"What I hear," he said--the tone of his voice suggesting that what was coming was going to be good--"what I hear, cancer's payback. It's payback bigtime."

"I don't follow you," Ms. T said.

"You know, sort of like punishment for doing bad stuff. Unhealthy stuff."

The smack of Rochelle's fist against her desktop made everybody jump.

"Come off it, Billy!" she shouted.

"Take it easy, Miss Toliver," Ms. T said. "Do you want to say something?"

"No," Rochelle muttered and she slid down into her chair.

But Billy wasn't finished yet. "Whatever way you get it, once you have cancer it's check out time." He folded his arms and nodded at Ms. T. "Sooner or later you die."