Flesh Collectors by Fred Rosen

grade he was repeatedly paddled by his teacher and his principal because they thought Jonathan was not paying attention, but his problem really was that he had no ability to concentrate. One doctor diagnosed attention deficit disorder and prescribed Ritalin, but Jonathan developed a tic and had to stop taking the medication.
    Through it all, mother and son developed a strong bond. He was devoted to her. He would do anything for her. Maybe, in some way, he might be able to get her a new leg to replace her injured one. It was a thought he had on more than one occasion. But there was nothing he could do about it, at least not yet. Jon imagined being able to replace his mother’s leg with a more functional one, but he couldn’t figure out how to do it.
    According to court documents, Elbert continued to be abusive throughout Jonathan’s childhood, and not only to Iona. Around 1985, when Jonathan was ten years old, he learned that his father had been sexually abusing his older half sister, Laurie, when she was between the ages of twelve and fifteen. Iona had police come to the house and arrest Elbert. She divorced him while those charges were pending. Elbert was sentenced in 1986 to ten years’ imprisonment and served four years.
    Jonathan seemed to become more withdrawn after Elbert’s arrest, although he had become so quiet and so much of a loner that it was hard to tell. “I think it really hurt him,” Laurie said. Iona agreed that he “took it hard. He was more withdrawn after his dad left because Elbert was good to the boys.”
    To Jon Lawrence, the knowledge that his father had sexually abused his half sister was devastating. It made him angry, frustrated and impotent. He just didn’t know what to do. Meanwhile, Iona divorced Elbert. The boys drew together after that Wesley noticed how frequently Jonathan was humiliated and picked on by his peers for no apparent reason. He tried to ignore it, but on one occasion Wesley, who was much like his father, came to Jonathan’s rescue and “popped” the bully. This happened on the school bus. The driver got so angry at Wesley because he threw the first punch that he ejected him and told him he couldn’t ride on the school bus anymore.
    “Mom, I can’t stand it anymore because kids are picking on Jon for no reason,” Wesley told Iona. “And Jon, he won’t fight back.”
    Wesley liked to go on hunting and fishing trips. He was a real outdoorsman. Jon, though, never wanted to go. On the rare occasions when he did, Jon couldn’t bear to kill or clean the catch.
    Around 1987 or 1988, Iona became involved with Ed Thronebery. Iona became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Kimberly, when Jonathan was about twelve. But Thronebery was a disaster. He was insanely jealous. On one occasion, Thronebery’s son—in front of Jonathan—told Iona that she was too good for his father and his father went off with another woman. That led to a confrontation in which Throneberry shoved Iona, breaking both bones in her already bad right leg.
    In 1989, Iona’s septic-tank business, which she had been using to support her family, failed. She applied for public assistance, including food stamps and Medicaid. As hard as things were, she provided for the children as best she could. Then, in a final fluke of biblical proportions, their house burned down, destroying everything.
    Elbert served his time and he was out on the street again by 1991. According to Elizabeth Livingston, Justin’s mother and a Lawrence relative, Elbert kept a shotgun in the house. One night in the trailer in the Lawrence compound, he took it out and began passing it around. A group of teenagers, including Jon and his brother Wesley, passed it around the table.
    “Elbert let the teenagers hold it and gave them beer at the same time,” Livingston related.
    Alcohol and guns never mix and they didn’t that night. As the gun was being passed around the table, each man slammed the gun against the floor. It was