Mr. Saunders teaches American History, for which he has given up his Saturday time to grade reports with fellow AH teacher Rick. Mr. Saunders is a little bit subconsciously jealous of Rick, who always seems to know how to motivate his students. Their class averages range from 88 to 93.
Mr. Saunders believes it is his duty to extend the word of the Lord to those who need it, but when he found a kiddie porn link in Rick's favorites list, he was struck a little speechless. Rick had lent him his computer and he was busy typing away when he realized his Internet Explorer window had closed.
"Blast." said Mr. Saunders theatrically.
The window re-loaded and he went to "History" to find the site he'd been to (it was all about Napoleon and had some very interesting comparisons between Bonaparte and the current president; he was considering showing it to his class). To his surprise, the "History" box was full of youngteenporn links. Not being a computer whiz, he summoned Rick over to explain "this crazy nonsense".
Rick smiled a bit uneasily and chalked up the links to popups, telling Mr. Saunders that these "dastardly sites" send popups to perfectly respectable sites "like, uh, Google", where they harangued the gentle viewer.
"Popups," he had said gravely. "They destroy an innocent man's credibility and cause terrible suspicions to be sowed in the hearts of men. Someone should truly stop them."
He looked so dedicated to the cause that Mr. Saunders would not have been surprised if Rick took it upon himself to rid the world of popups, and succeeded in his goal by the next day's afternoon. Walking down the hallway later that afternoon, Mr. Saunders realizes he has left his grade book in the classroom he shares with Rick. He goes to the door, and opening it he gets a nasty surprise.
There is the grade book, lying perfectly content on the desk, and there is the computer, and there is Rick. One of the sites is up, and Rick seems rather busy, so Mr. Saunders grabs the book and makes a speedy exit. On his way back to the car, he tells himself sternly to forget the entire incident. It did not happen. Over time, Mr. Saunders, tells himself, the memory will vanish from the halls of his mind, and he will be pure before the Lord. But now, driving home, the image is over and over reel to reel in his mind, nonstop nonsense matinee. Disgusting.
Mr. Saunders goes home and takes his Bible down from the shelf. He opens it and flips through the pages, focusing intently on the blur, trying to read the rushing words. Over and over he does this, face framed by the rush of crackling white pages. It used to belong to his grandmother. He cried when she passed.
Mr. Saunders lives next door to a very loud mother with a very quiet daughter who he suspects goes to the school he teaches at. The woman's name is Marie Pelay (she is French) and the daughter's name is Natasha. Sometimes Mr. Saunders gets her Teen People in his mailbox by mistake.
Marie Pelay moves on to the bread counter, where she selects a loaf of wheat, a few cinnamon-swirl buns and a baguette for lunch. She vaguely worries about her daughter home alone as she pays for the bread, but surely her daughter is fine.