Friday Black

The narrator is awoken by two unborn fetuses named Jackie Gunner and Jamie Lou, who identify him as their father. Having been aborted by his girlfriend, Jaclyn, the fetuses probe their father’s guilt and ask him about their mother. The narrator recalls how he accompanied Jaclyn to the drugstore to buy a pregnancy test after she missed her period. After the test returned positive, the narrator brought her to a clinic to get abortion pills and then back to his house to take them. He dropped her off at home shortly after. He tells the fetuses that although he and Jaclyn have been together since their senior year, they are likely to separate when they attend different colleges.

The fetuses ask their father to take them to the psychic on Lark Street. Jaclyn went to the psychic before the abortion, and although the narrator expressed his skepticism about psychics, Jaclyn’s reading brought her immense relief. Hiding the fetuses in his palm, he tries to stop Jackie Gunner from bullying Jamie Lou. When the narrator and the fetuses reach the psychic, he is surprised to find Jaclyn already there.

The psychic suspects the two are seeking a couple’s reading. Under pressure from Jaclyn, the narrator avails of a palm reading instead.