient’ if you’re going to fix some food for me and Arlene, take the dead rat out of the rat trap in the kitchen, and unclog the toilet”. As she looked out at him, she thought how much he had the same pseudo-friendly pseudo-sincere countenance of an evening news anchor, those carefully coiffed and manicured poseurs who, while loudly insisting that they were “newsmen” and “investigative reporters”, had as little in common with Edward R. Murrow as Congress had with representative government.
But tired as she was, she supposed she should go ahead and deal with this unplanned and untimely interruption, especially since her need for what he might be able to provide for her was growing daily. She opened the door and stood aside, making room for him to enter. Without speaking, she turned and walked to her sofa, sat down, and again stared at him. He had followed her into the room and, in the absence of an invitation to be seated, settled near her in a battered chair and set his briefcase on the cluttered coffee table that was in front of them. Without being obvious, he had taken in his surroundings as he had entered. The furniture in the room was old and worn, some was broken and tattered. There was an old television sitting on a long low table near the wall across from the sofa, and he noticed that it had rabbit ears on top of it. In short, he found the room to be just as he had expected, dreary and shabby. He had played out this same scene many times in years past, and knew pretty much what to expect. Just like the vacuum salesman she had initially thought he might be, he had an advantage in that he knew exactly what was likely to take place between them, whereas each step would be new and curious to her. He began his work.
He asked Mrs. Staunton how she had heard of the services that Life Cycles offered. She replied that an acquaintance at work had a daughter who had used their services. She was considering the same for her daughter Arlene. Throughout their talk, he remained courteous and deferential, careful to maintain a friendly but not too familiar tone in his responses to the questions she had for him. He learned that her daughter Arlene was sixteen years old and had quit school only months previously. Arlene’s one pregnancy had been aborted two years ago, and she had been unable to find work. She would be seventeen in seven months.
In the manner that he had perfected over the years, he gradually unfolded to Mrs. Staunton the arrangement he hoped to make. He told her what Life Cycles could be expected to do for her and Arlene, and he described what their obligations to LCMC would be under the terms of the agreement. He was careful not to overemphasize the legal and binding nature of the agreement, although he did mention that they would be signing some papers if they came to an agreement. Once he had generally described the program, he told her that he would answer any questions. He knew from experience that she would have many, and he pretty much knew what they would be. She did not let him down.
“Let me see if I have this straight”, she said. “You’re saying that your company will get Arlene pregnant?” He knew that it was time to elaborate on that aspect of the arrangement, easing Mrs. Staunton’s concerns as he did so. “Yes”, he said. “We would transport her to one of our clinics. Our medical staff would artificially inseminate your daughter in a discreet and controlled procedure according to our established protocol. We would repeat that procedure as often as five times over a suitable period of time if she did not become pregnant the first time. From Arlene’s perspective, it would be no different than a typical examination, conducted by our staff. Our personnel are trained to create a comfortable and reassuring environment, while performing the procedure quickly and efficiently. In the majority of cases, the procedure does not need to be repeated because we monitor the body cycle for a period of time prior to the procedure by using charts that are prepared by the client herself.” He immediately noticed his minor slip in using the impersonal term “client” instead of using Arlene’s name but continued on smoothly.
Mrs. Staunton did not seem to notice the term he had used, and asked her next question. “So all Arlene has to do is carry the baby, and then your outfit will make sure she doesn’t deliver?” Greer, while nodding in agreement, filled in with the details regarding the Staunton’s obligations. Arlene would have to remain drug free. The Life Cycles Center would provide dietary supplements and inoculations, nutrition information, and balanced meals. Arlene would be required to eat properly and maintain proper nutrition. Although she did not have to abstain from sexual relations, the Center would prefer that she did. If she did choose to have sex, they required that she used appropriate protection, which the Center would provide. The primary obligation of the Staunton family, however, was to make sure that Arlene arrived at a Life Cycles clinic for the harvesting procedure and did NOT deliver the fetus at home or at any other medical facility.