Galactagogue
When Miles came downstairs for lunch, he was trembling with excitement, but he did his best to try to look and act casual.
“Sorry, we’re out of milk, so I had to make it with water,” said Genesis, lifting the lid to reveal a pot of rather anemic-looking macaroni and cheese.
“Ugh,” said Miles, wrinkling his nose.
“Look, I’ve got a couple of hot sauce packets from Taco Bell still left over,” said Genesis, sliding them across the table. “Maybe that’ll improve the taste.”
“I guess,” said Miles, ripping one open and dumping it into his bowl.
“And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re also out of frozen burritos,” said Genesis. “Pretty much all we’ve got left to eat this week are ramen noodles and some rice with whatever scraps are left in the fridge.”
“And nothing to drink but water,” said Miles with a frown.
“Hey, what do you want me to do?” said Genesis, getting irritated. “I’m already stretching every dollar as far as it’ll go, but I’m no miracle worker.”
“I know. I know,” said Miles with a sigh. “I guess I should be grateful we’ve got anything to eat at all.”
“Look, don’t get mad, alright?” said Genesis. “But maybe we ought to sell the house. At least then we’d be able to afford to feed ourselves.”
“No, Gen! No!” said Miles. “This is our home. This is where we grew up. We can’t sell it, not now, not ever.”
“I love it too, Miles,” said Genesis. “But we’ve got to be realistic. We’re barely able to make the mortgage payments as it is, and we have no money for repairs and upkeep.”
“I don’t care,” said Miles, shaking his head. “I’d rather die than give up this place.”
“Well, then get a job and start bringing in some money,” said Genesis with a frown.
“Don’t you think I’m trying? Sheesh!” said Miles. “I sent out a hundred applications this morning alone. You don’t know how it is. There are a thousand people competing for every open position.”
“Well, don’t look at me,” said Genesis. “I’m not dropping out of school to get some entry level job just so we can stay in this drafty old house. Besides, you know how important my education was to Mom and Dad.”
“No one is asking you to drop out of school,” said Miles, pausing to choose his words carefully. “But listen, there might be another way.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?” said Genesis. “I told you, I’m not doing any of that OnlyFans stuff.”
“What? No, no, I know,” said Miles, his face growing warm. “I just heard, though, that there’s a big demand for certain, um, female products.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” said Genesis, getting up to go wash out her bowl. “I’m not selling my used panties to freaks on the internet either.”
“No, no, nothing like that. Hey, you remember that big event from a couple of years ago when they had to close down a factory and then there was a shortage of baby formula?” said Miles, his pulse racing.
“Huh? I guess so. What about it?” said Genesis.
“Well...” said Miles. “It turns out that there’s a big demand for, ahem, breast milk now, as in the real deal. There are a lot of wealthy women out there who don’t want to feed their kids a bunch of soy powder or whatever.”
“Why are you telling me about this?” said Genesis, using a sponge to wipe off the table.
“Because it’s real good money, Gen,” said Miles. “They’re paying, like, over $100 a bottle.”
“And so what?” said Genesis. “I don’t care what some rich people are doing. They do all kinds of freaky stuff.”
“No, I know, but I was just thinking, you know...” said Miles.
“Hang on a second. Are you talking about me?” said Genesis, her eyes going wide. “You want me to sell my breast milk?”
“Um, I mean, kinda, yeah,” said Miles, his blood thrumming in his veins.
“Are you an idiot? First of all, that’s just weird,” said Genesis. “And second of all, while I may have big boobs, I sure as hell am not pregnant. I don’t even have a boyfriend at the moment.”
“Yeah, I know but...” said Miles.
“But what?” said Genesis, her eyes flashing with anger.
“I don’t know,” said Miles, hanging his head. “There’s these, um, chemicals you can take. Actually, not chemicals. They’re, um, all-natural supplements, hormones really. Anyway they can...”
“Ugh, are you seriously asking me to take some hormones or whatever so I can... make milk come out of my breasts?” said Genesis. “That is... That is so... No way. Not in a million years.”
“But it’s really good money,” pleaded Miles, unable to meet her gaze.
“I don’t care if they’re paying a million dollars a bottle,” said Genesis. “No friggin’ way am I doing that. Let’s just be normal people and sell the house, Miles. Then we can move into a cozy little apartment or something.”
“But I don’t want to sell the house!” wailed Miles. “Besides, then what? Even if we could find someone to buy it, what would we do with the money? Rent a place? Then we’d just be paying for someone else’s house. That’s like killing your milk cow so you can eat hamburgers for a week.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” said Genesis with a frown. “But we are seriously down to the wire here. We’ve got maybe a month or two left of the money from the settlement. After that, if we can’t make the mortgage payments, the bank’s gonna just seize the house anyway.”
“Okay, fine, I get it,” said Miles, his hands clenched into fists. “I’ll keep looking for jobs, all right? But I will find a way to make this work because I am not giving up on this house. It’s our legacy, Gen.”
“Good, then get out there and find yourself a job,” said Genesis. “Meanwhile, I’m going to go to the library. I’ve got a big test next week.”
“All right, good luck,” said Miles. “And, um, thanks for lunch.”
“Sure thing,” said Genesis. “I’ll swing by the cafeteria on my way home and see if they have any leftovers to give out. Who knows? We might get lucky and have some pizza for dinner tonight.”
“Yeah, real lucky,” said Miles with a gulp as he watched his sister exit the kitchen.
As soon as she was out of sight, he got out his phone and swiped over to the website where he had been learning about how to artificially induce breast milk. There was an active forum with discussions about where to buy the necessary ingredients, known in the trade as galactagogues. It was all quite complicated, but Miles only had one question to ask the experts:
If you slip a galactagogue into food or drink, can you taste it?
