Back upstairs the leftover bacon had congealed in the pan, fat covering the meat like pasty grit.

I don't want to eat that, Arthur was saying.

What do you think bacon is? Sean asked him. What do you think those white strips are?

White meat?

It still tastes the same, Sean said.

Well the texture is different, Ned said.

It's the same in your stomach, Sean insisted. And it's the same coming out.

No, that stuff never comes out, Ned told him. He was over six feet tall and wore an apron sometimes.

It stays glued to your arteries, he said. It wraps around your heart.

Heart in a blanket, Arthur explained.