The lights were dimmed, she sat on the edge of the bed, smoking a cigarette. The embers on the end of the rolled stick glowed bright in the dark room. The smoke swirled and rose to the ceiling, soon to become a telltale nicotine stain. The sound of sloshing waters stirred the silence of the room as a stubby balding man emerged from the bathroom.

            He was not what any woman would consider attractive. He looked up to most women to meet their stares of disgust. His beer belly spilled over his belt bucket, hiding stains from previous meals from his eyes, but leaving them visible for all else to see. His sparse oily hair strung over his polished bare head. Yellow stains hung in the armpits of his once white undershirt, patches of coarse tangled hair spewed out from the flabs of skin. He looked to the woman on the bed.

            “Let’s go honey.”

            As he thrashed away inside her, she closed her eyes in embarrassment, squeezing away the tears that came. Beads of sweat formed at her brow, a continuous stream of perspiration dripped onto her chest as the large man labored more in that one hour than he had the entire month. After what seemed like hours later, his muscles tightened, his joints locked, and his eyes rolled back as he spewed his seed deep into her belly. The poisonous strands coursed through her body, and embedded themselves into her uterus walls. One found itself pressing into the thick outer layer of its mate before slipping into the egg. Those who failed found their way to her blood stream.

            He dabbed his brow with a handkerchief and tossed a few crumpled bills onto the nightstand for her life. He glanced once more at the shapely figure dressing herself in the dark. Even in the dim light, he couldn’t see her tear-stained cheeks.

            “Thanks babe. See ya another time.” He pulled open the heavy wooden door and closed it with a creak and a gentle click as he escaped into the masking darkness of the motel to return home to his wife.

            She curled up on the bed and squeezed her legs shut.

            The music pounded the flimsy walls. Hoards of sweaty bodies clashed and mingled in a sea of quivering flesh as colored spotlights swarmed over them. He sat quietly far away in a dark corner, away from the crowd and prying eyes. Sweat poured down his face, the thumping of his heart drowned out the vibrations of the base in his head, beating at his temples. With blurred vision he tied off his arm and flicked the tiny syringe with the nail of his index finger. The fluid sloshed a little in the plastic confine, and he squirted a drop to test the needle. Sliding the silver tip under the surface of his skin, he closed his eyes and laid his head against the wall as the poison seeped into his veins.

            When the tube was empty, he released the syringe and let it dangle from his arm for a few seconds before the presence of mind to remove it returned. He passed the needle back to his friend, the poison streaking the silver nose, and his friend prepared the tube to shoot up.

            The monitors beeped in the far distance. The smell of disinfectant soured the room. A woman peered over her bended knees at the doctor between her legs. A searing pain shot up her back, she let out a shriek and clenched her teeth. Her hair was matted to the sides of her head, beads of sweat dribbled down her forehead and stung her eyes.

            “Push!”

            “I can’t! I can’t anymore! God!”

            “I need you to push! Once more, give me a good push!”

            “Oh God!”

            “Push!” The skull of the baby crowned, wisps of light brown hair were plastered to his head with amniotic fluid and blood. His eyes then his nose and mouth, finally his chin appeared from the crevice between his mother’s legs. His flailing arms and small pot belly came next, then an umbilical cord and short kicking legs followed. His flesh was bright red, streaked with strands of crimson poison, wads of mucus clogged his throat. With a light smack on the butt, a cry emerged from his lips and he was wrapped in a soft fleece blanket. The mother held her arms out, but the nurse cradling the child turned away and exited the small delivery room.

            “Where’s she taking him? Where’s she taking my baby?”

            “Don’t worry Mrs. Miller, we just need to run some tests on him. We’ll give you some more morphine and you’ll be transferred to another room, then you can see him.”

            “Promise? You sure he’ll be okay?” He hesitated. She started at him questioningly.

            “Of course.” he finally answered. She laid her head back again the pillow and let her eyes slide shut, falling asleep to the sound of her screaming baby while the poison, her poison, flowed through her veins and his.