Ward of the State

    (Image, 2007)
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Children of parents that are incapable or unwilling to provide a secure, stable home life often suffer from abuse and neglect. When that happens the Division of Family Services steps in and places these children in loving, caring foster homes where hopefully they will come to realize what their lives should be like. Ms. Balitzer does not run that kind of foster home. The vulnerable children placed in her care are schooled in murder. Dravis and Carrie are two teenagers living in Ms. Balitzer’s academy of crime, who plan to run off together even as they callously gun down a man watching children in a playground. From the comments that Dravis and Carrie make just before the killing, one may infer that the victim was not a total innocent. When Mr. Robinson, an inspector from the state visits the house for a routine recertification, the children maintain that everything is wonderful even though the haunted look in their eyes should betray the truth to all but the most jaded bureaucrat. The tension in the house is palpable during Robinson’s visit because, aside from the secrets the children are keeping, one of their own has been murdered by the exact method that he employed. Devon was found in the garage, tied with garden hose that forced him to inhale exhaust fumes from a car. Someone is aware of Ms. Balitzer’s unique educational program and is returning the lesson. — George Haberberger
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#1

May, 2007
Cover Price: $3.50
4 copies available from $1.50 		Christopher E. LongChee
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June, 2007
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July, 2007
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2 copies available from $1.70 		Christopher E. LongChee