Free Strange Brain Parts by Allan Hatt Page B

be all black. No noises. Nothing to see or feel. Just this fucking black. For what I've done I supposed I'd end up in Hell, but the best I can figure I'm nowhere.
    Maybe I'm some forgotten soul. Don't know.
    Don't know how much time passes either. Seems like a pretty long time to me. Months at least. But I can't be sure.
    After a time noises start up. Weird noises. Faint at first, but then they get louder. Louder ain't right. The noises get clearer. That's what I mean. Like someone setting the equalizer on a good stereo. Getting the settings just right or something.
    Ever see a movie where a robot gets damaged? Every time that happens the robot freaks out and starts talking weird talk. Words and beeps and shit. That's what I'm hearing now.
    Takes a while, but after what I figure is a few more months, I start hearing full sentences.
    "Test. This is a test. One, two, three, four."
    Stuff like that.
    I try to put together what it all means, but nothing comes to me right off. Never been dead before, so I ain't exactly sure what to expect. So far it's been pretty goddamn boring I can tell you that much.
    "Stevie?"
    The fuck...?
    "Stevie, I know you can hear me. Doctor Frankenstein says this, uh, audio interface thing works now. I can see your brainwaves reacting to my words. This is Susie."
    I got about a million words for you, bitch.
    "You can't talk back. This is a one-way deal. So, just sit back and listen to what I got to say."
    She seems to find that funny for some reason. Does this mean I'm not dead? Or is she talking to me in the after world or what?
    "Now, listen here, you bastard" she says. "You're probably wondering if you're dead or not. Well, you ain't dead, but you're not exactly alive either. All you are is a brain in a jar that Doctor Frankenstein has kept alive at my request. How you like that, Stevie? How you like that, fucker?"
    Susie...
    "At the flick of a switch you could be dead. I could do it right now if I had the mind to. But I don't. I want your brain alive. I want you alive, Stevie.
    "Remember that beating you gave me? I bet you do. I bet you think on it all the time. Probably feel some phantom hard-on when you think on it, too. Don't you?"
    She goes silent for a time. Wouldn't deny what she said even if I could. It was a good beating.
    "I was four months pregnant," she says, "when you started beating me. Hadn't told no one about it. Me and Frankie were gonna run away and have the baby. Then you burnt the castle down, tried to kill the Doctor and Frankie and beat on me. You fucked that plan up, Stevie. Fucked it up bad."
    I'd be smiling if I could. The world don't need no monster baby.
    "The beating you gave me didn't kill the baby. I never miscarried even though it looked like I was gonna. The Doctor took good care of me. I gave birth to him a month ago. He would have been healthy...he would have been a perfect baby boy if you hadn't beat me like you did.
    "Our baby is deformed and...brain dead, Stevie. A vegetable in a broken body. A brain and body you broke. In a few years the Doctor says the baby will be full-grown. The hormones are all messed up for some reason and the Doctor figures he'll finish puberty in a year and a bit. And then...then it's only a matter of time before he...before he...dies."
    I hear something I figure is crying.
    "You can't imagine the pain, Stevie. You can't. But I'm gonna make damn sure you do."
    Can't fool me, Susie. I almost finished grade twelve biology twice. I know the brain can't feel no pain because it ain't got no nerves. Do what you want, slut. I ain't gonna feel any of it. I'll float in the black. Maybe sing myself a song or two.
    "Just you wait, Stevie. You're gonna wish I didn't ask the Doctor to keep your brain alive. You're gonna wish I flicked the switch just now and killed you. You're gonna wish a lotta things and none of them are gonna come true. You're gonna suffer for the things you done. You got some time to think about that now."
    It goes quiet. Susie