“You’re gross and it’s your own fault you’re here. Maybe if you were a better dad, you would have been able to get away.” That does the trick. The man lets out a hiccuping little sob. Pink foam gathers at the corners of the mouth, and something inside Vera flushes with heat. This. This is what she wants. She crouches down so she’s at eye level with the man. “Do you like it down here? Do you like what’s been happening to you?” The head droops to one side, then another. The mouth pouts into an “O” shape. It’s the closest she’s going to get to a definitive “no.”
