My Wife Was Seven Months Pregnant When She Stopped Leaving Bed—Then I Lifted the Blue Blanket and Realized My Mother Already Knew What Was Underneath

A burst of violence.

Terrifying enough.

Clara screamed.

Brenda stopped.

Then something more calculated happened.

In the kitchen was an old electric hot plate we used when the stove burners malfunctioned.

Brenda heated the flat iron’s base against it.

Not glowing.