Monica walked the three blocks to her house. Some of her neighbours were getting a good peak at her through their windows. Surely she’d be the gossip of the neighbourhood for weeks after this. She felt humiliated, shamed in her nudity in a way that she had never felt before. The brand marked her as meat, but that’s not what she was.

She strode up the pathway to her home in the fading late afternoon sunlight. Here she could rest away from the prying eyes of the world, and just relax while she processed all that had happened to her during the day.

She grabbed the spare key from under the tree near the front door and let herself in.
Kevin was going to be very surprised to see her. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he heard the good news.

She walked into her bedroom and caught sight of Kevin fucking the neighbours girl, Tracey doggystyle on her good bedsheets.

“Oh, My Kevin - you didn’t waste any time moving on did you?” she gasped.
Kevin looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Monica? But you got processed? I took you down myself… I’ve got the order for your body for tonight’s meal.” He reached over to his phone to check. “Cancelled? What’s going on? This doesn’t make any sense.” he muttered, incredulously

“Mrs Smith, I didn’t mean to…It’s just that Kevin said you got processed today, and he was so sad… I just wanted to cheer him up… I can go if you want,”

“Oh, no, stay dear… That’s fine, I knew he had a thing for you.… You two finish up here, and Then you can come meet me in the living room where I can explain the whole mess”

Monica left the room. She didn’t want to watch her husband banging a girl half his age. It made her feel old. She waited by the library shelf for them to finish banging. It didn’t take them very long.

Monica handed Kevin her exemption papers, and explained the whole Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon thing to him. It was hard for him to accept at first, but eventually he softened, and welcomed her back home.

Monica’s daughters, Penny and Karin were ecstatic that their mother was still alive.

“Oh, thank god you’re back mom… I don’t know what we’d do without you. Dad was gonna get Tracey to cook your roast… and Tracey is the worst senior in my home ec class. She’s burned every girlroast she’s ever tried to make.” Said Karin, grabbing a hold of Monica's forearm and bringing her close for a hug.

“Ha, we don’t even have a roast anymore - mom was supposed to be tonight’s dinner. We’ll have to get a new one from the supermarket… There’s only like an hour left before they close.” Penny said

Monica looked at the clock on the mantlepiece. It was true. She had just enough time to put on some clothes, pop on down to the shops and grab a replacement if she was fast though.

“Right girls, I’m on it. I’ll get an extra big meatgirl - enough to feed… Tracey dear, are you staying for dinner? Of course you are… ok enough to feed five people.”

Monica raced off, her mind wondering what was going to happen with Tracey now that she was unexpectedly back in the picture. It was common for Men in Dolcett society to take many wives… though they were usually one after another. Kevin had had five wives before he’d married Monica. He’d never kept any mistresses like a lot of men did though. That probably meant that he only had a need for one of them going forward. The thought smouldered in the back of Monica’s mind like a thunderstorm.