Train Wreck Girl by Sean Carswell Read Free Book Online Page B

like we were in an art class and she were the model. Or at least it’s what I imagined it would’ve been if I’d ever taken an art class.
    The Willie Nelson cassette ended. Jennifer stumbled drunk—but sexy anyway because she was naked—back to her room. We played another hand that left Marigold without her summer dress, but with a bra. I got up and went to the bathroom. When I got back, Christian was gone. We played another hand. I lost my boxers. We played another hand. Marigold lost her bra. Neither Jennifer nor Christian came back to the game. The screen door kept slamming. The windows rattled. Drafts of wind crept through the house, making the candlelight dance. Sophie gathered the cards to deal another hand. Marigold stared down the dark hallway toward Jennifer’s bedroom. Sophie finished dealing. We all picked up our cards. Marigold stopped looking at the dark hallway long enough to look at her cards. We were all naked at this point. I didn’t know what the stakes were. Marigold slammed her cards against the dirty hardwood floor and said exactly what I’d been thinking for the past ten minutes. She said, “Goddamn it! They’re fucking in that back room, aren’t they?”
    No one said a word and that said it all. “Goddamn it,” Marigold said again. “That goddamn little whore. I’m gonna kick that little whore’s ass!”
    Sophie, very calm with a hurricane and Marigold raging around her, touched Marigold’s arm. “Come on,” Sophie said. She led Marigold away from the dark hallway and toward the kitchen. I could barely hear what they talked about.
    I was pretty pissed, too, because I’d spent all night at work trying to hook up with Jennifer. And I could’ve come back here without Rick and his friends and had Jennifer to myself. But no, I had to let everyone tag along. And look where it got me. But as I thought that, I looked to see where it got me, and realized that it got me into a room where I may have lost one girl, but there were still two naked ones hanging around. So I did some figuring.
    Marigold was a lost cause. I wouldn’t have gone after her even if she weren’t. There was something crazy about her. Her wild, curly hair or those big biceps. I don’t know. I was only twenty-two at the time, but I’d had my share of crazy broads and wanted someone who was calm and together, just like Sophie seemed. And I’d been digging Sophie all night, her whiskey brown eyes and the way her slender fingers dealt the cards. I also realized that Rick was lying on the floor right by me, and he probably had his eye on Sophie, too. So I said to him, “Dude, what’s up with you and Marigold?”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?”
    â€œDon’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way she’s been looking at you.”
    â€œNo way,” Rick said. “Marigold’s Christian’s girl. They’re getting married.”
    Of course, Christian was back in Jennifer’s bedroom, fucking her. It wasn’t a long shot to bet that the wedding was off. But I didn’t point out the obvious. I said, “Is that why she kept playing cards while Christian was back there fucking Jennifer? Is that why Marigold didn’t lose her temper until after she was naked?” I gave Rick enough time to think about this, but not enough time to answer. “This is all an act,” I said. “It’s all for you, Rick. Step up to the plate and take a swing.”
    Rick looked like he was trying to think it over but like thoughts were hard to come by this late and after this much drinking. He finished his beer, grabbed a new one from the cooler, took a long pull off it, and staggered into the kitchen on two sleeping legs.
    He leaned against an ancient gas stove and paused. I worried he’d lose his nerve, but he didn’t. He said something to Sophie and Marigold. I watched the three of them