Roderick and Molly spent the rest of the afternoon in Lake City. They went to the Art Musuem, and wandered the large galleries, which were peaceful and uncrowded. Roderick thought the paintings were pretty, and wondered what each was worth. He's heard that investing in art is a good thing to do, and would like to buy something to hang next to Natasha's nudes of Molly.
Molly gazed reverently at a modern color field painting for a long time. You might think she is an avid fan of modern art. In fact, she was in a reverie, and if you looked closely at her hands, you would see her fingers moving as if on an imaginary keyboard.
At Union Station, they caught the noon train for Stapleton. After a longish ride, they arrived in Stapleton; Mr. Bloom met them at the station and drove them home in time for dinner. Molly invited Roderick to stay, and he gladly accepted.
Per usual, they dined in the dining room: Mr. and Mrs. Bloom at the North and South ends of the table, respectively; Roderick and Molly on the West side; Mary, Margaret and Catherine on the East side. Mrs. Bloom served Tofu Surprise (with ground beef substituted for the tofu). Roderick likes Mrs. Bloom; he thinks she's nice, and very interesting. Cooking, on the other hand, is not her strong suit, and while she excels at making Tofu Surprise (and derivatives thereof), her range beyond that is limited.
Roderick wondered how long it would take Mr. Bloom to ask awkward questions. No time at all, it turned out.
"So", said Mr. Bloom between bites of Tofu Surprise, "is my daughter still a virgin?"
"Um...". Roderick pretended to be chewing.
"You can ask me, Daddy", said Molly, brightly.
"OK. Are you still a virgin?"
"None of your damn business!" said Molly, and everyone at the table roared with laughter, except Margaret, the quiet one, and Catherine, who didn't understand.
"What's a virgin?", she asked.
Margaret whispered in her ear. It didn't help. Catherine looked puzzled.
"I'm still a virgin" said Mary, with a toss of her head.
"Really?" said Mr. Bloom, with a quizzical look.
"Yes", said Mary. "I am".
Mr. Bloom leaned forward conspiratorially. "So...what are you waiting for?" and everyone laughed again, including Mary, who really isn't a virgin -- not even close -- but prefers to keep that aspect of her life under wraps.
Catherine was still clueless about the subject matter, and miffed at being out of the loop. "Well", she said, attempting to change the subject, "I had a nice day". Unfortunately, everyone else had left the table by then, so nobody heard the wonderful news about her day except Mr. Fuzzums, Catherine's brown bear, who accompanies her almost everywhere. Catherine, on realizing that everyone had departed, sighed, gave Mr. Fuzzums a hug, and took her dish into the kitchen.
Roderick and Molly sat on the porch lounger enjoying the evening and each others' presence.
Meanwhile, a parcel delivery van stopped in front of the Ericson's house on Elm Street. The driver stepped out, walked quickly up the sidewalk, and left a carton on the front steps.
At the same time, Natasha walked over to Henry Witherspoon's easel in the studio on Main Street. Would Henry perhaps like to go for a walk down by Mill Pond? Henry would.
Katie Zeppelin tended the cash register at the drugstore. She wondered if Roderick would stop in and buy something.
On Elm Street, Bibi walked home past Megan Cupcake's house. From her bedroom on the second floor, Megan watched her pass. Retrieving her bag from the closet floor, she sat down at her desk, withdrew her Glock from the bag, and carefully cleaned it.
