Chapter 22

Thule lay on his back with Dawn curled against his side. Her breathing was even and untroubled. He kept his eyes closed for a long time, but sleep would not come. He wasn't really surprised. It was much too early, the light was still on, and a million thoughts raced through his head.

As pleasant as it was to just lie there in a post-coital drowse, Thule was somewhat relieved when the indicator on his PC cam software emitted a soft beep and started to flash. Thule slid out of bed, retrieved his pants, adjusted camera and chair so that they faced towards the door, and made the connection.

Marigold smiled at him, waved and typed, "My car is so cool!!!"

Thule smiled to himself, "What kind did you get?"

Marigold, "Can I come over and show you?"

Thule sighed. So much for a relaxing idyll. He picked up his cell phone, set it to vibrate, and typed, "Call me, please." Then, he waved the phone at the camera. When he saw Marigold reach for her phone, he got up and went in the living room, sitting on the couch.

"Where did you go?" asked Marigold as he answered the phone.

"Just in the living room," said Thule.

"Why?"

Thule sighed. He'd wanted to ease into it a little more than this, "Dawn's in there. I didn't want to wake her."

"Very considerate," said Marigold. "Can I come show you my car?"

Thule chuckled, "Sure."

"Did everything go all right today?" asked Marigold.

"Yeah," said Thule. "I'll tell you about it when you get here."

"Thule," asked Marigold, "is everything all right. You sound kind of... subdued."

"Yeah," said Thule, "I'd rather not say too much on a cell phone."

"Oh, right," said Marigold, "I'll see you in a few. Love you, Thule."

"I love you too, Marigold," said Thule. As he closed the phone, he was already getting up, heading back to the bedroom to get dressed. As he sat on the corner of the bed to change back into his dress pants, Dawn looked up, eyes blurred with sleep.

"Hey," she said, smiling softly, "you can't run out on me in the middle of the night. You live here... and this is your bed."

Thule stretched diagonally across the bed to kiss her on the forehead, "Marigold is coming over. She wants me to see her new car."

Dawn looked momentarily panicked, reaching for her robe. Thule took her wrist gently, shushing her, "It's all right. Go back to sleep."

Half-pinned beneath Thule, Dawn nuzzled up against his chest, "No, Thule," she said, "We shouldn't rub her face in it."

Thule pulled on her wrist until she was lying flat on her back, then leaned down and kissed her on the mouth, "I'm not going to sneak around, Dawn. If she's going to have a problem with this, I want to know it now."

Dawn wrapped her other arm around his shoulders, "And, if she does?"

"We'll deal with it," said Thule, "Don't worry. Whatever happens, you live here now. I talked to my father yesterday. If you want, you can stay here next year. He needs somebody to take care of the house while he wraps things up in Ghana. He's on an eighteen-month schedule there. That would put you past graduation."

Dawn nodded against him, "Thank you, Thule. That's wonderful news... but not really what I was asking."

Thule sat up, looking down at her, "About the rest, we'll have to see. If I didn't think it could work out, we wouldn't be here now."

Dawn sat up, leaning against him, "Thule, I know that if it comes down to Marigold or me... who you'll choose."

Thule put his arms around her, drawing her to his chest. He held her, not saying anything. After a few minutes, she said, "You should finish getting dressed. She'll be here soon," and climbed off his lap.

Thule did, still tucking in his t-shirt when the headlights scanned past his window. Dawn had gotten up, retrieved her robe, and gone off to use her own shower.

Thule went out to the driveway. He was immediately relieved to see that Marigold had gotten herself a little white Saturn, neither sporty nor frumpy. Marigold jumped out of the driver's seat and caught Thule in a running hug, wrapping her legs around him.

"Check it out," she said. "Isn't it cool?"

Thule walked over to it, holding Marigold on one hip like she was a large child. He said, "It's very pretty."

"Look under the hood," said Marigold. She jumped down to pull the hood release.

Thule opened the hood, looking inside, "Ah," he said when Marigold came trotting back, "An engine. That will come in handy."

Marigold wrinkled her nose at him in amusement. She seemed to have picked the mannerism up from Dawn, "You don't know much about cars, do you?"

Thule chuckled, "Just enough to change my oil filter."

Marigold laughed, "I don't even know that, but Dawn was amazing. We went to a couple of dealerships and Jonas was trying to talk to the salesguys, but he doesn't know a lot either. Then, Dawn started asking questions and like blowing them away. Did you know she was a total greasemonkey?"

"I didn't know she'd ever had a car," said Thule.

Marigold rolled her eyes, "Don't get her started on that. When she was like fifteen, she bought this junker with her own money, spent like a year making it work, had it running for like two weeks, then her parents took it away to punish her for something stupid and her Dad wrapped it around a tree."

Thule gasped a little through his teeth, "Little Flower, I didn't even have a hint that her home life was so bad. Why didn't you tell me?"

Marigold shook her head, "I didn't know much about it until we talked on Saturday. How is she settling in?"

"Uh..." said Thule.

Marigold giggled, "Oh, right. Is she inside? I want to say hi."

"She's in the shower," said Thule.

"Even better," said Marigold. Her eyes were pure mischief as she skipped away.

Thule grimaced and rubbed his temples. He gently lowered the hood and went inside. He was still standing in the living room trying to decide what to do next when he heard Dawn shriek. Marigold came running back into the living room, laughing.

"She threw a loofa at me," said Marigold indignantly.

"Maybe she doesn't like being disturbed in the shower," said Thule, shrugging.

"This means war," said Marigold.

"Marigold," said Thule sternly, "sit down and behave."

Marigold flopped down on the couch, pouting, "Spoilsport."

Thule sat down next to her. Marigold's face got serious, "Thule, can I ask you something?"

Thule felt his shoulders tense, "Yes?"

"Would it be okay if I drove us to school tomorrow?"

Thule laughed, "Sure. You can drive us to school from now on if you like."

"You don't mind?" asked Marigold, "It wouldn't be a blow against your manhood?"

Thule laughed again, "No. Thank you for protecting my fragile, little male ego, but it will be fine. I'm always afraid my car is going to break down and strand us somewhere. It'll give me a chance to have it tuned up or something."

Marigold sat up, one hand on his chest, "You should let Dawn take a look at it." She sounded excited at the prospect.

"I, uh..." Thule said uneasily, "Sure. Why not?"

Dawn emerged from her bedroom, black robe on, towel on her head, "Mari," she said, "I'm so sorry. You just startled me. I don't like to be disturbed in the shower."

Marigold held out her arms, pulling Dawn into her lap, hugging her, "No, Dawn. I'm sorry. I was just playing. I didn't think about it. If I lived with your parents, I'd be very protective of any place where I could be alone with my thoughts."

Dawn lay her head on Marigold's shoulder, her feet on Thule's leg, "I never thought about it that way, but you're right. But, it's okay. I liked sharing a shower with you before. You just shouldn't sneak up on me." She leaned down and kissed Marigold on the mouth.

Thule smiled to himself. Dawn had apparently decided to find out tonight if he had a problem with this. She was a fast learner. He reached down and pet her leg, which she stretched out until she was laid across both their laps, her head on Marigold's shoulder. Marigold brought her hand up, holding the back of Dawn's head, elongating the kiss.

When Marigold's hand slid inside her robe, Dawn broke the kiss, "Eek! You two are trying to kill me. Let me up."

Looking surprised, Marigold released her, "Don't you want to..."

"Yes," said Dawn, fairly emphatically, "but not tonight." She stood up, "You two should go out, take a spin in the new car." Straightening her robe to be more decent, she said, "I'm going to enjoy some of the blessed solitude I checked into this hotel for."

Looking to alleviate some of the tension, Thule said, "Marigold's going to be driving to school tomorrow. I thought I would use the opportunity to get my car a tune up. Would you know anyone who could do a good one?"

Dawn rattled off the names of a half-dozen mechanics, listing their advantages and disadvantages. Thule started laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Dawn.

Still smiling, Thule said, "I thought maybe you could take a look at it."

"Well, I could," said Dawn, looking skeptical, "but, I don't work very fast. It could be out of commission for a couple of weeks."

"That's all right," said Thule, "That thing can't go to Boston in the condition it's in. I've come by some extra cash, even after I pay my tuition. I think it may be time for me to get a new one... well, a newer one anyway."

"Really?" asked Dawn, her eyes widening, "Then, what would you need with this one?"

"Well," said Thule, "there are two of us living here. I figured we could use two cars."

Dawn squealed and jumped on Thule's lap, hugging and kissing his excitedly. Thule glanced over at Marigold, who looked wryly amused.

"Thule, thank you so much," said Dawn breathlessly.

"Don't thank me until you look under the hood," said Thule, "It was doing some weird knocking thing today."

"That's probably the fuel line," said Dawn.

"And I want you to help me pick out the next one," said Thule.

"Done," said Dawn, wrapping and arm around Thule's neck and one around Marigold's, "You two are the best, you know that?"

A second later, Dawn reached down somewhere and slapped something Thule couldn't see. Marigold withdrew her hand. She was smiling, "You can't blame a girl for trying."

Dawn laughed, "Mari, I don't know what Miss Manners has to say on the matter, but I don't think it's appropriate for a young lady to lose her virginity and have her first threesome on the same night."

"You're right," said Marigold, "I waited a good twenty-four hours."

"So," said Thule, jumping up, "How about that ride?"

Marigold laughed, "You sure you don't want to come?"

"Nah," said Dawn, "you two go ahead. I'm tired. I'll probably be sound asleep by the time you two get back." She kissed Marigold good night, walked over to Thule, kissed him goodnight, then padded back into her room.

"Come on," said Marigold, grabbing Thule by the hand, "Let's go."

As it turned out, Marigold was a remarkably capable driver, even a tad bit overly cautious. They drove for the joy of driving. Eventually, she took them to a picnic area, overlooking the lake. They had passed a number of other parked cars and silhouettes of couples in various stages of canoodling.

They walked uphill a little ways from the car, sitting on one of the picnic tables. The air was warm and the moon full. Thule sat on a picnic table, his arms wrapped around Marigold, who sat between his legs.

"I had no idea you knew about this place," said Thule.

"I... um," said Marigold, "Wait. How do you know about this place?"

Thule pointed down the steep slope that led to the lake, "About two hundred feet that way, there's a little bluff, covered in vegetation, that has a clear view onto the back of the Vandevoort estate. They don't do much on that side, but it took me a while to figure that out."

"How romantic," said Marigold, "Did you ever bring a girl up here?"

Thule shook his head, "Nope. I have this thing called a house. It's warmer and there are less splinters involved."

Marigold didn't say anything as if she were lost deep in thought. Thule asked, "So, how do you know about this place?"

"I used to come up here with a boy," said Marigold.

"By your tone," said Thule, "I'm guessing it wasn't Elliot?"

"You don't sound surprised," said Marigold.

"I'm definitely surprised," said Thule, "but more curious. When did this happen?"

"When I was fifteen," said Marigold, "Elliot and I had been friends since like kindergarten and decided at like twelve that we were boyfriend and girlfriend. That's when we decided we were going to get married."

"At twelve?" asked Thule.

"Yeah," said Marigold, laughing, "I know now how stupid and naive that sounds. But, at the time, we believed it. Well, he believed it. I thought if I told him I would marry him, he would have sex with me."

"At twelve?" asked Thule.

"Well," said Marigold, "I didn't want to have sex at twelve, but I figured it would be nice to have someone lined up for it when I was ready. Actually, Maya came up with that idea, but I immediately saw the wisdom of it."

"But, it wasn't Elliot you came up here with?" asked Thule.

"I would have," said Marigold, "I tried to fool around with him during the ninth grade, but he wouldn't, not at all. He told me he wanted to wait until we were married and that I was being disgusting. And, he didn't want to get married until after college. That was like eight years away. Could you imagine going eight years without sex? Until you were like twenty-six? Even eight days feels like too much right now."

"It would be... difficult," said Thule.

"Well," said Marigold, "there was no way in hell I was going to stand for it. That summer, I found this older boy. He had his own car and didn't live in Mannsborough. He was staying with a cousin and leaving after the summer. We didn't have sex. I was too afraid of getting pregnant, like Maya did."

"Not even with a condom?" asked Thule.

Marigold shook her head, "Maya told me that, when she got pregnant, you were wearing a condom, but it broke. Lars told me I could get on the pill if I told my doctor I was having really painful menstruation. So, I tried to do that, but my Mom was real dense, gave me hot water bottles and stuff. By the time I got the pills, he'd gone back to Long Island. When he came back for Christmas, I rushed up to... where he was staying, ready to go all the way. But, he'd brought his girlfriend from home with him." She turned in Thule's arms so that he could hold her tighter, "He told me she was really wild and I could sleep with both of them if I wanted to."

"And?" asked Thule.

"I didn't," said Marigold, "I could have fooled around with him, even slept with him and been okay with that. I spent a lot of time with girls from church and knew they were doing all sorts of things with their boyfriends and still seemed all right. But, I had just gone back to church and I was really fixated on being a good Christian."

Thule hugged her, "Little Flower, I'm not going to leave you if we don't have a threesome."

"No," said Marigold, "that's not it. I want to. I wanted to, then. It was a scary idea, but also an incredibly arousing. The whole point of being with Lars was to get things out of my system so I could focus on school and wait with Elliot until we were married. But, I wouldn't do it because I wanted to be good and didn't think I could if I started down that road again. Up until then, that hadn't really meant much."

"So," asked Thule, "why did you ever go back to Elliot?"

"I lasted about three months single," said Marigold, "but Mannsborough High is a dangerous place to be a single girl, even at fifteen. Lars's cousin somehow found out the whole story, so he started sniffing around me. That sent me scampering back to Elliot pretty damned fast."

Thule looked out across the lake, finding the green light on the end of the pier that extended off of the Vandevoorts' back yard, "Lars is a fairly unusual name."

Marigold nuzzled against him and nodded.

"Dutch, isn't it?"

"Yeah," said Marigold, "it's Dutch."

"I met a Lars this weekend," said Thule, "Lars Vandevoort. He's a cousin of Randy's."

Marigold gave a single, mirthless laugh, "If I'd known, I would have had you say hi."

Thule hugged her fiercely and kissed the top of her head, "He seemed a bit older than us."

Marigold put her head back to look up at him, "He would be about twenty-five by now."

"He was twenty-two?" asked Thule.

Marigold laughed again, "I had a feeling you would be able to do the math."

Thule started laughing. Marigold looked up, concerned, "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No," said Thule emphatically, "I'm probably a little pissed at Lars. That strikes me as awfully old to be chasing after fifteen year-old girls."

"He didn't really chase me," said Marigold, "In fact, he made at least a passable effort to get away from me. I was pretty determined."

Thule chuckled richly. Marigold looked up at him, "Do you hate me?"

"No," said Thule, more emphatically, "Why on Earth would you ask such a thing?"

"I got the impression," said Marigold, "that you were quite enamored on the idea of taking this innocent, sexually-repressed little girl and turning her into a whore."

"I was at first," admitted Thule, "but that was when I was still thinking in terms of punishing you. I was starting to get worried that I'd broken you."

Marigold said shakily, "You said you didn't like me wild."

"I said I didn't like you trying to be wild for the sake of being wild," said Thule, "It was getting exhausting."

"That Christmas, I met Svetlana Vandevoort," said Marigold, "I don't suppose she's settled down any since then?"

Thule laughed, "I can't imagine she has. If she were any wilder than she is today, she wouldn't have survived this long."

"And you slept with her," said Marigold.

Thule shuddered, "Yeah, but under extreme circumstances. I certain never would have sought her out." After a few awkward seconds of silence, he added, "I know how lame that sounds, but it's true. I was uncomfortable pretty much from the moment I met her and glad to have her off of my hands."

"So," asked Marigold, "if you love me for me, what if I show you the real me and I'm as wild as Mrs. Vandevoort?"

"Then, I'll do the same thing with you that I did with her," said Thule, "Put you on the first bus out of town. Then, I'll burn off my fingerprints and get on a tramp steamer to anywhere that Jonas can't find me."

Marigold looked alarmed, "I thought you loved me."

"I do love you, Little Flower, with all of my heart," said Thule, "and I would miss you terribly. But, Sveta is so wild that she's eventually going to burn up like the sun. I couldn't watch you do that."

"Well, then," said Marigold, "I guess you're going to have to keep me in line."

Thule leaned down and kissed her, his hand laid flat on her belly. Marigold winced and pulled away, "Fresh piercing. Be careful."

"Sorry," said Thule, "I forgot." Marigold took the hand she'd pulled away from her and put it on her breast.

Thule looked at her, "Little Flower, do you have some particular desire to do this here, maybe for old time's sake?"

"No," said Marigold, "actually, it's getting a little chilly and, as you've said, splinters are not particularly romantic. I would like to sit and watch the moon for a little while longer, though." She handed Thule her keys, "I think I have a jacket in the trunk. Would you go get it?"

Thule trotted down the path. There was nothing in the trunk except a spare. He looked into the body of the car. There was nothing at all inside. He looked around, puzzled. As he was about to head back up, Marigold came down the path.

"I don't see a jacket," said Thule.

"Really?" asked Marigold, taking her keys back, "my mistake. Let's go back to your place."

Thule looked at the clock, then double-checked his cell phone, "Shoot. I didn't realize how late it was. You're going to have to get home soon."

"I can stay," said Marigold.

"Great," said Thule, "How late?"

"As long as you'll have me," said Marigold.

Thule raised an eyebrow, "I don't want you getting in trouble."

"I just called Jonas," said Marigold, "He said I could stay."

Thule laughed.

"Thule," asked Marigold, "why did you laugh before, back up at the table, when I was explaining about Lars?"

"I figured something out," said Thule, "I told Randy once or twice that you were practically frigid. Now I know why he doesn't want to kill me for sleeping with Sveta."

Marigold looked puzzled. Thule was laughing again. Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, "All this time, he knew this secret about you I had no clue about. He must have been having a good laugh at my expense."

Marigold asked, "What does that have to do with Sveta?"

"He doesn't care that I slept with her," said Thule, still laughing, "because he assumes I'm a lame fuck. After all, if I think you're frigid, I can't be very good, can I?"

Marigold's cheeks reddened, "Thule, that's awful."

"Why?" asked Thule, "that Randy thinks I'm a lame fuck? What do I care?"

"Don't you care what he thinks about me?" asked Marigold.

Thule stopped laughing, "Only as much as it effects your safety. And, if it hurts your feelings, I care about those. But, I don't care what he thinks about anybody. So, he thinks you're a whore. So what? Soon enough, he'll be in prison for a long time. Then, he'll understand what it means to be a whore."

"Oh, my God, Thule," said Marigold in a rush, "I still don't know how things went with the FBI today."

Thule laughed and began to fill in the details. The story lasted until they were in the driveway. Then, he told her about his meeting with Ivan, leaving out only the most graphic bits of taunting about Svetlana. Marigold was a very appreciative audience, laughing and clapping and covering her mouth with her hand at all the appropriate places.

"Thule," she said, "you're like an action hero or something."

"Then, I'm telling it wrong," said Thule.

"No, no," said Marigold, "I mean it. Say, 'I'm just a mathematician.'"

"I am just a mathematician," said Thule.

"No, no," said Marigold, "Stay it like Steven Seagal in that movie where he was a cook."

Thule blushed beet red. When he'd regained his composure, he said, "I'm just a mathematician."

Marigold giggled, "Oh, God. I am so hot for you right now. Take me, you math stud." Before Thule could answer, she was out of the car, running for the house.

Thule caught up with her in the bedroom, grabbing her around the waist, tackling her to the bed. Marigold twisted around until she was on her back, looking up at him. He kissed her hard on the mouth. Marigold pulled off his t-shirt and unzipped his fly. Thule unbuttoned her blouse and stripped off her bra. In less than a minute, they were naked. Their hands roamed all over each other, stroking and teasing. Marigold took Thule's wrist in both hands and pushed it down between her legs. She was already soaking wet and, as soon as he touched her, she began mewling and bucking.

Thule was just starting to get his rhythm inside of her when Marigold growled in his ear, "Oh, Thule, please just fuck me. I want you so bad right now." Thule complied, driving into her. Marigold's legs spread to let him in, then locked behind his thighs. He drove fiercely into her. Marigold cried out in pleasure. No matter how hard he pounded into her, she drove against him, urging him to go even harder. As they got slick with sweat, Thule found an angle that allowed him to enter Marigold even more deeply. But, suddenly, she cried out in pain. Thule stopped and looked down at her, his face a mask of concern.

"Piercing," gasped Marigold, "sorry."

Thule wrapped his arm around her, rolling on his back, pulling her on top of him. Marigold caught on quickly enough, straddling Thule and riding him up and down until he caught one ankle in either hand, pulling them together on his chest. He used his grip on her ankles to move her body while he thrust into her. Marigold squealed in protest before she resumed her sounds of pleasure.

"Lean back," rasped Thule, "on your elbows." Marigold did, her bottom sliding down onto the sheets. Thule released her ankles and sat up, putting a hand in the small of her back. He thrust against her slowly, then began to move his hand up her back, forcing her to sit up straighter a little bit at a time, speeding up as she did. Eventually, he was sitting up and she was sitting in his lap, pressed against him, riding him. Thule's hands were on her bottom, helping her rise and fall with the thrusts.

"Is this okay?" asked Thule, "with the piercing?"

Marigold laughed lustily, "Yes. I'm quite enjoying the piercing I'm getting."

Thule drove up into her. Marigold closed her eyes and clung to him. She had been coming for a while, but now her body began to quake in earnest. Thule felt her grip him inside of her, hard. It took him by surprise and drove him over the edge. He came deep inside of her, hugging her to him, and cried out.

Marigold kept her head on his shoulder, her damp hair sticking to him all the way down his back. She panted in his ear, one arm over his shoulder, one around his ribs.

That," she panted, "was intense. I don't know what you did differently, but you should do it more often."

Reluctantly, she slid off of his lap, lying on her side next to him. After a minute or two, she rose from the bed, "Get up," she said, "I'm going to change the sheets and get a shower before we sleep."

Thule stood, "I'll take care of the sheets. I guess we sweated them up a bit."

Marigold laughed, "Among other things. And, I don't think they were entirely dry when we started."

"Oh," said Thule.

Marigold came over and kissed the look of discomfort off of his face, "Just something to keep in mind in the future. If you finish with the sheets fast enough, I'll let you scrub my back. And don't worry. I won't throw anything at you."

Thule woke up to the sense that he was being watched. He was. Dawn looked down at the two of them from the foot of the bed.

"Breakfast for three?" she asked gently.

"Yeah," said Thule, "Marigold stayed the night."

"I sort of figured that out, what with her lying there and all," said Dawn, "Does she like French toast?"

"I don't know," said Thule.

Dawn put her finger to her lips, walked around to Marigold's side of the bed, and slid in next to her blonde friend. Gently, she kissed Marigold on the mouth. Marigold stirred against Thule, who was spooned up against her, but didn't open her eyes. Dawn fit Marigold's body into her own, rubbing her hands up and down her back and bottom.

Marigold complained sleepily, "Thule, Dawn is seducing me. Make her stop."

"Was not," said Dawn, "I just thought this would be a nice way to wake up. Do you like French toast?"

"If you're talking about the food, yes," said Marigold, "If it's some sort of weird sex act I've never heard of, probably."

"Great," said Dawn, "You two should get moving, then. Breakfast will be ready in like twenty minutes."

Thule was up and getting dressed when Marigold sat up, "You've got her cooking?"

Thule nodded, "If I can teach her to vacuum and do laundry, I can retire."

Marigold frowned, but didn't say anything.

When Marigold pulled into the senior parking lot, several of the cheerleaders, who had been cronies of Brianne, came over to compliment her on her car, then stayed and chatted with her and Dawn. They walked to the steps in a phalanx that Thule could have been deluded into thinking was around him, but they were really around Marigold. He was just the prince consort.

Up on the front steps, Thule and Marigold stood together against the wall. Spread out around them, the group was interspersed with Thule's crew and the cheerleaders who had attached themselves to Marigold. With neither Brianne nor June Kane in sight, the other cheerleaders boiled around like ants whose hill had been kicked over. A half dozen stood around Ioke. About the same number had joined their boyfriends around Randy. A few stood at street level with former members of Ian's crew. More than a dozen had gathered around Marigold. Thule watched with bemusement as his friends and the cheerleaders eyed each other uneasily, a few awkward words passing between them, maybe the first thing they'd said to each other that wasn't a putdown in years.

As they went inside, Marigold said to Thule, "That was surreal. I could have sworn those girls hated me and Dawn and your friends. I wish I'd known that all it took was a new car."

Thule laughed, "I think it's more of a power dynamic thing. With Ian, Brianne, and June all out of the picture, people don't know who to follow. Some of them latched on to you."